Chapter 13

Ledger

All week, I"ve been in a foul fucking mood. Every day, I"ve lashed out at various employees, unable to control my seething anger at the thought of Posey marrying Bane soon. The frustration gnaws at me, a constant reminder of what I"ll never have. It"s as if a storm is brewing inside me, and everyone around me is caught in its path.

"Are you okay?" Adele asks, her voice smooth and controlled. It"s clear she"s treading carefully, trying to shield herself from the torrent of rage I"ve unleashed on everyone else this week. Her calm demeanor only highlights my own lack of control, making the guilt of my actions sting even more.

I scrub a hand across my jaw. "I don't even know anymore." I feel like I'm going insane. I can't stop thinking about Posey.

It's become sort of an obsession for me. I can't stop drawing posies. I'm thinking about getting the designs inked on my skin.

Would she freak?

She"d never see it if I got a new tattoo, would she?

I think back on the night she asked to see them. How badly I wanted her to touch me.

"Fuck," I curse out, remembering my conversation with Bane. How we discussed the attack.

"What is it?" Adele asks me, her heels clacking along the floor as she draws in closer.

"I just remembered the Delgados are coming in tonight."

Adele sets her iPad down on my desk. "It's kind of ridiculous that he's asked you to watch her. Can't he trust his own men?"

I think back to what Bane told me, how he believes there's someone in his outfit selling him out. That the person trying to take him down is the same person who attacked Posey. Either way, I don't trust anyone to watch her but me.

In fact, I hate that he has her living at his house knowing someone is trying to come after him. How do I know he's keeping her safe?

He's ensured me he is, and that nobody would ever think to attack anyone at his complex, but I can't be so sure.

I've been waiting all week for her to answer my text. What will she give me? It almost makes me giddy, and I know I can't go there with her.

Yet, my mind still fantasizes about her giving me a kiss.

Her giving me her fucking virginity.

That's what I really want. I want to be the one to claim her. Make her mine. Not his.

I blink back at Adele, answering her question, "I guess he can't."

"Can you believe the DA dropped the case?"

I shake my head, my eyes connecting with Adele's blue ones. "Yes. A man like Bane doesn't get caught. He has the power to make a witness disappear."

Adele slides into the chair across from my desk. "I don't get how a woman like Posey ends up with a man like Bane."

I rap my knuckles along my desk in thought. "Me either." I know Posey had told me she met him through her father, but did she really fall in love with him?

How could she?

I mean sure, he's powerful and I've heard women say he's good-looking, but Posey doesn't seem like a woman who'd be impressed by such things.

Maybe I don't know her as well as I think I do.

Adele and I leave my office, and I make my way downstairs just as Bane enters the club with his entourage. Posey's tucked away at his side, his hand on the small of her back.

It makes me all ragey seeing it. I nearly growl before making my way closer.

She steps away from him as soon as she sees me, and it's as if time stands still.

She's drop-dead gorgeous, and I feel like I could literally drop dead by looking at her. She's got on this red number paired with bright red lipstick that makes her lips look even juicier than normal. I want to suck on them. I want to watch them suck on me.

The dress hugs every curve, pushing her tits together to make the most mouth-watering cleavage I've ever seen. I want to bury my face in it and never come up to see the light of day ever again.

I breathe in deep through my nose, and out my mouth, trying to calm my body down. It's not working.

Bane walks up to me, shakes my hand, and smiles. "Ledger, so good to see you." His voice grates on my nerves, but I pretend it doesn't affect me.

I glance at Posey. "Hello there," I say, not even bothering to say my hellos to Bane first.

Once Posey says hi to me, I focus my attention back on Bane. "Happy you're here," I say, because I am happy he's here. Now I get to spend the next hour or so with his delectable fiancée.

And that's all I give a fuck about.

Bane doesn't even notice, and is already talking to a few of his men flanked on either side of him. They're shown to their room, and Posey and I walk into the room we're growing accustomed to.

The last time we were in this room alone together she nearly touched me. I almost let her.

Tonight I might touch her.

The door shuts, and I click the lock.

Posey smiles. "Alone at last," she says, like we're having some torrid love affair.

I kind of wish we were.

"How have you been?" I ask her, not making a move to sit next to her as she takes a seat on the couch.

"Good. I guess. Busy planning a wedding." She snaps her mouth shut and stares at the floor. "Do you like my dress?" she asks me.

"I love your dress," I answer honestly, my body growing heavy with need.

"I wore it for you."

Fuck.I stand near the door, not wanting to move closer, even though I want her. Her smell is all over the room, mesmerizing me with her vanilla scent.

I cross my arms over my chest. "Why?"

She stands up, smoothing down the material, and then does a little twirl. "I guess because I wanted you to see me in it. I wanted you to look at me like you're looking at me right now."

"And how's that?" I breathe out.

"Like you want to eat me alive."

My heart's nearly beating out of my chest. I want to cross this room and take her into my arms. Show her how badly I want to eat her, devour her.

"Is that what you're giving me?" I ask her.

"For you to tell me about your meeting with Bane? Is that what you want?"

I tilt my head, studying her. I love the dress. But what I want is more.

I shake my head slowly from side to side. "No," I whisper.

She lets out a tiny gasp. "What do you want?"

"What are you willing to give?" I know this game is dangerous, but I no longer give a fuck. I want to suspend time—suspend reality—and have this stolen moment with her.

She taps at her chin as she thinks about my question. "Anything," she finally says. "Anything you want."

Fuck, what is she doing to me?

"It's a very long list," I tell her, unable to move close to her, knowing if I do I wouldn't be able to resist this urge to touch her.

"Maybe you can pick the first thing. Or choose at random?" Her baby blues blink at me.

My cock is fucking hard just from this brief conversation. From thinking about what I want her to give me. I want to ask for a kiss, but is that pushing things a bit too far? I don't want to scare her off. So instead, I settle for something easy. "A dance."

Her eyes widen. "Not what I thought you were going to say, but okay."

There's a slow song playing right now through the speakers, and Posey rises from the couch and moves toward the small stage with the pole. She grabs the pole, and fuck, I want to watch what's about to happen, but it's not the type of dance I was talking about.

"No," I say.

She freezes. "I'm not really sure how to swing on a pole."

I stalk across the room, and wrap an arm around her waist. "That's not the type of dance I want." I tug her against my body, holding out my free hand for her to take.

She gazes up at me. "You want to slow dance with me?"

I nod. "Very much so."

Together we sway our bodies to the slow beat of the music, and I hold her close. Having her in my arms feels right. I lean in, swiping a stray strand of her hair and breathing it in. Her scent is intoxicating, filling me with a sense of peace I haven"t felt in ages. In this moment, everything else fades away, and all that matters is the feel of her body against mine. I wish this dance could last forever, where time stands still, and it"s just the two of us.

I get lost in this moment, and after a few minutes, I drop my hands from her. I need to steer things back to safer waters before I do something we both regret.

Posey licks her lips. She's so goddamn beautiful. She returns to her spot on the couch, thanking me for the dance as she does.

"Does the name Nicholai Orlov mean anything to you?"

Posey blinks. "No, should it?"

I tilt my head, studying her, running a finger along the bottom of my lip, watching her reaction to the name closely. "He might be the man smoking the cigar you smelled before the attack."

"What does that mean?" Her eyes stay fixed on me, and I can see that she has no idea who the man is.

"It means he could have been the man who attacked you. I need to do a bit more digging, but it could very well be him. Has Bane ever mentioned a Russian he's in business with?" Even though Bane thinks it's one of his men, I won't leave any stone unturned.

Posey shakes her head. "No, I don't think so."

"How much of his business does he share with you?"

She picks at her fingers in her lap. "Not much. Honestly, he doesn't really tell me anything. Is that what you two talked about at your meeting? You owe me details."

"Yes. He wanted to see how things were progressing with catching who attacked you."

"Well, he doesn't tell me anything."

I don't know if that's a good or bad thing just yet. It makes me wonder about their relationship, but it also makes me happy that she's not mixed up in the middle of his business. That she's not as evil as he is.

"Are you excited about the wedding?" I ask her, trying to get my mind to focus on anything but wanting to kiss her.

She smiles wide, but the smile doesn't reach her eyes. "Very. I think we have most of the details in order. Bridgette, Bane's assistant, has been helping me plan everything. Invitations go out soon. You'll come, right?"

My heart nearly cracks in two at the mention of me attending her wedding. It's the last place on Earth I'd rather be. I know I told her I'd go, but that was before this obsession threatened to consume me whole. "I don't think so," I say.

Her face falls. "Really? You said you would. You really won't come?"

Is she kidding? "You can't really ask me to come."

"I thought we were friends. I need you there."

I cross the room, taking a seat next to her. "Why?"

"Because I thought we were friends. I thought I meant something to you."

I blow out a frustrated breath. "If you want me there, I'll try to be there." There's no way in fuck I'm going.

No way in hell.

Because I don't trust myself not to be the person who speaks up when asked if anyone objects to their union.

I object. Big time.

However, my answer appears to make her happy, so I go with it.

We fill the time with idle chit chat, but there's something nagging at the back of my mind. Why did she wear this dress for me?

Why does she want me at her wedding?

Either way, I push the thoughts from my mind and focus on her words. The way her tiny laughter fills the room, making my cock take notice.

"I found this one wedding dress I loved, but Bridgette thought it wasn't classy enough."

I raise a brow. "Classy enough?"

She grabs her phone, and taps at the screen. "Look," she says, holding the phone up so I can see what she wants me to see. "Here's the dress. What do you think?"

I take the phone from her hands and bring it closer, zeroing in on the picture of Posey in a wedding gown.

Wow.

I can't turn away from the phone as I stare at Posey. The bodice hugs her body before cascading into a voluminous skirt that billows out in layers of tulle and organza. At her waist a slender satin baby-blue belt cinches gently, drawing my eyes to her perfect figure. There're a few blue posies decorating the dress, and I focus on her face. She appears so happy in this picture.

Like she can't wait to marry Bane.

I push the phone away, standing up. "Looks great."

"What's wrong?" she asks me, tucking her phone back into her tiny red clutch.

"Nothing," I say, feeling suffocated in this tiny room. I can't get far enough away from her. From her smell.

From her voice that floats over me, asking me what's wrong. I can't tell her that I'm jealous as fuck.

That I want to rip that wedding dress off her. That I want her to lower to her knees, apologize for making me feel this anguish. This despair of never being able to have her.

But I can't say any of that.

I won't say any of it. "I'm fine. Wear whatever dress you want. It's your wedding. For fuck's sake." My tone is downright hostile, and Posey stands from the couch.

"Why are you so angry?"

I spin around to face her, stalking to her in three angry strides until we're standing toe-to-toe. "I'm angry because you should get what you want. It's your wedding. If you want to walk down the aisle in a white t-shirt and fucking pink tutu, you should be able to. It's your day, nobody else's. You're the bride. You should get to do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" she asks me, anger on the edge of her voice. "I don't get to do whatever I want."

I invade her personal space, my face so close to hers, our noses almost touching. "What do you want?" I ask her, my body humming with need.

"I…I don't know. I know I don't want…" her words fall away as her breaths come out in short pants. "I want…" she can't finish her sentence, and my veins thrum with desire.

"What do you want, Posey?" I ask her, moving my hand to cup her face. "Tell me." Fuck. My resolve is nearly cracking. My body shakes.

My dick grows hard as her scent overwhelms me. The seconds tick between us, both of us silent as we study each other.

There's a knock at the door, and I want to curse the ever-loving fuck out of whoever is on the other side. Neither of us move, frozen in this stand off with each other.

The knocking continues until I move away, pissed off that I'm being interrupted.

Lazarus stands on the other side, and nods at Posey. "Let's go," he gruffs out.

"Where's Bane?" she asks in a timid voice.

"He's already left."

That pisses me off even more. Mother fucker can't even wait for her. What the fuck kind of relationship do they have?

I need to find out.

I walk Posey to the exit of the club and help her into the SUV to take her back to him. To her fiancé.

To the lucky bastard who gets to have her.