Glass Towers, Shattered (Glass Towers Trilogy) (16 page)

He nods and bites that lower lip of his.

“In fact, the more I think about it, there is no way she could have hatched all of this to such depth in a short period of time.  I bet this has been in motion longer than you think.”

He appears to ponder my words.  He takes out his phone.  “Jeff, Miss Austen is ready for her ride home.  Perfect, see you then.”

He turns to me.  “I need you to be home safely.  It’s almost one and a three-hour meeting will certainly raise some suspicion.  I am positive that you are correct, and that she has been plotting and planning this blackmail for some time.  I also believe you have thrown her a curve ball.  I know one thing, which is that she is trying to scare you off.”

“Well, it is working to some degree, Harrison.”

I will walk you down, but I want to say my official goodbye here.  He reaches behind my back with one arm and pulls me close to him.  I think I can actually feel his heart beating in his chest.  He takes his other hand and traces my lips with his pointer finger.  Leaning in even closer, he seals his lips over mine and slowly seeks out my tongue with his own.  I return his exploration of my mouth with my own tongue exploring his.  He deepens his kiss and I can feel his passion pressed hard against my belly.  A groan that formed in the depths of my soul escapes through my mouth.  He reaches down, between my legs, and pushes his hands under my skirt, into my crotch.

He whispers in my ear,  “You are so damned wet for me.  I just want to be in you right now.”

Gah.  He is so damned sexy.  He makes me feel so desirable and wanted.  And, he wants me.  I can feel how hard and how bad he wants me.  “Oh Harrison.”  I moan, as he shoves two fingers into my “P” and starts swirling them around.  He kisses my neck, just below my ear.  That’s the spot that can make me spontaneously cum.  He continues pushing and pulling his fingers in my “P”.  He pulls out his fingers and rakes them against my swollen clit.  I groan.  He is back to my lips and tracing them with his tongue, as he continues to rub my clit in a rapid circular motion.  I have my hands on his upper arms for support, as my knees feel week and close to buckling right out from under me.  He kisses me passionately and plunges his tongue deep into my mouth.  He takes his thumb and continues to assault my clit with it, while he puts his two fingers back into my “P” for their final attack on my eager loins.  I feel my lower body tighten and the deliciously familiar waves of pleasure radiate through my entire body.  I holler out, with my voice echoing through the empty space.  “Oh Harrison!”  It echoes.  He removes his fingers from my loins and shoves them in his mouth, sucking off the remnants of my juice.  Oh, that is so damned hot.  I reach up and pull his head down to mine, kissing him with a fervor fueled by my intense desire for this man. I want him to be mine.  I taste myself on his breath and remember that, in these moments, he is mine. 

“We need to go.”  He straightens his jacket and hands me my purse from the first step of the stairs.  He leads me to the elevator.  While on our descent to the main lobby, I fix my lipstick and hair.  I blush a thousand shades of red when I fish around my bag for my lip gloss and come across the panties that he just ripped off me.  He seems to have a thing for disposing of my undergarments.

Out in the lobby, I see my briefcase and swatches right where we left them on the desk.  I wonder to myself if leaving them there was a mistake.  Well, it’s too late now, and I must trust Harrison’s judgment.  Jeff is waiting outside by the car.  I turn to Harrison and hold out my hand.  He takes it, and as our skin touches, it sends lightning bolts through my body. The electricity between us is immense and overwhelming.  I am almost glad to be leaving.  All of a sudden, I feel sick and need to lie down.  He opens the door and I give him an apprehensive smile and take my leave.

Later that evening, when I get up from my nap, Simone is out in the kitchen pouring a glass of wine. I come out to join her.  I look over at the sofa and see our new watchdog, Albert Fontaine.  I met him when I got home today.  For as hot as Garrin is, Albert is the polar opposite.  He is about 6”3 with very broad shoulders, a Frankenstein forehead, jet-black hair and big hands.  I’m guessing his age to be around thirty-six and he has an even heavier accent than Garrin.  This ought to be fun, I think sarcastically.

Simone hands me a glass of wine and proceeds to open the fridge.  Still nothing has materialized in the way of food.  She turns to me, “Guess it’s take out tonight?”  I nod and smile.  “Great, let’s just get some Thai.  What do you want?”

“Oh, that sounds yummy!  I want Chicken Pad Thai and Salad Rolls.”

She glances over at the big brute lounging on her sofa in the adjoining room and turns to me with a raised eyebrow, “I think I’ll just order for him.  I’m gonna grab my phone.  Be right back.”

She hurries down the hall to the converted attic stairs.  I turn my attention back to the delicious glass of wine.  My thoughts wander to earlier today, laying in Harrison’s arms on the cushions.  That was seriously hot, like right out of a movie type of sex.  I blush at the thought of my ripped panties in my purse.

Simone returns without her phone or wine.  “Come on upstairs.  Help me pack for Palm Springs and you can finally spill your guts.  It is high time that I know just what the hell is going on with you and money bags.”  I grab the bottle of wine off the counter and follow behind her.  I turn my head to Albert and say, “We have food coming soon.  Let us know when it gets here?”  I think he understood, at least he appeared to by his nod.  He probably just pretended so he could get back to his show.

I join Simone in her room.  The way we decorated her room is so Simone.  The upstairs attic was converted into a master suite, so her bed fits perfectly between two dormer windows.  The bed frame is a painted-brass, ornate headboard, with lots of fluffy pillows piled up in front of it. We chose a cabbage rose print bedding in the same green and white theme as downstairs but with touches of pink.  She has a dressing table set in the dormers on the other side of the room. The little white sofa and overstuffed chair were purchased upon my insistence.  In the middle of the pitched ceiling, hangs a beautiful, small antique chandelier that I found in a dusty shop along the route to visit my parents at the beach.  It was such a great addition to the room.  She was overjoyed.  I plunk into the overstuffed chair and put my feet up on the ottoman.  I set the wine glass and bottle down on the little occasional table next to me.  Simone proceeds to pull her designer luggage from under her bed.  I sit back and watch.  She disappears into her large, walk-in closet that has custom everything installed.  She is a wardrobe stylist after all, and I guess it stands to reason.  She returns to her bed and plops down an armload of clothing that she pulled from her closet.  She turns to me, ”Okay, let’s hear it.”  She stands, looking at me with her lips pressed together to show me she means business.

“I hardly know where to start, Clarke.  There is so much that has happened in such a short time.” I sigh and take another sip of wine.

She gives me a snarl.  “Well let me help you.  I am up to speed on the break-in, his engagement and Bradley coming by here, oh, and you are sleeping with the two-timer, if I am not mistaken. Now, why don’t you fill in the blanks.”

I stare at her with my mouth gaping open.  How could she have known that I am having sex with Harrison?  I guess it takes a hooch to know one.  I’m miffed at her attitude toward Harrison, though.

“First off, he is not two-timing!”

She interrupts.

“The hell he’s not; he is engaged to that Devereaux woman and doing you.  Isn’t that two-timing two ways?”

“Nicely put, Clarke, but not quite accurate.  Harrison and Marion’s engagement is a farce.  He is not marrying her.  He only got engaged to her because she is blackmailing him.”  Her eyes get wide.  “One of the conditions of the ‘agreement’ is that they announce their engagement right away and that he marries her by the end of this year.”  I take a swig of my wine to let her catch up.  She has stopped folding her clothes into her suitcase and is staring at me.

I continue.

“So, he is working with a team of investigators and security personnel.  They are all trying to find a way to defrag her network of lies and expose her to dissolve him of the blackmail and be rid of her for good.  In fact, I just found out today that Adelaide may have been killed by Marion or her goons.  Rather than her crash being an accident, Harrison thinks that she was run off the road.  He is also afraid that the same thing will happen to me, and that is why we have the crack security in your living room.”

She frowns. “Yeah, well I would rather have Garrin back.  This guy gives me the creeps.”  Just as she finishes her sentence, we hear a loud muffler come to a stop in front of the house, followed by Henry’s frantic barking downstairs.

We turn to each other and say in unison, “Food’s here!”

I lead the way down the steep stairs to the main floor and hear Albert is struggling with the over-zealous Henry, who is growling and going into attack mode.  The pimple-faced delivery guy is standing in the doorway, trying to hand off the food and escape.

The scene strikes me as funny, and I can’t help but to laugh out loud.  Here this Goliath is trying to tame the lion, or dog in this case.  I take the food from the delivery guy, and Simone reaches past me with a tip.  He takes the money, and before the door closes, the guy is running to his car.  He is probably relieved to get away from this nonsense.  In a matter of seconds after the door closes, the loud muffler is already descending down the hill.

Henry turns around and heads back over to his bed, circling it a few times, then plops down with a big sigh.  I guess his work is done for the day.

Simone and I grab plates and silverware and motion for Albert to join us at the table.  He looks a bit shaken.  His expertise must not be dog wrangling.  I get a bottle of sparkling water from the refrigerator with three glasses, and we proceed to dig in to the aromatic Thai food.  Thai is one of my favorite types of food.  I can smell the curry sauce wafting from the paper take-out containers.

We try to make conversation with Albert, but as it turns out, he is a man of few words.  He greedily eats his plate of Pad Thai and Coconut Curry.  When he is finished,  he simply thanks us for the food and excuses himself to return to the sofa and some kind of sports show.

After he is comfortably out of earshot, we continue our conversation from before dinner.  “So Dani, why would Wine Witch blackmail him?  Does he think she is behind all the break in stuff?”

“Yes.  He is positive that she is behind it.  It is a long, drawn-out story that stems back to childhood.  She has always wanted Harrison and everything that comes with his position.  Since he doesn’t want her, she is forcing herself on him.  At least, that’s the way I see it.”

Simone sucks in her breath.  “Dani, I hate to say it, but I think you may be in over your head.”

“You might be right, Clarke.  Oh and to make matters worse, today he tells me that he had to set a fake wedding date with her.”

“Shut up!  When?”

“Apparently she insisted on New Year’s.”  I roll my eyes. “So, I don’t want to dwell too much on that, I already feel sick to my stomach, and it’s not from the food.  I hope!”

“Dani, have you given much thought to what happens if he ends up having to go through with the wedding?  I don’t want to be the bad guy, but it’s a distinct possibility.”

“I know.  It would be positively devastating.  I mean, I only learned today that there is actually a date set.  Everything has been moving so fast these past weeks, and I am not processing things fast enough to keep pace.”  We are both silent for a moment.

She tilts her head at me, “Ok, so say he does get her off his trail...  then what?  Where do you go from there?  Is it off into the sunset for you?”

“Simone, I have no idea what our future holds.  Or, if we even have a future.  It is all so confusing, and yet it is exhilarating, in a sick and twisted way.”

“Yeah, and you think my love life is jacked up.”

I laugh.  “Yeah, you do have a pretty messed up love life!  Listen, he has asked me to be discreet and told me not say anything about this situation to anyone.  So keep your mouth zipped, you understand, right?”

She furrows her brow as she shovels another scoop of curry and rice in her mouth.  With a mouthful she says, ”I’m your best friend, if you can’t trust me who can you trust?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!  It’s not about trusting you or anyone else.  It’s just so damned complicated and seriously, it is making me insane.  I honestly don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Fine, I guess I can understand where you are coming from.  So, what have you told the folks?”

“Nothing and we are keeping it that way for now.  I don’t really have anything solid to tell them anyway.  I can’t very well tell them that I am sneaking around, seeing Harrison, while he pretends that he is marrying another woman.  Can you imagine the look on my dad’s face if I told him that?”

She laughs. “Um, yeah I see your point.  What have you told Bradley?  Wait, on second thought, I don’t want to hear about him tonight.  He is still on my shit list.”  I giggle.

“Yeah mine too.  He called my folks the other day when he couldn’t get a hold of me and got them all riled up.  I had to do some damage control.  I am not sure they are entirely convinced, but I diverted my mom’s attention by agreeing to come down soon.”