I was angry at myself that I hadn’t recognized her sooner. She’d changed something about her look, but once I saw her lips wrapped around that pen cap, I knew exactly who she was. My blood boiled as I thought about Thayer sending his little minion to snoop after me. How cute.

But the simmering anger at Rhys turned into something else as I saw her standing there in the shower. She wasn’t exactly what I expected, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t have a little fun. I thought she’d run out the minute I dropped my towel, but she hung in there. There wasn’t anything she or he could do to stop me once Frankie got back to me with the real report about Beth’s death, I’d have everything I needed to put the nail in Rhys’s coffin, ending him and his legacy.

She thought she was some kind of spy. Thought I hadn’t noticed her before. She had the glasses on and the frizzy hair going. She was like the before picture of the dorky girl in the movies who’s transformed by taking off her glasses. I could see all the work she put into not drawing attention to herself. She’d avoided my attention for a while, but not for long. Trying to downplay her beauty to be taken more seriously, unfortunately she’d fallen flat on her face.

Her dark hair, while a little poufy, had these spiral curls throughout it that I knew would be great for wrapping my hands around. Her lips were plump and pink. I knew a few minutes with me and they’d be bright red from me biting and sucking on them. The thought of them wrapped around my cock had me biting back a groan.

She had a great rack. More than a handful, plenty for me to feast on, I could just imagine myself buried in there, nipping at her. I knew she’d cream and scream so hard with just a few flicks of my tongue.

She didn’t know I knew who she was, so I’d let her play her little game and see where things went. I made a split decision to keep things interesting. I walked quickly toward the exit of the gym, the sound of her footsteps trailing behind me as I stepped out into the crisp fall air. Rachel tugged on the collar of her coat and I put my hand on the small of her back to guide her. Also to screw with her. She jumped, trying to look back at my hand.

“Relax, sweetheart,” I said, leading her.

“Where…where are we going?” she asked, her voice squeaky before she cleared her throat and finished her sentence.

“Somewhere for you to get your answers.” I stared at her, waiting for her response. Her eyes bounced all over the place, I thought she might just take off running at any moment. Instead, she nibbled on her bottom lip before nodding her head.

Perfect.

We walked into the bar a few blocks away from the gym. The bartender nodded and gestured to my booth in the back. They always kept it open for me. Rachel walked like a robot on the verge of breaking down the whole way there, all creaky and jerky in her movements. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a heart attack before we sat down.

I guided her to my booth in the back, secluded and away from the hustle of the rest of the bar. The server came over with two tumblers. My usual, whiskey and something else for Rachel.

“I didn’t order anything,” she said, staring up at the server.

“I did,” I said, and nodded to the server. He left quickly, knowing the size of his tip depended on how unobtrusive his presence was.

“I don’t really drink that much,” Rachel said, looking at the glass like the drink might try to hold her down and pour itself down her throat.

“We’re having a business meeting and I only discuss business with someone for the first time over drinks.” I pushed her glass closer to her, and held mine out for a toast. She gingerly picked hers up, her soft delicate fingers wrapped around the hard glass. There’s something else I’d like to see her hand wrapped around.

“To a great new working relationship,” I said, clinking my glass to hers. I took a sip of my drink, letting the warm fire spread down my throat, while keeping my eyes on her.

She took a sip, not breaking eye contact. Her eyes got big and watered as she broke out into a coughing fit, thumping on her chest. Her glass clattered down on the table and I smacked her on the back. She wheezed and coughed, tears forming in her eyes before waving me off.

“Sorry, wrong pipe,” she wheezed, wiping at the tears with the napkin from her drink. Her face a bright shade of red. A few more coughs and she finally settled down. This is not how I thought this meeting would go.

“Are you okay?” I asked, the concern in my voice surprising me.

Real fucking smooth. Why didn’t I just lob one of my lungs at him?

I resisted the urge to bang my forehead against the table. At least the server hadn’t carded me. It would have been awkward to be denied service at a bar when I was trying to play it cool. I’d be twenty-one in only a few months. Graduating college early had a lot of benefits, a social life was not one of them.

My chest and lungs burned. I hadn’t expected the fire from the drink in front of me. I didn’t know what it was. But I knew it hurt like hell when I was too busy watching every move the sexy man beside me made instead of swallowing.

“What were you doing at the Alexitor Foundation earlier this week? Working on a new charity project for your company?”

“You could say that,” he said, staring into his glass and glancing over at me.

“And what kind of projects will you be taking on?”

“Various ones,” he said, evasively. I needed to be more direct and get the answers.

“Will you be working alongside Rhys Thayer on these projects?”

“No, I won’t. I’ll be replacing him,” he said, taking another gulp of his drink.

“Replacing him? Why? He’s been on those boards since his parents died.”

“And I think maybe it’s time for some fresh blood.” He finished his drink and slid it to the end of the table. The server came and replaced it immediately. “She’ll have another as well.”

“I haven’t even finished this one yet.”

“Then you better drink up. I’m not answering any more questions until you finish that one,” he said, his eyes burning into mine. I took another sip of my drink, and this time the heat travelled much lower than my stomach. I squirmed in my seat, my core clenching, as his gaze traveled all over my body.

“How long have you lived in the city, Rachel?”

“I thought there weren’t any more questions until I finished my drink?”

“I said, I’m not answering any more of your questions. I didn’t say I wouldn’t be asking some of my own.” He leaned forward.

“Almost a year now,” I said, taking another sip of my drink, just to get him to back off a little. I couldn’t think when he looked at me like that.

“Right after college.” It was a statement. He hadn’t even needed my confirmation.

“Yes.”

“Ivy league.” Again, not a question. I nodded.

“Not Brown.” He ran his thumb over his bottom lip and I was transfixed. “Harvard,” he said, a delicious smile curving his lips.

“How…”

“Oh, I can tell so much about you already, sweetheart.” He slid closer. “I can tell you’re not a reporter.” I gulped and my eyes widened. He smirked. “That you’re here for Rhys Thayer because he’s freaking the fuck out about what I have planned.”

My mouth opened and closed as I searched for the words to deny it. To refute what he’d said and come up with something. Anything to get myself out of this without crashing and burning. He touched my chin with his finger, pushing my mouth closed and running his thumb over my lip. It tasted like my drink. The deep, rich flavor coating his finger. My phone vibrated and skittered across the table, Rhys’s special ring blaring in the space as another of one of his messages came through. Killian raised his eyebrow.

“I…I…” I stammered, his thumb still tracing along my lip, sitting in a bustling bar filled with other people. The heat was out of control now and I could barely sit still. I was caught. How could I salvage this?

He slid a card across the table. The plain black card had simple white raised lettering across the front. ‘Ace’s.’

“Meet me here tomorrow night at eight,” he said, before I could come up with anything. He slid out of the booth, but I could still feel his thumb on me.

“We’re going to play a little game. It’s called ‘How far are you willing to go to get what you want?’”