Текст книги "Wild Cards"

Автор книги: R.C. Stephens

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Chapter 13

Vicky

His office was about the same size as Bryce’s, with the ceiling to floor windows that showed off the beautiful Manhattan landscape. His desk was large and carved of solid dark wood. In front of his desk were two Colonial style chairs and off to the side was a large brown couch and clear coffee table, with a small fridge beside it.

Given the size of the office and the comforts of home, I assumed he was a workaholic like Bryce.

He walked over to the window and looked outside. He was quiet and it made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure what to do next or what he expected of me. Didn’t he bring me here to show me around? I couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in a black pinstripe suit that hugged every inch of his muscular body. My eyes landed on his delectable behind and I tried to pull my gaze away before he noticed. I felt like a child whose hand was caught taking candy from the candy jar.

A moment later he turned to face me. “I don’t think you realized that you have agreed to work with me. I head the car plant. I am in charge of everything…” he paused. I pulled my eyes up to meet his. He was trying to gauge my reaction. He was right; I didn’t realize I had signed up to work closely with him. “Your office will be down the hall. I will take you there in a minute…” He paused again.

“Did something happen with Scott since last night?” he asked throwing me off and I squirmed. “Tell me,” he said, his voice full of command.

“Yes, he was leaving Bryce’s office as I came in to meet him this morning. He didn’t stop to talk to me because Bryce followed him out and came to greet me, but he winked at me and continued on. I thought he may be waiting for me in the lobby while I finished up with Bryce.”

“I saw that you looked paranoid when we arrived at the lobby,” he confirmed exactly what I felt. The way he read me, or maybe people in general, was an astounding gift.

“I know you aren’t going to like my suggestion but I will need to confer with security downstairs. I need to know when Wellington enters the building and where he is at all times. With you working here, we need to keep you safe,” he grinned. “I would prefer banning him from Tyson all together, but I know you don’t want this brought to Bryce’s attention. Although I think he is bluffing about revealing the tape. He must know that if he revealed the tape he would be charged with rape,” Luc said shaking his head.

I was so scared of Scott. I was so blinded by the violence he inflicted upon me that my mind became muffled from his name alone. I should have known this myself. So what is it that Scott wanted from me? If he didn’t want to publically humiliate me then what did he want?

“Vicky, can you think of any other reason why Scott is threatening you?” Luc asked and I felt baffled. I couldn’t have been good in bed. I was a mess. I cried. I vomited all over his sheets.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t understand his motive, Luc, other than he is a sick and deranged man.” I could see Luc mulling this over in his mind. It made me uncomfortable.

“I will figure this out, Vicky. Relax. I am used to figuring out psychos; I was raised by one,” he said, trying to reassure me.

“Thanks.” I smiled because his words made me feel safe. He didn’t seem like the type to make broken promises. Knowing that Scott would be monitored in the building was a relief. Luc’s intense green eyes bored down on me and made me feel warm.

“Is being alone what drives you to attend the sex parties?” he asked, throwing me off. Where did that question come from? I didn’t act surprised because I could feel something building between us. After everything he’d been through, I understood that he wanted all of our cards revealed.

“Aren’t you supposed to show me to my office?” I turned my head, wondering where it could be. I also realized that I was a challenge to him, and if I was not mistaken, he was a guy that liked a challenge. I saw the way the woman in the elevator came onto him. She would have been an easy lay, but Luc Lebaum doesn’t want easy. I may be easy at the parties because there was no emotion involved, but Luc was after emotion, he was after feelings and none of those things were easy for me to convey.

“Soon…I need to understand you. I want to know what makes you tick.” His gaze was on me and his tone was serious, only I threw my head back laughing at that one. “Seriously, Vicky, after I left your apartment last night, I was a fucking mess. I have built this wall up and I have told myself that it needs to stay there to protect you, but I’m losing it here. I want you…I want you bad,” he admitted, opening up to me again. When he opened up like that it made my heart split in two, and then gush all over the floor. Didn’t he understand that he was my undoing?

“Haven’t I scared you off with all this Scott Wellington drama? Can’t you see how messed up I’ve been. I’ve made bad choices. I’ve been burned. It’s hard for me to trust and to love,” I answered with defeat.

“No… I want to know more,” he said with a straight face.

“Luc, we are two broken people this…this thing between us…it’s not going to work… we should cut our losses now before we get too deep. Even this thing with Scott Wellington is messed up… you don’t need me causing problems for you.”

“Scott Wellington will be taken care of, I told you I’m working on it,” he replied curtly.

“Huh…what…what does that mean?” I asked with my mouth slightly ajar.

“All his crazed sex videos have been erased from his hard drives. He shouldn’t have anything on you anymore. Unless he managed to upload it onto a USB key, but being here in New York may mean he didn’t have a chance. So there is nothing messed up about you and nothing for your father to find out,” he explained matter of factly. “I’m not sure what his agenda is, or how he will react when he finds out that everything has been erased, but we will deal with it when the need arrives.”

I fell back into one of the chairs and huffed out a long breath then I refocused on Luc. “Thank you, Luc. How can I ever repay you?” I asked.

“I hate when you thank me or ask me that. Just leave it be, Vicky…” He seemed irritated now. Maybe I’d gone too far with holding back and keeping my heart at a distance. I don’t mean to, it’s a protective mechanism I’ve built up since I caught Jamie balls deep in Lily Sanders. Jamie was my high school sweetheart, my everything, and when I needed him most; he let me down in the worst way possible. My heart felt like it was sinking and Luc continued, “I get it, you want to cut our losses. You want to put an end to whatever is happening before it breaks either of us. Fine. Agreed!” he replied, throwing me off. I had to admit it hurt me that he agreed. He’d been so open about liking me I couldn’t believe he was backing down so quickly. I was more than disappointed.

“Where is that office you wanted to show me?” I asked, trying to rein in my emotions and not show him I was hurt that he was willing to back away from me. Why was I even hurt? I didn’t get it; there really was nothing between us.

“Right this way,” Luc said, guiding me out of his office. I followed him down a short hallway and a moment later he said, “Welcome to your new office.” He opened the door to a nice sized office with a simple desk, two chairs and a small window looking out to the busy New York skyline. I smiled at the simplicity because it was perfect and suited me.

“So where are the other interns? Are their offices also around here?” I asked, peeking out the door.

“Vicky, interns don’t get offices. Most of them are working at the plant itself. I’m assuming your father wanted to keep you close,” he replied and the thought warmed me.

“There is a computer at your desk. All the programs we use are already set up on it. You can familiarize yourself with everything and then come by my office and we can discuss next steps,” Luc explained with a professional tone. He had clearly shut down; he was no longer flirting and his eyes stuck to straight eye contact instead of devouring my body with a hungry gaze. He was giving me exactly what I asked for…he had cut our losses. He seemed insulted at first but now he was thriving on the idea. Damn him. I got to work and Luc left the office saying he would touch base later on. Fine, I can play that game.

***

After a few hours of familiarizing myself with the programs, I sauntered over to Luc’s office. He piled me up with a ton of research to do for the project. I didn’t mind. It was all interesting and a good learning experience. Bryce was right on. I kind of expected Bryce to stop by at some point but I understood he was busy.

At five o’clock Luc sent me a text.

Do you need a ride back to the apartment? I will need to cancel dinner… I am working late and then going to a party…

His text caused my mouth to drop open. He was ditching me for dinner after his whole liking to spend time with me spiel last night, and now he was going to a sex party? The nerve. Screw him.

No worries about dinner and I can get my own ride. I replied to his obnoxious text.

Bryce had already mentioned that Derek would give me a ride back to the apartment, so I didn’t need Luc and his hotter than hell accent. Then I got another brilliant idea.

Chapter 14

Luc

After putting in many hours on the electric car project, I leaned back in the chair at my desk and ran my fingers through my hair, just staring at my office. It was a beautiful corner office, large and bright on the fortieth floor of Tyson Towers in New York City. It almost seemed surreal. I turned my chair around so it was facing the ceiling to wall glass window and watched the sun set over the beautiful city. Working at Tyson had been good for me. I was thankful to my ex-wife’s boyfriend, Dylan, for setting me up with Bryce. Right before I left Canada, Dylan called me up. He said he felt like he owed me for saving Alexis and that Alexis was worried that I was leaving town on my own with nowhere to go. He said that he had a connection in New York with a business mogul and that he already spoken to him and he agreed to give me a job with options for investment. Of course at first I didn’t want to take his help. After everything I had been through and done, I was hoping to walk away with some form of my dignity intact. When Alexis pulled the phone away from Dylan and chided me that I had to take the job…well…it changed things…

Now sitting and remembering my evil family and sordid past reminds of the evil I came from. Vicky, a woman that I was growing to care about, was faced with the likes of Scott Wellington, another psychopath devil, that didn’t care who he hurt. Even though her defenses were up for now, and she believed I was walking away from her, I could never do such a thing. I was hooked on her from the moment I laid eyes on her.

I made a quick phone call, “Hi, yeah. No, you are right. I can’t lie to you. You know that…he is a problem… Oh, you saw it too? Good I’m glad this isn’t news to you…. I agree….yes….she doesn’t want me to tell you….I know….she’s stubborn…” I chuckled. “Yes….okay….sounds good keep me updated.”

I closed the phone. Vicky may feel like she’d been living her life alone but she wasn’t alone anymore. She had people in high places looking out for her and Scott Wellington better watch his next steps. Thinking of Scott’s cruelty made me once again assess my own life. I couldn’t help but associate myself with the bad, I was raised around bad people and forced to do bad things. I knew the fact that I was forced had caused me to have some major control issues in my life.

That is why I made a plan and I kept to it for two solid years. I held on to the control I so desperately needed. Everything was running smoothly. No sex, no alcohol, no drugs…. Then she came along, a young girl, probably too young, Vicky Molino. She’d awoken parts of me that I thought had died and that should never been allowed to feel.

I gathered some papers off my desk and placed them in my briefcase along with my laptop. Then I made my way down the elevator. I so often thought of Alexis and my past. I sometimes felt like I was constantly living in the past as the present passed me by. A part of me felt sad about not looking to the future, but it was all I could do to hold all of my broken pieces.

As I entered the SUV, I watched the busy people of Manhattan walk with conviction in their steps. Everyone always looked so busy and determined. Finally I arrived back at my apartment.

I head up, preparing for another crazy night. Vicky really got to me in my office today. She’s one stubborn girl. When I think “girl” it made me laugh because of how it irritated her. I realized today that I have been making things too easy for her, and I’ve been too kind to her and it seemed to be having a reverse effect. When I told her I was cutting her lose, I didn’t really mean it, but that was for me to know and her to find out. She needed the challenge. I was about to give her the challenge of her life.

As I pictured Vicky in those fuck me high heels I felt my damn cock go hard. I felt so tense after watching her strut around the office all day that my balls were turning blue. Then I began to envision her on the first night we met. How I watched her body lose control and orgasm, it was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen.

There was a special way about her, I noticed it the second she walked through my door. Thinking of that guy licking that sweet pussy of hers made my cock so hard that I needed to find relief. I sat back in the large armchair in the middle of my very large main room and undid my pants. As I stroked my cock, I envisioned Vicky rubbing me with her petite hands. I began to hold the beast harder and pumped myself, feeling my balls harden. I finally had the vision of Vicky coming hard and screaming out my name. As I envisioned her small breasts flailing in the air, I rubbed harder needing the release that was so close. I rubbed my dick hard and fast and hot cum spurtted out of me. As I stiffened, I pictured a sated look on Vicky’s face and I wished that fantasy had been real.

As my breathing slowed the main intercom made a buzzing sound throwing me off. Shit, the guy must be here to set up for the party. I walked over to the bathroom and grabbed some tissue to wipe myself off. Then I ran to the intercom and pressed the button, pissed that the guy arrived early and pulled me from my exotic daydream.

“Hello, sir, I have Big Key here to set up,” the doorman said with a confused tone, probably because Big Key was not a real name, it’s the name of his company. He was the one responsible for checking the profile of the guests, along with blood work and criminal checks. His parties are smooth and always have a nice crowd.

“Yup, send him up,” I said then I released the intercom button. I hoped my plan worked out because tonight was about to get interesting.

Chapter 15

Vicky

So Luc wanted to play hardball? That’s fine. Two can play that game. I’ll go to the party too and make him watch as I fucked around with all the guys in the room. A cold shiver ran up my spine and I was cringing from the thought. I took a throw pillow off the couch and pitched it across the room with anger. Damn, Luc was making me soft. I couldn’t even picture myself with a stranger now, but he didn’t need to know that. I was sure once I was in my element, I would be able to play just fine.

I looked down to my phone and my eyes bugged out. It was Luc holding the party tonight, that smug asshole. Knowing that it was him holding the party made me want to go even more and rub his face in what he was missing out on. Then I realized that this was completely my fault for pushing him away repeatedly. While he’d been helping me every step of the way, I hadn’t even asked him his side of his story. It suddenly seemed unfair.

My thoughts were once again in overdrive and I felt like I had a split personality. I couldn’t be falling for Luc, I couldn’t. With no one to turn to for advice, I pulled the letter out of my purse and read it again. Maybe there was some sort of clue or something I was missing.

Dear Vicky,

If you have this letter it means that I’m gone. You are the bright star of my life and although we won’t see each other anymore. I will be smiling down on you in your dreams. Please know that even after I’m gone we can still talk, and I will listen like I always have. I will watch over you from above.

I need to pause as my eyes filled with tears making the words blurry. This letter never got old. I got up to get a Kleenex box off the kitchen counter, and I blew my nose and wiped my eyes. It always evoked the same feeling of loss, making me remember that my sense of comfort and family, my magic carpet that was pulled from under me, would never be replaced. I fell back down on the couch and continued to read.

My last days were difficult and I am glad to have relief. To finally be in a place that’s peaceful with no pain or worries. I know you are a strong girl and that you will be just fine without me by your side. Even though I believe that I have gone to a universe parallel to yours.

I have to tell you something important. I’ve been trying to tell you since you were about thirteen years old, but I could never find the right time and life was good. I didn’t want anything to change.

The only reason I’m telling you now is because of my illness, we all need to know our genetics, just in case life surprises us one day as it did with me. I never planned on leaving so early, I thought I had time, then the pain took over, and I couldn’t find the words through the pain. I’m hoping that you will find it in your heart to forgive me one day, Bella.

Our family Tony, Joseph, you and me. We were happy and I didn’t want anything to change. Even writing the words are difficult for me, and I would rather write another hundred words about what an amazing daughter you are and how grateful I am that you helped me and stood by me to the end. I know it wasn’t easy to watch me suffer.

Okay here it is. Tony Molino is not your biological father. I said it. Now please let me explain. Take a deep breath, sweetheart, because no matter what, he’s been your father in every sense of the word since you were six months old. When I married Tony, I adopted Joe. His mother abandoned him when he was only six months old and Tony struggled to raise him and take care of him. That is how Tony and I connected, we were both single parents trying to do the best for our children and we ended up falling in love and creating a family.

Now that’s out of the way, let me tell you about your biological father. I met him when I was eighteen years old. I drove my parents crazy to let me get a job singing and dancing on a Caribbean cruise ship and they let me go for a summer. I had the time of my life putting on shows, lounging on the Caribbean beaches. For a girl that never left Thunder Bay, it was like another world.

Your dad was a tourist on the ship. Young and handsome, he was only twenty years old. Just about the age you are now. He was very handsome. Tall, strong and very rich. He was definitely out of my league. He was prim and proper and nothing like me, the poor small town girl. His father owned Tyson Global and he was the heir to an empire.

But regardless of our differences, it was love at first sight and we spent a whole week together on the boat. When the trip ended, he begged me to come back to New York with him, but I was dedicated to going back to my parents in Thunder Bay. I didn’t think I would fit in to that lifestyle. I liked our quiet small town where everyone new everyone’s business, I didn’t see the point in getting lost in such a big city.

He tried to contact me many times after, but I never returned his calls. When at the end of the summer I went back to Thunder Bay, I realized I was pregnant. You can imagine how your Nana and Nono reacted. A nice Italian girl is not supposed to get pregnant out of wedlock, and in Thunder Bay it was kind of hard to hide my bump. By the time I was eight and a half months pregnant, I decided I had enough and got on a plane to New York to find Bryce.

I arrived in Manhattan and was about to call him up. I stopped at a diner to eat something. I was tired and exhausted from the flight and the pregnancy. There was a copy of the New York Times on the table and I opened it up to the society page. There was a huge picture of Bryce with a Lydia Vander Heusen. It was an announcement for their engagement. It said that Lydia’s family owned Hi-Tech Industries and the companies were going to merge together.

I realized that I couldn’t exactly show up to Bryce’s door barefoot and pregnant. So I got into a cab with the intention of heading back to Thunder Bay. When I got in the cab, my water broke. The cabbie drove me to Metropolitan Hospital where I gave birth to you, baby girl. I had never seen anything so perfect in my life.

I was stranded in New York with a newborn baby and a hospital bill. I didn’t have a choice, so I called Bryce, only it was his mother that picked up the phone. She said he was too busy to talk to me. She came to the hospital, paid the bill, and set me up in a hotel for a month with a live-in nurse to help me care for you. I waited for Bryce to show up, but he never did. His mom also offered me money to disappear, but I rejected her money.

Of course you did Mom.

When you were a month old, I took you back to Thunder Bay and began working at the diner during the day while Nana took care of you. As upset as they were with me, they fell in love with you right away. It was kind of hard not to. You had jet-black hair, green eyes and a perfect little button nose.

Now when I look back on it, I think Bryce’s mother never told him the truth. I think she was worried about the deal going through. But I think it’s where you get your brains. Your dad is a really smart guy.

Anyway, I met Tony at the diner when he came in with Joe for lunch one day, and we dated for a few months then got married and we lived a good life together.

I couldn’t have asked for a better family or a better daughter or son. Tony is a good man and always took care of us, so don’t give up on him.

Your father is Bryce Andrews of Tyson Global, you can find him in New York City if you choose too.

I love you, baby girl, you’ll always be in my heart and me in yours.

Love you forever,

Mom

All of my emotions bombarded me again and I felt sick, lost in a pool of despair. My stomach began to grumble, and I cursed Luc again, he was supposed to be my dinner date. I enjoyed eating with him. I enjoyed his company. The leftover sushi in the fridge was all raw fish and I hate raw fish.

I didn’t want to order pizza, I hadn’t been able to eat pizza since we made it with Mama, just after she found out she was sick. I quickly Googled take out options in Manhattan. After a thorough takeout search on my iPhone, I realized that sushi, Thai food, or Mediterranean food would be too expensive to deliver, and I was stuck with the more economical option of ordering pizza. I was so hungry that it felt like a hollow hole was forming in my stomach. I tried to convince myself that I could handle eating pizza. I could probably live off of one pizza for a few days and it would be economical. After a ten minute internal struggle, I picked up the phone in the apartment and dialed the local pizza store.

“Yes, what can I get for you, Miss?” A young Italian guy asked.

“A large cheese pizza. Do you deliver?” I asked, my heart clenched when his voice reminded me of Joe, my brother, the only family I had left. We may not be blood related but he was my older brother in every way that counted. I couldn’t believe he took off the way he did. The thought of my brother caused my deep hole of sorrow to dig a little deeper.

“Yes, ma’am. Thirty minutes or it’s free,” the young guy chuckled. “Can I get your address, ma’am?”

“Yes,” I responded, giving him my address. Something about his voice ended up being soothing. I wished we could have stayed on the phone and talked a little longer, just so I could hear it more. I knew it was pathetic and a testament to my loneliness, but I couldn’t stop pulling away from people, not when life is so unpredictable and we could die tomorrow. I know I sound like a bitter old woman that’s lived through life’s harshness, but there was no light at the end of my tunnel.

“Okay, you have a great night then,” he replied and hung up the phone.

“Yeah, you too,” I sighed sadly. I was so desperately alone and sad, I decided the best option was liquor. Luckily I bought a small bottle in duty free. I was by no means a heavy drinker but I’d used alcohol to numb the pain on occasion. I went to my duffle bag in my room. I still needed to unpack but unpacking felt permanent, and I wasn’t ready to yet. I dug around for the small bottle of rum, when I felt the cool glass in my hand I pulled it out. Perfect.

I went to the kitchen and found a clear glass tumbler and poured my first round. The intercom buzzed and I went to the door to press the button. “Miss Molino, its Tim did you order pizza?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I am sending him up.”

A few minutes later there was a knock on my door and I heard the pizza man call out, “Pizza delivery.”

My stomach growled with anticipation.

“That will be $18.75, ma’am,” he smiled.

I passed him a twenty. “Keep the change.”

“Here’s your six-pack of Coke, it’s free with your order,” he said passing me the cans. I closed the door with my foot and headed back over to the couch. Eating at a kitchen table when you are alone is too depressing and lonely. I opened the pizza box and allowed the fresh steam and delicious aroma to take over my senses. My stomach growled some more. I could do this. I could eat the pizza. Maybe I should get drunk to eat the pizza…The perfect meal. Rum, Coke and pizza. As my emotions took a belly flop to the floor, my teeth landed on the first bite. It was delicious, authentically Italian. My luck, couldn’t it have been an Americanized version of pizza?

The thin crust reminded me of Mama even more. I continued to eat because I was just so damn hungry and I drowned my bites with the perfect amount of rum and Coke. By the time I’d finished my meal, I had a nice buzz and I headed for the shower with an extra sway in my stride. I couldn’t help but wonder about his intentions for holding the party tonight. He said he doesn’t touch women. Suddenly I was struck with a sick feeling…maybe he was going to start. Shit. What was is it about wanting something you know you can’t have? Oh yeah, that’s right, it makes you want it more…my inner voice castigated me.

After a warm shower in the yummy shower jets, I sauntered out feeling happy and slightly tipsier than I thought. I headed over to my duffle bag and slipped into the only other sexy lingerie I had. A black lace see-through bra and thong panties that left little to the imagination. I pulled my black slinky dress out of my duffle bag. As I stepped into the dress I lost my balance and fell to my ass chuckling. I slowly picked myself up off the floor thinking that I was going to show Luc how much I didn’t care. This time, I took a seat on the bed and slipped the dress over my legs. Then I fell back so that my head hit the bed and I wiggled the dress up my body. My skin felt warm as I enjoyed my buzz. When I finally stood up, I looked in the mirror and noticed my rosy cheeks. Shit, that rum hit me hard. With no interest to blow out my hair, I gave it a quick shake out making myself dizzy. Given the fact I would fail miserably if asked to do the straight-line walk, I figured that make-up was out of the question; less I risk a crooked black line with my eyeliner.

Instead I dabbed a little red lipstick on my lower lip and rolled my lips together to spread it about. After smoothing out the dress on my body, I trudged back over to the bed to put my new fabulous Jimmy Choo sandals on. Satisfied with my look, I grabbed my purse and swayed to the door.