All Chapters of His Wicked Games series: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

- LOUISA -I tell myself that Ward and I are ready for anything, that no number of magazine articles or posts on gossip sites will shake us. Let them say what they want. Let them speculate about our relationship and dig up our secrets. It won't change how Ward and I feel about each other.But I'm used to this. Not that you ever really get used to that sort of attention - but at the very least, I've learned how to live with it. It never stops being strange seeing your face on the cover of a magazine.Ward, on the other hand, is dealing with this for the first time.The day after I tell him about Celebrity Spark Magazine, we stop at a gas station to refill and pick up some snacks. I slip away to the bathroom, and when I return to the front of the convenience store, I find Ward looking through the racks of magazines.He has the latest issue of Celebrity Spark in his hands, and he stares down at the cover for a long time before flipping it open and finding the article. I don't try to

- LOUISA -"I'm thinking of going to the funeral," he says the following morning.We're sitting on the bed, munching on tiny boxes of cereal - a.k.a. the motel's "complimentary breakfast" - and pretending to pay attention to the morning show flashing on the television. Those are the first words either of us have said in the last hour.Everything feels so strange between us now. Something has shifted between us, opened up - but while part of me welcomes this new sense of vulnerability, there's an awkwardness between us that wasn't there before. We've both stripped ourselves bare, and now we don't seem to know what to do.I grab some cereal with my fingers and shove it into my mouth. I haven't even thought about Carolson's funeral, but it doesn't surprise me that Ward wants to go."I have to figure out where it is and how I'll get there," he says. "But I shouldn't be gone more than a couple of - ""If you're going, I'm going," I tell him.He blinks at me, looking shocked. Does he

- LOUISA -I notice quite a few things in those first couple of seconds.First, that my dress is still bunched up around my waist and Ward's pants are still around his ankles.Second, that the person on the other side of the gate looks rather comfortable - and he's partly hidden, which means he's probably been there for several minutes, if not longer.Third, there's something familiar about him. I'm not sure whether it's his hair, or the set of his shoulders, or...He moves his camera slightly, and my stomach sinks.It's Asher Julian.Asher Julian is the one who tried to blackmail me back at Huntington Manor. The one who first printed the story about Ward's connection to Edward Carolson only a week ago. He got his big break printing rumors about my brother and Lily. This guy owes his career to my family and the drama we've caused. I should have guessed he'd be here at Carolson's funeral. He's been chasing this story for weeks.And now he's caught us like this. Violated this per

- LOUISA –Calder insists on putting me and Ward up in a hotel for the night. I hate the idea of taking charity from my brother, especially after everything he's already done today - and judging by Ward's expression, he feels the same way - but before I can say anything, Lily cuts me off."I'd love the chance to get to know you better, Louisa," she says, smiling.I remember the last time I talked to her. I was sneaking out of Calder's apartment in the middle of the night and she tried to stop me. My neck goes hot remembering some of the things I said to her.But Lily's obviously trying to play nice, to bridge this gap between us, and honestly, the only thing holding me back is pride. This is my chance to make things right.I look back up at Ward. His eyes are on me, and he gives me the smallest nod, leaving the decision to me. "Okay," I say.Which is how, less than an hour later, Ward and I find ourselves in an enormous room at the Royal Suites Hotel.After all the motels we've

- CALDER - Lily should know better than to tease me.It's clear by the end of our first night back at the estate that she means to have fun with this little "arrangement" of ours. It's all a game to her - the looks over dinner, the brush of her fingers against my leg beneath the table, the lilt in her voice when she says she thinks it's time for her to go back to "her" room. You'd think, though, that given our history, she'd know better than to challenge me. Or that she'd at least have the sense to recognize that she's woefully outmatched.Oh, she knows how to arouse my imagination - I'll give her that. By the time dinner is over and we're heading back upstairs, I've imagined myself taking her in a dozen different ways. Hell, my cock has been aching since this afternoon, when I had her writhing and panting beneath me on our dining table. Being back in this house only increases my hunger because it reminds me of how this all began. I'm tempted to suggest a game of Hide and Seek and