AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He straightens his tie before turning for the doorway. I scramble out after him, wearing only my sweat-soaked sweater and his sheets wrapped around my waist. I chase him down to the foyer, where he finds my canvas bag on the floor, snatches it, and promptly digs through it.
“What the hell are you doing?” I’m too breathless to put much indignation into my voice. He doesn’t seem to hear me anyway. Instead, he withdraws what I recognize as my wallet from the depths of my bag. Then my planner. He then tucks both under his arm before marching for the door.
“Stay here,” he tells me from over his shoulder. “You will receive these when I return.”
When I return…He’s already in the hallway when I realize he’s taking my personal belongings hostage.
“Wait!” I stagger to the doorway before common decency keeps me from crossing the threshold. I can only watch in horror as Graeme Bellamy turns the corner up ahead, my money, identification, and virtual life in his hands.
I don’t know how long I stand there, gaping before I turn and kick the wall with my bare foot. Pain shoots through the toes, but it’s not enough to counter the ache that still lingers.
Damn him.Damn,Graeme Bellamy.
If he thinks that one (more) small lapse in judgment gives him the right to control my life, once again, he has another damn thing coming.
CHAPTER18
graeme
The piercing dial tone cuts the silence. It drones on three times before a gruff voice finally picks up from the other end. “Riley.”
“The terms of your merger,” I start, foregoing any niceties. “I trust you already have them drawn up?”
I don’t receive an answer, but I know he’s listening. I can almost hear the gears of his brain turning at the prospect of how far he can expand his business connections with my club in his hands.
“Good,” I say, taking his silence as my answer. “Bring them by my office later. The longer you delay, the more likely I’ll change my mind.”
I hang up, clenching the damn phone in my fist, wishing I could smash it into a million pieces, and Adrian Riley right along with it. If it wasn’t the property of the hotel I’ve taken refuge in, I would. Instead, I toss the handset on the base resting on a nightstand and grit my teeth at the prospect of meeting Riley in my territory for once. The last thing I want is to negotiate a deal with that bastard—but business is the only thing in the world that makes sense. A man’s greed and the flexibility of his wallet never changed.
Some constants, as bloody infuriating as they were, were much more preferable to the unknown. Evelyn King, if that even is her real name, represents everything unknown at the moment. I can’t decide if I want to peel her down to the innermost layer or cut her loose the way a smart man cut any other loss.
Peel,the part of my brain controlled by my cock demands. Starting with whatever modest blouse she has on, and then the knickers underneath. My breath catches at the thought. Damn, I can still taste her. Feel her.
But what if she has more tricks up her sleeve should I return and attempt this examination in person?
I glance over at the clock on the nightstand and frown—it’s barely six a.m. I haven’t slept, and despite the pounding ache behind my temples, I damn well don’t need to. I sit up and shift so I’m at the edge of the mattress and feel along the nightstand for the remote that operates the blinds. Within seconds, garish light streams in, illuminating the economic suite.
Almost as if on cue, there’s a knock at the door. I open it to find a man dressed in the hotel’s uniform standing on the other end, a silver tray of coffee in his hands. “You requested a wake-up call, Sir.” He glances questioningly at my starched suit and the oxfords on my feet.
“That I did,” I grunt before snatching a mug of coffee from the tray and closing the door. I take a sip and nearly spit it out while I reach for my mobile again. I take my time dialing the next number. Not because I’m anxious—merely curious. When I finally bring the receiver to my ear, the person on the other end has already picked up.
“Have you found anything?” I demand.
“Only the article you referenced,” James replies, referring to the paper Riley brandished regarding Evelyn’s past. “I contacted some associates to find more. I’m waiting to hear back.”
“Good. And… No distress from our guest, I hope?”
“She’s gone, Sir,” James replies.
“When?” My tone is harder than it should be.Damn, Evelyn.
“Late last night, Sir. Not long after you left.”
I glance at the table near the entrance where I’ve kept her wallet and that precious book she cherishes so much. I think I laugh before I hang up the phone and throw it so hard it ricochets off the wall and leaves a dent in the gray paint. I know without even bothering to check that the screen is cracked. I’ll have to buy a bloody new one. If only it were as easy to find a new goddamn assistant as well. I could snap my fingers and hire a new yes-man with a stack of bloody credentials longer than my damn office building was tall to do my bidding.
But not one who could fuck me like a hellcat, all while claiming to not enjoy a single damn bit of it.Cat,being the operative word. I had to venture into my office and find a high-collared shirt from the stash I keep there to disguise the marks Evelyn King left on my shoulders. My neck. She’d bitten my lip, too, and the slight swelling is harder to ignore. I rub my thumb over the tender flesh and can almost feel her gnashing there. Touché. The woman knew how to work that mouth when she wasn’t nagging with it. Even I could give her that much.
Apparently, there was more to Evelyn King than following men around with granola and micromanaging her life down to the last detail.
