“Me too, babe. So fucking much.” He held my upper lip between his teeth and bit gently. “But I know it’s not the only thing you’re interested in, and I feel the same way for you.” His hand hiked up my dress, and his erection was pressing against my panties now. I throbbed hard, scorched from head to toe, my eyes fluttering shut. “Ever since this morning,” his hand went under my dress and onto the edge of my panties, “and more after our first kiss.”
My heart sank to my knees, and the pleasure I thought was possible, the pleasure I never deserved but insolently allowed myself to taste and accept, was about to shatter into a cruel disappointment. “Our first kiss, the one I gave you right after you brought the water?”
He nodded, his fingers about to dip inside my panties. “It was the first kiss that felt so real in years. It changed everything for me.”
My eyes squeezed painfully, and I held his hand, stopping it midway. “Put me down.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. There’s something I need to tell you. Something that’s going to make you hate me.”
CHAPTER18
Fabio
I stared at the little black dot in her hand and the expression of guilt on her face, my brows hooked so tight it hurt. How could I be so stupido? When we were in the elevator and mentioned something about calling Fletcher an ass tw— she meant twice. Because she’d heard me the first time I did through the bug when she was in the bathroom. “That’s why you kissed me? You panicked, and that kiss was your only way to distract me so you’d bug me?”
“I’m so sorry. I’m in the middle of a war with Fletcher. There’s a deal that can make or break Brighton, and he’s after it, too. I thought you were a spy sent by him.”
“A spy?” The word left a bitter taste in my mouth. “Of course. Because I’m for sale. People hire me to do dirty shit.”
“Fabio, please. I’m truly sorry, but put yourself in my shoes for a second. What was I supposed to think? Why does a very attractive man like you offer a middle aged woman a free night with him when he could be spending it having a good time with a girl his age or making good money doing his job?”
“Because he finds you attractive, too, and would have asked you out properly if you just hadn’t been so goddamn arrogant, if you’d treated him like he was a human being that could like someone for the sake of it and not for gain.”
She gulped, her eyes darkened, her usual frown darkening her face, too. I wanted to apologize for saying what I said, but I was too angry, too hurt to admit fault.
How could everything I’d felt while I was with her, every emotion that I thought was so fucking real, turn out to be all fake? How could the only person I thought saw me differently turn out to be seeing me the same like everybody else?
“You called me to escort you to the party because you thought I was a spy. You kissed me because you thought I was being paid to screw you over. Now, you knew I wasn’t any of that shit but said hell with it. He’s a piece of meat, trying so hard to make you use him, so why the fuck not?”
Her eyes bulged at me. What, was she surprised? As if it wasn’t true? If it wasn’t, why was she silent? Why wasn’t she denying it? Why wasn’t she telling me I was wrong?
Because I wasn’t wrong. That was exactly how she felt about me.
I shrugged out of my tux jacket and shirt and tossed them on the nearest chair. “Where do you want me?”
“What?”
“Where do you want me?” I started with my pants. “On the couch? Against the wall? I highly doubt you’ll give me the honor of fucking you in your bed, so choose a place so I can get the job done and be gone.”
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered.
“Put yourself in my shoes for a second. What amIsupposed to think?”
Her lips trembled with words she wouldn’t say. Words I wished she’d have said. Anything was better than the silence confirming I was a fool. She closed her eyes and nodded. “You should go.”
I shook my head. Was it so fucked up that after all this shit I didn’t want to go? “I’m a man of my word. I won’t back out on our deal.”
“You’re nothing but a boy.” She lifted her chin, arching a brow, her expression all different all of a sudden, more stern as she looked down on me. “A boy toy like Fletcher said. Everything you said is true, Mr. Zappa, and yes, I wouldn’t have allowed you in my bed. In fact, I was sorry I invited you here and didn’t go to a hotel.” She spun and headed for the door. “You really shouldn’t be here, so please get dressed and leave. Forget we ever met.”
My nostrils flared as fury burned through my veins. I collected my clothes and stalked toward her. “Gladly. Won’t be so hard anyway.”
The second I stormed out of the penthouse, I knew I was lying. One thought accompanied me as I got dressed in the elevator like the whore I was, drove to my place, packed a little bag for me and Tiara and started our long drive to Chicago.
It was going to be so hard to forget anything about Gabriella Brighton.
CHAPTER19
