Page 212 of This Woman Forever
I don’t like what I’m looking at. John, awkward. Dan, curious.
“If this is a hotel,” he says, focusing on me. “Then where’s the reception area?”
“What?” I snap, throwing him all the warning I can muster, willing him to be wise and fuck off.
“Where do your guests pick up the keys to their rooms?” he asks, turning his eyes onto John. “And why the need to have a gorilla escorting me everywhere?”
A gorilla? The dirty, insolent prick. Every modicum of my being is demanding I pound his arse and then let John have a go too. But, give me strength, I can’t do that to Ava. So I motion back toward my office, urging Dan to take this away from the public areas of The Manor.
But Dan isn’t looking at me to catch my gesture. His eyes are on the stairs, and Ava has become stiff under my hand on her back. And then I realize why.
Oh... Jesus.
Sam and Kate descend the stairs, wrapped up in each other—literally—laughing, touching, kissing. They’re clearly not done, so why the fuck didn’t they stay behind closed doors?
I feel Ava nudge me, and I look down at her as she stares up the stairs in horror. What does she expect me to do? Press rewind?
“I think we need to invest in one of those dildos,” Sam says, feeling out Kate’s arse, his face in her neck.
“Oh!” Kate giggles as they reach the bottom, still oblivious. My mate slips his hand between Kate’s legs. Fuck my life. “Sam!” Kate throws her head back as Sam flings her over his arm, and then she sees us. Me first. I smile, eyebrows raised, as John grunts and Ava remains stock-still, in a state of shock and dread. These two. They’re like a walking fucking advertisement for The Manor.
Kate’s eyes finally find Dan. Widen. Then she shoots up and makes a pathetic, pointless attempt to compose herself.
“Hotel?” Dan asks, looking Kate up and down, before his eyes drift up the stairs. I can hear the background noise from some of the rooms. The odd whip. A distant scream. “Do you often let your friends carry on like this in your establishment?”
“Dan,” Ava says, moving away from me. Oh no. I pull her straight back. She is not pacifying this fuckhead.
“I think you should come back to my office,” I say, pointing back.
“No, thanks.” He snorts, his full attention on Kate. I silently will him not to turn this into something nasty. “You’re whoring it up at a brothel?”
“What the fuck?” Sam yells. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
“This is no brothel,” Kate says, pulling Sam back. “And I’m no whore.”
Enough. Has this prick forgotten I’ve just saved his skin? Would be a shame if I had to kill him ten minutes later. I go to Dan, my lip definitely curled, and move in close, placing a firm palm on his neck, applying just enough pressure to make him wonder if I could snap it. “Get your sorry, pathetic arse in my office,” I whisper in his ear, feeling him stiffen. “Or I’ll call the sharks myself and let them know where the fishes are swimming.”
I step back, head tilted, and Dan wisely walks away, me following. I stall when I hear the telltale signs of Ava’s heels on the marble. “Wait for me in the bar, baby,” I say, pointing her in the right direction.
“I’d like to come,” she says, but I can tell from her tone she knows she’s trying her luck.
“You’ll stay put.” I pick her up, take her to the bar, and place her on a stool, pressing a pacifying kiss on her cheek before leaving her, fucking fuming as I pace to my office. Like I need Dan and his fucking dramas at my door. “Sit,” I order, when I stride into my office, finding Dan in the middle of the room.
“I can’t be?—”
“It’s not your turn to talk, Dan,” I say, pulling my tails out aggressively and dumping my arse down, my hands on the desk. “This is The Manor, the most elite sex sanctuary in the country. There are over one and half thousand members, from all walks of life, but with one thing in common. They’re loaded. Have to be to afford the forty-five-grand-a-year membership fee.” He can’t contain his shock. “Add the bar takings and restaurant, I have myself quite the tidy business here.” A business that’s paying off your colossal debts. “Throw in the building, my penthouse on St. Katherine Docks, and my villa in Spain, your sister and your soon-to-be-born nieces or nephews are going to be well looked after. But my money and how I’ve made it is fucking irrelevant, because what’s most important to me is your sister’s health and happiness. Don’t fuck with her happiness, Dan, I’m warning you.” He blinks, a little stunned, a little indignant. “And I’m sure you’ll agree, this doesn’t need to be mentioned to Elizabeth and Joseph. It would be a shame if the sharks turned up, jaws snapping.”
“I think you’ve made your point.”
“Good. I’ll get the money transferred to the relevant accounts.”
Ava flies into the room, and I sink into my chair. “Why are you taking money from Jesse?” she demands, furious, as Dan stares at me across the desk. I make sure he sees the message in my cool expression. “Are you going to answer me?”
“Ava, I told you to stay put.” I sigh.
“I’m not talking to you.”
I snort, as Dan’s eyebrows fly up. “Well, I’m talking to you.”