Chapter 10

10

D AVID

What are the fucking odds?

Thea's cousin?

Why?

Why does she have to be Thea's cousin?

The woman in front of me runs a stale gaze over my face. All that sparkle from earlier is now gone.

I had no plans with her.

No real plans. Yet she caught my eye that day at the coffeehouse.

It wasn't how she looked.

It was how she looked at me.

As if I wasn't a stranger.

As if I had all the power.

And I do have power.

I've had power for a while, and it's protected me from many things except my ex-wife's shenanigans.

But even those were taken into account when I proposed to her.

I knew there was a price to pay.

In the end, she wanted my money and my freedom.She got a lot of money, and my freedom has been off-limits ever since.

What can I say?

Life has taught me some painful lessons, and the more hurtful they were, the more wisdom I gained.

So when Elizabeth Fox stared at me, convinced I couldn't see her, two things caught my eye.

How young she was and how fascinated she appeared to be with me.

The women I keep company with know how to entice a man to the point of losing his head. They're good at seizing an opportunity and know how to play this game.

Even from afar, I could see this woman.

Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her modest clothes couldn't entirely hide her body.

The woman in front of me is sexy and unavailable.

She is Thea's cousin.

And she couldn't be more on point.

I wasn't interested in messing with Eve Malone before she met Tiago Rossi for the same reason.

These women… They're family.

I can't mess with their heads.

We'd all stand to lose.

It would also affect my business.

So, no.

She is in no rush to answer, and I push my chair back and go to the bar.

"More wine?" I ask.

She doesn't answer, so I pour myself another drink, bourbon on rocks this time, and bring the bottle of wine to the table.

She looks at me, trying to get a feel of me.

Disappointment flickers through her gaze, and it's more shallow than I expected.

By knowing who I am, she is steps ahead of me.

I give her a double take since there's no point in pretending we're not interested in each other.

We'll probably find each other at the same dining table in James' house. Or Ed's.

Not to mention the upcoming wedding.

We're practically brother and sister now.

It'd laugh if it weren't so annoying.

For once, I wanted to know a woman before getting in bed with her and see how it all turned out.

She is off-limits now.

Was I immediately thinking about sleeping with her when I spotted her in that coffee shop?

No.

That's not my style.

Although I am spontaneous like that.

Yes, I am.

I always go for the kill, but in her case, I wanted to see more.Her curiosity about me made me curious of her.

And now I know why she was curious about me.

Tonight was different, as things have changed somewhat. I couldn't help but notice her legs peeking from under her skirt, her smokey eyes, and her long hair.

She looked classy and sexy in a sweet kind of way.

Normally I'm less interested in the details of a woman's appearance.I'm practical and cynical when it comes to that.

With her, though, I want to see more. Uncover more.

She keeps quiet while I fill up her glass.

"What's your name?" I ask, and her eyes focus, arched eyebrows highlighting her contemplative gaze.

She has brown eyes, dark eyelashes, and a pouty mouth.Her skin is smooth and rolls with delicacy over her sculpted cheekbones.

A turned-up nose and kissable lips make her look safe and adorable, but I know better than that.

She looks at me as if she's won a prize and doesn't want to ruin it somehow.

I clink my glass against hers and take a sip.

There must be a good fifteen–year age gap between us.

And she must be… A student, I suppose? A dancer? An athlete?

For the first time this evening, dirty thoughts spin in my head. As homely and sweet as she looks, I have this vision of her hair wrapped around my fist and those lips hostage to my pleasure.

She'd squirm and moan under my frame, wet and trembling.

Too bad she's Thea's cousin.

She's still looking at me.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Elizabeth Fox."

Beautiful name.

"You can call me Liz when it's only the two of us."

I nod, encouraging her to continue.

"I'm listening," I say. "What do you know about me?"

It's been a while since I asked someone that question.

"I know you run the club."

She stops abruptly.

"That's it?"

"Mm-hmm."

Her lips are pressed together as she stares at me.

I find her mesmerizing with her piercing eyes and innocent looks.

"And that was the biggest deterrent for you?"

"No. The fact that you're friends with James. Wait… A deterrent from what?"

I give her a lazy smile.

"For not wanting me," I say.

Playing with her a little won't hurt anyone.

"I never said I wanted you."

"Mm-hmm… What's your book about?" I shift gears and bingo––her cheeks turn red.

A beautiful woman with sparkling eyes and a flush of blood dusting her cheeks.

"Some romantic story," she says, her eyes tearing away from mine. "Honestly, I don't know," she goes on. "I lacked inspiration that day."

I watch her bring her drink to her lips and tilt it against her mouth.

She swallows her wine, her nostrils flaring.

It's a sweet, light wine. I'm not surprised she likes it.

"That's why you studied me?" I ask.

She brings her gaze to me, her eyes glistening a bit––more from the alcohol than me being a catch.

"I know you have inspired Rain's book."

I stare at her, pretending I forgot about the book.

"Owned by L. Carter," she murmurs.

"Uh… That book," I say, smiling.

Despite being published over a decade ago, everybody seems to know about this book these days.

"The book was also about her husband."

"Sure."

She dismisses me with a flick of her hand.

She must know a lot about me if she read that book.

Rain hadn't made a secret of how we met, how I paid her, and how she became my steady girl.

I was her first client. And she was a call girl.

I never called women like her hookers. To me, it was never about that. And if it weren't for that book, I'd never go back to revisit those times.

Rain Sexton is a closed chapter for me.

Besides, she wasn't Rain Sexton back then.

She was Red, a girl I met in a hotel restaurant. She'd made a few bad choices and walked into chaos.

She was hungry, beautiful, and without a cent in her pocket because she dared to stand for what she believed in.

I liked that about her. I liked it a lot. She and I had a lot more in common than she could ever imagine.

A thirst for dirty pleasure and revenge.

She's never learned my entire story.

Nobody has.

At that point, we were perfect for each other just the way we were.

Broken and lustful.

James had the means and manpower to dig deep into my past.

Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. Even so, some things remained uncovered, buried in my memory.

There is no paper trail of anything that went wrong in my life before I became David Moore, the tycoon.

No documents, no recordings. Nothing pointing to what happened.

Back then, I was young. Too young.

My story isn't captured anywhere, although there are a few loose ends.

For those to be uncovered, James would need to send his minions to interview some people.

But most people are gone. Scattered throughout the world or dead. And most of those still alive wouldn't consider it worth talking about.

The backstory isn't that important except for the decisions it has triggered followed by more bad choices and a new set of beliefs for me.

That's why Rain resonated with me.

But the epiphany came much later when I met her future husband and learned about their past.

I wanted to know more about her story, and what had been a hunch about her when we initially met turned out to be a lot more in the end.

That's why we were great together for a while.

James?

James Sexton had ultimately no reason to go back and dig up dirt on me.My story did nothing for him.

Besides, he is a businessman, and I know what he's thinking.It's how I'm thinking.

Even back then, he was the absolute king of this town, his reputation preceding him.

Sadly, he made a poor decision once by letting Rain go and almost lost her.

Luckily for them, things worked out in the end.

I was happy for them more than I was resentful that he took her away from me.

Elizabeth knows the story rich in graphic details Rain wanted to tell.It's more than I'd want a woman to know about me.

Despite its popularity, that book has never been the starting point of a conversation with a woman.

Too bad it is now.

When I said everybody seemed to know about that book, I was thinking mostly about her.

Elizabeth Fox.

Only ‘Liz,' when we're in private.

"You don't believe me? He ‘owned' her more than I did."

Her eyes glint with a smile.

"That book is old," I argue.

"Have you changed a lot since then?" she asks, and I draw in a long breath, pondering an answer.

"I never thought it would work against me."

"It doesn't."

"No kidding."

I empty my glass and set it down.

The heat percolates in my blood, giving me a nice rush. I wish she'd feel what I feel.

If only we could forget about this book business and that we have to behave.

"It doesn't work against you," she says softly, a pang of regret dripping in her voice. "It's just a fact."

She drinks more wine, which makes me believe she feels the same and tries to hide it.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," I say, sliding my hand to hers.

She places it in my palm, and I wrap my hand around it.

Her hand is small, and her skin is warm.

Her eyes look like heat dipped in chocolate.

"So you want to keep things proper for our friends," I murmur, searching her eyes.

Her lips part, stealing the show while summoning my attention.

"Yes. But it's not only that…" she continues.

I squeeze her hand slightly, watching her chest move up and down a little faster.

She's hot.

Warm.

Sweat glistens along her hairline, yet she says nothing.

"What else is there aside from having to stay away from each other?"

She blinks a few times, slowly, enticingly, without intention.

The wine lacing her blood makes her incredibly attractive.

It's like she's up on a cliff, not knowing whether to jump or not.

"Don't you think it's the right thing to do?" she asks quietly.

I nod.

"Yes, I do. Will we do it? I don't know," I say, tipping my eyes to her lips again, realizing I have derailed her thoughts.

"What else is there, Liz?"

Her hand melts in mine.

She looks at the rest of her wine as if it could help her in some way.

"Even if we weren't caught in this situation, I would still not entertain the idea of you," she says, and I ponder a great comeback.

"Why's that?"

She stays mum.

"Are you afraid of me?" I ask.

It takes her a moment to give me an answer.

"The morning after sucks with someone like you."

We both smile.

It's a game, although it isn't.

"Have you been with a man like me?"

"No."

"What do you think might spoil the morning after?"

She mulls over her answer and gives me a soft smile.

"You… going away ."