48. Adam

48

ADAM

I ’ve just caught my new girlfriend staring at my old mate for the third time since I introduced them twenty minutes ago in the bar at Alchemy. It’s her night off, and this evening is supposed to be about my carrying her off to a room and spanking that pretty little arse until it’s perfectly pink and she’s begging me to fuck her.

It’s not supposed to be about watching her make eyes at Gabriel fucking Sullivan.

I lean in, putting my mouth to her ear. ‘Should I be jealous?’

She starts and giggles. ‘No, not at all. It’s just?—’

‘Just what?’

‘Don’t you think he looks like the devil? Like, if the devil was in human form, that’s what he’d look like.’

I can’t help it. I guffaw so forcefully I send champagne splashing over the rim of my flute and onto my trousers. Bugger.

‘I’m serious.’ She brushes ineffectually at my thigh. ‘He looks… satanic. ’

I laugh again. ‘Do you know what his former profession was, until he succumbed to the dark side a few months ago?’ I whisper in her ear, enjoying that delicate floral scent on her skin, the way she shivers at the proximity of my mouth. I cover the palm on my thigh with mine and intertwine our fingers.

‘What?’ She turns to face me.

I say the words against her lips. ‘A priest. ’

She throws her head back and laughs, and I sit there grinning at the beautiful sight of my girlfriend when she’s tickled pink. ‘You’re pulling my leg.’

‘Nope. He was a man of the cloth. And leaving the priesthood was a source of great distress to him, so when callous little wenches compare him to Satan it’s pretty fucking rude.’

She’s still laughing when she returns her lips to mine. ‘Don’t tell him, then. God, he must have had a very female-heavy congregation.’

I shake my head at her. ‘Got a thing for priests, do you?’

‘Hot ones, yeah. Me and every other woman out there. I blame Fleabag. Do you know there’s a full-on confessional in one of the rooms downstairs? Rafe had it installed.’

I laugh. ‘Did he, now? Kinky bastard. There won’t be any of that happening once his wife pops.’

Her perfect little tongue peeks out and licks a line along my lower lip. ‘I bet you’d look hot in a dog collar. We should try it sometime.’

I thread my fingers lazily through her glossy mane of hair. She looks glorious tonight in a short, sexy red dress. I know for a fact that, just as we’ve agreed, she’s wearing pristine white panties underneath it.

Perfect for being spanked.

‘Just say when, you dirty little sinner, and I’ll be there. God knows, you’ll carry out your penance on your knees for me.’

It’s not until a little later, when Darcy’s turned up with Max and their other partner Dex and Nat’s scooted away from me to chat happily with Gen and Darcy that we guys have a chance to catch up more closely.

‘You look shattered, mate,’ I observe to Gabe. I suspect Nat’s take is correct—he definitely has a look of the diabolical about him, and that tortured demon thing he’s got going on is certainly a hit with the women, even if the shadows under his dark eyes are more black than purple.

‘Burning the candle,’ he admits with a sheepish swipe of his hand across his forehead.

‘Oh yeah?’

The Sullivan family office is a behemoth. Gabe’s grandfather emigrated from Ireland, he and his sons—Gabe’s father included—amassing enormous fortunes by winning contracts to rebuild huge swathes of the east London docklands. Gabe ostensibly left the priesthood to take over the management of the family wealth when his old man retired. It’s a full-on family office: they have several billion pounds of assets under management. I’ve always had the impression there’s more to the story than that, but he holds his cards close to his chest. Contrary to any perception his looks may encourage, he’s a thoroughly decent guy, even if he’s intense as fuck.

‘I’m pretty stressed at the moment. And when I’m stressed, I need to let off steam. You know what I mean,’ he adds with a meaningful jerk of his head towards The Playroom .

‘Fuck knows how you lasted as a priest.’

That gets a tired laugh. ‘Nothing about being a priest was stressful—except the celibacy part, obviously.’

‘Is Alchemy your only outlet, then?’ I ask, amused, because I’m sure he doesn’t find it hard to get dates.

‘It’s the most time-efficient and least emotionally painful outlet,’ he admits, and I chuckle. ‘I don’t have time for dating or remembering to call women. That’s a full-time job in its own right.’

‘Alchemy definitely knows its target customer,’ I muse. I’m pretty sure mega-successful, time-poor guys like Gabe, who would otherwise be fending off gold-diggers left, right and centre, are precisely the reason the club is thriving as much as it is.

All of which bodes very well indeed for my new stake in its overseas JVs.

‘Yeah. It’s fucking impossible to stay away from. Hence I’m here at ten o’clock at night, champing at the bit to get my dick wet next door when I should be at home, out cold on the sofa with a pile of reports on my lap.’

I’m tempted to keep taking the piss out of him for being a horny former priest, but an idea hits me before I get the chance. ‘You know,’ I say slowly, ‘Anton may have an even more time-efficient solution for you.’ I lean over Gabe to tear my mentor’s attention away from Max, his successor and closest friend.

‘What’s that dodgy agency you pretend very hard not to own? Celestial or something.’

‘Seraph,’ he and Max chorus. Max’s entire face brightens with a dirty grin at the thought of it.

I nudge Gabe. ‘Think I might have found Seraph their next punter.’

Gabe’s frowning. ‘I’m not familiar. What kind of agency? ’

Max and Anton exchange a conspiratorial glance.

‘Executive assistants,’ Anton says. ‘The best in the world. They all have MBAs from the top schools.’

‘ Full service executive assistants,’ Max interjects. ‘These women will meet every need you didn’t know you had during office hours. I swear to God, you’ll never need to go looking for sex again.’

I laugh, because it’s all dodgy as fuck and also absolute genius, if you think about it. Anton founded Seraph during one of his marriages, as far as I remember, but he definitely made use of it before he met Gen.

‘What was the name of that EA you had?’ I ask, screwing up my face with the effort of recalling her name.

‘Athena,’ he says quietly with a glance over at Gen, who’s in full swing and oblivious to the turn our chat has taken.

‘Jesus fucking Christ, Athena,’ Max groans, letting his head collapse in his hands. ‘She was so fucking sexy. And so obliging . Good God.’

‘What was the score with her?’ Dex asks, looking as bewildered as Gabe is. Max raises his head and leans over to him, whispering in his ear as he threads his fingers through Dex’s. I watch in amusement as Dex’s eyes widen. ‘Oh, wow.’

‘Wow is right,’ Anton says.

Gabe’s gaze is flitting from him to Max. ‘How does it work, exactly?’ I’d put money on that casual tone of his being studied.

Anton shrugs. ‘Pretty straightforward. We launched it precisely for men like you, my friend. Cash rich, time poor, too stressed, and can’t be fucked with the high-maintenance women you most likely attract. The EAs Seraph offers are ridiculously smart, completely overqualified, and absolutely stunning. And they’ll remove every single stress from your working day like you wouldn’t believe. ’

‘They’ll run your diary and ride your cock,’ Max offers cheerfully, and I snigger.

Anton shoots him a withering look. ‘Oh, to have had your marketing expertise when we launched it.’

‘Anyway,’ Max continues blithely, ‘Athena was Anton’s EA. Lovely girl, and sometimes Anton shared her with me like the good mate he is. She’s a spectacular fuck.’

‘I took the best they had to offer for myself,’ Anton says, smug bastard. ‘Obviously. And she was worth every penny.’ He gives his friend a sly sideways look. ‘That’s why, when you take bonuses into account, I paid her more than I ever paid Max.’

Gabe, Dex and I fall about laughing at the look of utter disgust on Max’s face, but he recovers well.

‘God knows what kind of bonuses you gave her, but she can keep them. She was young enough to be your daughter, you revolting old lech.’

Anton grins widely. ‘She loved it. So did I. But’—he slaps Max hard on the thigh—‘I have zero regrets about parting ways with her. I think you and I can both safely say we lucked out with the beautiful Carew sisters. And with you, too, Dex, of course,’ he adds hurriedly.

Dex coughs. ‘Touching, thanks Anton.’

But I don’t miss the softness on his face as he and Max eye-fuck each other. Trust Max Hunter to find epic, everlasting love with a seemingly wonderful man and a stunningly beautiful woman.

When Gabe recovers from his laughing fit, he looks troubled. ‘I don’t know. Paying for it seems… excessive. I mean, is it even legal?’

‘We manage the paperwork so it’s all above board,’ Anton says smoothly. ‘So don’t worry about that. Just think of it as a turnkey solution, if you like. One incredible woman meeting all your needs before you even know you have them. She’ll have everything running smoothly. Honestly, an executive assistant from Seraph will just make all the pain points go away, on all fronts. You’ll never look back. It’s astounding, really.’

Gabe swirls his ice cubes around in his now-empty tumbler, not meeting Anton’s eye. ‘And you say this Athena is the best.’

‘Everyone on their books is great. But Athena’s a very special person—incredibly adept on all fronts, if you catch my drift. You really would be in very capable hands with her. I have no idea if she’s working at the moment, but just say the word and I’ll make some calls.’

‘Thanks.’ Gabe sets down his tumbler and stands, tiredly, it seems. ‘I appreciate it. It’s a lot to think about, though. I’ll let you know, if that’s okay? I’d better head next door and get myself sorted out. Good seeing you all.’

‘Try not to fall asleep on the job,’ I call after him.

Poor, exhausted fucker.

I glance over at Nat. She’s laughing at something Darcy’s saying, head thrown back, white throat on display. Her long legs are crossed elegantly, the short, flirty hem of her scarlet dress showcasing toned thighs.

Yep.

It’s definitely time to take my girl next door and introduce her to the mind-blowing transformation a firm hand can have on her sexual experiences.