Devil She Became (Devil's Angels Book 1) (9 page)

A few nights later, as the air was turning colder, Harrison was donning a custom-made Kiton tuxedo for the charity ball Lisa compelled him to attend every year. It was for a good cause, and many of his legal colleagues would attend as well. It was terrific publicity for his practice, and the local press generally ran stories on the more prominent attendees, of which he was included. Looking in the mirror, he had to admit he looked quite handsome. Sadly, he thought how much better he would look with gorgeous Reese on his arm wearing a designer dress and bearing her perfect cleavage. Her long blonde hair would be curled softly about her shoulders, and she’d be wearing a Harry Winston Holly Wreath diamond necklace. He smiled at the thought, then his smile turned to a frown as he glimpsed Lisa coming down the stairs wearing a fabulous cream-colored, crystal-studded Versace gown. On a woman like Reese, the gown would have been stunning, but on Lisa, it simply hung there. The neckline was plunging – designed to show off amazing cleavage – but on Lisa, it just revealed her bony chest. She hadn’t tanned for the occasion and her skin looked too pale. Her dull brown hair was swept up and caught with diamond clips, revealing her décolletage. On Reese, this would have been irresistible, but Lisa’s frame was just too bony and awkward. Harrison tried to give her a slight smile, but all he could do was grimace.

Lisa gave him a tiny smile. “You look handsome, Harrison.” She pecked him on the cheek.

“Thank you. That gown is exquisite.” He slipped his hand to her waist to escort her outside.

Lisa nodded. “Kiton?” She referred to his tuxedo.

“Absolutely,” he replied, not looking at her. They went in to check on the girls before they left.

As they hopped in Harrison’s Aston Martin, Lisa began her tirade on how much she hated the luxury sports car.

“Why the hell did you have to buy this insanely expensive car? It’s ridiculous, Harrison.”

Harrison rolled his eyes. God, he hated listening to her shrill voice. It was like nails on a chalkboard; her voice pierced right through his head.

“You’re bitching about money? That’s the least of our worries, Lisa. This fucking tux was nearly $40,000.00! Seriously, money means so little to us who have so much of it. You seem to enjoy going to that ridiculous Swiss spa four times a year!”

Lisa folded her arms tightly about her body.

“You just use this car to pick up sluts.”

Harrison pounded the steering wheel. “I am sick and tired of your mouth, Lisa. It’s enough already. It’s my money and I will spend it the way I want.”

“Fine, Harrison, this argument is becoming so tedious.”

They drove in silence to the ball. As they pulled up, the valet took the car. Several photographers were outside. It was almost a red carpet event. Harrison, being the narcissist he was, enjoyed having his photo taken. How he wished he could have Reese at his side instead of Lisa.

As Harrison and Lisa made their rounds to greet his colleagues and make small talk, a brief hush fell over the crowd. A commotion was causing many of the guests to gather around the entrance of the ballroom. As Harrison craned his neck, he could see the outline of a stunningly beautiful woman with blonde hair wearing a deep-blue gown. Huge sparkling diamond earrings glittered from her earlobes. Wow. He guessed she must be a celebrity, but he couldn’t see her face. As the crowd parted, the woman and her escort walked toward them.

His heart stopped and he nearly fainted. It was Reese!

No, it was Reese escorted by some other guy… a guy he knew… a colleague of his. Noah Klein to be specific. Noah was a hotshot young attorney at Stein, Cohen, and Bloomberg, a litigation firm downtown.

Reese… she looked breathtaking in a stunning blue gown with a plunging neckline just as he had imagined her in earlier in the evening. Her ample cleavage was evident, and she was wearing a Harry Winston necklace! Just like his fantasy.

If Reese noticed him, she didn’t acknowledge it. She glided across the room with Noah to their table. She stopped to have her photo snapped several times posing with Noah. Harrison’s eyes burned with envy. That asshole would be pictured with Reese and not him. His hands clenched into tight fists, and his ring cut deeply into his hand. Her long blonde hair was resting softly about her shoulders like a silken shawl. He could hear her tinkling laughter through the crowd. She was laughing at something Noah said! He was making her smile and laugh. Harrison felt his blood boil.

Then music began to play, and they got up to dance. Noah’s hands gripped Reese’s tiny waist as they began to move to the music. Her body was pressed tightly to his, her breasts against his chest. Harrison felt dizzy. He couldn’t take this.

“Lisa, you have to excuse me. I see Paul Murphy has arrived.” Lisa merely gave him a curt nod and turned back to the woman next to her.

Harrison got up from the table and strode over to Reese and Noah.

“May I cut in?” he asked, gallantly nodding to Noah. Startled, Noah looked at him.

“Well, hello there, Grantham, how the hell are you?” He stopped to shake his hand.

Reese stopped dancing and stared at him. Her blue eyes lit up for a moment with delight, then narrowed with contempt for him.

“Excuse me, sir, we were dancing.” She put her hand on Noah’s shoulder. He noticed a huge diamond ring on her left ring finger. Was that AN ENGAGEMENT RING? Harrison felt faint.

“Noah, I couldn’t help but notice your beautiful partner here. Surely you wouldn’t mind allowing me a short dance with this stunning lady, would you?”

He held his hand out to Reese.

Noah shrugged. “If she doesn’t mind.”

Reese reluctantly took his hand.

As Harrison spun her away from Noah, she hissed. “How dare you!”

“How dare you? Is that a fucking engagement ring?”

Reese smiled at him. She adored seeing him this upset and jealous. It was about time he felt some fucking pain.

“No. It’s just a ‘promise’ ring. We have only dated a few months. Why do you care? You had me. You threw me away. Now you want me back?”

They kept dancing perfectly in time to the music. No one suspected they were arguing.

Harrison sighed. He pressed his chest to hers and could feel her heartbeat. Her same perfume sweet as ever.

“Reese, I don’t know what to say.” He cleared his throat.

“Well, you have me here in your arms, so you better say something.” Just being this close to him made her heart pound.

Harrison gazed deeply into her eyes. “I love you, Reese. I haven’t ever stopped. I can’t allow you to be with this other jerk.”

Reese’s heart soared, but her pride forced her to reject his words.

“Allow me?” She gave a short laugh. “It’s not up to you. I don’t belong to you anymore! I would have done anything to be with you, Harrison, but your reputation and family mean more to you than I do.”

Harrison knew the song was about to end. He pulled Reese close to him, pressing her tightly into his muscular chest. “You are mine, Reese Vogel. Forever. I won’t let you go.”

Reese felt his hands tightly about her waist, and she remembered how forceful he could be. She nearly melted into him.

“Harrison,” she said softly, turning her face up to him.

The music began to drift away. Noah tapped Harrison on the shoulder. “Hey, man, can I have my girlfriend back?” He chuckled.

Harrison kept a tight hold on Reese. “No!” With that, he planted his lips firmly on Reese’s mouth, astonishing them both. Reese’s resistance vanished, and she kissed him back passionately.

Astounded, Noah pulled Harrison away from Reese. “She’s
my
girlfriend, Harrison. What the fuck do you think you are doing?”

Harrison pushed him back forcefully. “She’s not yours anymore.” He took her hand and began to lead her off the dance floor.

Noah ran after them. “Reese!” She turned to him and gave him a bewildered look as Harrison quickly whisked her outside.

Noticing a commotion on the dance floor, the women next to Lisa pointed to Harrison. Lisa glanced over at him just in time to see him kissing some blonde! Lisa’s blood began to boil. Anger and embarrassment flushed her face red as she excused herself from the table.

Completely caught up in the moment, Harrison wasn’t thinking about what he was doing. He just knew he couldn’t stand for Reese to be with anyone else.
Ever
. Outside, Reese stopped him.

“Harrison! What the hell are you doing? Your wife was in there. My boyfriend is running after us now. What is going on?”

As he stood there, he gathered his thoughts. What was he going to do now? His wife was there, his colleagues… Noah was probably coming to confront him.

Suddenly, Harrison saw nothing but black as Noah’s fist landed squarely on his left jaw. He staggered backward, but didn’t fall.

“Noah!” Reese screamed, running to Harrison’s side.

Harrison pulled back and slammed his fist into Noah’s face. It made a loud cracking sound as the bones in Harrison’s hand smashed against Noah’s nose.

Blood poured from Noah’s nose. “Oh, my God!” People were screaming.

“Stop them!” Reese pleaded for someone to help.

Two young men finally pulled them apart. Harrison’s jaw was swelling and blood trickled from his mouth. Noah’s nose was obviously broken as blood continued to stream over his face.

Lisa came running outside. “Harrison! What the hell is going on?”

Dazed by the strike to his face, Harrison couldn’t speak. Reese was crying. She felt so awful to be the cause of them fighting.

“I… I… need to go now,” Harrison stammered, holding his jaw. Lisa took his arm to escort him away from the crowd. Glancing back, he saw Reese at Noah’s side holding a towel to his face to stop the bleeding. She met Harrison’s eyes and he mouthed ‘
I’m so sorry
’. She gave him a weak smile and turned away.

The valet brought Harrison’s car around and they sped off.

Turning to him, Lisa was incensed. “Would you mind telling me why the fuck you were in a fight with that guy?”

Harrison shook his head, rubbing his jaw. “I don’t know, Lisa. We had a disagreement.”

“Well, obviously, but what about? Why would he hit you?”

“I know him from a case we worked on last year. I guess he drank too much and things got heated.” Harrison was finding it hard to talk with the tremendous pain in his jaw. He wondered if it might be broken.

“Spare me, Harrison. That’s bullshit. Was it about the little slut you were dancing with?”

“What slut– girl do you mean?”

Lisa grabbed his arm. “You better look at me, Harrison. Pull this fucking car over now!” she screamed.

Astonished at her intense anger, Harrison pulled over. “What?”

Lisa was shaking with rage. “That blonde girl with the ridiculously big boobs you were dancing with!”

Harrison bowed his head, pain shooting through his jaw. “I’m sorry, Lisa. She’s just a legal assistant. I’ve known her for years.”

Lisa cocked her eyebrows. “The same girl from two years ago?”

Harrison touched her hand. “Lisa, it was just a dance. No, she isn’t the same girl from two years ago. I know her through work is all. Please, let’s not do this now. I’m in a lot of pain.”

Lisa glared daggers at him. “Good. You deserve it. If you weren’t already in such pain, I would slap you. You’re still a cheating asshole.”

Being in excruciating pain, Harrison had had enough. He was still thinking of Reese being with Noah, Lisa was screaming at him and his jaw was swelling terribly.

“Look, Lisa, I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”

“You completely humiliated me back there, Harrison. I’m sure all the women are laughing at me behind my back. My husband dancing with some random little slut… and then getting in a fight with her date. Oh, my God, Harrison…” Lisa looked down and fingered the crystals on her gown as she began softly crying.

Harrison looked at her. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her cry before.

“I’m sorry for that, Lisa. Please, let’s go home. I may need to go to the ER… I don’t know.”

Harrison began to pull the car back onto the road.

“Harrison, as much as we have been through, we have to stick together. I saw you kiss that girl too. As much as that sickened me, I won’t have a divorce. Don’t ever ask me for one. Our family is at stake. Our reputations are at stake. Our families would be devastated if we separated. Saying that, I won’t have you humiliate me like that again. I won’t have you hurt my girls. But as far as I’m concerned, you can go fuck yourself.”

Harrison was taken aback. Lisa seldom cursed or showed strong emotion about anything.

“It won’t happen again, Lisa. She didn’t mean anything. As for Noah, I guess I had a bit too much to drink myself. It was stupid of me.”

Lisa shook her head. “You’ve said that before, Harrison. We both know this marriage is a fucking sham, but I won’t have you flaunting affairs in my face. I am beyond humiliated over what you did tonight. It was inexcusable. I won’t bother issuing threats, but you know what will happen if we divorce. You will be disinherited, and I will make sure you lose everything.”