“I’m so very confused,” Presley rubbed her forehead and with her other hand reached for Cruz. She needed his strength as all of hers seemed to have seeped from her body to pool somewhere under the table. She felt comforted as his large hand engulfed hers completely and then he moved sideways and pressed his lips to his temple.The lawyer spoke, “Miss Brookmore, my name is Atticus Marella. I am the legal advisor for multiple families associated with the Phoenix Initiative.”“Phoenix Initiative?”“Yes,” this time it was Belkin. “When we were coming up with a name of the organization where five families who usually fought one another for territory and profit were teaming up together, we came up with this name. Our goal is each woman we rescue to be like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. Liborio, when drafting our insignia, insisted we use the same shade of auburn in the flames which matched the hair of his sister and mother in tribute to them. I digress of course,” Belkin sighed, “however
She was standing in the lobby of the Hawley Telecom building, holding Cruz’s hand feeling like the most powerful bitch on the planet. Truth be told, she might even be her, and the thought sent a shiver of excitement down her spine.Their meeting with Belkin had been long but in the end, he’d told her the four other families, his included, would manage all the illegal activities for her as proxies or she could sell those businesses to them outright and they would split it. She’d decided on the latter because peddling drugs was not anything she wanted part of. Then when she’d had a mini panic attack over suddenly being responsible for several large companies, she was reassured all of the companies had CEO’s at the helm. She was the president of them all and everyone would report to her, but each company was very effectively managed. Cruz and Belkin both promised to guide her through the process while making sure she could still have time for her writing and anything else she wanted to
“That might have been the hottest thing I’ve ever witnessed.”She snickered at Cruz’s comment when they were back in the SUV.“Where to next, boss?” Cruz waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed.“You were supposed to go to work today and you didn’t. You should probably get something done for your own business.”He gave a sigh, “yes. I know but this was fun.” He made a face, “I also am not quite ready to let you leave me.”“What if I hung out in your office? Is there anything happening there which is top-secret or confidential? Can I hang out on the sofa?” She’d been to his office earlier in the week and there was a giant plush suede sofa he confessed to having for naps when he needed a break.“I would love this.”“Can we swing by my place, grab my laptop, and outline book? I’m feeling really inspired after this morning and I want to jot dot some ideas and maybe begin the framework of my next story.”“Definitely.”It didn’t take long before they were back at Cruz’s office and she w
“I can’t stop scratching,” Presley muttered as they loaded into the waiting SUV to go home. “I’ve never had lice, but I think maybe I have them now. Did your guys get the shampoo?”“Stop saying lice,” Cruz hissed at her as he scratched the top of his head.“It’s what they are!” She peered at him carefully, “I can’t help but think of how you hugged your assistant while she was crying.”“You cannot be jealous.”“No! I’m not jealous. I mean Ramona kept their heads pretty tight together. Then you hugged the poor girl while she came apart, and rightly so,” she glared at him, “but your heads were close and if one of those things crawled from Ramona to her and it crawled to you, you might have lice.” She paused. “I hope she is okay.”“She is going to be fine. Her husband was meeting her at the clinic and I already arranged for a psychologist to meet her there and to do a debrief with her to make sure she gets some help for what she went through today. I also gave her paid leave and told her
Sitting at the dining room table in Cruz’s condo overlooking Coal Harbour the next morning, Presley wondered why she was clinging to her teeny, tiny, little apartment so much. The view from here was incredible. In other rooms of the condo, you could see Stanley Park and from the balcony you could see beyond the ferry terminals. It was stunning from a location perspective. Add in the fact it was a four-bedroom condo, tons of wide-open space, warm and inviting and Cruz’s bed was a king-sized bed, and she could probably fit her entire apartment in his bedroom alone, well she was almost dreading going back to her miniscule hole in the wall.She took another bite of her sandwich while Cruz was in his home gym, another perk of his condo despite the building having an entire gym of it’s own, she listened to the clanging of metal. According to Cruz, the shared gym didn’t have weights which were heavy enough for what he usually lifted. The grunting sounds as he began lifting whatever he’d put
“Where are you?” Belkin’s voice was gruff in her ear.“I’m on my way to talk to my editor. I told you. I’d come to you when I was done my meeting.” Presley was as gruff back to Belkin.“I will meet you there. I have an update for you.”“It can’t wait until I meet you at the holding cells in the casino?”“No.”“Good grief,” she muttered when the phone went dead. She looked to her driver who was watching her in the rearview mirror and shrugged. “Do you think I’ll ever get used to dealing with cranky mob bosses?”“You are one of them now, Miss.” Her driver grinned at her.“Fair.” She nodded her agreement and then turned her attention back to looking out the window. She missed being able to walk everywhere and to have anonymity and freedom to come and go as she pleased. What was only a thirty-minute walk from her home to her editor’s main office, was now impossible to navigate on foot because she needed to travel with guards, paparazzi were chasing her since Liborio’s death was announced
Wandering through the casino she now owned, Presley was trying to get a feel for the way people gravitated to the flash and noise of the scene.She couldn’t understand it at all. Perhaps because she’d never felt a desperate need to make ends meet or to find a quick way to make cash, the appeal to throw money into a machine in hopes of a jackpot never appealed to her. There was more than one person sitting at the slot machines who were greasy-haired and reeking of desperation. It reminded her she was better off than most for the entirety of her life. Now, though, she was far wealthier than any of these people at the machines would dream of being even if they hit it right and won a jackpot.She didn’t deserve any of it.She was taking it though. Presley lifted her chin defiantly. If for no other reason than to thumb her nose at the man who thought he’d be able to convince her to be his wife and steal her life from her, she was taking what she knew he never intended to hand over so soon.
Presley Brookmore wasn’t one to let an opportunity pass her by. All of her life her older brother Odin and his two best friends Cruz Hawley and Anderson Oak did everything they could to terrorize her. Everything from jumping on her sandcastles when she was a little girl to making fun of her when she got her braces at ten to interrupting her first kiss when was thirteen.It was the first kiss which was on her mind now. While Odin and Anderson were always just on the right side of going too far, it was Cruz who didn’t just straddle the line, he hopped over it with vengeance. Cruz always took their games too far and if she wasn’t crying, he wasn’t laughing, and man did that boy love to laugh.She cocked her head to the side as she and her two friends, Sloane, Anderson’s little sister, and Halima were sitting in a restaurant. One might argue it purely happenstance which put them in the same restaurant as Cruz Hawley, but Presley was certain it was fate.“I haven’t seen him in like five, s
Wandering through the casino she now owned, Presley was trying to get a feel for the way people gravitated to the flash and noise of the scene.She couldn’t understand it at all. Perhaps because she’d never felt a desperate need to make ends meet or to find a quick way to make cash, the appeal to throw money into a machine in hopes of a jackpot never appealed to her. There was more than one person sitting at the slot machines who were greasy-haired and reeking of desperation. It reminded her she was better off than most for the entirety of her life. Now, though, she was far wealthier than any of these people at the machines would dream of being even if they hit it right and won a jackpot.She didn’t deserve any of it.She was taking it though. Presley lifted her chin defiantly. If for no other reason than to thumb her nose at the man who thought he’d be able to convince her to be his wife and steal her life from her, she was taking what she knew he never intended to hand over so soon.
“Where are you?” Belkin’s voice was gruff in her ear.“I’m on my way to talk to my editor. I told you. I’d come to you when I was done my meeting.” Presley was as gruff back to Belkin.“I will meet you there. I have an update for you.”“It can’t wait until I meet you at the holding cells in the casino?”“No.”“Good grief,” she muttered when the phone went dead. She looked to her driver who was watching her in the rearview mirror and shrugged. “Do you think I’ll ever get used to dealing with cranky mob bosses?”“You are one of them now, Miss.” Her driver grinned at her.“Fair.” She nodded her agreement and then turned her attention back to looking out the window. She missed being able to walk everywhere and to have anonymity and freedom to come and go as she pleased. What was only a thirty-minute walk from her home to her editor’s main office, was now impossible to navigate on foot because she needed to travel with guards, paparazzi were chasing her since Liborio’s death was announced
Sitting at the dining room table in Cruz’s condo overlooking Coal Harbour the next morning, Presley wondered why she was clinging to her teeny, tiny, little apartment so much. The view from here was incredible. In other rooms of the condo, you could see Stanley Park and from the balcony you could see beyond the ferry terminals. It was stunning from a location perspective. Add in the fact it was a four-bedroom condo, tons of wide-open space, warm and inviting and Cruz’s bed was a king-sized bed, and she could probably fit her entire apartment in his bedroom alone, well she was almost dreading going back to her miniscule hole in the wall.She took another bite of her sandwich while Cruz was in his home gym, another perk of his condo despite the building having an entire gym of it’s own, she listened to the clanging of metal. According to Cruz, the shared gym didn’t have weights which were heavy enough for what he usually lifted. The grunting sounds as he began lifting whatever he’d put
“I can’t stop scratching,” Presley muttered as they loaded into the waiting SUV to go home. “I’ve never had lice, but I think maybe I have them now. Did your guys get the shampoo?”“Stop saying lice,” Cruz hissed at her as he scratched the top of his head.“It’s what they are!” She peered at him carefully, “I can’t help but think of how you hugged your assistant while she was crying.”“You cannot be jealous.”“No! I’m not jealous. I mean Ramona kept their heads pretty tight together. Then you hugged the poor girl while she came apart, and rightly so,” she glared at him, “but your heads were close and if one of those things crawled from Ramona to her and it crawled to you, you might have lice.” She paused. “I hope she is okay.”“She is going to be fine. Her husband was meeting her at the clinic and I already arranged for a psychologist to meet her there and to do a debrief with her to make sure she gets some help for what she went through today. I also gave her paid leave and told her
“That might have been the hottest thing I’ve ever witnessed.”She snickered at Cruz’s comment when they were back in the SUV.“Where to next, boss?” Cruz waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed.“You were supposed to go to work today and you didn’t. You should probably get something done for your own business.”He gave a sigh, “yes. I know but this was fun.” He made a face, “I also am not quite ready to let you leave me.”“What if I hung out in your office? Is there anything happening there which is top-secret or confidential? Can I hang out on the sofa?” She’d been to his office earlier in the week and there was a giant plush suede sofa he confessed to having for naps when he needed a break.“I would love this.”“Can we swing by my place, grab my laptop, and outline book? I’m feeling really inspired after this morning and I want to jot dot some ideas and maybe begin the framework of my next story.”“Definitely.”It didn’t take long before they were back at Cruz’s office and she w
She was standing in the lobby of the Hawley Telecom building, holding Cruz’s hand feeling like the most powerful bitch on the planet. Truth be told, she might even be her, and the thought sent a shiver of excitement down her spine.Their meeting with Belkin had been long but in the end, he’d told her the four other families, his included, would manage all the illegal activities for her as proxies or she could sell those businesses to them outright and they would split it. She’d decided on the latter because peddling drugs was not anything she wanted part of. Then when she’d had a mini panic attack over suddenly being responsible for several large companies, she was reassured all of the companies had CEO’s at the helm. She was the president of them all and everyone would report to her, but each company was very effectively managed. Cruz and Belkin both promised to guide her through the process while making sure she could still have time for her writing and anything else she wanted to
“I’m so very confused,” Presley rubbed her forehead and with her other hand reached for Cruz. She needed his strength as all of hers seemed to have seeped from her body to pool somewhere under the table. She felt comforted as his large hand engulfed hers completely and then he moved sideways and pressed his lips to his temple.The lawyer spoke, “Miss Brookmore, my name is Atticus Marella. I am the legal advisor for multiple families associated with the Phoenix Initiative.”“Phoenix Initiative?”“Yes,” this time it was Belkin. “When we were coming up with a name of the organization where five families who usually fought one another for territory and profit were teaming up together, we came up with this name. Our goal is each woman we rescue to be like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. Liborio, when drafting our insignia, insisted we use the same shade of auburn in the flames which matched the hair of his sister and mother in tribute to them. I digress of course,” Belkin sighed, “however
Cruz looked at Presley sideways as they sat in the back of an SUV worriedly.“You didn’t have to come.”“It’s me he is threatening.” She rubbed the leather upholstery of the bench seat they were on. “This is nice. Maybe having to be driven everywhere won’t be so awful if I get to sit on buttery leather, have a hot driver and you in the backseat.”He turned his torso to face her pursing his lips in annoyance, “hot driver?”“Cruz look at him,” she whispered mockingly to the man on the other side of the glass partition. “Your security team found me a guy bigger than you! It’s my type.”“You’re not his. He likes men.”“No way.”“You think jacked up guys can’t be gay?”“Yes, they can but not him. He looked at my ass.”“When?”“When I was getting into the car. I saw him checking me out.”He shook his head and frowned, “you’re trying to get me going.”“Am I?” she made wide eyes at him.“Distracting me because of where we are going.”“Well, you’re squeezing your cell phone so tight I’m surpri
Presley looked down at Cruz as her shaking fingers unbuttoned his shirt to push it back off his shoulders. His hazel eyes were clear and focused on her as if memorizing each tiny detail of her features and yet she was mesmerized by the golden flesh she was uncovering. Vacation sunshine gave his skin a sun kissed and burnished glow Her palm ran over his thick pecs, stroking his nipples and cupping the taut sinew of his flesh. His cock twitched under her as she explored the curves of his abdomen and then back up his shoulders and it forced a smile to her face.“What are you grinning like the Cheshire Cat for?” he asked as he wriggled his arm out of the sleeve of his shirt to allow her further exploration.She ground her pelvis against his, “ten seconds of touching you and you’re already getting hard.”“Ladybird, I can get hard thinking of the smile on your face, let alone having you touch me.”She continued letting her hands search as he pulled his shirt from under him and tossed it asi