17
Henley
I laid back on my bath towel and sunk further into the hot liquid, almost too hot. But I felt like I was burning away all the naughty things I had done. With Maverick and Jude, there was no one else to even talk about or compare it to. I was so angry, and I felt so… so—I couldn’t even find the right words.
They were supposed to make plans with me and didn’t, then they decided to show up at a night club with two hot women all over them? What the hell was I to them, a game? I was so annoyed, and on top of that they ruined my night with Denton. And now I had to find a way to explain to my best friend why I was towed away by two angry men. Maverick, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but Jude was all over the place and clearly pissed off. Taking it out on my body.
I never thought watching a guy jerk himself off to me would be so arousing. I never thought anything they did to me would be so damn hot, but it was. And even in the tub, miles away from them and hours later, my pussy was still throbbing for them. It wanted more—the traitor. Mentally, I was so tired of their games and their… whatever it was they were doing. Because after signing their stupid contract I still didn’t have a job, I was only more sexually satisfied for it.
I began to wonder if their company was even as reputable as it seemed. Maybe they were just good at pretending, at lying—it definitely worked on me.
Once I began to prune, I got out of the tab after an hour of being in it to clean up and got dressed in jeans and a sweater even though I knew I would be sitting around the apartment all day. Once I made an early lunch, trying to be healthy with a taco bowl, I just ended up making it with tortillas anyway and settled in for trash television.
I was trying to take my mind off everything with Maverick and Jude. At first glance, they were charming and sexy. Two men who run their own powerful business and have every important person in the investment market on their side and tucked into their finely tailored pockets… but there was something else about them most people don’t see and it’s what they’ve showed me. Their particular sexual tastes and prowess… I knew that was the private part of their lives, I just didn’t think I would get sucked into it. It didn’t matter how powerful or beautiful they were, they shouldn’t have told me they would make plans and then not speak to me for seven days. Only to show up when I was enjoying my own private life, and whisk me away.
Though it wasn’t like I protested, it wasn’t like I said no. And once I knew what they had in mind, there was definitely no way I was saying no. I was in a permanent weird horny limbo since the first night we were together, and I was still feeling it that night at the club. Not even dancing with my best friend helped—I wished he was here so I could tell him everything, or as much as I was allowed to. But that night at the club… God it was so intense. I had no idea two men could be so infuriating and addicting at the same time. The way they could so easily get my body thrumming, my body singing for more of their rough touches and sinful simulations.
Maverick just had a way of making me his prisoner—making me submit to anything he would want. The way he was so kind and relaxed as a person, and then kissed me like he owned every part of me and didn’t care was a mind trip. And Jude too, his crass behavior and short personality was nothing like the way he kissed me; all soft and sweet like he wanted to coax me into doing anything he wanted. Which I would.
But just as I expected, his sexual demands were just like him. The way he would throw me down, and did throw me down; then get me to say the naughty things I was thinking that I never thought I would ever say out loud. And his words too, so dirty and unbecoming but it suited him. I could still feel the way he would whisper in my arm, and bark his dirty commands to me and I would follow willingly. I was barely versed in having sex with one man, let alone two. But they didn’t care, they knew how to train me in the moment and get me where they needed me to be.
My body was still sore from it. That chair wasn’t the biggest thing in the world and I was on it for quite some time, hence the long soak I had to take. And after our little escapade was over, when I was just sitting between them I felt something. Jude was coming down from his alcohol and anger, while Maverick was just enjoying my presence. Why would they enjoy me when they ignored me for an entire week? Getting mad about me being out with a friend whilst they were entertaining two other women didn’t make any sense at all. Men didn’t make any sense at all to me and they weren’t normal men, so it was even worse.
It didn’t change the fact that at this point, I didn’t trust them. I didn’t trust their methods or their reasons for having me to agree to this weird relationship. Because even after another three days, they hadn’t spoken to me at all. I was nothing to them, and it sucked, but I expected it. Men like them don’t settle for women, don’t feel the need to keep women happy because they knew there was another at their disposal.
I didn’t realize I had navigated away from Facebook on my laptop to my google search, and was typing in the name of their company. Maybe I would see it in a different light then from when I was in law school and just admired the company so much and wanted to work for them so badly, that they could do nothing wrong. But I knew the people behind the company, and could see things differently. Maybe the two of them just weren’t as honest as they seemed. I didn’t want to believe it, but no one was perfect.
I read through so many articles about their early days and how they started and I had seen it before. They were roommates in college, how original. And had been in different majors at the time but once they had the idea for the company, they submitted it to numerous contests and grant submissions, when their university itself finally accepted their proposal. They took the money and started their first business model, a simple investment holding company that specialized in personal assets. Their first few clients lasted them up until graduation and they branched out to bigger accounts, something more serious. I was impressed with how ambitious they really were at the time, and now too. They got small office space to operate and this was only a few years ago, before they branched out into company holdings. These larger accounts netted them more capital and they used those few investments to grow. Then they started to tap into the bigger markets, and bigger companies. Everyone described them as cutthroat and ambitious, smart, and cunning. They weren’t lying.
For the past few years they had pretty much risen from the dust to become what they were today. They invested in nothing less than ten million dollars, with nothing less than that same amount and they always profited more than double, sometimes triple. Their own worth of the company was large on its own, they could invest it ten times over and still break even. I thought that was insane. And so when I looked at their stock, I was shocked to find it so low. The lowest it had been. There was a recent article on it even. So I wasn’t the only one noticing.
I was surprised to find it highlighting their only rival company of the same size, some Hatchett something. I personally had never even heard of them, but apparently they were important. They never invested together, but their stock went down as soon as they did a joint investment in some tech company. But I thought the problem wasn’t coming from Jude and Maverick at all, as much as I wanted to hate them.
I did more digging on this Hatchett company, run by an old man way over his time limit. I wondered what he was even doing still working, he was beyond retirement years. Once I checked his credentials in a different tab, I found out he didn’t have much experience either, the company seemed to come up out of nowhere. I realized this was all a little obsessive, but I had no job, and this was something to do.
So I found out this guy wasn’t on the up and up and another article, more speculation, led me to believe he was in fact, unqualified. Not only that, but a lying schemer. I couldn’t believe Maverick and Jude were in business with him. Did this firm up my belief they weren’t good guys? Or had they been duped? Is this why they hadn’t called?
So I called Maverick first, because Jude honestly wasn’t that approachable. I realized I could have called them before when they were ignoring me, but how would I ask when our next sexual appointment would be? Right, that sounded super low key and sexy.
He took three rings before he answered, “Hello Henley, I’m surprised to see you calling. How are you?”
God his voice was distracting. “Right, I’m fine. Look, I have a question for you.”
“Yes?” I could hear the smile in his voice and I ignored it as I went on.
“What do you know about Hatchett Enterprises? I know you’re in business with them on this latest investment.” I cut right to the chase.
“Um. Okay. I don’t know, we’ve had some smaller deals with the owner before. Why?” I could hear the question in his voice and I was sure he was wondering why the hell I knew about it, but I didn’t care. I was going to figure this shit out.
I also didn’t want to come off too strong so I thought about my words carefully, but there was no easy way to say anything about this. What I found would be horrible if it were true, and I knew it was already. So it was all left to Maverick, and for me to grow some courage and ask him. I was suddenly glad I hadn’t called Jude instead.
“Henley? Are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” I inhaled sharply as I closed my laptop and thought deeply to myself. I had to help them, if they didn’t know. I just had to be the bigger person here and hope they didn’t think I was being spiteful. “I think you’ve been involved in a Ponzi scheme.”
18
Maverick
I settled in for the first relaxing night in a while, before I realized I had no reason to be relaxed, because my mind was racing with so much shit. Work, yeah. But for the first time, a woman.
Henley.
I wasn’t as pissed as Jude was and I still wasn’t sure if it was just the alcohol that made him all aggressive. He still hadn’t even talked about it and it had been a few days. We went to work as usual, going over everything we usually did, and hadn’t said a word about her. We weren’t sure where our agreement stood, and it wasn’t like a specific time clock was written into it or anything. I just knew we should have been more forthcoming with her, but it wasn’t like I could turn back time or anything.
And if I could, I would turn back to that night at the club, where we had her so roughly I was still feeling it in my nerves. I never had sex that was that good, that connection so undeniable that it couldn’t be ignored. Henley and her luscious body were too much for my mind to handle.
And I spent the night trying to get her out of it. I ate dinner alone in my wing of the estate and took my scotch to my room for more stewing when my cell rang, not many people had that direct number. I saw the caller ID come up as Henley, and I was pleased to say the least. I could only imagine what she would have to say, I knew she would speak her mind at some point about how she had been treated.
We tended to her, and she enjoyed it. There couldn’t have been much else to it. I gave the phone three good rings before I sat at the desk in my bedroom and answered.
“Hello Henley, I’m surprised to see you calling. How are you?” I smiled to myself, charming her with the ease in my voice.
“Right, I’m fine. Look, I have a question for you.” She snapped. I frowned slightly, noticing the shortness in her voice. I had never heard Henley sound like that, and I immediately wanted to know what was wrong, but she seemed to have a different urgency in her voice.
“Yes?” I smiled, intrigued by what she could have to ask me.
“What do you know about Hatchett Enterprises? I know you’re in business with them on this latest investment.” She cut right to the chase and didn’t waste time. But I immediately wondered how she knew that. It wasn’t a matter of public record yet, and I thought only Jude and I knew about it.
“Um. Okay. I don’t know, we’ve had some small deals with the owner before. Why?” I gave her a simple answer, not disclosing much. I realized again that Henley was a smart and educated young woman, a licensed lawyer who could probably find out anything with just a little digging.
“Henley? Are you there?” I pried, as she had suddenly disappeared. I heard her breathing on the other line, but didn’t get much out of her.
“Yeah, I’m here.” She inhaled sharply as if afraid. “I think you’ve been involved in a Ponzi scheme.”
My fingers went dead around the phone as I took in her words. So many questions rant through my head, and I didn’t know where to start. Was she working for someone, getting inside secrets on us? Had we been set up?
Henley was smart, but she wasn’t manipulative, so I hoped that wouldn’t be the case. But I took in her words and tried to find a way around it. I knew she wasn’t going anywhere though, so I knew I had to tackle this head on.
“What makes you think that?” I asked her, as generic as possible.
“I don’t think, Maverick. I know.” She snapped again. I was taken aback but chuckled nervously.
“Okay. And how do you know?” I revised my question.
“I did some digging, a lot of it. And I found some background information on this Derek Hatchett person, behind Hatchett Enterprises. Anyway, he has been buying and selling parts of his own company for years and then branched out into creating false trusts so other companies would do the same thing. And you did—your initial stake from three million to thirty million has been sitting in their fake company thing just accumulating these false trusts for weeks now.”
I took in her explanation word for word and tried to calm my mind from screaming about it. I knew something was off, I just knew something didn’t seem right and now I was sure of it. Henley wouldn’t lie and that was a hell of a lot to make up, so I knew she was right. We had been played and now we were fucked. Unfortunately, not by Henley.
“Wow. Okay.” I sighed.
Henley did the same and I heard some noise on her end, “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. It’s how they’ve gone unnoticed. When they are done driving the cost up, they liquidate, cut their losses and strip for fake assets. The companies that invested lose, and they keep all profits. The whole thing is a scam.” She spoke quickly, and I heard the passion in her voice. I knew she was good as a corporate lawyer, but she was investigative too. Better than I expected.
“Yeah, I can see that. Thank you for bringing this to me.” I told her. There was silence on both ends. I realized I hadn’t spoken to Henley since I stuffed her in our town car and then dropped her off at her apartment, and that was after we had that wild sex in a coat closet, for crying out loud. And now she was talking some serious shit and I was seeing her in an even better light.
“Yeah. You’re welcome… so, what will you do?” Her voice softened.
I took a deep breath as I thought. But there was no way I could make a decision in the moment, not without thinking it over more or talking to Jude.
“I don’t know, Henley. I have to discuss this with Jude. Thank you again for bringing it to my attention.”
“No problem, I knew I had to say something and I doubted you two would willingly enter into something like this. At least I hoped not.” She laughed once uneasily.
I smiled softly, “That’s kind of you.”
“I suppose. Look I gotta go, I’ll… talk to you later, I think.” I could practically hear her biting her lip.
“You will, I promise. Now you know why we’ve been so absent. I’m sorry, we’ll get this all figured out. ”
“Bye.” She hung up before I could say anything else. I sensed she was angry with me, but I needed to handle this first. And stressed out.
I sighed and decided to table the issue until the next morning. I could speak with Jude about it while we were in the office and it was appropriate. Now, I just wanted a somewhat relaxing night and it wouldn’t involve stressing out about work.
I got up from my desk and changed into my swim trunks to use our roof top pool. We had to blow over a lot of regulations to get it installed, but it was worth it in the end. I liked not having it out in the backyard because that’s where the garden was. We kept our grounds nice, and Jude didn’t care much but we had hired a designer anyway.
I took a long swim in the pool to relax and clear my head and I still didn’t see Jude all night. I retreated to my room and showered before settling into my silk sheets to try and get a good night sleep. It was no fucking use, I tossed and turned until my alarm went off at five, and I got up for my morning workout. Our gym fit like a sky room, and the sun shined through as I went through a weight circuit, skipping cardio because I didn’t feel like it. I had my usual egg white breakfast and coffee, dressed in a gray suit to match my mood, and then headed to work.
The office looked the same, everyone was acting normal, and had no idea the company was in the middle of a shit storm. I guess we were good at being secretive. I dreaded talking to Jude so much that I checked all my emails first, and replied to the important things first. I had a few meetings scheduled that I just rescheduled for later, and planned to go over things with them once Jude and I came to a decision. Finally, I shot him a text and he arrived in my office minutes later.
“What do you want, man?” Jude said his usual greeting and sat on my desk. Which he knew I hated.
“We need to talk. It’s serious.” I looked at him pointedly. He blinked and nodded once before sitting on the chair opposite my desk.
“Okay. What is it?” His pointer finger went to his temple as he leaned on the chair.
“Henley brought some things to my attention last night.” I started. His brow raised in interest and I continued. “She had done some research and found some things that were off about Hatchett.”
“Besides his gout?” Jude chuckled.
I frowned and stared at him. “It’s serious. Look, the whole operation is a Ponzi scheme. His company, the investments… everything was a fucking scam.”
Jude widened his eyes I was sure the same way I had, and stared at me dead pan. I did the same and took in my own words. Saying it for the first time made everything so real.
“Shit.” He finally said.
“Yeah. Shit.”
“And we’re sure she’s right?”
“She definitely isn’t wrong. I don’t know where all of information came from, but it’s good. She’s a better lawyer than we thought.”
“What do you want to do?” He leaned back in the chair and huffed. Neither of us wanted to do anything, quite frankly.
“The first thing we have to do is cut our losses. Just cut off the investment and cut it even for how much we went in. That way the company isn’t impacted, and it can even be written off in back taxes.” I thought quickly.
Having Jude there fueled my ideas, his brooding face helped me think a lot, honestly. It was how we made most of our investments in the beginning, and started everything up.
“Sounds good. Put it in play.”
“On it.” I did some clicking on my computer to send the right stuff off to financial. They knew not to make a fuss over it.
“I still can’t believe Henley found this out.” Jude said.
“Yeah. She’s something else man, we never would have caught it.” I said. Jude nodded and grinned slightly.
“I always knew she had potential.”
I cocked my head. “Couldn’t have been able to tell with the way you treated her at first.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Henley saved our asses, so things have changed.”
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, she did. So what do you want to do—"
“There’s no question what I want to do, Maverick.”
I nodded in agreement. Neither of us were prepared to let Henley go now. She was too good an asset, too valuable to us, both in and out of the boardroom. She was ours before, but now she was the best asset we ever acquired.
19
Henley
I felt like I had a purpose, helping Maverick and Jude. I had no idea how things went, and I wasn’t prepared to ask them either. I felt it was good to just distance myself and so I spent another Friday without them. Of course, I actually left the apartment.
I woke up early and less than cheery faced, but still went to a quick yoga session with a coupon I found online. It was nice, and I felt healthy and relaxed. Once I got back home I did some cleaning and watched television before I made breakfast, even trying a new breakfast pizza recipe.
“Aww you cooked for me?” Denton startled me in the middle of my cooking and hugged me from behind. He smelled like his usual sharp cologne and hair gel.
“Uh huh. I guess I did. And it’s healthy, so don’t worry about that.” I handed him one of the prepped pizza slices and watched him taste it. I wasn’t a perfect cook, but I could follow a recipe; so I was pleased to see him enjoy it.
“Thanks babes. This is great.” He poured a cup of coffee to go with it and sat on the couch with another plate.
He was dressed all casually in jeans and a tee shirt, so I knew he didn’t plan to go anywhere for the day.
“Are you doing anything today?” I asked him over the kitchen fan.
“Nope. You?” He asked me back.
“Uh. No, as usual.”
I heard him laugh and ignored him, but laughed too. At least it was the weekend, so I wouldn’t think just because I didn’t have a job, I had nothing to do. I cleaned up in the kitchen and took my own little portion of food and met him on the couch.
“What are you watching?” I asked him as I took in a very good-looking carpenter on the television.
“Some home improvement show.” He shrugged.
We had finished eating and sat just watching the television. But the tension was in the air about that night at the club. I really hadn’t seen him since. He wasn’t home when I got back and I never really bothered him if I didn’t see him, especially if I knew he was working. So that was the first time we could really talk about it and I knew it was coming.
“So, you want to tell me what that was last weekend?” Denton smirked and faced me on the couch. I sighed and rolled my eyes as I turned to him.
He grinned and waited patiently.
“What what was?” I feigned cluelessness.
“Tell me! who were those guys? Who I may add, came right out of anyone’s wet dreams.” He held his hand up.
“Okay… and yeah you’re right. I interviewed for a job with them, and I can’t really tell you much else. They’re very… private.” I figured that was enough of an explanation.
But Denton gave me his hard look that told me he wasn’t buying it. “They dragged you out of there. I almost called the cops… but it was more fun to watch.” He laughed.
“What? What if they were kidnapping me!?!” I smacked him and he just shrugged away.
“You said it was fine! And you told me you would explain later—so explain!” He shouted.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. It wasn’t that I was shy around Denton, we talked about everything and sex was one of them. But this was different. It was unconventional, and I knew not everyone would understand it. I could barely understand it, and I was the one living it. I mean—two men? It wasn’t exactly ideal for most people.
“Okay. Well, they interviewed me. And then later on they gave me a different sort of um—agreement. That’s what I can’t really talk about, but we just… have this sort of thing going on.” I stuttered. Denton frowned at me and searched my eyes, but I tried not to give away too much.
Denton could be overbearing and opinionated and I didn’t know which way he would swing on this one.
“That doesn’t make any sense babes. What’s going on, Henley?” He touched my arm gently, forcing me to look at him.
I sighed deeply and gave him as little detail as possible. “I’ve had sex with them. Both of them—um, at the same time?” I squeaked.
Denton didn’t say anything and his voice didn’t even change before he suddenly switched gears and started laughing. I didn’t know what could be so funny, and I didn’t know why he thought anything was funny. I thought it was rather serious.
“I’m sorry babes, it’s just you’re—you! And I always thought you were a prude, or the missionary in the dark type. But two guys? And those two guys? Jesus… how are you walking and sitting normally?” He looked me over in mock.
I swatted him away. “Stop, I’m not a prude. And we haven’t done that yet.”
He snickered, “You are a prude—it’s not that it’s anal.” He started laughing and I just laughed with him, even though he was making fun of me.
But I didn’t mind because he is my best friend after all. Our moment was interrupted by a knock at the door, and I couldn’t imagine who would be coming here.
“The man of the house has got it.” Denton joked, standing and he kissed my forehead before going to answer the door.
It opened and I heard everything before I stood to investigate.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I gasped at the voice.
Jude.
He stood in my door way not only fuming and irritated, but not alone. Him and Maverick took up the tiny door frame, their wide shoulders, imposing bodies in cold gray suits took my breath away. And I was lost for breath or something to say until Jude shoved his way in and shut the door, facing Denton with a fury I had never seen before. Denton only stared back confused and a little amused, as Maverick just stood nearby ready to ref if it got ugly. I hoped it wouldn’t, but I stepped between them anyway and faced Jude.
“Calm down.” I placed my hands on his hard chest, somehow still surprised by just how hard it was. And I inhaled his scent when I took a deep breath and nearly collapsed from the perfection of it. His fresh cologne and natural, hard aroma was dizzying and flooded right through my blood. I glanced at Maverick who smiled softly at me.
“What’s he doing here? What aren’t you telling us?” Jude growled and stared down at me with hard eyes.
I simply laugh at his question. The absurdity of it is what got me at first, and then how misguided it really was. Then I was stuck on how jealous he sounded, and wondered if it meant he was just territorial, or actually cared about me that much. I never saw anything with them that way, that they could have that much feeling towards me at all. I knew it was just an arrangement, outside of their office and one-sided hiring agreement. But I enjoyed it anyway, I had no problem with the way things were. Just that they were confusing and time consuming.
But there they stood in my measly apartment, confronting me like I had done something wrong, demanding answers from me and staring me down like they want to see me naked at the same time they want to scold me. But I held back my laugh as I stood between him and Denton, trying not to be distracted by the strength of his chest and cut of his muscles.
“Nothing, Jude. I’m not sure why you are so angry right now.” I said. His eyes sharpened as he looked over my head at Denton, who I could feel fuming. Denton wasn’t one for confrontation or conflict, so I knew he was just inside of himself by then, wondering what the hell was going on.
“I saw you with him at the club, dancing all over each other. Now he is here at your apartment—so there must be something.” Jude said with a snap to his voice. And Maverick behind him, shuffled on his feet towards me to ease the tension. Behind me, I heard Denton snicker and I stepped away from Jude, effectively moving him away from the angry Jude.
The space of our foyer seemed so much smaller with all of them there.
“It’s our apartment, Jude. In fact, he pays most of the rent. Because we’re best friends.” I said. His brows screwed up together and he tightened his jaw. Maverick cleared his throat, and Jude turned to look at him for a split second before he focused on me and Denton, his eyes fleeting between us.
“Yeah right, I know how these things go. Don’t lie to me, Henley. And you—” he turned to Denton with the same hard look in his eye and I turned to see Denton holding back his laugh, as he glanced down at me. I tried to apologize with my eyes, hoping the situation would resolve itself.
“Henley is off limits.” Jude snarled and Maverick just shook his head once at his friend, though his expression seemed to agree with what he had said.
Denton laughed once and I turned to face him, my side facing Jude. I started to talk before Denton cut me off.
“It’s okay,” he said to me, “that’s fine, um—whatever your names are. Unless Henley has a secret dick I don’t know about, I don’t want her. She’s just my needy best friend.” He locked me in his arm under his shoulder and I laughed nervously as I looked to Jude and Maverick.
Jude straightened his tense form out and Maverick tried to hold back his laugh. The situation was funny now, but I was worried it could have gotten a lot worse. I was glad it hadn’t, as both Jude and Maverick seemed to relax a bit.
“Okay then. Sorry about that.” Jude smirked at me.
I wiggled out of Denton’s hold as he laughed.
“No worries. Well, I’m going to take off so you all can… do whatever it is you do.” He shot me a look before he kissed my cheek goodbye, and left me in my apartment with Jude and Maverick.
Those two dominant, alpha men were so overbearing it was almost hard to breathe. I inhaled sharply as I shifted on my feet.
“So… now that things are all cleared up.” I giggled nervously.
Jude smirked his usual sexy, mysterious look and Maverick stared me down as well. Suddenly my whole body was alive, on fire… I wanted them badly all the time, and it was no different. My knees were nearly quivering at the look they were giving me.
“Henley.” Maverick said. He fiddled with the end of his cufflink as he looked at me, I watched the strong way his hand turned, his veins and even muscular hand were still a shock. If I thought hard enough I could imagine the way they felt on me.
“Yes.” I swallowed, looking between them both. The darkness in their eyes was familiar to me—the desire; but it was still so crippling and exciting at the same time.
“Wait for us in your bedroom.” Jude said. A growl nearly eminent in his voice.
I swallowed nervously again, my body humming with excitement. My lips parted as I exhaled a breath of hot air.
“Naked, on your bed. Now.” Maverick said. I blinked rapidly, but it didn’t take long for me to turn on my heel and make my way to the bedroom. Doing exactly what they said and loving every second of it.