I’ve lost my damn mind. Creeping into her apartment like some fucking thief, grabbing her from behind. But I don’t have any choice. She’s got paid muscle keeping me out of the offices, a car driving her around all day. I can’t get near her long enough to make her listen to what I’ve discovered. This is the only way.
“I won’t hurt you,” I promise, holding her tight as she struggles. Damn if the feel of her doesn’t knock me for six. Her lush breasts trapped under my arm, her peach of an ass shoved back against my groin.
Strip a couple of layers of clothing out of this equation, and I’d be buried to the hilt by now. Fucking her hard and slow, making her scream my name the way she likes.
But that’s the last thing that’s going to happen. Not until I make her see sense.
“I just want to talk,” I say careful not to hurt her. “Keely.”
She goes slack in my arms.
“It’s you,” she whispers.
She knows me then. But can she ever trust me again?
I take a chance and slowly release her. Keely spins around and shoves me hard. I stumble back, surprised. “What the hell are you doing?” she yells. “You scared me half to death! I thought you were him!”
“Who?” I demand.
“The guy who pushed me at the party,” she recovers, breathing fast. “He tried to kill me.”
He what?
My blood turns to ice. I lunge forwards, grabbing her by the shoulders. “What happened?” I growl, searching her face for any sign of injury. There’s a bruise I didn’t see, fading just up below her hairline. I touch it gently, every part of me screaming with guilt and panic. “Did Brent touch you? I’ll fucking kill him, I swear.”
“It wasn’t Brent.” She shakes her head. “At least, I don’t think so. I didn’t have time to see. I heard a noise behind me, and then I was falling.” She exhales, relaxing. “I was so scared,” she whispers.
My chest hurts.
“I should have been there, protecting you. I’m so sorry.”
Fuck. All this time, I didn’t know. The newspapers mentioned she’d tripped on the stairs, but they made it out like a joke, not this.
“Nobody knows.” Keely shakes her head firmly. “Until we have proof who did it, or what they want.”
“I can tell you right now, it was that scumbag Brent, and he won’t stop until you’re out of the picture.” I clench my fists. I should have broken his fucking face the first time I laid eyes on it.
Then I realize what she said.
“We?” I repeat.
“Cam and I.” Keely folds her arms, stepping away from me.
Jealousy burns.
“You can’t trust him,” I growl. “Fuck, he could be in league with them too.”
Keely glares. “I know that. I can’t trust anyone. I found that out the hard way.”
Silence.
Fuck. I gather my thoughts, trying to find the words to make her see. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she shoots back. “Getting hired by Brent to seduce me? Lying about how your father was Ashcroft’s old business partner? Pretending you actually cared?” Her voice twists on the last word, and I can see how much she’s hurting.
It hits me a hundred times worse.
“All of it,” I swear. “You have to believe me.”
“Why?” Keely swallows. “Why should I believe a single word you ever say? It was all lies, Vaughn. I thought I knew what kind of man you are, but don’t know anything about you.”
“So we’ll talk,” I tell her. “Right now. I’ll tell you everything, anything you want to know. Please, Keely,” I add, desperate. “I need you to understand.”
Part of me thinks I’m a pussy to beg. There’s never been a woman I needed like this. I should just walk out and leave Keely to her mysterious inheritance. I’m better off without the drama. Hell, I wouldn’t go ten feet down the street before I found an eager woman ready to spread her legs and screw.
But that part of me is dead and buried now. I’m in too deep. I need her like fucking air; I have to have her -- and now I know someone is out to hurt her, there’s no chance in hell I’m ever walking away from her again.
“Please,” I say. “Five minutes, that’s all I need. That’s more than you ever needed,” I add with a wink, trying to make her smile.
Keely tries not to react, but I see her cheeks flush. “Fine.” She presses her lips together. “Five minutes, but you better tell me everything. I mean it, Vaughn.” Keely’s eyes are harsh. “No more games, no more bullshit. I need the truth.”
I take a deep breath. I’ve been so focused on getting her to agree to see me, I never thought this far ahead. Now I don’t even know where to begin.
I can’t hold back now. She deserves everything. Every fucking shameful truth.
“It’s true, you were just a job to begin with,” I admit. “Brent hired me to fuck you, and get him proof. I didn’t know who he was to you, or anything about Ashcroft back then. He had the money, and you looked like you’d be fun. It wasn’t supposed to be real.”
Pain flashes on her face. Fuck. I’m going to need a drink for this, so I cross to the bar cart on the other side of the room and pour myself a whiskey. I’m surprised when Keely grabs it from my hand and takes a long slug.
“Go on,” she orders between gritted teeth. “Don’t stop.”
So I don’t. I tell her the whole sordid mess from beginning to end. How Brent demanded I get compromising poof about Keely, how when I found out she was Ashcroft’s daughter, my first thought was revenge. He’d destroyed my father, so I would use her to demolish his legacy somehow. That’s why I travelled with her to New York, but then things changed.
“I swear, I broke the contract with Brent before we slept together,” I tell her.
Keely blinks. “Why? You must have known I’d give it up to you by then. It was easy money.” Her voice is bitter.
I shake my head. “He was trouble. I didn’t want that for you, I tried to push you away. But then you showed up at my place, and I couldn’t resist you.” I exhale. “And then the Ashcroft thing happened.”
There’s a long silence. Keely turns away from me, looking out of the windows over Central Park. I wish I knew what she was thinking, if I even stand a chance.
“You could have told me,” she says quietly. “About your father. You could have said something at any time. How am I supposed to believe this all isn’t part of your twisted games? Get back with me so you have access to the company again for your revenge?”
“Because I don’t even want revenge anymore!” I exclaim. “Not if it hurts you. Not now I know Ashcroft was being threatened.”
Keely turns. “What do you mean?”
“Those photos you showed me.” I move closer. “The ones with your mother in a bullseye. You think that’s the reason Ashcroft broke things up, sent her away for her own safety.”
She nods.
“What if he did the same with my father?” My voice twists. Twenty fucking years I’ve believed the worst about Ashcroft, that his greed and destruction drove my father to suicide. But what if I had it all wrong? “You saw the photos, there were ones of my father too -- of my whole family. If Ashcroft thought he was in danger, maybe that’s why he shut him out of the company. To get him away from whatever was going on, so we’d all be safe.”
Keely’s eyes brighten. “That must be it! I never believed Ashcroft could do that to your father. Not if they were friends. He was a good man,” she insists, and for the first time, hearing that claim doesn’t make me feel sick to my stomach.
“I don’t know what’s true anymore,” I tell her, broken. “Everything I thought I knew is wrong. But I know I hurt you, and I’m so sorry. Forgive me, Keely. Give me a chance to make it right. Please.”
She watches me, clearly torn. I take another step towards her.
“You know I’m not the kind of guy to beg, but I’ll do it,” I vow, desperate. “I’ll get on my fucking knees, I’ll do anything you want. I’ve told you everything, the whole truth. You’re in control, Keely. You’re the one calling the shots now.”
I watch her, waiting for some reply. For her to tell me it’s OK, or that I need to get the hell out and never show my face again. My heart clenches, praying with everything I’ve got that she lets me stay.
I’ve never wanted anything so bad.
Finally, the conflict on her face clears. She’s decided.
Fuck. I brace myself for the worst, already forming another last-ditch argument. But when she opens her gorgeous mouth, I hear the last words I could ever expect.
“Take off your clothes.”