Insufferable Proximity 2 (38 page)

***

Julian was still in a horrible mood by the end of the day. When they got home, he went straight to their office. Heaven found herself wanting to cheer him up. She knew what was bothering him, and she wanted to reassure him that everything was all right. She went up to their room to change clothes, and dug through her closet to find the sheer, red, two-piece set she got from the stylist.

She quickly put it on and covered it with her long red robe before descending down to the office. She walked in, and he looked up at her, but he didn’t say a word. She walked over to stand next to his desk.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m busy,” he said as he continued writing.

As if that would stop her.

Heaven grabbed his pen and threw it across the room. She then sat on his desk and on top of the papers he’d been working on.

“No, you’re not,” she disagreed as she opened the bottom half of her robe and fanned it around her. She slowly spread her legs before him, revealing the sheer red panties.

“I told you not to talk to Clive,” he said with a scowl.

She raised her chin. “I had no choice; he needed to be put in his place.”

“I guarantee that all you did was make him want you more.”

“Then he’s a bigger fool than I thought.”

“I told you there would be repercussions if you spoke to him,” he said as he pulled a thick, leather collar with a silver loop out of his drawer

“I know,” she couldn’t stop her grin from spreading.

He untied her robe and pushed it back to dangle off her shoulders. He rose from his chair and walked behind the desk, then pulled the robe off her shoulders and let it pool around her hips.

“Do you know what I want to do to you?” he asked as he fastened the collar around her neck.

“I have a pretty good idea,” she answered as she felt the excitement rush through her.

She could tell by his attitude that he wasn’t in the mood for romance, blowjobs or sarcasm. He was in the mood for discipline and control.

“Good. Get on your knees,” he demanded, and she slowly dropped to her knees. He grabbed the sash from the robe and continued, “Put your hands on the back of your neck; I want your fingers laced together.” 

Heaven did as he instructed while he strung the robe sash through the loop on the collar. She could feel currents of heat in her nether region, and was sure the lower half of her body would ignite as he bound her hands together.

Julian wrapped and weaved the tie around her wrists. He tied it tightly and then ran his hands down to the lower half of her arms. He trailed his hands down to the side of her breasts, and ran his hand across her hip as he stepped around to the front of the desk.

“I’m going full force with my plan to make Baker quit. Do you have any objections?’ he asked.

“No—I hope he does quit. I can’t stand that liar.”

“Good.” He pulled her panties down to her thighs.

He licked his finger and slipped it between the lips of her sex, and tickled her clit with the tip of his finger as he looked into her eyes. He used his other hand to slide her shirt above her breasts, then bent his head to her breast and latched onto her nipple while he continued to toy with her clit. He used all of his skills to bring her quickly to a climax.

She leaned against him as her legs shook; she knew she wouldn’t be able to support herself.

“Thank you for defending me, Sevigne, but I don’t want you to speak to Baker again,” he whispered before kissing the side of her face.

“I won’t…I said what I had to say.” She frowned as she pulled back to look at him, “Don’t call me Sevigne.”

“I won’t,’ he said, smiling before he kissed her.

***

Gavin waited in the abandoned house across the street from the house he was watching. He was waiting for a friend; the same person who had been a key component in helping him sabotage Heaven and Julian. He leaned back against a tree and waited patiently. He knew what time his accomplice got off work; everyone left the firm at the same time, except for the partners.

He waited until he saw the car pull up before he quickly made his way across the street.

“Excuse me,” Gavin said in the highest pitch he could manage.

“Yes?” she turned around with a look of impatience.

“Could you tell me where State Street is? I’m terribly lost,” Gavin continued in his feminine voice until he was standing before her.

“I have no idea.”

“
Well, could you tell me where Julian King is currently residing?” he asked. He smiled as he realized that had gotten her full attention.

“Excuse me? Did you just say Julian King?”

“I said…" he cleared his throat and then began to speak in his normal voice, “where is Julian?”

“Gavin?” she uttered in shock.

He smiled. “None other.”

“What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in prison.”

“I was.”

“How did you get out?”

“I decided to leave. I have some business to finish, and I need your help.” His tone became serious.

“No way; I’m not getting involved,” she shook her head.

“You already are,” he reminded her.

“No, I’m not; I had nothing to do with that.”

“You helped me,” Gavin said.

“I helped you spread a dirty picture of Julian and Heaven around the office.”

“You did more than just spread a dirty picture. Let’s not even get started on all the different ways that you helped. I would have never gotten my hands on Sevigne Deville, if not for your help.”

“Yes, but I had no idea that you were actually going to try to kill her.”

“You knew what I had planned.”

“Not exactly. Besides, if I knew what you had planned for Julian, I would never have helped you.”

“Do you think any judge would believe that? If I implicate you, you’ll spend the rest of your life in prison. I already have plenty of evidence tucked away.” He was no fool; he didn’t trust her, and he never had.

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to finish what I started.”

She frowned. “I am not going to help you kill Julian King.”

“The way I see it, you don’t really have much of a choice,” Gavin taunted her.

“I will help you get Ms. Deville, but not Julian.”

“I want them both.”

“Killing Heaven would destroy Julian; he actually loves the bitch. Death makes the suffering end too swiftly. Wouldn’t you rather watch Julian suffer instead of killing him quickly?”

“No, I have no intention of killing him quickly. I’ll watch him suffer when I take Heaven from him
again
—but it won’t stop there.”

“Why not just maim him or something? Maybe a broken limb or a nasty scar?” she tried to reason with him.

“No, his death is
long
overdue.”

“At least give me some time before you kill him.”

“How much time?”

“A year?”

“Out of the question.”

“Six months?”

“No.”

“Three months?”

“No.”

“One month?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged.

She grinned. “We can spend an entire month watching him mourn Heaven. Think of how much fun that will be. I, for one, will be celebrating.”

She had no intention of keeping that deal. After Gavin killed Heaven, she would expose Gavin and save Julian’s life. It would turn out perfectly! She would be the hero, Julian would fall in love with her, and Heaven would be out of the way once and for all.

“Maybe.”

“I’ll give you Heaven Deville on a silver platter; it’s the least you could do in return. All I’m asking for is thirty days, then you can do whatever you want to him.” She was trying to manipulate him, but he could see right through it.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe isn’t good enough.”

“Then my answer is yes; you have one month with Julian before I kill him.” He would agree to her demand, but he would not abide by it.

He had no intention of killing Heaven; he had a little retribution in mind, but it had nothing to do with death. He still wanted her; he couldn’t understand why, but he did. He also wanted to hurt her and make her pay for what she’d done to him. He hated her for humiliating and rejecting him, but in a strange way, he longed for it.

Gavin loved Heaven for her nastiness and her hatred; for only in chaos did he feel content. Heaven was a cruel woman, almost as cruel as his mother. Unfortunately, Julian destroyed that part of Heaven. Gavin intended to fix that; he intended to provoke her and tempt her rage. He knew what would bring out the beast.

He also wanted her to see how horrible Julian really was. He wanted her to hate him as she had before. He believed once he explained it all to her, she would eventually agree. In his heart, he believed that he could make her see the light. Her hatred for Julian would be the true revenge.

However, he was no longer foolish, nor would he fall for her manipulations. If she refused to love him, or refused to help kill Julian this time, he would be forced to kill her. He didn’t want to by any means, but he would no longer have a choice.

Heaven had a chance to survive, but Julian did not. Gavin was going to kill Julian King—and nothing would stop him this time.

***

Heaven woke up with pure excitement; the wedding coordinator would be there soon. She was eager to start planning her wedding.

“I can’t wait to see the samples she brought. I really like this whole wedding planning thing. I had no idea it would be so much fun. I’ve heard friends go gaga about it before, especially when Petal was planning her wedding. I just never understood how anyone could get so excited planning a wedding; it seemed more stressful than anything. Now I understand,” Heaven said excitedly as she quickly got dressed.

“Those shorts are too short; I can see your ass,” he complained, and Heaven grabbed a pair of pants.

“Do you have any requests for the wedding?”                                         

“No, do whatever you want.” He reached into his pocket, grabbed his credit card and handed it to her. “Here, I want you to go overboard and spend as much as you want. I want you to make sure that this wedding is exactly how you want it to be; I want no complaints later.”

“Even if we had to do a quick marriage in a plain room, I would never complain. In all honesty, I don’t care how or where I get married, so long as I’m marrying you. But if you insist on me going overboard with your card,” she shook her head, “who am I to deny you.”

“I insist,” he said grinning, and she pulled him into a tight embrace.

***

Sybille and Coco had arrived much earlier than the wedding coordinator. Sybille brought coffee, tea and assorted pastries; she was as excited as Heaven to plan this wedding. Heaven felt giddy as she helped her mother set out the food and drinks.

The wedding coordinator arrived earlier than expected. Sybille smiled at her daughter and informed her that promptness was always a good sign.

“Hi, I’m Maggie, the wedding coordinator.”

“Nice to meet you, Maggie.” Heaven shook her hand.

“I heard you’re having a speedy wedding?”

“Yes, we’ve had a long engagement,” Heaven answered.

“Well, you are in luck because I am the queen of speedy weddings. I coordinate them all the time. My slogan is big, beautiful and well-designed in half the time.”

Sybille smiled. “I like it,”

“I brought lots of samples,” Maggie said as she set her bags down next to the sofa.

“Samples are good,” Heaven purred.

“I can’t wait to see the samples.” Sybille emphasized her words with a clap.

“Do you already have any ideas and particular color scheme?”

“Yes, I want red to be the prominent color. I also want to accent that with a black-and-white print. Maybe damask.”

By afternoon, they had everything planned down to a tee. Heaven, her mother and her aunt picked out a large, three-tier, wedding cake. It was decorated in black-and-white with large, red roses.

“I love red velvet cake. It tastes like the color red should taste.” Heaven smiled as she said this.

“I also have a list of caterers.” Maggie handed her the list.

“No, I’m going to use my mother’s caterer. They know how I like my menu.”

“Good idea, darling.” Sybille smiled as she took a sip of her tea.

“Strawberry shortcake is my only requirement,” Heaven explained.

“With red whipped cream?” her aunt Cocoa asked with a smirk. When she was a child, Heaven requested strawberry shortcake with red whipped cream for every birthday.

“Actually, that sounds good. Mom, I want you to make a special batch of strawberry shortcake for Julian and I. Don’t let the chef make ours; no one can make it as good as you can.”

“Oh, my wonderful child, Mommy would be honored to make you a special batch of strawberry shortcake,” Sybille sang with a dramatic flair as she put her hand on her chest. Coco rolled her eyes.