We moved in together almost immediately, and split our time between Connor’s Manhattan penthouse and an apartment we rented in Santa Monica. Ross and Associates became bicoastal, with Anh taking over West Coast operations and me handling the East. I spend almost all my time with her whenever I’m in Los Angeles, and we Skype at least an hour every day for business, so it’s not as though I don’t see her… but I miss her. That’s the one slightly melancholy note to everything else wonderful happening in my life.Connor asked if I wanted to give up the business, but it gives me something to do – something of my own. Something I can feel proud of building.The shooter was finally identified as one Johann Wurtzel, a former special forces operative in the German military. Apparently he went to the dark side after he got out; the investigative team turned up numerous mercenary jobs he had done. They also found a week-old $100,000 deposit in a Swiss bank account. It came from a small company he
Now it was Tuesday afternoon, and I was waiting on the roof of the skyscraper for my fiancé. I peered down from the roof, out across the canyons of glass and stone surrounding our building, and looked at the green expanse of Central Park. It was amazing to me how much my life had changed. A year ago I had been a temp working for a terrible boss, when a tall, dark, impossibly handsome stranger had come into my life and totally shaken everything up. Whisked me away to Vegas… got me embroiled in a national sex scandal… broken my heart… and then made it whole with a surprise wedding proposal.Add to that a shooting, a bunch of intrigue with his horrible, rotten, no-good, very bad family, and a psychopathic ex… and you have the last year of my life.I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.Off in the distance, I saw the helicopter. I retreated to the edge of the building and gave it plenty of room to set down on the landing pad. Even then, the wind whipped around me like a hurricane, and t
We lay there afterwards, me on my back, Lily snuggled up to my side, both of us naked.“Now that was a hell of a homecoming,” I said.“Mmm… yeah, I liked it, too.”“You sure know how to put the ‘coming’ into ‘homecoming,’ alright.”She groaned and laughed at the same time. “Oh my God, that was such a bad joke.”“Really? I liked it.”“You would. It’s like that line you used on me in Vegas… the one about the dress and ‘becoming’ – ”“That dress looks very becoming on you,” I recited. “And if I were that dress, I’d be coming, too.”She burst into laughter. “That’s the one. You like your little jokes with the word ‘coming’ in them.”“Well, I like coming.”“Mmmm… so do I,” she purred, softly caressing my cock with one finger.“Hey now,” I warned. “You do any more of that, and we’re going again.”“Can’t do that. Dinner’s really soon.”“Then you better stop turning me on.”“Really?” she asked, acting all doe-eyed and biting her lip on purpose.“Woman,” I said, grabbing her underneath her bod
Our little romp ran long, so the SEC prep work turned into a working dinner, with Sebastian going over his papers while Connor, Johnny, Anh, and I paid more attention to our duck confit and wine.Finally Sebastian got frustrated and slapped down his papers. “You can’t treat this so nonchalantly!”“Let’s talk about the wedding, then,” I said.“Oh God… no… please,” Connor pleaded. “Shut up!” I laughed.“We have until the wedding,” Sebastian said. “Which will be ruined by the tuberoses, but that’s another story.”“Hey!”“The SEC meeting is tomorrow, and if we don’t handle this, it could have massive repercussions, and – ”“Sebastian, chill,” Connor snapped. “Why are you going crazy over this?”“I’m not going crazy over this,” Sebastian sniffed. “It’s just a very important meeting and – ”“And you’re totally PMSing about it,” Connor said.“HEY!” both Anh and I shouted together.“Sorry,” Connor apologized. “But he is.”“Why’s it always got to be about PMS when somebody’s cranky?” I said,
After dinner, Anh went to take a nap (that girl can not handle her alcohol, even a couple glasses of wine), and Johnny and Connor retired to the ‘dojo’ on the floor below the penthouse. Ever since the assassination attempt last year, Connor has been obsessed with my safety. He still blames himself for endangering me, which is ridiculous; Connor risked his own life to keep me safe. I think what it really is, is that he felt exposed and at the mercy of the hitman, and he never wants to feel that way again. Anyway, he’s got some kind of a macho stick up his butt about it, so he dragooned Johnny into being his Mr. Miyagi. Every night Connor’s in Manhattan, he makes Johnny teach him a bunch of ninjutsu and Special Forces stuff. I’m not kidding. We’re talking hand-to-hand combat, guns, knives. There’s a private, sound-proofed gun range two floors down where they shoot pistols and assault rifles. In the Olympic-sized pool next to the gun range, Connor got certified in scuba. Just in case.
The next morning we arrived at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Manhattan headquarters. Johnny and Sebastian came along, as did Connor’s four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. We all made quite a sight as we took the elevator up to the fourth floor. It was like the HBO show Entourage, but with scary guys in dark suits and a tall gay man.Connor’s lawyers met us in the lobby. Robert Schilling, the head of the firm, was there personally. He was a medium-sized man with short gray hair, Cartier glasses, and a $10,000 suit.“Connor,” he said as they shook hands.“Rob. Is she here?”“Oh yes.”Schilling led the way to a glass room where Miranda sat at a table with her fleet of lawyers.She was strikingly beautiful in a crème designer skirt suit. Her blonde hair was arranged in a flawless chignon, revealing her elegant neck and highlighting her sculpted cheekbones. She looked like Grace Kelly, if Grace Kelly could look like she’d cut out your heart with a butter knife.I tried to hide my fe
First he kissed my neck, moving slowly from my shoulder all the way up to my earlobe.At the same time, he unclasped my strapless bra and let it fall to the floor.He began to caress my breasts, gliding his palms over my soft skin, gently pushing them together, then cupping them from beneath. He tweaked my nipples and at the same time bit my neck, two mild flashes of pain that added up to a greater pleasure.I held my head to the side and closed my eyes, just letting the waves of desire roll over me.He began to squeeze my ass, massaging it firmly. As he did, I could feel his cock pressing against one of my cheeks. It was hard and upright beneath the cloth of his pants, and every so often would spasm, like he was having a tiny contraction – an involuntary spasm that told me he wanted to be inside me so bad.Suddenly he pressed one powerful hand between my shoulder blades, forcing me down on the bed, but with my ass still in the air. Bent over at a 90 degree angle, I braced myself with
I remember the first time I saw Connor Templeton, over two years ago.It was at some sort of fundraiser I was attending, merely for appearances. I had no use for clean water in African villages, or schooling for underprivileged children in Latin America. In fact, many times these things ran counter to my business interests.But I had learned long before from my grandparents that social niceties are a cloak best used to hide your real intentions. At least, the smartest use them for that. The less intelligent use them to get from others what they can’t summon for themselves, whether that be approval, self-worth, or a balm for their conscience.Fundraisers: self-absorbed liberals’ prescription for feeling better about themselves.At any rate, it was some pompous gala where people pledged $1000 to charity and ate and drank $900 worth of champagne and caviar. I was trying to raise my profile amongst the do-gooder set, so I had donated $50,000 on behalf of my firm. I expected to make back a
The only part that was slightly sad was that Connor’s mother and brother didn’t attend. His mother was still under heavy psychiatric care. She wouldn’t have even known what was going on, according to Connor. As much as I disliked Lenora Templeton, that news saddened me. I only wanted her out of my life. I didn’t want her to end up like this.His brother had checked himself into rehab. Though he sent his congratulations, Vincent told Connor that he didn’t think he could attend, knowing what Miranda had done and how she had met her end. He felt he was still in too precarious a situation emotionally to leave the safety of the rehab center.I know that Connor still bore a lot of anger and hurt towards his mother and brother, but he would have liked to have had them there – as long as they behaved themselves.Things were improving, though. His mother was gradually getting better, and Connor had worked out a deal to take over as interim CEO of the Templeton Group while his brother was in r
But as far as wedding days go, it wasn’t the only one.Come on, I’d gotten married in sopping wet clothes, on a deserted island in the Caribbean, with only four people total in attendance.Did you really think I wasn’t going to have a billionaire-style shindig, with all my family and friends?Connor and I decided on it spontaneously, as soon as we got back home. But rather than hold it in New York City, with all its bad memories from the last couple of weeks, we held it two weeks later in Lake Cuomo, Italy. Have you ever seen pictures of Lake Cuomo? It’s like an Italian Renaissance fairytale. George Clooney bought a residence there, with good reason – it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth. And that’s where we had our wedding.There was only one shadow hanging over the entire day.After we were escorted back to St. Vincent by the policemen, Connor immediately hired a team of divers to go down to inspect the yacht’s wreckage. There was one body in particular he wanted found.B
It turns out Johnny was right: we didn’t see a single shark the entire way.That doesn’t mean it was a piece of cake. What with Johnny and Connor’s wounds, and my needing to rely on their help when I was tired, it took us almost an hour. By the time we got to the island, we were exhausted. But Sebastian was there to greet us. As we approached where the waves started to break, he saw us and started yelling and waving ecstatically from the beach.“A little help!” Johnny shouted at him. Sebastian immediately raced out into the waves and dragged me to shore. “Thank God, thank God,” he kept sobbing as he helped me lie down on the sand. Then he went back out and helped Johnny and Connor limp their way onto the beach.We all collapsed next to each other. Connor and I held hands as we stared up into the blue sky, too weary to speak.“I thought I’d never see you again,” Sebastian said, wiping tears from his face.I was touched; it was the most vulnerable I’d ever seen him.“No such luck,” Co
The happiest moment of my life was when Connor proposed to me.The second was when he burst through that door.And the third was seeing the look of surprise on Miranda’s face when she realized what I had done to her.While Connor kept her talking, I picked the lock and undid the handcuffs from my right wrist. (Bobby pins to the rescue!) Then I grabbed Miranda’s arm and slapped the cuffs on her.Anytime I’m ever depressed about anything from now on for the rest of my life, I’m just going to remember the look of surprise on that murderous bitch’s face, and everything will be better. Instant anti-depressant.Miranda yanked her arm up with a clank! of the chain, but she was locked to the metal armrest of the chair – which was bolted to the floor.She screamed in fury, and pulled the gun’s trigger.BLAM!But I’d purposefully bumped her aim away from Connor – so all that happened was one of the creepy glass spider cases shattered into tiny shards.The gunshot hurt my ears, but I’d been expe
I couldn’t take the shot. I wasn’t Johnny; my aim was good, but not stellar, and the floor was already at a 20 degree tilt. Miranda had her gun at point blank range to Lily’s head. If she pulled the trigger before I got her – I slowly held my .45 away from my body and let it fall to the floor.All the ugliness I knew was inside Miranda revealed itself on her face. It was the evil leer of a serial killer, the grin of a Great White Shark.“I win,” she gloated.My heart sank.It was over. I had failed.I looked at Lily, both sorrow and love welling up at once. She was seated in some sort of chair bolted to the floor, and was handcuffed to the metal armrest.Lily’s eyes were frantic, but her lips were moving. She was mouthing something…Keep her talking.I couldn’t tell for the life of me what she had in store, but I complied. I looked up at Miranda. “You win. You can do with me whatever you want, but please – let Lily go.”“Don’t waste your breath,” Miranda snarled. “Walk towards me w
The door suddenly burst open, and there stood Connor with a gun in his hand, just like the star of an action movie.My heart soared with love – and fear. Because Miranda was standing behind my chair, just like the villain in an action movie.I was between them – Miranda’s human shield.I felt the barrel of Miranda’s pistol jam against the back of my head.“Drop it,” she commanded, “or I kill her.”Connor looked at me helplessly.“Don’t worry about me – shoot her!” I begged him.But he wouldn’t take the chance. He held the gun slowly away from him and let it fall to the floor. CLUNK.I felt Miranda’s pistol stop pressing against my scalp, then saw it appear next to me as it pointed at Connor.“I win,” she said, and I could hear the sneering triumph in her voice.
I rushed over to Leo’s body, staggering in the tilting hallway as I ran.He was lying face-up on the ground, a pool of blood spreading out beneath him on the floor.He saw me coming. Tried weakly to lift his AR-15 – I put two more rounds in him with my .45.BLAM BLAM.He lay still after that.Adrenaline coursed through me like a drug, sharpening my senses while making everything unreal.I felt sick. I had just killed a man. I had just taken a life. He was a traitor, yes, and someone who was planning to hand me over to be killed – but still, I felt queasy.Lily.She was all that mattered. I pulled myself together.“Nice shooting,” Eve said in my ear. “Oh ye of little faith.”“What?” At first I thought she meant something about me doubting my abilities to shoot someone, which didn’t make any sense.“You thought I was a turncoat? AGAIN?”“Oh,” I said sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”“Hmph. We’ll talk later. Go down the hallway the way you were originally heading – there’s a half-dozen g
BOOM.There was a massive explosion somewhere on the ship. Every glass pane in the spider terrariums rattled, and a couple cracked.“What the hell?” Miranda said, and stumbled to her feet as the yacht began to tilt to one side.After my initial shock from the blast, I watched Miranda’s face. She was reacting with more fear – in fact, with more emotion – than I’d ever seen her display before.She looked back at me, her eyes wide with surprise.After all the indignities the bitch had put me through, I couldn’t resist. “Guess my fiancé’s here,” I said, and gave her a little smile.
I was halfway down the deck when Eve spoke in my ear. “Connor, there’s a problem.”“What?” I whispered.“Juan and Leo are on the other side of the yacht, but I’m not getting any video feeds of them.”There was a dull WHUP in the distance, then another one a few seconds later.Not like gunshots, exactly. But they did sound like a heavy book being dropped on a wood floor.I ducked into an alcove with a door in it, and hunkered down into a squatting position. “Juan? Leo?”“We separated, and Juan ran into a guard,” Leo’s voice said. “Juan’s dead, but I got the other guy before he could sound the alarm.”SHIT. Already things were going to hell, and we’d barely engaged the enemy yet.But… something didn’t make sense…I frowned. “I heard two silenced shots. How come I didn’t hear any regular gunfire?”“They’ve got suppressors, too. The first one was the guy shooting Juan, the second was me shooting the guard.”I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something seemed off. I just chalked it up to