Rule
Ever since I gave myself permission to live in the moment, that was what I did. It mainly consisted of fucking Laikyn because she seemed to be under the impression we couldn’t keep up with her. She was wrong. For the past three weeks, I’d fucked her every chance I got. Up to three times in a given day. Morning, noon, night, whenever she was willing, that had become the routine.
Laikyn was equally as eager, usually instigating it with a text message or when one or both of us would come home to find her naked, sometimes doing mundane things like cooking dinner. She was a terrible cook, by the way, but she’d made several attempts to improve ever since we’d started playing house.
And when I wasn’t fucking her, Jinx was.
I never thought I’d say this, but it was a damn good thing there were two of us. Turned out our sweet butterfly had a seriously strong libido.
As her signs of cabin fever started to increase, I solved that problem, too, by taking her out of the house.
She called them dates, and technically, they were. I tried to vary them, not only taking her for dinner. We went to the Santa Monica pier and rode the Ferris wheel. We logged miles on the beaches, talking about whatever her inquiring mind wanted to know at the time. She forced me to go on a wine tour, and I hated it as much as I thought I would, which seemed to please her immensely. However, the treks she made me take through a variety of art museums weren’t nearly as bad as I expected. Probably because she was so passionate about art. It was hard not to like something she loved. She even talked me into trying out the Escape Room experience. As it happened, I wasn’t the best date for that because it took me no time at all to follow the breadcrumb clues to the exit. Laikyn found it amusing. At that point, she started testing my knowledge, exploiting it in a sense.
And while I let myself enjoy my time with Laikyn, I had an ulterior motive. I needed her to be seen out in public with me, to be photographed as much as possible. That was also the reason Jinx hadn’t come along on these excursions. It wasn’t long after the first photographs leaked from our night at Chipotle that the tabloids started talking about Monica Quinn’s daughter getting married. It didn’t hurt that I had Rhyan and the twins following us occasionally to snap a picture or two that they would discreetly leak to the tabloids. Our frequent outings over the two weeks helped to fuel the flames until she became a Page Six frequent flyer.
But we still had another month before her ninety-day marriage requirement was met. I was starting to question whether I would make it that long before I did something stupid, like fall in love with the girl. Hell, there was a good chance I was already there, but I was pretending not to notice the signs. Finding love had never been a problem for me because I stopped looking for it after being let down so many times as a kid. With Laikyn, it was easier to hide behind the wall of lust that was proving to be a damn good distraction.
It helped that Laikyn was treating it like a game, trying to see just how far she could push me. I’d suspected she was daring, but I hadn’t realized how much until she urged me to take our sexual exploits out of the house. And I didn’t mean into the backyard. Unfortunately for her, she was far too vocal when it came to sex, so that didn’t work out so well for us.
Not that I minded. I would take her anyway, anywhere, anytime.
And based on the scene in my kitchen, I got the feeling the next time was going to be now, here, and with her wearing whipped cream topping on her tits.
“What’s this?” I asked when I joined Jinx and Laikyn in the kitchen.
Jinx was standing near the counter, leaning casually while sipping coffee, watching the naked woman splayed across the island.
He shrugged, and a smirk followed it.
“I want to go on another job with you,” Laikyn said, a hint of a whine in her voice.
“Yeah? I’m not sure that’s the appropriate attire for a job.”
“I can be dressed in under two minutes.”
I dipped my finger in the perfect mound of whipped cream covering her nipple. “With or without the stickiness?”
“Fine.” She turned her head and glanced between me and Jinx. “I just need to shower. Then I’ll be ready.”
I glanced at Jinx.
He shook his head.
“What does that mean?” Laikyn asked him. “Why are you saying no already?”
“I don’t think he’s saying no to you helping with a job,” I explained. “I think he’s saying no to you taking a shower right now.”
Jinx tapped his nose and smirked, confirming I was correct.
“Oh.”
“You clearly had a plan.” I turned to the coffee pot and emptied what was left into a mug. I slowly turned back around. “Show us what you’ve got.”
Her eyes heated, and she reached for a cherry from the bowl sitting beside her head. She dangled it over her mouth, looking at us to ensure we were watching before teasing the fruit with her tongue.
I leaned toward Jinx and lowered my voice in a conspiratorial whisper. “Is that all she’s got?”
“Hey!” Laikyn laughed. “I didn’t have time to practice.”
I huffed a laugh. “Is that what you do when we’re not here? Practice seducing us?”
Trust me, the woman didn’t need practice. She was perfect, exactly as she was.
“Maybe.”
“What exactly do those entail? Your practice sessions?”
She grinned wickedly. “You probably don’t want to know.”
She was right. I probably didn’t. Considering what she’d been doing with my shower sprayer the first time I caught her in my bathroom, there was no telling what kind of trouble she got herself into. Or what appliance she utilized to get herself off.
“So, can I go on another job, please?”
Before I could tell her I would think about it, her cell phone rang.
Jinx picked it up and looked at the screen.
“It’s Monica,” Laikyn said with a huff. “It’s the third time she’s called this morning.”
Jinx held up four fingers, correcting her.
“Whatever. I don’t want to talk to her right now.”
I understood her reasoning, but still, I had to ask. “When’s the last time you talked to her?”
Laikyn shrugged.
I raised my eyebrows and waited for her to give me a real answer.
She huffed. “She wants me to go to that fundraiser on Friday.”
I glanced at Jinx. His expression remained strangely masked. I could only assume that meant he knew something about it. I would have to ask him for the details later.
“It’s been on the calendar for a while,” Laikyn explained. “Before I met you, actually. She put me as her plus one, but I don’t want to go.”
“What’s the fundraiser for?”
“Mental health options for LGBTQIA+ youth. We go every year, but I usually insist she go, not the other way around.”
“Sounds like a good cause.”
“It is. That’s not the problem.” She huffed. “My mother’s the problem.”
“This Friday?” I asked Laikyn.
“Yeah.”
“She’s expecting you?”
“So.”
I glanced at Jinx. This could work to our benefit. A way to solidify that our marriage was solid and steady. Now that we were nearing the three-month point, it was imperative that we remained in the spotlight. What better way to do it than a public event that would have a nationwide impact?
Jinx obviously knew what I was angling for because he nodded his head.
I looked at Laikyn. “You need to make an appearance. If you need something to wear—”
She shook her head and sat up quickly, grabbing for the hand towel. “I already have the gown. What I don’t have is a desire to be anywhere alone with my mother.”
“You won’t be alone.”
She paused her tantrum to look at us, her eyes shifting between me and Jinx. “You’ll go with me?”
I wasn’t sure why she sounded so surprised.
“Yes.”
“You have to wear a tux.”
Based on her enthusiasm, you would think she was telling me I had to choose which limb I needed to cut off. Obviously, she knew dressing up wasn’t my favorite thing in the world, but I’d been known to do it on occasion.
“I’ll suffer through,” I assured her.
Laikyn looked at Jinx. “You have to come, too.”
Jinx’s eyebrow arched as his gaze shot to me.
“What? What’s that look for?” Laikyn asked, wiping the whipped cream off her breasts, but she didn’t attempt to cover her nudity.
“Jinx prefers quiet nights at home.”
“So do I,” she countered. “But if I have to suffer, both of you have to suffer.”
When I looked at Jinx, he gave a small shrug, which was the equivalent of leaving the decision up to me.
“Fine. We’ll both go with you.”
She smiled, then tossed the towel onto the counter. “Good.”
I watched as she started toward her bedroom. “Where are you going?” I chuckled and brought my coffee cup to my lips. “You haven’t seduced us yet.”
“The time has passed,” she sang merrily.
“Well, that’s too bad.” I meant it.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about working another job with you,” she called out, not looking back at us. “You can think about it, but you better have an answer before you get home. And it better be the right answer.”
“Or what?” I shouted back at her.
“You don’t want to know.” Her giggle followed her down the hall.
I looked at Jinx. “I really don’t.”
He grinned and shook his head in agreement.
* * *
Laikyn
After Rule and Jinx left for work, I puttered around the house. Waldo and I spent time out on the patio while I had breakfast. A meal that didn’t consist of cherries or whipped cream. I still couldn’t believe they hadn’t fallen for that trick.
Then again, this was Rule and Jinx. They liked to keep me on my toes. They could pretend all day that they hadn’t been affected, but I knew better. Their cocks made a rather distinct impression on the front of their jeans when they were turned on, and they had certainly been excited to see me.
However, they weren’t as easy as I sometimes wished they were. Not that I had any room to complain. I was getting laid on the regular, so I didn’t mind when they pretended to play hard to get now and then.
My cell phone buzzed with a text message from my mother.
“God, woman! Can’t you just leave me alone?”
I gritted my teeth and read the message.
— Laikyn, honey, I wish you would stop being like this. I deserve to spend time with my daughter.
Deserved? That was my mother for you. She thought the entire world owed her. The good news was she’d stopped calling, but she hadn’t stopped attempting to get my attention. I’d avoided all her messages about the fundraiser for the past week. I honestly wanted to skip it this year. Yeah, it was for a good cause, but I knew Monica. She always made it about herself. I expected no less this year.
“I really don’t want to go to that fundraiser, Waldo.”
He lifted his head and watched me for a second before flopping back down to snooze.
“She wants to use me, I’m sure. Whatever she needs to get the attention she thinks she deserves.”
And in this case, I wouldn’t put it past her to use my recent surprise wedding to her advantage.
Thanks to a rather gossipy gallery curator, I was trending on social media because of my impromptu marriage to Rule, the sexy, enigmatic Hollywood Fixer, as they liked to refer to him.
It was my fault for introducing him as my husband when I encountered her on one of my “dates” with Rule. I should’ve known better, but these days, I was enjoying married life, and to be honest, I’d wanted to put Rule on the spot simply because I could. Didn’t matter that he had played it off brilliantly.
That little tidbit of information didn’t stay within the walls of the art gallery for long.
The next thing I knew, I was being tagged on all my social media platforms as people speculated as to why I got married so quickly. Not to mention so quietly. Most of the rumors pointed to me being pregnant. Everyone was expecting me to start showing any day now. I even received a couple of DMs from designers of maternity clothes, asking if I’d be willing to wear their stuff. A couple of tabloids stated that I’d been dating Rule for several years, hiding the romance because of our age difference. One even claimed that I met him while working as a stripper. Where they’d come up with that, I have no idea. I’d never stripped a day in my life. Unless you counted the show I put on for Jinx and Rule last week.
So, yeah, that was another reason I was avoiding my mother. I wouldn’t put it past Monica to want to officially announce my marital status at this gala. It was precisely the sort of thing she would get excited about.
But I didn’t care what she wanted. What bothered me was that I knew my mother was responsible for my kidnapping, yet she hadn’t mentioned it once since I left. Surely, she knew I was aware since Rule knew exactly what she’d done. But Monica was doing what she did best. Pretending that whatever ill deed she was responsible for never happened.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
— Please call me, Laikyn. There’s something I want to discuss with you. It’s not about the fundraiser.
“Do I fall for it, Waldo?” I asked the dog. “Do you think she’s lying?”
His head lifted, and I could see in his big brown eyes that he thought the same thing I did. Yes. She was most definitely lying.
However, there was only one way to find out.
I tapped her image, and it brought up her contact info. I pressed the phone icon to dial.
“Here goes nothing,” I told Waldo.
“Laikyn?” Monica sounded breathless and full of wonder.
“It’s me.”
“It’s you, honey. It’s really you.”
We’d already established that.
“It’s so good to hear from you, sweetheart. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. There’s so much going on. You were the first person I wanted to tell.”
“To tell what?”
“I’m getting married, honey.”
Screeeeeeeeech.
That was the sound of my world coming to a grinding halt. “What?”
“I know. It seems soon, but it’s not. You, of all people, know what it’s like. When you know, you know.”
I sat up straight, staring at the blank screen of the TV, waiting for her to enlighten me. She didn’t disappoint.
“His name’s Devon Ledger. You remember him, don’t you, honey?”
I frowned. The name was familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
“He’s an attorney. One of the best.”
Best what? Criminal defense? Family law? Bankruptcy? Entertainment?
I didn’t ask her any of those questions because she plowed right through.
“I ran into him at an event a couple of weeks ago.”
Meaning she instigated a meeting and made it look as though it was a happy accident.
“We got to talking about some financial matters I’m dealing with.”
Meaning she made up a story to catch his interest.
“It’s been a whirlwind ever since.”
Meaning she seduced him, kept him in her bed, and convinced him they would live happily ever after.
“He proposed two days later.”
Lovely.
“Aren’t you going to congratulate me, Laikyn?”
For what? There wasn’t even a tiny part of me that believed she would go through with this. I honestly couldn’t count how many marriage proposals Monica had gotten over the years. Or how many of those she’d accepted on a whim only to renege later. Her only stipulation was that she waited long enough that it would seem like a betrayal for her to give the ring back.
Now that I thought about it, she could likely pawn that little collection—which she kept in a lighted jewelry display case—and get more than enough money to pay Rule the three million she owed him.
Monica was one of a kind, that was for sure.
“Congratulations,” I said dutifully.
“Oh, honey. Thank you. That means so much to me.”
“When’s the wedding?”
“Saturday.”
“This Saturday?”
“Yes. It’s going to be a small affair.”
By small, she meant there would likely be a couple hundred people surprised at the last minute by an invitation they felt they had no right to decline.
“I want you to be there.”
“I can’t,” I said before I could think about it.
Monica was silent, but I could practically hear her seething through the phone. She was expecting me to be doing cartwheels and showering her with love and admiration. She wasn’t going to get that from me.
Her tone went from gleeful flutter to harsh scold in a breath. “What do you mean you can’t?”
“I mean, I can’t be there. I’ve got … plans.”
“What could possibly be more important than your mother’s wedding day?”
I choked on a laugh. “Are you serious right now?”
She spoke as though I hadn’t. “If you know what’s good for you, Laikyn, you’ll be there. You can tell Rule I said that. Exactly that.”
I frowned. “Rule has nothing to do with this.”
“He has more to do with it than you know.” Monica cleared her throat, and her chipper tone returned. “Oh, honey, look at the time. I really must run. I’ve got a date at the spa. Devon is taking me to lunch today.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you at the fundraiser on Friday night.”
It wasn’t a question but a statement. “Yes.”
“Good. We can talk more about the wedding then. Ta-ta.”
When the call disconnected, I lowered the phone to my lap and realized I was still staring at the blank television screen.
What the fuck just happened?
* * *
Jinx
I was sitting in my office, staring at the screen and watching the computer code drift by rapidly. I was running a program I designed that would pull Laikyn’s name out of various databases I’d developed a back door into. Most of what I was doing was illegal, but the risk of getting caught was low, provided the program ran without hiccups, erasing all digital footprints after the fact.
I’d been running it for a few years without issue, so I wasn’t worried. In the beginning, it was to learn whatever I could about her and relay that information to Rule. These days, it was to keep apprised of what was being said about her. I’d gone one step further and included Monica Quinn’s name this time around simply because I wanted to know what we were walking into by going to this fundraiser.
My computer beeped, and another box opened, revealing the details of a marriage license that had recently been filed. I leaned in, positive I was reading it wrong.
Oh, shit.
I disconnected the laptop from the power cord and carried it to Rule’s office.
“What’s up?” He didn’t bother to look up from his computer.
I walked in and set the computer in front of him, spinning it so he could see the screen. He glanced at it briefly, then looked up at me.
“What am I looking at?”
I pointed to the box.
“What is it?”
I waited for him to read it. When he did, his eyebrows slowly rose toward his hairline.
He leaned back in his chair. “Monica’s getting married.”
I nodded. That wasn’t the problem.
I pointed at the screen again. It was who she was marrying that was the issue. But I figured it would only take a moment for Rule’s ridiculously impressive brain to skim all those notes it had photographed over the years until he came up with—
“Devon Ledger.” Rule looked at me. “He’s a family law attorney.”
I nodded. One of the best in the business.
I turned the computer around and typed a few words into the search engine before turning it back to Rule so he could read the article.
Devon Ledger was responsible for getting that pop star deemed unfit to care for herself after she was photographed at a party that was later reported to have alcohol. The woman had gone to rehab in her twenties, and there were no reports of her relapsing—not before then or at that party. However, with Devon Ledger’s help, the woman’s estranged father had used that information against her. The judge awarded the woman’s father conservatorship over her fortune as well as her person. At thirty-seven, her right to decide for herself had practically been terminated.
After he finished reading, Rule looked up at me. “She wouldn’t.”
I canted my head because we both knew she would. In a heartbeat.
“Fuck.” Rule leaned back in his chair. “What do you think we should do?”
I turned the computer around and opened a blank document. It was easier than texting.
SHE NEEDS TO KNOW THE TRUTH.
I spun the computer back around.
“The truth? About what?”
ALL OF IT.
I could tell by his expression that he didn’t want to go that route. I didn’t blame him. In the past couple of months, we’d built a good thing with Laikyn. Although Rule had never said anything, he was as in love with her as I was. Telling her the truth would rip the rug right out from under us. But if we didn’t, there was a good chance Monica Quinn was going to do something drastic. I wouldn’t put it past the woman. And I wouldn’t put it past her to be doing this as a preemptive strike, waiting for the ninety days to be up before she went in for the kill. At that point, she would get her hands on the small fortune Laikyn’s father had left for her, and there would be nothing Laikyn could do about it.
I typed another message and turned the computer around.
IF SHE WANTS TO AMBUSH HER, A MENTAL HEALTH FUNDRAISER IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO DO IT.
Rule shook his head. “I can’t tell her. Not yet.”
I nodded. Ultimately, it was his decision. Not mine.
“Get Rhyan in here,” Rule instructed.
I left my computer on his desk and went to Rhyan’s office. I knocked on the doorjamb to get her attention. When she looked up, I canted my head toward Rule’s office.
“Oh, boy. What did I do now?”
She followed me back to Rule’s office and stopped in the doorway.
He was skimming my computer screen and looked up when he heard us. “I need you to get everything, and I mean everything on Laikyn’s kidnapping.”
“I thought we had everything.”
“According to Laikyn, the guy I killed wasn’t the man in charge.”
“Right.” Rhyan glanced between us. “But we’ve been over this. I can’t find proof that there was anyone else.”
“Try again,” Rule barked. “Find a connection between Monica Quinn and Javier Whoeverthefuck.”
Rhyan frowned, standing tall. “Javier who?”
“That’s what I want you to find out. Laikyn mentioned her captor thought I was Javier when I rescued her that day. I can only assume it was Diggy’s partner or someone Diggy worked for.”
Rhyan nodded. “Okay. When do you need this by?”
“As soon as fucking possible,” he snarled.
Rhyan turned to leave, but Rule called her name.
“Everything, Rhyan. Don’t leave anything out.”
She nodded, concern glittering in her eyes. “I will. I’ve never let you down before, boss.”
She was right. She hadn’t. But I didn’t think Rhyan realized that she’d never had a task quite this important.