Filthy Rich (24 page)

“What are you now? A thug with a conscience?” Caspian demanded.

“I'm a man who knows when the game is over.” Gabon shook his head. “Wise up. You lost her, and Lupan isn't going to wait for you to come after him again.” Gabon lifted one hand and pointed toward the door. “He's stalking you now.”

Caspian stiffened, losing interest in Gabon as Nartan Lupan entered the club. He swept it, moving slowly along the outer edge until he came to the bartender. He reached out and shook the man's hand. The bartender's eyes narrowed as his hand disappeared beneath the bar for a moment to pocket the bribe Nartan had just given him. His lips moved and Nartan turned to look at the shadowed alcove Caspian sat in.

Rage filled him. Betrayal was something he refused to tolerate.

The bartender would suffer for his lapse in judgment.

Nartan was heading toward him.

He'd lost this battle but he would with the war. He always did. He quickly followed Gabon out the back and waited for his driver. But once inside his car, Caspian snarled, his poise deserting him as he watched the streets they drove past.

No one was going to tell him what to do again. He'd had enough of that in prison.

And yet there he was, being forced out by Nartan Lupan.

It was infuriating.

Enraging.

Celeste had turned slut.

Once he made it home, he tried to settle back in his office chair with a new drink. But Celeste's picture stared at him from the wall. So pristine. So perfect. Her wedding dress molded to her delightful figure and his ring shone on her finger.

“Got naked the moment they pulled into the garage.”

The picture of Celeste in Nartan's embrace was on his desk.

Slut!

He hurled the heavy glass at the picture. Glass shattered, long shards falling out of the frame to the floor. His bodyguard entered the room, his gaze sweeping the scene silently.

“No one crosses me,” Caspian declared ominously. “She and her lover need a lesson.”

His bodyguard stiffened and shook his head. “I agree with Gabon. I'm just here until a replacement is sent over.”

“You will help me teach them that lesson,” Caspian snarled. “You will!”

His bodyguard didn't say a word and merely withdrew silently. But the man left behind doubt. Caspian found it eating away at him. Doubt wasn't something he allowed in his world.

It wouldn't be tolerated. He was the master.

So he'd take matters into his own hands.

That sent a jolt of satisfaction through him. It was thick and intoxicating. He turned and poured another drink, enjoying the burn of brandy mixed with determination.

Yes, he was the master.

“I can't keep doing this.”

Nartan looked up from his desk, his eyes narrowing. The look was familiar now. He leaned back in his desk chair and gave her his full attention.

“Caspian's succeeded in making you turn this place into the thing I hate.” She pointed at the small, black security camera mounted to the ceiling in the corner of his office.

They were all over the house now. Two weeks later, her face had healed but her feelings hadn't.

“You had bars over the windows of your townhouse, Celeste.” He stood up and came around his desk. “This is about the fact that I won't let you tag along.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “It is.”

“It's nonnegotiable.” He stood and went to the coatrack in the corner where his suit jacket was hanging. The office was neat and impressive, everything she expected of a man who owned such a premium stretch of the California coastline.

“Let's go over to Angelino's tonight,” Nartan said.

He shrugged into his jacket, making it clear he was finished with the topic. Frustration chewed at her, but it was the same slow simmer that had been going for the last two weeks. She couldn't quite work it into a boil, but at the same time, she was failing miserably at letting it go.

He hadn't said he loved her.

That stuck in her throat. She was crazy to have said it herself, and the admission had left her feeling exposed.

“We've been spending too much time cooped up here.” He moved closer, slipping his hands onto her hips with a familiarity that stole her breath. Repetition hadn't dulled the way his touch made her breath catch.

He pressed a light kiss against her lips before turning her around and giving her a soft swat on her backside.

“Put something ravishing on. So I can enjoy the idea of taking it off you.”

His voice was rich with passion. She turned and eyed him over her shoulder. “Are you going to wait until we get home?”

His lips curved roguishly. “No promises.”

“We might get kicked out. For indecent behavior.”

“Sounds like fun.”

She paused at the bedroom door. He smiled broadly and made a biting gesture. Heat was tingling along her body now, and she shook her head. The man was insatiable, and he made her feel the same way. Thank goodness she trained hard and was in great physical shape. She'd had more sex in the last month than in her entire life before, and she still felt anticipation building as she dressed.

A teasing of heat flickered through her passage as she put on a garter belt and snapped the stockings into place.

He loved garter belts.

She picked up a matching bra and reached around her back to hook it.

He liked her low-cut bras too.

This one barely covered her nipples but it supported her well, pushing her breasts up. Her nipples were pulling into tight little buttons as she pulled a dress out of the closet and slipped into it.

Nartan had pulled the Lamborghini out of the garage and flipped it around in the driveway. He was leaning against it when she came down the driveway. The stars were brilliant, the moon a silver sliver in the sky.

Her heels tapped on the concrete and he turned, holding out his hand. She watched the way he looked at her, his eyes filling with pleasure. He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against the back before opening the door for her.

***

“They left the house.”

Caspian smiled.

“They've gone up to Angelino's together and left the heat behind.”

Caspian made a little sound of approval.

“What do you want us to do?”

“Wait. I am going to return the favor Mr. Lupan has been paying me by showing up where I like to relax.”

He cut the line and stood up. Prison time was good for one thing, physical conditioning. His body was tight, the excess weight he'd had before his sentence worn away.

It was also good for something else.

Planning.

He had lots of plans. Meticulously thought-out ones that he was very ready to put into action. For just a moment, his attention settled on the new bodyguard in the corner of his office. He wasn't Gabon. But a disloyal man wasn't worth thinking about.

***

Angelino's was full. The moment they arrived, they were shown past the parties waiting in the lobby and bar toward the private section of the restaurant. Behind the sliding doors, there were mostly full tables. Nartan pulled out a chair in a corner alcove designed for privacy.

The meal service was perfect and the food divine. But all of it paled when compared to her dinner companion.

“You need to let me do this, Celeste.”

She was on her second glass of wine when Nartan got to the topic she was stewing over.

“I could say the same to you,” she countered. “It's my mess.”

“No, it's ours, and I'm going to handle it.”

There was determination in his voice that she hadn't heard before. She realized she was looking at the business side of his persona. The only other time she had seen it was the night in Alaska. It was a stark contrast to the man she'd been living with.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“That I've had the privilege of knowing your personal side, and I didn't realize it.”

His lips rose just a fraction as his eyes filled with pleasure.

“In fact, the last time I saw you this focused was when you took that phone call.” She didn't need to elaborate. His eyes flashed with instant recognition. “I think I'm ready to forgive you for that.”

“Why?”

“You couldn't have built all of this without putting your personal life aside. I guess I'll have to give you some time to learn to change your priorities.”

His lips rose higher. “ I'm going to enjoy making you a priority…” He took a sip of wine. “As well as giving you my undivided attention.”

Heat snaked through her belly, the pulse of anticipation increasing. “Excuse me. I think I'll freshen up before we leave for dessert.”

He got up and pulled her chair out for her, then leaned down and growled next to her ear before she stepped away. She blushed as she walked to the restrooms.

Just like everything else in Angelino's, the restrooms were elegant.

Celeste leaned over to apply a fresh coat of lipstick with the use of one of the large, polished mirrors.

“Those bruises have healed rather fast.” Laura came into view, studying Celeste's reflection.

“Excuse me?” Celeste popped the cap back on her lipstick and dropped it into her clutch.

Laura rolled her eyes. “I saw the police report.”

Dread gripped Celeste's insides, but she kept her expression calm. “That was none of your business.”

Laura fluttered her eyelashes, showing off a perfectly done makeup job. Her dark hair was piled on her head in a mass of curls that left her slender neck exposed. “Nartan Lupan is my business. Everything about him, even his screwups.”

The frustration that had been stewing inside Celeste for the last few weeks suddenly found a target. “He's mine.”

Satisfaction rolled through her as she delivered her words, but Laura only laughed softly.

“Who are you again?” she asked in a lyrical tone. “Oh yes, you're no one. Some stripper's cast-off who doesn't even know who her parents are. I understand your foster family wants nothing to do with you either. It must delight you to know the dog rated higher. Do yourself a favor—crawl back to your ex, because you will never keep a man like Nartan.”

“Whatever,” Celeste muttered, turning toward the door. But Laura slipped into her path. “As if I care what you think.”

“You should,” Laura informed her. “He might be enjoying you, but I'm the one he's going to keep for the long term.”

“How do you have that figured?”

Laura shrugged a delicate shoulder. “I'm Apache. True blood. He's fucking you, but he'll come to me when he's ready to settle down. I have his grandparents' blessing.”

She wanted to brush past Laura, but Celeste couldn't stop herself from looking the other woman over. Laura laughed again and slipped out of the ladies' room door, leaving Celeste with the sound echoing inside her skull.

She was shaking. She stumbled through the door, the need to escape driving her.

Nartan was leaning on the bar and Laura had slid up to his side. Her dress lay over her curves perfectly, and she was positioned so that he got a good view of her plunging neckline. She laid a hand on his chest and Celeste saw red.

I
have
his
grandparents' blessing…

She turned and stumbled out into the entryway, pulling in a deep breath of cool night air. She suddenly didn't know enough about the man she'd fallen in love with. Her trust was so fragile that it was straining beneath the weight of Laura's words.

“What the hell are you doing, Celeste?”

Nartan hooked her bicep and whirled her around to face him. “You can't tell me you love me and then take off just because Laura showed up.”

He was furious and pulled her off the main entryway into the foliage.

“It pisses me off that you don't have any more faith in me than that.”

“Does it matter?”

Her question confused him. “Does what matter? You taking off? It sure as hell does.”

“I told her you were mine.”

His eyebrows shot up and a pleased look entered his eyes for a moment. “Then why the hell are you out here?”

She worried her lip. Nartan's gaze lowered to the telltale gesture and he grunted with frustration, crossing his arms over his chest. “I'll stand here all night, Celeste, so you might as well spit it out.”

“She said she had your grandparents' blessing.” Just saying it chilled her.

His eyes narrowed. “Not to my knowledge.”

“Well, I'm telling you she claims to.” Celeste stepped up to him. “What I want to know is, what does that mean to you?”

He cupped her elbows, bringing her close enough to feel his body heat. “Jack shit,” he enunciated slowly and clearly. “If I wanted to be back with the tribe, I would be. I had that house built for me.”

“But…your grandparents—”

“Have my respect. But I'm not letting them choose my wife.” He squeezed his eyes shut and blew a hard breath out through his gritted teeth. When he opened his eyes, they glittered with determination. “You're the one I can't live without. The woman I brought into my house. I'd go back in there and set Laura straight, but I'm not giving you the chance to take off before I get it through your head that I want you.”

“You didn't say you loved me.”

His grip tightened on her elbows before he slid his hands around her back and crushed her against him.

“I told you…you make me rich.” His breath was hard and his tone low next to her ear. He cupped her nape and raised her face so that their gazes met. “The single thing in this life that only my soul mate can do. It's more than love, Celeste. It's completion on every level.”

She reached for him, wrapping her hands around his neck and pulling his head down so she could kiss him. He didn't disappoint her. He claimed her mouth, kissing her with a hunger that she matched. But they weren't close enough. There were too many layers of clothing between them for what she craved.

“Come on.” His voice was rough. “Let's go home.”

She was trembling with joy, the sheer volume of it astounding her. She'd never realized she could feel so happy, so content. So hopeful for the future.

***

Laura held back in the shadows.

A single tear escaped and made a solitary, wet trail down her cheek. She reached up and wiped it away. Bitterness welled up inside her as she watched the Lamborghini drive away.

The valet was looking at her, so she drew in a stiff breath and forced herself to walk to the curb. A sedan with tinted windows slid up before she had the chance to hand her ticket to the uniformed valet.

“Please join me.”

She looked down and all she saw were the crossed legs of a man in a perfectly pressed pair of slacks.

“I don't think so.” She opened her purse and pulled her valet ticket out.

“It will be worth your time.”

She scowled at the man sitting back in the shadow of the car. “Shove off. I'm not an escort.”

The valet holding the door open sent it closed. He looked away uncomfortably before one of his buddies brought her car up. She pushed a folded bill into his hand and slid behind the wheel.

Pulling into the driveway of the condo where she lived only renewed the sting of rejection. Alone, again.

She tossed her keys onto the desk in the hallway as her heels clicked on the tile.

“My offer is worth hearing.”

She jumped, fumbling with her purse as she tried to find her pepper spray. Someone moved in the shadows, pulling her purse from her hands before she found it.

“Please sit.”

She turned toward the garage, but there was a huge man between her and the door. He lifted one side of his suit jacket to show her a gun sitting in a chest harness.

Her mouth went dry.

“What do you want?”

The man merely gestured to the chair near him in her sitting room.

At
least
it
was
near
the
windows…

She stepped out of her heels and walked over to the chair, sitting as far away from him as possible.

“What do you want?”

“Not going to ask who I am?”

Laura scoffed at him. “Most people who break into houses don't introduce themselves.”

“I am Caspian Devitt.”

Laura forced the lump in her throat down. “What do you want?”

“What you want,” he countered. “An end to the relationship between my wife and Nartan Lupan.”