“I’d have paid big bucks to see that. Linc said you were drooling too,” Asher joins in.
Pulling my gaze away from the screens, I give them a hard glare. “You’re full of shit,” I aim at Lincoln.
“By the looks of her, she didn’t seem so into you though. How does it feel to not have a woman drop to her knees for you?” Lincoln continues ribbing with a grin.
Shewasinterested. Her wet pussy told me so.
They can irritate me all they want, but they’re two people in this world I’d trust my life with. We’ve gone through so much together. Witnessed each other at our worst. Seen some fucked up shit. Done shit to survive and then thrive. We clawed our way to the top. We may not be blood, but we are brothers.
Always will be.
“Did you check on the casino?” I ask Asher to change the subject.
“Yeah, no problems. All money accounted for,” Asher informs me. Between the nightclubs, casinos and our property portfolio we own around the country, it’s getting harder and harder to find trustworthy people to run them when we’re not there.
“We have to keep on top of everything. I’ll head to Vegas next week and check things out there. I’ll take them by surprise.” If our staff are ripping us off. I’ll know about it.
“Good idea. I’ll check on Manhattan, and Linc can oversee Chicago,” Asher suggests.
“Sounds like a plan,” I say.
“Well, boys, it’s about closing time, and I’m done for the night. I’m ready to find myself a little entertainment.” Lincoln winks and rises to his feet. By ‘entertainment’, I know he means a woman or two. “How about you, big fella? Is tonight the night you join me in getting some action?” Lincoln teases Asher, knowing that he isn’t going to join him. He’ll stay until the club closes. Make sure everything is in order and then go home. Alone. We haven’t seen Asher with a woman in years. The reason? He believes he’s seen too much… done too much, that nothing or no one excites him anymore. He’d rather use his hand when needed than have to engage with anyone.
Asher stays silent.
“Maybe tomorrow night,” Lincoln jokes, and then to me, he says, “Too bad the woman you were talking to earlier left. I bet I could’ve gotten her to come home with me.”
Gripping the armrests of the chair, my body grows still despite seeing the mirth glinting in Lincoln’s eyes. He’s purposely testing me and enjoying it. “Fuck around with her, and I’ll rip you a new asshole.”
Lincoln holds his hands up. “Whoa. I’m joking. Geez. Since when do you care if we share?”
Since now. “She’s too good for you. For any one of us.” So, Lincoln and Asher don’t make this a big deal, I soften my tone. “Anyway, I doubt she’ll be back.”
And that disappoints me more than I’ll ever admit.
seven
DAISY
Thenextmorning,I’min the first row of the Fortitude Baptist Church, trying to listen to my father’s sermon. Trying, but failing because my attention is up in the clouds, or should I say in the club named Chains. I rip my thoughts away and focus on my father’s words about purity and virtue—a lesson I should listen closely to, because what I did last night was so debauched and far from pure. I squirm in my seat. I should be ashamed of what I did. It goes against everything I’ve been taught. Yet, it was the most excited and aroused I’ve ever been in my life. And that’s why I can never go back. The temptation is too strong. I’ll give Sally the membership passes Kade placed in my hand. She can find someone else to go with. After the night she had, she can’t wait to go back.
There’s no way I can go back. Not when I remember Kane’s words:“Next time I see you spying at my window, Daisy Chain, you’ll be joining me on that bed.”How dare he say such an audacious thing? Men like him are bad news. Bad news or not, itdoesn’t stop my mind recalling his hard body pressed against my back. His fingers trailing the inside of my thigh and entering me.
“Daisy.”
His warm breath fanning along my neck.
“Daisy?”
Mrs Carmichael, next to me, nudges my arm. She frowns with lips puckered in disapproval and nods her head so vigorously toward the pulpit that her blue hat threatens to fall off.
I glance up at my father, who’s looking at me with a quizzical expression. It’s not like me to not pay attention during a sermon. So lost in my erotic daydream, I lost focus.
“Daisy, would you mind joining me, please?”
Confused about what he wants, I stand and flatten my palms down my skirt, hoping he’s not going to make me add anything to his speech. A speech I wasn’t listening to.
It’s not the first time he’s asked me to join him, but usually he tells me first. Did he mention anything this morning? With my mind on other things, could I have missed it?
