Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 87629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Chapter Forty-Four
Jackson
Zorro, sir…would you…teach me how to give a blow job?
Those words, that voice…
I curl my hands into fists, and I advance on the creep dressed in a cheap Zorro Halloween costume.
Who is he, anyway? I know most of the members here. How the hell is he here with Amanda?
“He will not,” I say, my voice trembling with rage.
Zorro glares as he assesses me with his dark eyes. “This is the person you were with the other night, isn’t it, my sweet Elena?”
My sweet Elena? Mandy is not Elena, and she’s not his.
She stares at me, her gaze defiant.
He continues. “But the lady is with me tonight.”
Damn it all to hell. She’s wearing this bastard’s collar.
I do it. I know I shouldn’t, but I do it anyway. I rip the fucking mask off his face.
Mandy’s pretty mouth drops open as we both stare at Ben Black.
And he’s smiling. Fucking smiling.
“What the fuck? Ben?” I stiffen. “I thought we were friends, man. This is low.”
I may as well say whatever I want. I’m sure I just lost my membership at the club, which is owned by his brother, and my job, at the company he owns with his brother. I don’t even care. If he touches Mandy, I will pummel that smile right off his face.
“It’s all right,” Ben says to the security guy. “I was just proving a point to Mr. Paris.”
“If you’re sure.” The guard frowns at me.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Just give him a minute. He’s a sensible guy.”
I don’t feel sensible. I feel like my whole world is collapsing in on itself. My two closest friends were going to play a scene together—even though Ben suspects I might be in love with her. And damn it all to hell, I may never forgive him for that alone.
I draw in a breath. Then another. I turn toward the bar, grip it, my knuckles going white.
A glass of water slides toward me. I grab it and drink it all.
Ben is next to me now, ordering two more waters. “It’s okay, bro. She’s fine, and you know I’d never hurt her.”
“I can’t believe you were going to fucking touch her,” I say under my breath. “I ought to kick your ass into next year.”
“I wasn’t going to do anything with her.”
“Right.”
“Honestly,” Ben says. “I knew you were here.”
Mandy looks to Ben, to me, and then to Ben again.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?” she demands of Ben.
“Hey, I’m not the bad guy here. I was trying to prove a point to both of you. And as for you”—he turns to me—“I had permission for everything I did, and I knew if I didn’t collar her and bring her down, neither of you would admit what’s really going on here.”
Mandy whips her hands to her hips, causing the corset to push her breasts up even more.
My God, her tits are delicious, and they heave with her angry breaths, her gaze narrowed on Ben.
“If the two of you are going to have it out, we should get out of the club,” she suggests.
That seems to knock some sense into Ben. It’s a weeknight, so the club isn’t very crowded, but still… We are making a scene.
Of course, Ben’s brother owns the damned place, so he can do whatever he wants.
Mandy looks between us again and shakes her head. “I’m leaving.”
“Not without me you’re not,” I say.
“See you at work tomorrow,” Ben says.
I’m too focused on catching up with Mandy to give more than a passing thought to the fact I apparently still have a job. Fuck work. Mandy is walking away from me. Again.
Once Mandy and I are outside the club in the hallway, she turns on me.
“What was that all about?”
“You know damned well what that was about. What were you doing with him?”
“I didn’t know it was Ben.”
“For God’s sake, Mandy, he’s my boss.”
“Hello? Did you not hear me? I said I didn’t know that, Jack. What do you care? Why would you care who I play with at the club?”
I seethe in anger. In rage. But the rage…it’s morphing into something else. Shame.
“Mandy—”
“No, Jack. I can’t keep doing this.” She takes a deep breath and holds my gaze, her voice breaking. “What’s going on? You brought flowers to another woman, but you don’t want me to be with another man?”
Chapter Forty-Five
Amanda
Jackson opens his mouth, closes it, and finally opens it again. “Mandy…”
I stand, my arms wrapping around my middle.
He immediately removes his jacket and arranges it across my shoulders. “I’m sorry. You must be cold.”
His jacket smells like him—like pine and musk and cinnamon and man. He’s had that smell as far back as I can remember.
Once I’m covered, he whispers, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Seriously? He really thinks I’m going to just fall into line and be his amenable little bestie, his sweet and innocent submissive?