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  March 26, 2017

  When I wake up the sun is just beginning to break over Los Angeles, and Tinsley is still wrapped up in my sheets, half asleep but smiling at me.

  “We probably weren’t supposed to do that,” she says.

  The dreamy look in her eyes is telling.

  “I don’t care,” I reply.

  My smugness in having her again takes over reason.

  “Do you?” I ask her, seriously.

  “No,” she says, propping her head up.

  “Maybe I should, but I don’t,” she says.

  She plants a kiss on my shoulder, moving her hand towards the erection that inevitably comes with every morning.

  Entirely exhausted, but unwilling to let go just yet, I watch, fascinated as she climbs on top of me, sinking down on my cock without hesitation.

  “God!” She rolls her hips against mine, her eyes fluttering as she does so again. “Oh, my God, you feel amazing!”

  I suck in a breath.

  She feels incredible wrapped around me like this, and I can never seem to get enough.

  The next time she rolls her hips, I grab hold of them, pressing my cock deeper inside her.

  I push into her, the pleasurable torture of my cock thrusting into her causing her to gasp and moan.

  It’s so satisfying to hear those sounds that I do it again and again until she’s panting and moaning my name.

  “Noah…” my name escapes her lips.

  Then more pleasured screams.

  “Oh, God! Fuck! Just keep doing that!” she screams.

  With Tinsley on top, she is putty in my hands, and I don’t give a thought about what we are doing.

  Tinsley tells me to keep going, and I pull her hips down against me until she is a quivering mess.

  “Are you going to cum?” my hoarse voice demands.

  “You’re going to make me cum again…” she whines in disbelief, as though sex couldn’t possibly be this good.

  I watch in wonder as her body trembles, and her moans get louder until she is moaning my name, and her eyes roll back, throwing her head back as my cock twitches, and the desire to fill her with my cum overtakes all reason, and I blast into her throbbing pussy.

  It twitches and grabs at my cock, drawing me deeper, ever deeper, into her hot hole.

  I shoot my load. Every last drop of my cum goes inside her as she rides the wave of her orgasm, collapsing onto of me, bouncing up and down on my jetting dick, and then pulling me into early morning kisses that I don’t want to end.

  “This probably isn’t good for our friendship,” Tinsley laughs.

  Her laugh sounds free and relaxed.

  This is the Tinsley I want to remember long after she’s married to someone else.

  “How can I possibly go through with this wedding,” she asks as she rests her head on my bare chest. “When things with you are always so incredible?”

  “Then don’t,” I urge her.

  I don’t care anymore; I want her to call off the wedding.

  The slow realization that I will do anything to make sure this wedding doesn’t happen takes over.

  “We can run away to Fiji,” I tell her slowly.

  “I want that,” Tinsley’s voice is quiet as I stroke her hair.

  “You know that if you call off this wedding, I will be waiting for you,” I say.

  She turns to me, her eyes sparkling in the morning sun.

  “You’re the man that I want, Noah,” she tells me.

  Tinsley is the only woman for me.

  We laze in the bed until she has to go because she has the final appointment to pick up her bridal gown.

  As it stands, I am still not getting my way.

  26

  Tinsley

  March 26, 2017

  I’m showered and changed by the time Hazel is knocking on my door, with Athena in tow.

  Hazel is wearing her sunglasses, even though we are inside and it’s apparent her hangover is looming over her like a cloud.

  “Drink too much?” I offer as I let them in my room.

  “Apologize,” Athena demands.

  “Athena there’s no need. Evan and Noah got me back to the hotel just fine,” I shake my head, watching Hazel curl up on the bed.

  “It’s unacceptable that we both had to leave early because someone couldn’t control their alcohol intake,” Athena glares at Hazel who doesn’t respond, she only groans.

  “I’m sorry I drank that much,” Hazel’s says, seemingly bored, as she looks up at me. “You understand, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” I lie, because I don’t understand.

  I’ve never seen her drink that much before, and she pounded back half a bottle of vodka right in front of me.

  “Oh God, why did I do that?” she moans.

  “Serves you right,” Athena snarls.

  “Hey, at least I don’t have a British stick up my ass,” Hazel shoots back at her.

  “It’s a normal stick, thank you very much,” Athena doesn’t miss a beat.

  She never ceases to amaze me.

  One moment she’s proper and perfectly lovely, the next her back is up, and she’s shooting out insults at someone with such wit and class it’s impossible for me not to laugh.

  Hazel has no response.

  “Breakfast please,” Hazel pleads.

  “We have to go pick up the dress first,” Athena reminds me.

  “Oh right, the wedding. I mean the dress,” I cover up quickly.

  My night with Noah erased every single worry about my wedding, and now those butterflies, when I’m around him, are back in full force.

  How can I spend my life pretending I don’t want to be in his arms?

  I just can’t.

  “Can’t you have them ship it,” Hazel moans. “I need food!”

  “We’ll get food, and then we’ll go for the dress,” I rationalize.

  “I don’t feel like sitting in that stuffy bridal salon again for an hour,” she looks at me with pleading eyes.

  Athena clucks her tongue.

  “That’s no way for a maid of honor to be talking,” she chides.

  “Shut up,” Hazel says, not really having a wittier response.

  “The alcohol has gone to your head,” Athena says, critically.

  Her disappointment shows.

  If looks could kill, I imagine I would be scrubbing Hazel’s blood out of the carpet, trying to figure out what to do with the body.

  Being with Noah makes me feel so detached from everything.

  All I can think about is having him in me, his cock in my mouth, in my pussy.

  What’s he doing?

  What is he thinking?

  What does this mean?

  How did we not get caught with our antics last night?

  Not that I would care if there was an HD videotape on the security cameras.

  I’d probably anonymously send it to Connor just to ruin everything.

  Then again maybe not, I’m not sure I want a sex tape out there.

  The last thing I need is my father finding out about any of what’s happened between Noah and me.

  “Both of you stop,” I say, to cut off their bickering.

  “Our plane leaves tonight, and we have far too many things to accomplish since Hazel got up so late,” I explain.

  “Whatever,” Hazel groans, curling up into a ball again.

  She’s been acting so strange.

  I dismiss it as jealousy.

  She’s not seeing anyone, she has no beau in sight, and we’re both nearing twenty-seven now.

  She’ll be twenty-eight soon enough.

  I know Hazel wanted to be married with children by now, but her career took over.

  It’s entirely natural for her to be upset, especially with my lack of excitement.

  “Let’s get going then,” I shake my head at her.

  “You know it’s just a wedding. You get a day. You get one day,” Hazel points out rather rudely.

&nbs
p; Athena purses her lips.

  “Hey,” I snap at her finally. “I get that you’re hungover, but that’s no reason to be a bitch. If you didn’t want to come with us, you should’ve stayed in New York,”

  “I should’ve, then, if it doesn’t matter either way,” Hazel seethes.

  She’s taking my response out of context, which only serves to ignite my ire further.

  “Listen, you can lay there and be jealous, or you can just get up, and play along for a little longer, ok?” I yell.

  Hazel doesn’t say anything.

  And, stupid me, I miss the most obvious thing that is sitting there right under my nose.

  It’s in her eyes…

  27

  Noah

  March 26, 2017

  When I find Evan again, he’s got multiple hickeys on his neck.

  “Did you sleep with a vampire last night?” I ask him with a wry smile.

  “Feels like it. God, she’s a devil,” Evan peruses the menu. “I feel like I drank more than I should’ve last night, my head is pounding,”

  He never learns.

  Evan will go out drinking one night, get trashed, and then do it all over again the next night.

  He still finds the time to complain about his multiple hangovers between all that drinking.

  “Did I miss anything good last night?” Evan asks.

  “Nope,” I shake my head. “Though there was an amount of drinking that would match your legendary status on Hazel’s part,” I say with a snicker.

  “Something is off about her,” Evan wrinkles his nose.

  “Maybe you just don’t like her?” I suggest.

  “Well she’s nothing to look at,” he tells me. “This however is. Victoire gave me her card; only it doesn’t appear to be her card,” he holds up an aged business card.

  “International Sporting Affiliates Inc.?” I raise an eyebrow.

  “Doesn’t really sound like a prostitution ring, does it? I did a web search for it, and nothing with the ISA logo on here came up. Nor did a company by that name,” he informs me.

  “If a company is incorporated, they would have a website,” I agree with him. “It’s a front company.”

  “And Victoire… well, I feel like maybe she’s associated with Ava since she seemed to know her,” he tells me darkly. “I asked her about Bexley, but she wouldn’t say much other than that they’d worked together previously.”

  “If they’re from Manhattan, why would she be working here? What does Victoire do exactly?” I ask.

  “She lives off the proceeds from her rich divorce,” Evan replies, with a raised eyebrow of his own. “She married this old guy, and they divorced pretty quick. She got the better end of the deal if you ask me.”

  “That’s pretty convincing,” I reply, and my heart drops for Ava.

  “Dad, I don’t think Mom would trick her into… ‘professional girlfriend’ status. That’s a little much, even for her,” he says.

  “Well, tell me what else this looks like?” I set it out plainly for him.

  Neither of us has an answer to this, and I find myself still unwilling to believe that Elizabeth would do this.

  Though it would explain her sudden disappearance, and her lack of contact.

  If she’s running a prostitution ring, then she would keep her head down.

  “I’ll call Lucius, see if his connections with the local police department have heard of this before,” I nod, slipping the card into my jacket.

  “In the meantime, I think I have to have a conversation with Victoire. Where’s she staying?” I ask Evan.

  “A few blocks from us,” Evan glowers.

  “I like her, do you have to drag her into this?” he grumbles.

  “Evan, your attention span with women is as that of a fruit fly. You’ll get over it,” I tell him as I shake my head at my son.

  I will not sacrifice the one lead we have, over Evan’s need to find a girlfriend he’ll likely dump a week later.

  I find Victoire lazing by the pool at her hotel.

  A gorgeous woman in a bikini should get a reaction for me.

  Instead, I’m all business as I stand over Victoire, blocking the sun.

  In the back of my mind, I crave Tinsley’s body, her caresses.

  This beautiful creature splayed out in front of me, sunning herself, barely registers on my radar.

  “Hello there,” Victoire looks up at me, removing her sunglasses.

  “What can I do for you Noah Stone?” she asks.

  She pronounces my full name like it’s some prize.

  “This. I need to know more about this,” I tell her as I hold up the business card she gave Evan.

  “Shit,” she curses as she sits up, crossing her legs. “How did you get that?”

  “You gave it to Evan,” I explain with a smirk on my face.

  “Are you going to try to walk away, and have me follow you, or do we just sit down and talk like adults?” I ask.

  “Please have a seat,” she says.

  She points to the lounge chair beside her.

  “You want a drink?” she asks.

  “I’m okay,” I reply.

  “Good,” Victoire glares at me before asking the waiter for another drink.

  Once he’s gone, she purses her lips together.

  “I only know a little bit, so before you go asking any questions, why should I trust you?” she asks.

  “What do you want? Money?” I figured there would be a hook to this.

  “I have money,” she snorts as she lays back in her chair, her voice lazy.

  “You have something more to offer Mr. Stone, and that’s what I want,” she adds.

  “I’m not sure I follow,” I’m curious as to what she means.

  She looks at me with her light gray eyes.

  “Your public relations team is awful,” she begins, with a purpose.

  “Your son just finished his service with the military, and yet your team didn’t release anything saying how proud you are, and that you’re happy to have him home safe,” she goes on, critically addressing the issues.

  Okay, she has a point there.

  It’s not that I am not proud of Evan.

  I admire his willingness to put his life on the line for other people.

  I figure maybe it was all those years of his mother’s dealings that made him do it, to join the military at eighteen.

  Or maybe he wanted to avoid school.

  Either way, he served as a helicopter pilot for his whole term, which is virtually unheard of.

  Most men take years to become pilots, but Evan has been flying with me since he was young.

  He got his private license before he got a driver’s license.

  “What exactly are you asking for?” I want to know where Victoire stands.

  “You need me on your PR team,” she tells me.

  “And I want something secure, so I don’t have to worry about who my next husband will be,” she says, the word ‘husband’ curling from her lips in distaste.

  What exactly do I have to lose?

  She’s got the sense for it.

  “I’ll give you a three-month contract. If you do well, then we’ll talk about permanent,” I offer.

  Victoire raises an eyebrow at me.

  “I mean it,” I tell her.

  This information is that vital to me.

  “ISA, Inc. is a business for those who need a date for the night,” she tells me with such candor that I wonder if she worked for this business.

  “The woman who runs it goes by Isa, she’s…” Victoire looks at me.

  “Noah Stone, are you certain that you want to go down this road?”

  “I am already there,” I point out.

  “She’s vicious. You won’t believe the things she’s done, and I’m not going to tell you. I’m not going to tell you anything about Bex, either, because that’s not my business,” she says quickly.

  Victoire takes a long sip from her drink.

&nb
sp; She pouts a bit, looking at me as if figuring out my weak spots.

  I don’t really like that look.

  At all.

  “Bexley Fabbraro?” I ask.

  Victoire doesn’t answer immediately.

  Instead, she sips her drink until it is nothing but ice.

  She looks around, and I know this woman is really good at the game.

  “What exactly do you want to know?” she finally responds.

  “Say I wanted to pay Isa a visit, where would I go?” I inquire.

  “No one goes to her office. No one,” she says.

  Victoire sits up, looking at me intently.

  “You want to walk into the viper’s cave and get your head bitten off? That’s what you would be doing,” she cautions.

  I’m not afraid of this woman, Isa, whoever she is.

  My gut feeling is that this is Elizabeth, using an alias.

  “I want the address,” I repeat the request.

  Victoire takes the business card from me, writing something on the back of it before handing it back to me.

  “Just do me a favor, if you do see her? Don’t put my blood on your hands,” she says.

  She catches the pool boy’s eye, and orders another drink.

  Then, she lays back down, contemplating her decisions.

  I thank her and walk away, considering my next moves.

  Should Isa somehow discover that Victoire gave me her address, Victoire will undoubtedly wind up dead.

  28

  Tinsley

  April 2, 2017

  “Where is Hazel?” says Athena, impatiently surveying the ladies that have come together for my bridal shower. “She’s late.”

  “I don’t know,” I reply.

  I look around as well, scanning faces, then spot Hazel walking in by the door, looking disheveled and unhappy.

  This is her usual look, lately.

  She takes her time removing her coat, pausing by the bar to get a drink, before approaching us.

  I’m just concerned for Hazel now, I really don’t give a lick about this wedding.

  “You’re late! Where were you?” Athena demands in her high-pitched voice.

  “So?” Is all Hazel gives her.