LUCI (The Naughty Ones Book 2) Page 46

  “Oh, babe. No,” he murmurs, pulling my chin up so he can look straight into my eyes. “They did it because they’re cowards. Bullies. Idiots. They saw one of ‘their own’”—he sneers at the words—“Being more than an empty shell and that pissed them off. Never apologize for wanting more than the stupid role they set for you. You never belonged with them.”

  He says that last part so fiercely that I have to smile because I know, hope I know, what’s coming next. He doesn’t disappoint.

  “You always belonged to me.”

  ***

  “Chin up, Rem. Time to roll.”

  I grimace and primp at my hair when the house of one Terry Gruber comes into view. Fuck, I hate these assholes and yet I feel a thrill of excitement too at the prospect of being here to witness the second part of my plan.

  Just two days ago, Brick and the guys made a phone call to Brian, letting him know that ‘we know what you did to that girl in high school. How do you think the American public will feel if they ever see this tape senator?”

  That had been the beginning, but gosh, when I’d seen Brian the ass running out of his house in frantic panic, I’d turned to Chase and laughed so hard my belly ached.

  “Now that was well worth the wait.”

  Chase laughed too, despite the fact that we sat in the car for twenty minutes before Brian made his move. Dec had followed him right to Knox’s house, and while I have no idea what went on there, we do know that there were outgoing calls to Gruber, Denton and Velos. All the players are now engaged and, Lord above, am I looking forward to tonight’s fundraiser.

  All of the players will be there. I’ll get to watch them unravel one by one as Brick and Neil make phone calls to each of them. I’m so giddy at the thought of watching them flounder that I can’t sit still as we pull into the driveway of the stately mansion that still belongs to Gareth Knox Sr.—the house Jr. now lives in too, since Chase bankrupted him.

  Word is that his wife, Priscilla, isn’t too happy with him right now. I suspect that’s got more to do with those photos Chase sent to her of Gareth and his mistress screwing in his car, though.

  Heh.

  I almost float along beside Chase when the doorman announces us. We enter the house. I feel great, look great—in my deep blue ball gown with black crystals stitched into flower designs all over the skirt—and most of all, I feel powerful as Chase rests his arm over me and pulls me close, his face a study of satisfaction.

  “You ready, babe?” he asks, giving me a squeeze as we step into the ballroom and people start approaching.

  “Ready.”

  The first to approach us is Helena, my conniving, loose-limbed cousin. I paste on a radiant smile, though I’d like nothing more than to grab her head slam her face into my knee.

  “Remy. I-I am so glad to see you. You look lovely,” she whispers.

  “Lena.”

  Her name comes out a hard hiss and I feel Chase’s fingers dig into my hip slightly. He’d cautioned me not to raise trouble, but hell, I’m only human. And any normal woman would drop kick her skinny butt for such a gross betrayal.

  But heck, she did me a favor by banging Brian, didn’t she? Maybe I shouldn’t hold a grudge.

  “You look great too, though a little skinny.”

  Chase strokes my hip and I see Helena relax and give me a tentative smile.

  “There’s something I need to talk to you about, Rem. It’s really…oh there you are darling!” she says suddenly, her voice a cheery quiver that makes my skin crawl.

  Or maybe that’s just the fact that Brian has walked up and is standing in front of us in all his pomp and glory.

  “Remington.”

  Oh gosh. Really?

  “Carson, I don’t believe I’ve yet had the displeasure of meeting you. Chase Marshall, Remy’s husband.”

  I flat out grin and have to stifle a good giggle at that. Possessive oaf. Brian turns a dark shade of crimson bordering on purple. I glimpse Lena sucking her cheeks in, and from the corner of my eye I see her glancing at me surreptitiously, her own eyes dancing with glee.

  “Pretty soon to be married, isn’t it, Remington? The ink hardly had a chance to dry.”

  Oh no you did not Brian.

  “What can I say, Carson, she knows a real man when she sees one. Now if you’ll excuse us.”

  He doesn’t qualify or say anything more before nodding to Lena and steering me away. I see a lot of old faces as we make our way through the throng. My mother wears a pinched look, and she snubs me in an overly obvious way by turning her back to me as we approach.

  “Remy, girl, there you are.”

  “Hi Dad.”

  I lean in for an uncomfortable air kiss and then Chase shakes his hand. I see dad wince a little and refrain from giggling. Men.

  Mom is still turning the cold shoulder. I feel Chase tense beside me before launching into a dreary recap of the business market or something like that.

  My gaze starts roaming and I spot Dec’s blond head towering over the crowd where he’s currently flirting with some chick I’m sure I should know but can’t quite remember.

  Brick’s perusing the buffet, and Hensley can’t be more than a few steps away even though I can’t see him at the moment. The guy is always close by me, and I can honestly say that besides Liv, he’s one of my pals.

  “Remy, babe, let’s go get something to eat.”

  “Bye, dad.”

  “See ya later, honey.”

  I almost laugh at the sniff mom let’s off.

  “Christ, you survived gestation in that?”

  Then I do laugh because I’d had that very thought a time or two.

  “Yup. Stop scowling, Chase, we’re supposed to be having fun. Just think about the chicken coop and the flying feathers.”

  “You know how I like to take care of chickens, Remy, and I can promise you—in no way does it involve watching,” he muses, handing me a plate and positioning me in front of him.

  Tonight’s event is a ‘simple’ get together whereby patrons of various charities have come together to lend their support and shine a spotlight not only on the charities, but how much suffering and need there is just in our small little speck of the world.

  In reality, it’s a mediocre buffet where the rich stand around gossiping and showing off their millions in jewels and accessories. It’s sad but true that those who ‘give’ actually can’t understand the first thing about needing.

  “Ahh, look, babe.”

  I’m pulled away from examining shrimp and some dried, leafy stuff when Chase leans in and whispers into my ear, his voice a soft caress against the skin at my nape.

  I follow his direction to see all five players simultaneously answer their phones.

  Oh glory, the looks on their smug faces!

  I watch as they go stiff and seem to listen just that much closer. I almost bust a gut when they start looking around almost frantically, their gazes eventually coming to rest on me.

  I give no outward sign of noticing, instead enjoying the way that Chase’s hand comes up to my hip to pull me closer. I peek at them out of the corner of my eye.

  “I’m enjoying this almost as much as this morning, babe.”

  I blush and dig my elbow into his side, scowling at his chuckle and the soft caress he gives to my hip because, yeah, this morning was spent with his head between my legs and a very instructive tutorial on how to have sex in the shower.

  “Oh, I dunno. I think this morning was untouchable, but I’m kinda liking those looks of horror I’m getting. Think we can drag this out enough that they’ll actually go a little crazy?”

  We’re at the end of the table by this time and I turn to see Brick grinning at us like a loon. Yup, phase two is complete. Now all we have to do is watch as the five Stooges start bonking each other on the head.

  We’ve given them the hammers, now all they need to do is start swinging.

  The best kind of entertainment.

  “So now that that’s done,
what say we go home? My feet are killing me and these damned undies are trying to eat my ass,” I grump, already losing interest when Brian seems to get a good handle on himself and the rest follow suit.

  “Okay, babe. Let me just go round up the guys.”

  “M’kay. I’ll go to the ladies room and meet you out front, and no, I won’t be alone since Hen keeps following me around,” I mutter, kissing him before making my way out of the room and down a long hall to the left.

  I take care of business and exit the toilet to go wash my hands when a hand lands on my shoulder almost giving me a stroke.

  “Shh, Rem, it’s just me.”

  “Geez—”

  “Shh, whisper, I don’t want anyone knowing we’re talking.”

  “Okaaay. Are you alright, Lena?” I ask, double-checking the lock on the door since she keeps glancing behind her, staring at the thing as if it’s a snake about to strike.

  “Rem, I need to tell you something.”

  “Okay,” I mutter, leaving the door to walk over to the sink and wash my hands.

  The action is two-fold. I really need to wash my hands because not washing after wiping is beyond nasty, but also I need a little distance from her.

  Lena is still the woman who betrayed me, forgiveness or not, and my bucket list doesn’t include schmoozing with my ex-husband’s booty call.

  “Remy, this is important!” she hisses, tripping over to the door and double-checking the lock.

  Her movements are jerky, and I suddenly become aware of the fact that Lena is not just nervous but seems a little afraid.

  “Lena, are you okay?”

  I finish washing my hands and start inching my way to the door, feeling less than comfortable when she nods jerkily. Her actions are not fluid and I’m not sure that being alone—“I know I don’t deserve forgiveness or trust because of the way I betrayed you, Rem. Believe me, I understand if you don’t listen to a word I say and walk out that door, but I have to tell you…something hokey is going on with Brian. I think he’s planning something.”

  “Planning?”

  “He’s been raging about you and Chase. The committee called him in on Wednesday and…they had these photos of him and me when you guys were still married, and…it doesn’t look good for his career. He’s real mad, Rem.” She casts another glance at the door before taking my hands in hers and taking a deep breath.

  I don’t really want to listen to a word she has to say because, yeah, I don’t trust her. Just the fact that she’s still fucking Brian tells me that she’s not worth a consideration from me, but gosh, her eyes as she looks at me are so nervous and jumpy.

  “I heard them the other day, Rem,” she whispers, lowering her voice another decibel.“I was so confused at first, still am but…I heard them saying how somebody knew what they did to you. Brian was so mad, Rem, and he and Gareth were almost yelling at each other. And then he called someone and said they needed to take care of things. For good.”

  Say what now?

  “Lena, are you telling me that—”

  “At first, I thought he was talking to….but then the other three showed up and they weren’t dressed for golf. You know that Brian, Knox and those other three dimwits are still attached at the hip and…they were all there eventually, and then Brian made this call to someone and it sounded like he was taking orders and…what did they do? I know it’s something bad—”

  I’m not even listening anymore as she keeps babbling. The first thing that springs to mind is that my cousin is alone and unguarded in a house with that madman.

  “I have to go. Get away from them, Lena, and stay away.”

  “I’m leaving right now. Daddy got me a ticket to Greece to go visit Uncle Costa. I-I am so sorry for everything, Rem. I need you to believe that. I’m not good or kind, or even really very smart, but I’m not interested in hurting you. I think Brian wants revenge for whatever is going on between you, him and Chase. You need to be careful, Rem. He isn’t a very nice man,” She whispers tearfully, her eyes imploring me to give her a little measure of the trust I had before.

  “I know, Lena, and I plan to see that he gets his. Now listen. Leave, and don’t even go back to the house for your luggage. Just get out of here and get as far away as you can. Things are going to get a lot uglier and I don’t want you caught in the middle,” I warn, almost bolting from the bathroom.

  Before I can open the door, she grabs me and hugs me hard, her face a study of remorse when she pulls back and takes a deep breath.

  “Be careful, Rem.”

  “I don’t need to be, I have Chase,” I say, nudging her away as I force my lips into a tight smile.

  “Good bye, Remy.”

  I don’t answer as I open the door and meet Hensley. He’s leaning against the wall, his pose relaxed even as he scans the hallway for threats.

  “You okay, Rem?”

  “Not yet, but I will be.”

  Lena doesn’t realize what she’s just told me. Hell, my family had played the whole incident off as my having a nervous breakdown, so no one knows what really happened to me. But I now know something very important, something that Chase needs to know.

  There’s a sixth person to consider in our plans.

  I just need to find out who that is.

  Chapter 37

  Remy

  “Are you sure?”

  I watch Chase’s eyes narrow before he starts pacing again. I lean back into the headboard with a sigh, feeling completely wrung out and flummoxed by the night’s revelations.

  Lena had been so afraid. I honestly think she was just trying to warn me, but Chase is not so forgiving, and instead of trusting her words, he had Dec pick my cousin up and take her to a secure location for questioning.

  While I hate to think of Lena alone and afraid, cause yeah, Dec is one scary dude, I can’t help but feel a measure of relief that she’s with one of ours.

  “That’s what she said: Brian was talking to someone else about ending the whole thing while the rest of them were there in the room with him. I don’t know…even when I realized that it was them, it still struck me as odd. You remember them in school, hon, they’re not exactly leaders. Hell, Brian was only QB and captain because his parents put the screws to Coach Reyner. The man can’t lead a donkey, even dangling a carrot for the beast.”

  Chase starts muttering again and I lean back to watch him stalk and prowl around, his hair standing on end from minutes of combing his fingers through it in frustration.

  “You’re right.”

  That’s all that he says before he flops down beside me and stares at the ceiling. We remain quiet for a long time, just thinking, considering angles. Then he rolls into me and regards me with a frown.

  “You know that this has to be connected to what happened to you and Liv.”

  “Yeah, but for the life of me…they made it sound like this was about you and Gabe.”

  “Because it is in a way. We’ve been dismantling their shit for months, years even, and whoever is behind this knows that my only weakness is you. It was a message, but I’m beginning to suspect that it was to throw us off the trail and keep us distracted. Whoever started this was not happy. And they were definitely worried.”

  Yes, but that in no way clears up the mystery.

  “You know, Lena could just be…”

  “I’ve considered that,” I huff, turning to look at him.

  He’s propped up beside me and so sexy in his tux trousers and nothing else that I kinda regret telling him anything before we got home to have sex.

  “So, what now?”

  “Now we step things up a little and see how they try to cover their asses. Brick is on Brian, he even managed to get a full tap on his phones, and Dec has the others covered.”

  I accept his words and force myself not to worry or think about any of this, because at the end of the day, no matter what happens I am safe here with Chase. He won’t let me go again, and I don’t want to.

  Even if he still ha
sn’t told me he loves me.

  “No more thinking, Remy,” He instructs when I start biting at my lips.

  His mouth swoops down and he bites into me softly, his teeth sinking in and dragging my lip free before he sucks it into his mouth and starts an alternate sucking, nipping rhythm that I feel all the way to my clit and the emptiness I always feel when he’s not buried deep inside me.

  “I’ve thought about doing this all night. You looked so sexy in that dress, and all I could think is that I want to run my tongue over every inch of skin your underwear is hugging.”

  Oh, yes.

  He keeps sucking at my bottom lips, his tongue flicking in a parody of what I want him doing between my legs. I feel myself respond almost viciously as arousal hits me and starts readying me for his possession.

  The kiss is erotic and soft and so filled with a wealth of care that I feel myself aching with the implications of it. He has to love me. I know he has to because I feel it, even if he can’t say the words.

  I feel it in every soft caress as he slowly strips my clothes and undergarments away, in every reverent kiss he places on my skin when he finally abandons my mouth.

  I feel it when he licks me to the point of madness before settling over me and ever so slowly pushing forward to fill me. He keeps it slow and easy, gaining access till every part of me is filled and covered by his masculine body.

  I feel it when he starts pushing in and pulling out, his rhythm faltering only when I moan and bow up, tensing beneath him when a slow, lazy, yet no less intense orgasm rips its way through me, the lingering jolts of pleasure ripping his own climax from his tenuous control till I’m filled and surrounded by his bliss.

  As he pulls out and brings me closer into his arms, our limbs settling into a natural position that only familiarity can bring, I promise to be patient and wait him out.

  I know what he feels; I just need to give him time so he can give me the words.

  ***

  Sometimes, you just know that something bad is going to happen. No matter how hard you try to analyze the feeling or just be cautious, you know it’s unavoidable.