Page 98 of Unwritten Rules

“Mila, darling?”

Jumping back as though my touch has burnt her, Mila plasters a blatantly fake smile across her face. “Mum! There you are. How was your trip?”

My jaw unhinges ever so slightly when Taylor Jameson comes up behind Mila’s mother and drops a kiss on her cheek before she turns towards me.

“Nathaniel Hawthorne, how are you doing?” Without waiting on a reply, a trait her daughter clearly inherited, she continues. “Would you mind keeping Taylor company whilst I have a long-overdue chat with my baby girl?”

And without waiting for an answer, yet another trait of Mila’s, she extricates my Hellcat from my embrace. Mila shoots a worried look over her shoulder as her mother tugs her toward the exit.

I move to follow them, intent on discovering why the wind went out of Mila’s sails at her mother’s arrival, when I’m pulled up short by a large hand catching me on my left shoulder.

“Well, well, well. So we meet again, Hawthorne. How the fuck are you?”

I turn to face Taylor, who’s wearing a self-satisfied, smug smirk in his immaculate black tuxedo.

“I see you’ve met my bride.”

My mouth hangs open uselessly, eliciting a snort of laughter from my old friend. “Charlotte Hamilton? Mila’s mother?”

He inclines his head. “We met through Mila, obviously, and we just clicked.” He leans forward, whispering dramatically, “Of course, she’s got more money than sense, so that helps. Am I right?”

I don’t answer him because my mind is too busy figuring out what’s happening.

Why didn’t Mila say anything to me?

We fall into step beside one another, wandering in the same direction as Mila and Lottie before we wind up on the steps outside the library, no Hellcat in sight.

“What are you doing at this shitshow, Jameson? These staid affairs aren’t your usual scene.”

He chuckles darkly. “Oh, you know. I’ve got to keep the little lady happy. Her parents would have been donors to Walden-Forbes, so I suppose it’s expected that she attends.”

“Ah yes.” I grin, raising a cynical brow. “Of course, I’d forgotten. On the topic of the little lady, however, shall you manage without the upstairs variety show at the club, hmm?”

His bark of laughter reverberates through the night, startling a couple entering an Uber at the base of the steps. He holds up a hand in apology as they enter the car and go about their business.

“Oops.” He chuckles again, mischief playing across his face. “Oh, Hawthorne. I won’t be remaining at the club much longer. Once we’ve had the wedding, we’ll be one big happy family. Charlotte, Mila, and me. Perhaps someday, we’ll have kids of our own.”

He winks pointedly. “After all, Lottie is only thirty-nine. Plenty of time to pop out several little Jamesons.”

I grin at his enthusiasm and can’t help but poke him good-naturedly one last time.

“You can always live on the memories of your undying salaciousness and downright debauchery, Jameson. You’ve doubtlessly fucked half the country at this point, hmm?”

His eyes meet mine, narrowing slightly with a smirk playing at the edges of his mouth. A prickle of unease niggles at the base of my spine then. And suddenly, I find myself wishing I could take back my words because I intuitively know I’m not going to like what he says next.

“True, old chap. I surely have. But most of those were easy pickings. There’s nothing so delicious as taking something – or someone – you’re not supposed to have. A glimpse of the forbidden, eh?”

His lips turn up further as his eyes gleam in remembrance.

“For example, a recent…client, shall we say, was going through a challenging time. She’d been spurned by the man she loved – her very best friend and a man she looked up to above all others, bless her. She was questioning her desirability to the opposite sex. All it took was some well-placed words of comfort…”

He looks deep into my eyes, driving home his story with zeal as the cogs of my brain begin to grind, rapidly adding up what he’s hinting at.

“She was a tight little piece. Her pussy was practically virginal – she cried a little, bless her, but took my cock real well in the end.”

People start to spill out of the library behind us, Lottie alongside them, but no sign of Mila with her.

He continues without fail, my anger bubbling to the surface at speed.