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I called Dez at her parents’ house and woke her lazy ass up to tell her the good news. After about three straight minutes of listening to her bitching about me waking her up, I finally cut her off and just blurted the words out.

The first thing she said to me was, “And I suppose you want me to be your maid of honor? ”

I laughed at her nonchalance. “If you’re not too terribly busy, I’d love that. ”

Dez sighed. “I guess I can do that, but you better know now that there will definitely be strippers at the bridal shower. ”

“You mean the bachelorette party? ”

“Yeah, that too. ”

I laughed. “Hey, do you get a discount since you’ve slept with all of them? ”

“Fuck you very much, and I damn well better. ” She laughed with me, and then she got serious. “I’m really happy for you, Lanie. But I’m still going to set his balls on fire if he fucks up. ”

“Aw, you’re so sweet. Now get your butt over here. I need you to drive me to Chicago. ”

“You’re lucky I don’t have to work until tonight, ” she huffed. “I’ll be there in two shakes of a donkey’s dick, trick. ”

I had just finished packing my things and stacking them by the front door when I wandered into the kitchen and saw my father sitting there having his lunch. He glanced up at me, his eyes full of sadness, and then returned his attention to his sandwich.

I knew he was upset but holding his tongue for my mother’s sake.

“Dad? ” I said, walking into the kitchen and taking the seat next to him.

He cleared his throat and sat back in his chair, attempting to look nonchalant. “What’s on your mind, baby girl? ”

“You know I’m going to be okay, right? ”

“Let me tell you what I know, ” he said, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. “Nothing, that’s what I know. You go off to college, money shows up out of nowhere in our account, your mother gets the best heart surgeon in the state—hell, in the country, for that matter—you show up with this bohunk who has more money than he knows what to do with, and all of a sudden my baby girl is running off to marry him. Hell, he didn’t even ask me for your hand in marriage. Now you tell me, Lanie, what’s there for me to be worried about? ”

“You have to trust me. I’m not a little girl anymore. I know what I’m doing. ”

He turned his head to look out the window and then sighed again. “Do you love him? ”

I laid my hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look back at me. “More than I ever thought possible. And he loves me, too, so much. ”

Silence stretched between us before he finally said, “You know, when I first held your tiny body in my arms, I swore to protect and keep you safe from everything this cruel world has to offer. But I also promised myself that I wouldn’t be so over-protective that I keep you from being happy. ”

“Noah makes me happy, Daddy, ” I told him, trying to convey my sincerity through my eyes. “I’m miserable without him. I want to spend the rest of my life loving him and letting him love me. But I can’t be truly happy without your blessing. I want you to walk me down the aisle and give me away to Noah, knowing I’ll be safe with him. So do we have your blessing? ”

Mack looked down at the table as he picked up a potato chip and shrugged. “I guess. But if he steps even a millimeter out of line, I’m going to be up his ass like a pogo stick, ” he said, and then popped the chip into his mouth.

I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Dad! I’ll always love you best. ”

“Holy torpedo in a Speedo! ” Dez gasped as we walked through the front doors of Scarlet Lotus.

“Wow, this is … impressive, ” I said, looking around at the ornate fixtures of the lobby. “The man I’m about to marry is doing very well, indeed. ”

“I really hate you right now, ” Dez said, her eyes narrowed at me in jealousy. “Just remember that what’s yours is mine. ”

“This won’t be mine, Dez. ” I spotted Polly and she waved us over. “I don’t want anything from Noah other than his love. And maybe—no, definitely—his body. ”

“Congratulations! ” Polly squealed when we reached her, and then she threw her arms around me for one heck of a bear hug. She sure was strong for such a tiny little thing. I guess it was true what they said about ants being able to carry fifty times their own weight.

I thought Dez was going to pull a knife on Polly when she did the same to her, but luckily Polly was too quick. When she pulled back, she got that excited look in her eyes. “Come on. Let’s get you upstairs to your fiancé. ”

She led us to an elevator and we stepped inside while she punched the button for the floor with Noah’s office. The entire ride up, she kept asking about the wedding; who was going to plan it, who was going to cater, the date, and the list went on and on. I could see the aggravation on her face when my answer to every question was, “I don’t know. ”

“Polly, he just asked me to marry him a few hours ago. When did I have time to plan a wedding? ”

“Pfft, ” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Honey, I had my wedding planned since I was, like, three. ”

Somehow I didn’t doubt that.

The elevator dinged, signaling our arrival to our destination, and the doors pulled back so we could step off. We followed Polly down a hallway, and I noticed that everyone stopped and stared after us like we were on display. I recognized some of the faces from the ball, but it still made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

“Hey, wifey! What are you doing here? ” Mason asked in surprise when we walked into his office. And then his eyes nearly bugged out when I stepped out from behind Polly. “Holy shit! What are you doing here? ”

“Shh, ” Polly said, cupping her hand over his mouth. “Is he in? ”

Mason only nodded because that was all he could do. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go get him, ” Polly directed me with a nod toward Noah’s office.

I walked over and cracked the door open. He was sitting at his desk, his back turned toward the door as he looked out his window like he was a million miles away. His hair was disheveled and his jaw was slightly scruffier than normal. Apparently his little impromptu trip to Hillsboro had left him with no time to shave.

I closed the door behind me. “Having second thoughts? ”

Noah swung around in his chair, his brow raised and eyes wide.

“Surprise, ” I said, walking toward him.

“Lanie? What are you doing here? ”

“I figured two can play the whole surprise-visit game, ” I told him as I took a seat in his lap. “Only I’m not leaving. I’m here to stay. My mother swears she’s fine, and my father … well, we have his blessing. ”

I felt his whole body relax around me, as if every ounce of tension that our separation had caused him had suddenly melted away with my words. His hold tightened when I leaned in and nuzzled his ear. “Looks like you’re stuck with me, ” I whispered.

Noah cupped my face in his hands, his lips brushing against mine when he said, “Welcome home, kitten. ” And then he gave me a searing kiss.

I melted against him, into him, as his words permeated my skin and became a part of me. I was back where I belonged, in the arms of the man who’d captured my heart for an eternity. My mother was healing, my father was back to work, and all was right with the world. Nothing could penetrate the happy little bubble I’d found myself in.

“Yo, Crawford! ” The door to Noah’s office swung open, disrupting our happily-ever-after moment as a voice I wished I could have forgotten tainted our pure air with obnoxygen.

Noah growled, ire thick in his voice, “What do you want, Stone? And what the fuck are you doing barging into my office unannounced? ”

“Oh, wow. Were you two about to get it on in here? Because I’m pretty sure that’s against company policy. We can always ask the board at the meeting on Monday to be sure. ”

I turned the full force of my glare on him, and he actually took a step back. “Come in search of your dinner, crumb snatcher? ” I asked.

“Delaine! ” he said, smiling widely in greeting. “Slumming it again? When are you gonna drop Crawford and give Big Daddy Dick a go? ”

Noah attempted to lunge from his chair, but I managed to hold him in place, barely. As much as I’d have loved to see Noah beat the crap out of the man, David Stone simply wasn’t worth losing Scarlet Lotus over. “Let it go, baby. He’s not worth it. He’s just suffering from penis envy. ”

“Ouch, my feelings, ” David whined with his hand over his heart and his bottom lip out in a pout.

I ignored him and stood, turning to face Noah. “I’m going to the house to unpack. I’ll see you when you get home. ” Intent on making sure David knew who was buttering my bread, I gave Noah a kiss that was so hot it made my own toes curl. “I love you, ” I told Noah, and then walked toward the door.

“Move, ” I told David.

He was smart enough to step to one side, but not without giving me a sarcastic grin. “I love you, too, sweetums. ”

Dez, Polly, and Mason had just walked back into Mason’s office, all three carrying fresh coffee.

Mason sighed when he saw David’s back before he closed the door. “Oh, shit. ”

“Hold the phone. Who is that piece of tall, dark, and ooh-la-la? ” Dez asked, checking him out.

“He is what we like to refer to as pathetic scum, ” Polly answered.

“No, seriously. Who is he? ” Dez asked again. “I think I know him. ”

“Let’s hope not, ” I said. “He’s David Stone. He owns the other half of Scarlet Lotus. ”

“Are you sure? Because he looks awfully familiar. ”

Mason sat on the corner of his desk and pulled Polly to stand between his legs. “No offense, Dez, but I hardly think he’d be running in the same circles as you. ”

“Well, never mind. It doesn’t matter anyway, ” she said, shrugging it off. Then she turned toward me. “You ready to go? I don’t have much time before I have to be at work. ”

“Yeah, I’m ready, ” I told her, and then bid farewell to Polly and Mason. Of course Polly promised she’d be over first thing the next morning to start wedding preparations. I shuddered at the thought.

Dez and I made it back to the mansion and, with Samuel’s help, got all my things unloaded and stacked in Noah’s bedroom. Shortly afterward, I saw Dez off for her shift at Foreplay, the meat market where Noah and I first met. I had just gone to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of ice water when the doorbell rang. As I walked back toward the foyer, I spotted Dez’s scarf where she had discarded it earlier.

Snatching it up because I knew it was the reason Dez had come back, I opened the door to hand it to her. “Forgot your sc—” My voice caught in my throat when I realized it wasn’t Dez on the other side of the door.

“Honey, I’m home. ” David Stone stood there with a slimy smile on his mug.

“Noah’s not in from the office yet. ” I attempted to slam the door in his face, but he stuck his arm out and kept it from closing.

“I’m not here to see Noah. I’m here to see you, ” he said, forcing me to back up as he pushed his way inside.

“You just don’t take a hint, do you? ” I asked, enraged by his relentlessness. “I don’t want anything to do with you, asshole. ”

David kept advancing on me until my back was pressed to the wall and he had cornered me. He caged me in with his body, his grotesque hand pushing a lock of hair out of my face while he smiled down at me.

“What do you want, David? ”

“I want you. ”

“Well, I don’t want you, so you can leave now. ”

“I think you might want to hear my proposal before you openly reject me, Lanie. ”

I bristled at his familiarity. “What did you just call me? ”

He smirked, but he was clearly confused. “What? I called you Lanie. ”

I pushed my shoulders back and straightened to my full height as I took one purposeful step toward him followed by another. “I only allow those I consider my friends to call me by that name. And you, sir, ” I said, poking him in the chest as he backed up, “are no friend of mine. ”

He gave me a broad smile that was more creepy than friendly. “Babe, ” he crooned with his hands up in surrender, “why are we always making war when we could be making love? ”

I shook my head. “Boy, you are really dumb, aren’t you? ”

“Hear me out, ” he said. “We don’t have to be enemies. I know what you women really want, and I’m positive we can work out a deal where we both come out on top. ”

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, ” he said with a shrug. “If you prefer to be on top, that’s fine by me. ”

“You’re disgusting. ”

“Can I finish? ”

“I’m really not interested in hearing anything you have to say. ” I walked toward the door, but before I could open it to kick him out, David was there with his shoulder pressed against it. I looked at him like he was crazy because obviously he’d lost his mind, but he just flashed that toothy grin again.

“So here’s the deal. You partner up with me, but stay here with Crawford for the time being as if nothing has changed. Let the sappy bastard fall in love with you, and then once you’ve snagged that magic lasso around your finger, you and I take everything. You help me get Scarlet Lotus, and I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life. You’ll never want for a damn thing again. Including the best cock in all fifty states. ”

I couldn’t help myself. I laughed. Loudly. I don’t think David appreciated the humor of the situation quite as much as I did because his face contorted into something that didn’t look altogether human.

“What the fuck are you laughing about? ” he asked.

“You, ” I said, pointing and still laughing at him. “You said that with such a straight face that it’s almost like you actually believe I’d leave Noah for someone like you. But of course you couldn’t really believe that. ”

His expression changed again, the angry furrow of his brow replaced with a knowing smirk on his lips. “Aw, I get it. You want your money up front. That’s how my partner paid you, right? ”

There was an abrupt halt to my giggling. I could feel all the blood in my face drain with his words, and I was suddenly paralyzed with fear.

“How much will it take? A thousand? Ten thousand? A hundred grand? Oh no, that’s right. The going price is two million dollars, right? Damn, that pussy’s gotta be lined in gold. ”

Oh, God. He knew.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, ” I said, my voice sounding unconvincing even to my own ears.

“No? ” Judging by the look on his face, it was safe to say he knew for sure that I knew what he was talking about. “Let’s see if this rings a bell. Noah made a trip to a little club called Foreplay and then slipped in through the back door to attend a secret auction where he bought you for a cool two mill … to be his sex slave. Sound familiar? ”

My whole body shook with trepidation.

“How did you know? ”

David chuckled. “I might have access to a certain contract. ”

He found the contract? But how?

“What do you want? ” I asked, ready to hear his demands.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against his body. Then he leaned down and whispered into my ear. “I already told you. I want Scarlet Lotus. And I want to sample the golden pussy for myself. ”

“No! ” I said, shoving at him, but he was too strong and I couldn’t make him budge.

“Ah, why be so stingy? It’s what you’re paid to do, right? The difference is I’m offering you so much more than the measly amount my partner paid. You can have it all, including me. At least then you’ll get to know what it’s like to be with a real man, ” he said, and then he licked the length of my neck from my collarbone to my earlobe. “You do this or Noah’s ship is sunk. I’ll go to the board and the press about your little deal, and he’ll lose everything; his company, his dignity, his standing in the public eye. Plus your folks will know their daughter is nothing but a common whore. So what’s it going to be, Delaine? ”

He palmed my breast and began to take liberties, squeezing it like it was a stress ball. I felt so completely vulnerable, and I was scared out of my wits. His hot breath fanned out over my skin, and he started to plant slimy kisses along the length of my neck.

My heart pounded furiously in its cage and I willed my mind to think of a way out of the predicament that I’d found myself in. Noah. I wanted my Noah. He’d be home shortly and then he’d …

And then it hit me. That was exactly what David was counting on. He wanted Noah to walk in and see him fucking me, just like when Noah had walked in and found him fucking Julie. David meant to destroy him completely.

So the decision I was left with was to either let him have what he wanted and break Noah’s heart, or to refuse him and watch helplessly as Noah handed his company over to David Stone—a company his parents had built from scratch. Noah would be ruined, and my parents would know what I had done. But if he walked in and saw us together, it might do far more damage. Could Noah still love me after all that? Either way, it seemed there was no easy answer.

Images of Noah’s face flashed across my mind: the anguished expression when he first told me he’d fallen in love with me, the light in his eyes when I finally got a chance to say it back, the desperation as he stood in the rain half naked and asked me to marry him. I couldn’t rip his heart out. I refused to put him through the same thing Julie had.

Material things could be replaced. Noah was smart enough and had the talent to rebuild. As for his damnation in the public eye, people were bloodthirsty and ruthless when it came to celebrities, but as soon as the next star fell from the sky, his sin would be forgotten. And yeah, I would forever see the disappointment in my parents’ eyes after they learned their daughter had sold her body for two million dollars, but the loss of their respect was a fair price to pay when I thought about the alternative. It was much more difficult to mend a broken heart, and Noah couldn’t take much more heartache. It took a lot for him to finally trust someone else, and he’d put everything he had left in the palm of my hands. No way was I going to destroy a gift that precious.

“No, ” I answered David. “I belong to Noah, and Noah alone. I am his. ”

I felt every muscle in David’s body tense as he registered my words. A low growl rumbled from his chest and he pulled back to glare down at me. “I will have you. Willingly, or not. ”

Before I had a chance to react, he grabbed my shirt and ripped it apart, sending buttons flying across the floor.

“No! ” I screamed, and then I gathered every ounce of strength I had in my body and pushed against him.

It was enough force to make him stumble back, giving me room to get out of his clutches. I made a run for the door, but David was quick on my heels. Just as I reached for the door handle, he grabbed my arm and yanked me back, sending me sailing across the floor until I hit my head on the wall.

David stalked toward me, undoing his pants in the process. I scrambled, trying to get away, but he was on me in a nanosecond. So I did the only thing I could do: I fought. If he was going to take me, I wasn’t about to make it easy for him. He hovered over me, and I kicked my foot out, nailing him in the balls.

“You bitch! ” He doubled over, but the kick hadn’t been enough to stop him. With renewed determination, he grabbed at my flailing arms and pinned me down to the floor. I was trapped under his weight, unable to move as he wedged his knees between my thighs and forced them apart while fumbling with my pants.

“Please! No! ” I cried out. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the horrific image of the disgusting man on top of me. He was a fucking animal; a panting, feral beast that was out of control with determined lust. The stench of his sweat burned my nostrils, and scalding tears ran freely down my face, their saltiness leaking past my trembling lips. At that moment I hated David Stone enough to want to kill him.

His hands went to the button on my jeans and I struggled to break free of his unyielding strength, determined not to let him touch me.

I was not a whore!

Just then, the front door flew open.

“Get the fuck off her! ” It was Noah’s voice, and he sounded demonic, as if he were possessed by Satan himself.

My bare skin felt an unexpected chill before I realized David was no longer on top of me. Instead, he was flying through the air, his body crashing into the side table with a sickening yet pleasing crack as its wood splintered under his weight.

Noah gave me a fleeting glance before he went after David, and I saw the rage that flamed behind his darkened eyes like red serpents licking a velvet sky. His shoulders heaved with angry breaths, his body tensed and ready to strike. I had never seen him look so fearsome.

He stalked toward the place where David lay among the debris trying to regain his bearings, but before he could get to his feet, Noah was there. Noah grabbed David’s collar and drew his fist back, and then a loud crack echoed through the room when he landed the first blow to David’s face.

David retaliated by grabbing Noah and throwing him back far enough to allow himself time to get to his feet. Blood spilled from his lip, and his face was swollen and discolored to an angry red. Then a battle cry clawed its way out of David’s chest and he ran full force toward Noah, hooking him around the waist and driving him into the wall behind him.

“Noah! ” I screamed as I got to my feet. I ran at them and jumped on David’s back, wrapping my arms around his neck to put him in a choke hold. Admittedly, I probably didn’t pose much of a threat. David proved that when he grabbed me and pulled me off his back to throw me back onto the floor.

It was the distraction Noah needed. He threw another punch, this one striking David’s rib cage. David doubled over and Noah took the opportunity to land an uppercut to his chin, sending him flying back again.

When he crashed onto the floor, David’s head lolled to the side and his body went limp. His face was bloodied and bruised, but that didn’t keep Noah from continuing his attack. He straddled David and kept pummeling him over and over again. When he was satisfied David had no more fight left in him, he shook out his swollen hand and stood, looking down at his foe with disgust.

He turned toward me, his face quickly morphing from anger to heart-clenching concern, and then he knelt beside me. “Are you okay, kitten? ”

Everything, the whole weight of the situation, finally hit home and I sobbed uncontrollably. David knew everything, and that still wasn’t enough. No, he hated Noah so much, he was going to rape me just to destroy him. He was going to rape me.

I clutched Noah’s shirt in my fists and pulled him to me so I could bury my head in his chest. “He wanted me to … And I couldn’t do that to you, and he was going to …”

“Shh, shh, shh, ” Noah said, cradling me in his arms. “I know, kitten. It’s okay. I’m here now, and I won’t let anyone hurt you. ”

Oddly, it wasn’t the fact that I had nearly been raped that had me so upset. Sure, that had a lot to do with it, but David hadn’t gotten the opportunity to follow through on his threat. Noah had protected me, just like he had promised he would. What was most upsetting was the fact that David knew everything and would stop at nothing to see Noah a broken man.

It wasn’t fear for my own well-being that had me so distraught; it was fear for Noah’s.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye just before heavy footsteps made a mad dash for the door. It was David, and he was running away. Noah turned me loose and made to go after him, but I pulled him back.

“No, you can’t! ” I yelled, holding on to him with all my might.

“He’s getting away, ” Noah said, trying to pull my hands loose.

Grabbing his face, I forced him to look at me. “He knows, Noah. He knows everything. ”

And just like that, our perfect little bubble had popped.

Noah

Samuel had just dropped me off at the front of the house with my briefcase and a bouquet of flowers for my girl in hand. I stared in confusion when I noticed we had a visitor, and I knew for a fact it wasn’t Dez. David Stone’s Viper was parked in plain sight, and for just a moment, my mind flashed back to the day I had found him assfucking my would-be fiancé e in my bathroom.

All I could think was, Please, not her.

My knuckles tightened around the bouquet in my hand until my senses brought me back to the fact that Lanie wasn’t that slut Julie and she would never do anything of the sort to me.

Still, the fear was there. Had I let my guard down only to be fucked over again?

Haunted by the desolation that replayed like a wavy vinyl disc under the needle of an old phonograph, I found it hard to force my feet forward. It was as if they had been fastened down with cement blocks to the rocky bottom of a murky river, cutting off the freedom required to swim to the surface for a much-needed breath of air. My heart was giving me a pep talk like a motherfucker, but the agony over the possibility that Lanie could have fallen under David’s mysterious spell overshadowed the trust I had given to her so easily. What the fuck did women see in him?

I was bitch-slapped out of my morbid thoughts when a bellow came from somewhere inside the house.

“You bitch! ” It was David’s voice, outraged and laced in venom.

The bouquet and my briefcase tumbled to the ground at the next sound, and the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention.

Lanie’s scream was a desperate plea, and I took the front steps in giant leaps. Without a second thought, I threw myself against the door, my body numb to the pain I should’ve felt in my frantic attempt to get to her.

The violent scene was displayed before me; my girl had obviously been knocked to the ground by that piece of shit motherfucker. Her cheek had a huge bruise beginning to rise, and it was obvious that a heavy hand had landed there mere seconds before. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her eyes were squeezed shut.

He put his fucking hands on my girl!

My heart was seized by a myriad of emotions that seemed to take on a life of their own. As they took shape, a full spectrum of colors clouded my eyesight and rendered me helpless to the maniacal beast that lay dormant within. Horrific greens morphed into sodden blues of terror. Violent midnight shifted to an outraged orange consumed by disgust until my vision was inflamed with a demonic red that burned white-hot with the intensity of rage. And then finally everything went black with the vengeance every microscopic cell in my body needed to claim.

“Get the fuck off her! ” I barely registered my own movement before I had David’s clothes clenched in my fists and had thrown him across the room, away from my girl. Lanie looked up at me, and everything inside screamed for me to provide the comfort I knew she needed, but the driving force to make David pay for what he had done won the battle.

Fury consumed me until I was possessed with no control over my own body. Fists were thrown and connected, my back was slammed against a wall, and then Lanie leaped across the room and landed on David’s back. It was when he swatted her away like she was nothing but an insignificant gnat that I snapped like a rubber band that had been stretched beyond its limit. I’d had enough of wrestling around with him like two scrawny boys grappling for dominance on a school playground. I was out for blood. I meant to beat him to a pulp until the very life force that kept the pathetic excuse for a human being alive was sucked out of him.

And I almost did. I was on him, hovering over him just as menacingly as he’d been hovering over my girl, punch after punch connecting with that slimeball’s face. I could hear his bones cracking under my fists, a sound I found quite pleasing to the ear.