Chapter 17
Decoy
A chess tactic used to lure a piece to an unfavorable square
As the week progressed, things only grew worse. After dressing down an employee in front of the entire lobby, which unfortunately also included the man’s fiancée, who worked on another floor, Lucian decided to head home. It was Friday and for the first time in God knows how long, he was home. Pathetic. So he decided to drink.
He drank whatever was sitting in the decanters on the bar, and then he called room service and had them bring him more. He drank until he couldn’t walk without knocking into things, and he couldn’t stand without the room tipping on end. He drank until his vision played tricks on him, and then he decided it was best to simply sit. So he sat and had a long discussion with himself about what an asshole he was.
His eyes were shut and his head rested on something. He thought he had last sat down on the couch, but couldn’t quite remember. He wanted to check, but his eyelids were simply too heavy to move. When there was a knock at the door he groaned.
“Who’s it?” he slurred.
Nothing.
He decided to fall asleep, then the knock sounded again. “Who’s there?”
When he began to doze off and the knock sounded a third time, he tipped his ass off the couch and forced his eyes open. The world swirled and he moaned until it eventually righted itself. Pressing himself up on his knees, he groped the coffee table, hoisting himself on his feet. Like a marble making its way down a wobbling maze, he staggered, bouncing off the walls, down the hall to the door.
He stretched his eye muscles by blinking hard, then tried to find the peephole. Something sharp shifted in his gut as his hand went to the knob. Cursed fingers yanked on the door only to realize the latch was engaged. He undid the latch and threw the door open.
Unbelievable.
Through his off-kilter, blurred vision he saw three Evelyns standing before him, trying to combine into one as his eyes fought for focus. “Jesus.”
She gave a slight finger wave, but said nothing. He reached and caught air, then reached again and felt the warmth of her skin. Sweet heaven, she came back.
He yanked her inside and slammed the door, pressing her into the wall. Her dark hair was down and she had a lot of makeup on. She seemed so different even though it had only been a week. His fingers ran over her shoulders, feeling her, testing that she wasn’t some sort of conjured dream.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he whispered as he kissed her jaw, her throat.
Peeling away her coat, he threw it to the floor. Her touch was aggressive, needy. His mouth found hers as she yanked the knot of his tie the rest of the way loose. It slid from under his collar with a whoosh, and then her cool, nimble fingers worked the buttons of his shirt open.
His tongue pierced between her lips and went deep, reclaiming her. She tasted different.
“Never again,” he whispered between kisses, parting his mouth from hers to draw her shirt quickly over her head. Something caught his eye, but he was too drunk and lost in the exquisite moment to wonder what it had been. “I’ll never let you go again.”
His cock was rock hard. Her fingers curved over the bulge in his slacks, and he moaned as she fondled him through his clothing. His palm cupped her breast and he stilled. His dick, now fully engaged, seemed to control his fingers as they pinched her nipple, but his brain objected. Something wasn’t right.
She took over the kiss, aggressively gripping his neck and backing him into the wall. Lucian was never one to be directed in sex, yet he went docilely as his simple, brandy-sodden mind worked to understand why this was suddenly so, so wrong.
The wall halted her progress as his back hit it with an ungraceful thump. He watched her dark head as she kissed her way down his chest and dropped to her knees. His cock was already free and in her hands.
“Mmm, you’re so big,” she purred in an unfamiliar voice as she prepared to take him into her mouth.
Something snapped. She yipped as he roughly grabbed a fistful of hair, holding on by a thread so as not to fall into a violent rage. He yanked until her face tipped into view. Through clenched teeth he growled, “Who the fuck are you?”
She whimpered and released him. “My name’s Sherry.”
Appalled, he flung his fingers out of her hair, which was not nearly as soft as Evelyn’s, and stepped away. After quickly righting his pants, he paced. The hall was dark. As he flicked on the switch, he turned to face her.
“Jesus,” he uttered. She had the same length of hair, the same delicate bone structure as Evelyn, but her eyes were not crystal blue like hers. No, this woman’s eyes were brown. She also had freckles showing under a great deal of makeup. Her breasts were larger by at least two sizes, and there was a tattoo of a raven on her shoulder. That must have been what caught his eye at first, telling him something wasn’t right.
He wished like hell he were sober. He couldn’t think. The woman sat on the floor, watching him, looking like she wanted to bolt, but he still held her shirt in his fist and blocked her exit.
“How did you get up here?” he demanded.
“I . . . I had a key.”
Impossible. Only hotel staff, Evelyn, Dugan, and himself had keys to the penthouse. His alcohol-sodden brain cleared as if by magic. “Who sent you?”
Her lips pressed together. She lowered her head. “I was paid to do whatever you wanted. I’m sorry you’re disappointed. If you give me my shirt I’ll go.”
“Fuck that. I want to know who sent you here and I want to know now. Someone gave you a key.”
When she said nothing, he barked, “Prostitutes are paid. You either tell me who bought you or I call the cops and have them haul your ass downtown.”
She burst into tears. “Please don’t do that. This was a mistake. I’m sorry.”
“Who hired you?” he growled.
She sniffled and covered her breasts. “I don’t know his name. He’s a client. I’ve only serviced him a few times, but he’s nice and I never thought he’d put me into a dangerous position. Please don’t hurt me or call the cops.”
“What does he look like?”
Her breath hitched as she drew in a stuttering breath. She looked at him with teary eyes. “Young. Brown hair. Green eyes—”
“Motherfucker.” He turned and forked his fingers through his hair. “How did you meet him?”
She sniffled. She was clearly terrified. Either that or she was an actress before she became a hooker. “He called my agency and asked for someone who looked like me.”
That cocksucker. Lucian shot out a humorless chuckle at the man’s audacity. “What, they didn’t have a girl with her blue eyes?”
“He requested blue eyes. He asked if I could get contacts,” she admitted in a whisper.
Disgusted, Lucian walked passed her and threw his ass into a chair. After a few minutes, she followed him. “Sir, if you give me my clothes I’ll leave.”
Lucian looked at her standing with her coat covering her naked breasts. It was uncanny how much she actually resembled Evelyn. “He fucked you?”
She blushed and lowered her gaze to the floor.
“I take it that’s a yes,” Lucian said slowly.
“I’ve only been with him a few times. After tonight I don’t think I’ll ever take his call again.”
He shook his head. What could he say? “I don’t imagine he’ll be calling you in the next twenty-three days anyway. How much did he pay you to come here?”
She gazed suspiciously at him. “One—Two hundred.”
Doubtful. Luckily he could play her little game too. Lucian reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. He counted out five hundred and tossed in on the table. “That’s yours if you tell me everything you know about him. I promise not to hurt you and you won’t have to work for the money he gave you. Sorry, but you’re not my type.”
She gave him a measured look, then gradually approached the table. Small fingers scooped up the money, and she carefully sat on the chair across from him. He tossed her the shirt.
After she put it back on, she asked, “What do you want to know?”
“Start at the beginning. How did you meet?”
She adjusted her clothes and tucked her hair behind her shoulders. “Like I said, he called the agency asking if we had anyone who fit a description. He wanted thin, long chestnut hair with hues of auburn, blue eyes, early twenties. They sent me and two other girls. He sent the other two home and invited me in.”
“What happened during that first meeting?”
Her cheeks flushed. “Um, what usually happens . . .”
“He fucked you?”
“Well . . . yes.”
Lucian titled his head. “What’s the ‘well’ about? He either fucked you or he didn’t. It’s a yes-or-no question.”
“Um, first we talked for a while. His time eventually ran out, but he put more money on the table and asked me to stay until morning.”
“And did you?”
“Yes.”
“What did you talk about?”
“He was, um . . . inexperienced I guess you could say.” Lucian chuckled and she paled. “Are you going to turn me in?”
“No. My issue is with him, not you. Tell me more.”
She licked her lips and sat back. “Well, he said he didn’t have a lot of experience and he wanted to know how to . . . please a woman.”
“He was a virgin?”
“Not exactly. He wanted to learn how to . . . make love. He said his experience was only with, well, quickies, I guess.”
Lucian growled. “Go on.”
“We started with kissing and he asked a lot of questions, what I liked, what I didn’t like. Then we moved on to other things. He was very insistent that I not, um, you know . . . fake it.”
“I bet he was,” Lucian mumbled, shaking his head. “Continue.”
“Well, we slept together that night, and then he asked me to come back every two weeks. He said he would hire me more if I kept our arrangement between us and left the agency out of it. I’m not supposed to do that, but I sort of, um, liked him.” She shrugged, a gesture Lucian imagined some men found cute.
“So he could pay you less, no doubt.”
“Well, yeah, but that wasn’t what it was about. At the agency’s rate he would only be able to afford to see me every few weeks. If I cut them out, I took home everything I got. So, since he was nice, I . . .” she suddenly looked upset. A tear fell from her eye and she batted it away. “I came to see him every week, sometimes twice a week.”
Lucian watched her critically through narrow eyes. Then it dawned. “You liked him.”
“I’m a call girl. Emotion doesn’t play into it.”
“But it did for you, didn’t it, Sherry?”
She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. Her frustration with her emotions was evident in the way she kept readjusting her posture, searching for ways to hide her upset. Giving up, she confessed, “He was just so nice. He made me feel special. It wasn’t just about the fuck for him. It was about the touch, the kisses, the looks. Clients don’t usually look at me the way he did. I swore he was falling for me, but then . . . then he sent me here and I don’t understand why. I assumed you were friends.”
“Certainly not friends.” He sat back and crossed his ankles. “He was learning how to seduce a woman and practicing on you.”
The statement stung her, he saw. She shrugged, pretending indifference and failing at it. “I guess.”
“Will you go back to him?”
She didn’t answer for a long time. Quietly she whispered. “I think I’m in love with him.”
This woman was sent to fuck him, physically and metaphorically, yet he pitied her. She was caught up in a game she didn’t understand. Parker used her to up his game when it came time to seduce Evelyn. All other thoughts got interrupted by the king of all thoughts. “Was he a good lover?”
She met his gaze. “He wasn’t when I met him. I was the first person he ever . . . took his time with. Once he learned how to savor it, it became incredible, for both of us. He was the first person I ever made love with, so yes, I think he’s a good lover.”
He drew in a slow breath that shook inside his ribs. “Did he bring you to orgasm often?”
She blushed. “Every time.”
His back teeth clenched. “What did he expect to gain from you coming here?”
“I don’t know. He told me not to call him. Said he would call me. He said he wanted me to remember everything we did, every way you touched me, how you looked at me, then he said he would invite me over one day and I was supposed to report on what we did when he asked, no matter who was present, but I wasn’t to admit that I’d been paid.”
“Son of a bitch,” he hissed. That shit wanted it to get back to Evelyn that he’d been unfaithful during their time apart. Fuck that. He needed to think. Here was a woman under the misconception that she loved Parker, yet she knew nothing about him. He’d used her to get closer to another woman.
“I want to tell you something, Sherry. You’ve been honest with me and I want to be honest with you. Parker Hughes is not in love with you.”
Her face tightened and she blinked back more tears.
Lucian continued. “He’s in love with a woman who looks remarkably like you. He’s trying to seduce her and he used you to enhance his skills in the bedroom. If he succeeds, you’ll never hear from him again.”
Her shoulders shook as she cried silently. “How do I know you aren’t lying to me?”
“Because I’m in love with the woman he’s after. He sent you here thinking you were a close substitute in her absence. I’m sorry, but you’re not. You see, when you love someone, only their touch will do. It’s only in their scent you find intoxication, their kiss that tastes so perfect. It has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with her.”
“Believe it or not, I know what you mean. I felt the same way with him. I loved going home and still being able to smell him on my clothes.”
“Will you tell him about our discussion?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to believe. I thought he cared for me, but if what you say is true, well, I don’t want to help him. It’s just, I may seem stupid to you, but I don’t really believe he would do that. You’re a stranger. He’s not.”
“A stranger he sent you to fuck. Does that sound like the actions of a man in love with you?”
She was silent. Poor girl really did have her heart wrapped up in that little fucker. Lucian wasn’t stupid enough to say anything that shouldn’t go back to him. There was a huge chance love would outmaneuver reason, and she would help Parker again no matter how Lucian warned her.
He sighed. “Look, I can’t tell you what to do. I can’t even convince you of what I know. What I can do is make you a promise. I promise you, Sherry, that if you do what he asked, if you confess things that happened tonight in mixed company, it will only work to screw us both. When you speak to him next, I predict he’ll try to persuade you to lie about what we did. He’ll want to hear that I easily fell into bed with another woman and he’ll try to convince you to say so in front of the woman I love in order to push us further apart. The problem is, the further she is from me, the closer he can get to her, and where does that leave you, Sherry?”
He didn’t want to say much more. Who knew how sane Sherry really was? The last thing he needed was some jealous, confused hooker going after Evelyn.
“What do you expect me to do?” she asked.
“I expect you to go to him the next time he calls, which you will. I’d advise you not to, but I can see it in your eyes that you’ll need to see for yourself what a prick he is. I don’t really expect anything from you, Sherry. Except for your honesty when it comes to reporting back to him about what we did this evening. The only reason I touched you is because I’ve been drinking and I mistook you for someone else. The moment I realized you weren’t her, I stopped. Nothing happened because I will not do that to her.”
“Who is she?”
“Someone I hope you’ll never meet. And, Sherry, I’m a nice guy, but I’m also a powerful guy. Whatever you and Hughes have going on is between the two of you. I’ll be able to find you if I want to. Don’t get her involved and make me find you. You’ll regret it. Do you understand?”
The girl’s expression fell from intent focus to terror. She scooted toward the edge of the chair.
Cutting her some slack he said, “Put my key on the desk and you may go.”
She stood, slowly walked to his desk and dropped the key. With her back to him, she slipped on her coat and took her time doing up the buttons. As she turned, she said, “Thank you. I have everything I came for. I hope we never meet again.”
“As do I.”
A moment later the door closed and the elevator pinged softly. Parker must have acquired a key during the brief time he worked at the hotel as a bellhop. Lucian knew he could no longer waste away his evenings drinking. He needed his mind sharp.
Parker Hughes was not a man to underestimate. His ploy tonight had only showed Lucian that having the odds tipped in his favor was not enough. No, Parker would do everything he could to fuck him over, and Lucian would never underestimate him again. If he couldn’t go to Evelyn, he needed to get the hell out of Folsom.