THOMAS
Leland Jensen had requested a dinner meeting. He appreciated my staff, he’d said, but he preferred to get to know me on a more personal level. His wife had made reservations at an exclusive Michelin-starred restaurant in Tribeca.
Jensen was quite right. The business relationship between us required assurances. As an angel investor, he supplied capital to fund the production of an electric-car prototype owned by another of my clients. The fees I charged for managing the capital were significant, and I wanted to get him on board for a second project. I needed to present him with the opportunity before leaving New York.
I’d replied to his email, accepting the invite for three. I didn’t want Katie out of my reach, not even for a few hours. She was safer with me. John would join us and maintain comms with Evans.
My contacts hadn’t yet produced intel on the other assassin, and I had no plans to lie to Katie about it. She needed to understand the seriousness of the threats against her life.
I checked the time. Ten minutes.
Buttoned my shirt, tucked it into my trousers. Cuffed the sleeves. Nine minutes.
Though we were in the same penthouse, I hadn’t seen Katie for hours, not since taking the dress to her room. I couldn’t wait to see it on her body, and then after an evening of anticipation and torment, I would strip it away. I had confidence that I’d selected the perfect dress. Later, she would allow me to remove it from her flawless body.
I’d hurt her.
I poured two fingers of scotch and let the burn slide down the back of my throat. She’d been quite angry. Furious, ordering me away. It had taken everything in me to tell her that I was leaving, that I’d put an end date on us.
My words had crushed her, destroyed the loveliness in her eyes, wrecked her beautiful optimism.
“We can do this,” she’d said.
My Katie. Her smile had nearly killed me. I’d desperately wanted to agree with her, to take her into my arms and give her what she wanted. But instead, I’d left her in tears like some fucking stranger off the street.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, contemplating how much more shit she might take and questioning if she would even come back to me. If I were to let her go.
Can’t do it. She’s mine.
John abruptly pushed into the library. “Thom, you ready? I’ve got Evans in my ear on comms. We inspected both cars and briefed Carl. We’ll stay behind your SUV in Reed’s.”
“Has she come out of her room?”
“Not yet. A guard’s on the monitors. I’m going down to the garage.”
I gave a nod, and he turned to leave.
“John … I’m glad you’re here.”
A side-glance over his shoulder. “Me too, brother.”
As I headed for the lift, I stopped myself from checking the time. It didn’t matter. She was worth every second, and waiting for her was something I needed to learn to live with anyway.
Katie’s bedroom door opened. The staccato clicking of the Tom Ford stilettos I’d given her was hypnotic. I rubbed my chin, eyes locked on the woman coming into view. Christ, the sway of her hips, the way the dress clung to them, to her breasts, the hem brushing over the top of her thighs.
My cock came to full attention as I devoured her with my eyes.
To see her in something I’d chosen for her body was quite a rush.
Nude-colored tulle, the boutique owner had said. Floral beading and embroidery, wildflower petals fashioned from clear, ruby, and sapphire crystals.
Katie stopped six feet away and held my gaze with hers for a moment. Her berry-stained lips curved into a subtle smile. “This … is a ten-thousand-dollar Oscar de la Renta.”
Eyes exploring, I took in her loveliness. “The price tag is nothing. Seeing it on you is everything.”
“It’s an amazing dress. Thank you, Thomas. I forgot my bag. Give me a minute to grab it.” Slowly, she turned and walked down the corridor to her room.
She’d calculated the move. And thank Christ she had because there was nothing on the planet more exquisite than her arse in that dress. If she’d ordered me onto my knees right then, I would have fallen to the floor straightaway.
Over her shoulder, she tossed a seductive little smile at me.
No way was I waiting for her to come back. As soon as Katie hit the threshold, I snatched her wrists, pinned her against the wall, and spread her legs apart with my knee, pushing myself against her stomach. A gasp came from her pretty mouth, reminding me how well she’d blown me the night before.
I growled close to her ear, “Don’t fucking tease me.”
She waited for my eyes to return to hers, lifted her chin. “My virginity is yours. Just take it, and I’ll stop. Please.”
Losing it, I clutched her hair in my fists and jerked her to my lips, kissed her hard, thrusting my tongue in and out of her mouth, biting her. To reprimand her, to show her how rough it would be with me.
She accepted the punishment and pushed me for more, rubbing her hot tongue against mine, dragging her hand down to grasp on to my pulsing erection.
Intense need shuddered through my body. I groaned. I pulled back, releasing her mouth, and stared into her stormy-gray eyes while she worked to catch her breath. “You’re mine, Katie.”
It was she who was ruining me.
She nodded, still calming herself.
Because I was a prick, I slid my hand up her thigh, pushed the piece of lace aside, and drove my finger in and out of her wet little cunt. She hissed, moaned, said my name.
“You’ll stop trying to seduce me, or you’ll get nothing.” I removed my hand. “Understand?”
Disbelief filled her eyes. “Why would you do that and then just stop?”
I raised a brow, not needing to explain.
Katie nodded with awareness. “But it’ll happen?”
“It will. Quite right.”
“I trust you.”
“Good girl. Now, let’s go to dinner.” I’d caged her in with my body, with my influence, and it killed me to set her free. A soft kiss on her lips, and then I backed away. Pain sliced through the center of my chest. I put my hand on the soft, bare skin on the small of her back. Touching her eased my discomfort. “Come. We’ll be late as it is.”
Atera had been a brilliant restaurant choice. It was a twenty-course tasting room, intimate and elegant, seating no more than sixteen guests in one evening.
Evans and Carl remained outside on security detail. John had joined us for dinner, holding his position on Katie’s left while entertaining her and Sandra Jensen.
In the car, she’d asked me not to introduce her as Katherine. I had no issue with it. I wanted her to be comfortable and happy. Nothing else mattered.
Katie had wrapped the Jensens round her little finger by the time we reached the dessert courses, captivating them with her genius and her beauty.
Sandra placed her napkin on the table, grabbed her wineglass. “One of those universities will be so lucky to have you, Katie. Have you accepted an offer?”
“I’ll need to make plans soon. I’d like to go where the strongest prospect exists for me to make a difference.” Katie set down her glass of champagne. I’d allowed her two. “I’m interested in community engagement. I support change in the educational systems that hold children with learning disabilities at a disadvantage. The disabilities often go undiagnosed, and the kids are commonly disciplined for poor performances and behavior. Those same children would excel with proper teaching methods.”
I broke from my conversation with Leland and pulled Katie into my side. She had dodged the question, asserting her right to choose the life she wanted even though her mother had set things in motion at Columbia.
“Katie recently collaborated with professors at Columbia to design a mathematics program for children with dyslexia.” I kissed her temple, reached for my glass.
She looked up at me with something in her eyes so lovely, something I’d never experienced, something for which I couldn’t find the words.
Then, she leaned in, rising close to my ear, and said, “Thank you, Thomas.”
The Jensens announced their departure and said their good-byes. Katie and I waited for John to check in with Evans and text me with an all-clear before I took her out onto the street.
She’d thanked me again. I hadn’t responded because I wanted her alone first.
When the lift doors closed us in, I pulled her chin up and kissed her lips. “You don’t owe me any gratitude, baby, not now, not ever. There’s nothing I won’t do for you. But listen. Don’t mistake my actions for gallant gestures. They serve my own needs. I’m not a good man.”
“Stop saying things like that, Thomas.” She kept her voice low and soft, her eyes on mine. “What you’ve done tonight is worth more to me than I can say. You freed me, if only for an evening. That’s something only a good man would do.”
Christ, she never stopped surprising me. I didn’t know what I’d do without her.
I pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, cradled her face in my hands, kissed her again. “You’re my everything, Katie. I can’t lose you. Forgive me for hurting you this morning.”
She smiled. “I forgave you hours ago.”
“The dress?” I teased with a wink.
“Of course not. This dress means something to me because it was a gift from you. You could give me rags, and I’d love them. It was your brother. John helped me see what had happened with more clarity.”
I smiled, pressed my lips to her forehead. “My brothers are quite skilled at saving my arse.”
The lift doors opened. I extended my arm in front of her and stepped out to scan the lobby.
Another young couple heading out. Three middle-aged women. Two men. A security guard, a female employee, and a male employee, all standing near a central desk. Four cameras. Three sets of doors, one revolving. John, crossing the lobby, heading outside to the car.
I reached back into the lift box for Katie’s hand. She stepped out beside me but then stopped.
“Move quickly, Katie. We must get to the car,” I told her, sliding my hand onto her back.
Color drained from her face. She screamed.
I lunged in front of her to shield her while scanning the lobby again for threats.
The couple. Three women. Two men. Security guard. Female employee.
Carl. Evans with his weapon drawn.
My brother, lying on the ground, a knife in his back.