“Jesus, Harris, what are you doing here?” I click my seatbelt a little harder than necessary and try not to look ruffled.
His veneer, over-whitened smile practically lights up the back seat and I roll my eyes to the side as I huff a breath but immediately regret it because his cologne is so strong.
“What’s the matter, princess? You worried I might crash your party?” His voice is smooth as silk, but I know this is his dangerous voice, it’s the voice he uses with customers when he’s at his manipulative worst.
Putting my game face on, I run through my mental checklist. Body relaxed. Check. Anxiety put away. Check. Smile on my face. Check. I’m ready for whatever battle he so generously brought to me this morning.
Linking my fingers in my lap and shaking my hair off my face, I take a calculated deep breath of boredom and say, “I know you’re not, I let dad know I don’t need you. So why don’t you just tell me why you’ve graced me with your presencefirst thing so I can drop you off and breathe some fresh air?”
He fixes his onyx eyes on me like a cat about to play with his food. “Oh, you will need me, princess. I’ve been doing my homework on this assignment for almost a year, and I know exactly what you’re walking into. You are going to fail and I’m going to make sure daddy dearest knows it’s because you have no business in this business.” He punctuates the last few words by casually pointing his finger and jabbing it into the seat between us, his voice mocking.
If he pulled me in knowing I’m going to fail, just what am I walking into? Damn it.
Anxiety starts to tap against my temples, trying desperately to get out and take control of every tiny thing around me to ease the threat in front of me. Keeping my mask of calm, cool and collected on my face, I tip my head with a smile, “Is that all? Feel better?”
The slight twitch in his lip exposes the anger he’s hiding, like a child who didn’t get the toy he wanted. He’s super pissed I had him pulled off this assignment, I’d bet my suede boots that he not only wants to see me fail, but he wants to be a part of it every step of the way. But he keeps his anger reeled in and tries to hide it behind his condescending, pretend-bored face.
If he thinks he can pull off a full-on, fucking performance of theater faces like I can, he’s got another thing coming. I’ve been practicing this shit since I was a young girl and have perfected it to chefs’ kiss proportions.
“I’m warning you, princess, you’re up against the big dogs and I will eat you for lunch. I’m not losing what I’ve worked so hard for to a spoiled little rich girl who thinks she can bat her eyelashes at daddy and get what she wants.”
Taking a moment to look over his face, I try to remember what I ever saw in him. The soft, caring eyes I used to look into was nothing but an act. The muscle in his jaw ticks as I showno fear from his threat. “Don’t forget, Harris, I’ve seen you naked and calling yourself a big dog is a stretch at best.”
He narrows his eyes on me, his anger beginning to show like a petulant child. “Be careful what you start, Ellyot.” His voice is a couple of octaves lower and the hair on my arms stands up. I’m a little worried about what he obviously knows that I don’t.
The car slows as we pull into the airport and navigate to my dad’s private jet, and I couldn’t be happier. His irritation is rolling off him in waves and pricking me all over, but I ignore the powerful urge to squirm and adjust myself in my seat.
“You started this, Harris, when you used me to get close to my father. Is that the hard work you are referring to? Are you questioning your little game now?” I barely keep the quiver of my own anger out of my voice.
Tilting my head a little more, I narrow my eyes at him and say, “To be honest, I can’t figure out why you had me sent on this assignment? Do you really think in the end, my father will choose you over me?”
I know I hold no importance in my father’s eyes if I can’t get him what he wants, but maybe Harris doesn’t know that for sure. But I just can’t let him walk away from this conversation with any kind of satisfaction.
His eyes move down to the few inches of my exposed legs under my knee-length skirt and back up to pause on my breasts before meeting my eyes. His voice is low and sultry, “No, princess, using you was just a little fun on my part. Every time I fucked you, it felt like I was one-upping the old man.”
He leans closer to me and puts his arm across the back of the seat and softly pushes a piece of my hair off my temple with his finger. I suppress a shiver as his dark eyes lock on mine, and for a split second, fear grips my spine. I remindmyself that Harris is more like a spoiled child than a threat and keep my breathing even.
His lips tip up on one side. “It got me rock hard knowing my cum was still sticky on your thighs every time I fucked you in my office and sent you off to daddy.”
A disgusting and crass spoiled child.
I calmly tilt my head away from his hand, my hair trailing through his fingers, the comment stinging deep in my chest. Trusting him was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made, and I’ll never forget the level of betrayal I felt at his hands.
But I’ll never show that to him.
“You never one-upped anyone, Harris, it was just a little fun before I graduated, then I had to leave juvenile pursuits behind.”
His fingers curl into a fist next to my head, his jaw ticking again. Just then, the door opens, and I give him a small smile before I climb out and walk toward the private jet, my legs shaky as I take the stairs.
My heart is beating hard against my chest as I sit in the buttery leather seat of the jet and let my head fall against the seat. Another reason I don’t want to have anything to do with this part of my father’s business, dealing with the Harris types out there sends my anxiety through the roof.
He never fails to remind me what a stupid girl I was for trusting him.
Fuck, I hate that he still has the ability to get to me.
Not because I still have feelings for him, well, I have feelings of disdain and regret, but because I was so naïve in the first place.
I should have listened to my gut.
