She pushed Noah’s worried expression from her mind and climbed the stairs to her bedroom to pack.
Noah told Cain to take them back to Taboo so they could pick up their rental car. Neither he nor Shane wanted Cain to know where they were staying while in town. The less Kitty’s driver knew about them, the better.
Finished, Noah leaned his head back on the seat and stared at the ceiling. It wasn’t until the limo was a few blocks from their destination that he decided to talk. “This is wrong.”
Shane remained silent.
Noah turned his head and watched the curve of Shane’s muscular back. The man had hunched in front of the side window as soon as Kitty left and had been brooding ever since. It was so Shane. Noah had been around him long enough to know Shane was plotting something. It worried him. “We were lucky she didn’t recognize us.”
“Perhaps. It seemed like she wanted to escape her problems with Velvet Steel, not dwell on them.” Shane flashed him a wry smile. “Up until now, she’s been working with Albright, so she doesn’t know what we look like. All we have to do is to keep her from thinking too much about her job until she’s formed an attachment.”
“Then what?”
“Then, when the moment is right, we persuade her to our way of thinking.”
“How?”
“A word here, a comment there. By the end of the weekend, she’ll be ready to give us all that we want and more.”
Noah sighed. It was true; he and Shane liked to keep a low profile. They left most of the negotiations and details to top-notch lawyers like Kevin Albright. Most people had no idea what they looked like. If they were careful, then Shane’s plan could work.
Shane and Noah preferred to stick with what they knew best: buying out their competition and expanding their empire. It was a game of numbers, really. Each day they’d assess the public information about their competitors and figure out which companies were undervalued and vulnerable. Then they’d take steps to make sure Velvet Steel stayed vulnerable. When they thought the company had had enough, they’d make an offer to buy them out.
Most companies folded pretty quickly, but Shane and Noah had run into a roadblock of sorts with Velvet Steel. The father-daughter team would only sell on their own terms, and who knew what those terms were. Noah had suspected he and Shane weren’t going to like the conditions, and they hoped to soften Kitty enough to see things their way before the big meeting on Wednesday.
“It will work, I know it,” Shane said.
Noah shook his head. “She’s a smart woman, and it won’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.”
“But if she’s having sex, then she won’t be thinking of her company. She’ll be thinking about us.”
“It’s a bad idea, Shane. I don’t like it.”
Shane lowered his hand from his chin and turned in his seat. “Do you have a better plan?” His green gaze seemed cold and unyielding. “Because if you do, I’m listening.”
Noah ran a hand over his face and returned his gaze to the ceiling. “We’re screwed.” They needed Velvet Steel, needed it badly. It was one of the few major competitors left. If that company continued to resist their bids for takeover, then they wouldn’t have Velvet Steel’s patents, and they wouldn’t be able to streamline production. Considerable resources would have to be allocated to schmooze distributors and consolidate resources to keep them one step ahead of their competitors. Instead of focusing on their fledgling sites abroad, they’d be wasting precious time and money playing catch-up in the US. Growth would be stalled, and their shareholders upset.
Even knowing all of this, Noah still felt that what they were doing was a little extreme. “We never should have even tried this. It was a stupid idea.”
“It was
your
idea.”
Shane was right. It
was
his idea, one that he’d come up with after a few beers. He’d meant it as a joke, but then Shane locked onto the joke and it became something more. After a little research, Shane had learned that Kitty had a reputation for partying just as hard as she worked. The men in her wake were left satisfied and spoke fondly of her talents. It was obvious to him that the easiest way to influence Clint Velvet would be through seducing his daughter. Before Noah realized it, things were spiraling out of control.
In their drunken haze, they had formed a plan to seduce Ms. Kitty and use their relationship as leverage. It wasn’t like they hadn’t shared women before. More than once, their work had spilled over into their play, and the two of them ended up fooling around with the same woman—and with each other. They had been friends and coworkers for years, and Noah longed to take their relationship to the next level, but Shane had always held back. Noah guessed Shane wasn’t ready to admit he could have feelings for another man. Noah had tried to move on, occasionally dating other men and going out on his own, but it wasn’t the same. Nothing felt right, and he often came home hollow and empty. He always came back to Shane, the man with whom he shared a history as well as a company. He always would.
“Just like old times, eh?” Noah was happiest when he shared women and part of himself with Shane. Why couldn’t his friend see that they were right for each other?
“I suppose. Kitty’s different, though.”
“She’s just a fuck.” Noah sat up and stared at Shane. “You said yourself. We were to fuck her, drive her mad with desire, and then make her see how our deal to take over Velvet Steel would be mutually beneficial. When we walk into the meeting on Wednesday, it will be a three-on-one situation.”
“Perhaps.” Shane returned his gaze to the window. “Perhaps not.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying that something special happened in this limo tonight, something more than ‘just a fuck.’ You saw the way she looked at me. I need to pursue it and see if something is there.”
“Shane, listen to yourself. She’s Clint Velvet’s daughter, our competitor. You can’t be serious.”
“I
am
serious. She wants you there too, Noah. You have to come.” Shane took Noah’s hands in his. “Please, for me.”
Fuck. “For you?” Noah shook his head. “It’s too risky.”
Shane leaned back and rubbed a hand over his face. “Did you see the way she responded to us, Noah? Did you fuckin’ see it?”
“Yeah.” Noah had seen it, all right. He was even aroused by it, but he knew Kitty was just sex. Shane was special. Why didn’t his partner see it? “I think she might try to use us.”
Shane raised his brow. “Use us? How so?”
“She might have recognized us and not said anything. She might be forming a new plan as we speak to kick our feet out from under us.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. After our seduction, we’ll tell her who we really are and convince her to do the right thing.”
“Is it the right thing?”
Shane frowned. “What do you mean?”
“What do you think she’ll do when she finds out she has been fucking her competition? That we’ve been
manipulating
her to gain leverage on a takeover deal?” Noah sighed and stretched his arms over the back of the limo seat. “She’ll use us for her sexual pleasure and then dump us out on our ears.”
“If we explain the situation—”
“Don’t be stupid, Shane. She’ll feel used. I know I would.”
Shane leaned back in the seat and stared at the ceiling. “Shit, I didn’t think about that part.”
No, Noah didn’t suspect he had. That was why Shane needed him. Noah had prided himself on always seeing things from the practical point of view. If he could only convince Shane how good they could be together…
Noah let his fingers fall and brush against his friend’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s forget this crazy idea. We’ll go into Wednesday’s meeting like we go into all our meetings.” Noah smiled. “Once they see our deal to buy them out, they won’t be able to say no.”
“That’s not going to work this time.” Shane brushed off Noah’s hand and leaned forward. “We’ve tried schmoozing the father, and it didn’t work. There’s no reason to believe Wednesday will be any different. We’re going to have to break through their defenses somehow, make them vulnerable.” He rubbed his chin in thought. “Or at least make Kitty feel more vulnerable. I still think she’s the weakest link. If we can get her on our side, then we’ll have the father.” He shook his head. “That only makes it more critical that we go up to that hunting cabin tonight.”
Noah leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “Forget it.”
“I’ve got it.” Shane stopped rubbing his chin. “We introduce her to new forms of sex. You know—new toys.” He picked up the dildo and held it between them. “She obviously likes toys and games. It will be a slam dunk.”
“What are you saying?”
“She likes to be dominated and to use toys. We play to her every fantasy until she is so desperate to keep us around that she’d do anything. You heard her; she said she’d consider granting us what we desire.”
Noah frowned. “She didn’t mean handing us Velvet Steel on a silver platter.”
“No, but a promise is a promise. All we have to do is please her like she has never been pleased before. Toys and role-play would be good, but we would need something else, something bigger.”
“Bigger?” Noah looked at his partner in confusion. When Shane got an idea, his mind worked fast, and sometimes it was hard to keep up.
“Yeah, bigger. If we did some big romantic gesture, like fulfill a secret erotic fantasy, I’m sure she’d bend to our will.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, you saw her in here. She wants us to please her, so we please her. We give her everything she asks for and more. Then, when she asks what we want in return, we’ll tell her.”
“She’ll just refuse to give it.”
“No, I’ve been studying the Velvets, remember? They are big on honor and reputation. If she made the deal, she’ll follow through with it.” He snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it. She liked being watched back at the club.”
“So?”
“So we play into that.”
“In a secluded hunting cabin?”
Shane frowned. “Try to keep up, Noah.” Excitement lit up his features. “Do you still have that video equipment from your cable access job?”
“Yeah.” Noah scowled at the spark in Shane’s eyes. “Just a camera and stand, though. Not much. Why?” The cable access job had been a long time ago, almost a lifetime. Noah never liked to throw away old things. Too many memories.
Shane smiled. “Good.”
“Why do you want the camera equipment?”
“So we can videotape her.”
“What?”
“We videotape her having sex with us.” Shane inched closer, and Noah could feel the sexual energy radiating off him in waves. “Don’t you see? If having sex in a club turns her on, what do you think her reaction will be when we offer to make a video that anyone could watch?” He slapped Noah’s thigh in excitement. It reverberated up Noah’s leg and was a painful reminder of how Shane had once spanked Noah during one of their sexual interludes. Shane had been too drunk to remember it, but Noah hadn’t. God, he missed that.
“If something like that got out into the public, it could ruin her.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t get out. We’ll give it to her at the end of the weekend as a memento.”
“Are you suggesting blackmail?”
“It’s not blackmail. It’s just…insurance. Look, do you want to make this deal or not?”
“I do, but—”
Shane’s eyes shone bright with enthusiasm. “Think about it. You saw her reaction in the club. She’d love it.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Shane was never overly bright when it came to relationships, but this had to be a new low, even for him.
Shane trailed his fingers up Noah’s thigh. “It would be fun.”
Noah’s throat went dry, and his cock hardened. This was the way it always happened between them. They’d share a woman, and then Shane would make a move on Noah. Noah tried to deny him, but the temptation was too much. Every day they worked in close quarters; each night they’d retire to the same bar for a drink. It was hard to keep resisting the attraction every minute of every hour of every day. Shane’s enthusiasm and sexual energy were overwhelming, and Noah felt as if he were drowning in a pool of desire. It was hard not to respond.
He glanced down at Shane’s hand. “I don’t know about this. Kitty’s a smart woman. She’s going to figure out who we are.”
“She won’t, don’t worry.” Shane shrugged. “If she suspects something, we can say we have relatives who work in the plant. That’s why we are so interested in its fate.”
Noah met his gaze. “That doesn’t sound much better.”
Shane waved his free hand. “I’ll think of something. Forget about it. We have lots of time before then.” He inched his fingers between Noah’s legs. “I’ve never made a video before; have you?”
“That’s not the point.” Noah pushed Shane’s hand away. “This is dangerous and reckless. Everything we’ve been working toward in the past year would be put in jeopardy.”
Shane replaced his hand on Noah’s thigh. “Fuck, Noah, I know you felt it tonight too. The tension in this limo was intense. It was magnificent. Think about it. The two of us…and
her
…” He ran his fingers in circles along Noah’s leg. “She’s into us—
both
of us. You heard her. She won’t take me alone. She wants you, buddy. Why wouldn’t you want to pursue that?”
Noah couldn’t speak. There was no doubt Kitty was gorgeous, even more beautiful than the rumors suggested. All that thick blonde hair and bright blue eyes were enough to make any man go mad with desire. Her round face had the look of innocence, such a contradiction to the womanly curves she’d shown them tonight. She was responsive to his fingers, and the way she looked at him when he said they wouldn’t go to the cabin had touched his heart. During the moments when she didn’t think he was looking, she had seemed sad and alone. He knew what that felt like: to be surrounded by people and yet feel alone. Despite his best intentions, a connection had formed, and his heart had softened toward her. It would be foolish to think otherwise.
He stared at Shane. To deny the connection they shared when pleasuring Kitty would be foolish as well. Could going up to the cabin and spending time with Kitty make Shane realize they needed each other? It was a foolish hope, Noah knew, but the way Shane’s green eyes flickered with heat, the way he leaned in and stroked his thigh, whispered of possibilities.