PLAYED - A BRITISH BAD BOY ROMANCE (72 page)

Preston’s
housekeeper had retired to her one-bedroom suite on the grounds for the
evening, so it was just the two of us in his grand estate. Though he had done
his best to calm me in the car, my knees were still shaking and I could feel
panic squeezing my chest. He suggested I use his master bathroom to relax, and
I couldn’t say no to that.

I
leaned back in his whirlpool tub, sighing softly as I piled my hair on the side.
The water was nearly scalding hot, perfect for releasing all the aches and
pains that had built in my strained muscles. I could feel myself slipping away
already, the frustration and confusion receding as I lay my head on the
built-in neck support, letting myself float weightless in the bath. A moment
later I heard Preston enter and I opened my eyes to see him extending a glass
of champagne.

“Here,”
he said. “You look like you need it.”

I
nodded and sighed as I took it from him, bringing it to my lips. This was the
good stuff, not the fifteen-dollar bottles I’d picked up from the grocery store
once or twice back when I’d been in charge of ExecuSpace’s company parties.
Those days seemed so far away now. I’d been shrouded in opulence for so long that
I could barely remember what it was like to struggle. Had I become my mother?

I
didn’t realize I’d said that last part out loud.

Preston’s
eyes darkened as he looked down at me. “No, Maddy,” he said, sitting on the
edge of the tub. “You’re nothing like Vivian. Don’t you ever think that. Okay?”

I
smiled at him thinly and took another sip of my champagne. I wasn’t in the mood
to argue. “What do we do now?”

He
rolled up his sleeves and sighed, kicking his shoes across the bathroom floor.
Then he reached into the water and pulled my wet feet into his lap, soaking his
slacks as he massaged along my arches with exquisite care. I moaned and sank
into the water, purring like a kitten as my Preston worked my soles.

“I’m
not giving into my father’s demands,” he said, gently stretching and rubbing
each of my toes. I nearly swooned. “We’ll find a way out of this. It may have
to be extreme, but if you’re willing to go for it, then so am I.”

I
opened my eyes. “What exactly are you proposing?” I asked him.

“I’m
not sure yet. But it may involve withdrawing everything from my account and
starting all over someplace new. Would you be willing to do that with me, if it
came down to it?”

I
sat up a little, studying his face. “Are things that serious between us?”

Preston
shrugged. “They could be. I don’t know. But that’s a last resort. In the
meantime, I can simply say I’m not interested in being a larger part of Harvey
Enterprises until his plans for the future include you, too. Maybe there’s
still time for me to change things from the inside—hold his feet to the fire
over this. I am his only heir, and the only one who knows enough about the
family business to take it over once he’s out of the picture. Without me, the
board would cut this company to shreds and dine on its carcass.”

“Do
you think that’s enough leverage?” I asked him. “And what about my mom?”

“That’s
up to you,” he told me, gliding his fingers up my ankles and calves. “What do
you want to do about that?”

I
pursed my lips in thought. On one hand, Preston’s father manipulating my mother
for his own gains didn’t sit well with me. She was a terrible person, sure
enough, but did she deserve to be used and lied to like that?

On
the other hand, didn’t she sort of have this coming? I couldn’t say that out
loud, of course, but my mother had been more awful than ever since she and Mr.
Harvey had hooked up. It might serve as some kind of sick vindication to tell
her the truth: that she was no more special to him than any other woman who
would silently put up with his shit.

“I’m
not sure,” I said at last. “If it were me, I know I’d want to know. But my
mother isn’t me. In fact, she isn’t most people. I’m not sure she’s even
human.” I sucked in a sharp breath as Preston fondled the very sensitive backs
of my knees. “I can’t say with any certainty that she wouldn’t blame me for
this, somehow, or that she might turn a blind eye and accuse me of lying to
ruin her happily ever after. She might just write me off as jealous and tell
your father to make your life hell until you got rid of me, or something.”

Preston
smiled. “That’s not going to happen,” he told me as he slowly crawled into the
tub.

“Preston!”
I shrieked, watching his clothes stick to his body. His white button-down clung
to his hard, muscular chest, revealing the tone of his skin beneath, and I
laughed as he prowled toward me. “You’re getting soaked!”

“So
are you,” he breathed against one of my nipples cresting the surface of the
water. Then he bent his head down and took it between his teeth, gently laving
it with his tongue as he nibbled and sucked and made me sigh.

“Oh,
hell,” I muttered. “We’re getting ourselves into so much trouble…”

Preston
didn’t seem to care about that. He only grasped my opposite breast with his
hand, crushing it between his fingers as he drew his body up against mine and
parted my legs with his hips.

“It’s
worth it,” he assured me, inspiring chills up and down my spine. I slipped my
arms around him, running my dripping fingers through his hair as he pressed his
growing erection against my slit under the water. “Bend over the side, Maddy,
while I turn on these jets.”

I
blushed but did as I was told. After the day we’d had, I needed Preston inside
of me. With just a gentle touch, he’d brought me to this place again, a place
where no one and nothing mattered more than the man of my dreams claiming me.
It didn’t matter that some silly piece of paper might complicate our lives.
Stepbrother or not, I was going to do this.

He
helped me up onto my knees and turned me around, my back against his chest as I
gripped the high edge of the tub. I pressed my stomach against it, my heaving
breasts hanging over the side as Preston spread me with his knee, my pussy
positioned right against the place the jet would bubble up from.

I
stuck out my ass and rubbed it against his swelling crotch, moaning as he
continued to tantalize my nipples with his fingertips. Then he drew one hand
away, reached over, and turned on the control for the jets, and I threw my head
back in utter bliss as the one I was straddling pounded perfectly against my
clit.

“Oh,
God,” I moaned, squirming as it pummeled me.

The
silken fabric of Preston’s slacks fell away as he pulled his cock free of them,
pressing it against me from behind. He parted my folds, sliding his tip against
my slippery opening while I writhed and shuddered on the jet teasing me into
utter oblivion.

“You’re
so perfect,” he whispered, nuzzling my hair before digging in deep. I cried out
as he filled me, his thick shaft stretching my pussy wide as he grabbed onto my
tits with both hands and pushed all the way up to his hilt. “I need you, Maddy.
No matter what happens, say you’ll stay with me.”

I
scrabbled for purchase on the slick edge of the tub as my stepbrother began to
thrust in and out of me. Every movement of his hips splashed water onto the
tile floor. I could feel waves of it surging up over my back, wetting my hair
and crashing over me like Preston was the ocean itself, and I was being swept
away by the tide.

I
had never felt like this with any man before. And I knew, deep down in my
heart, that I never would.

I
let myself believe that this could work. I released the fear inside of me and
took Preston in deep, finally giving him unfettered access into my soul, my
precious core.

“Yes,”
I hissed, throwing my head back against his shoulder as he grunted into my ear.
“I’ll stay, Preston. I’ll always stay. I promise.”

“Nothing
will tear us apart,” he groaned, laying feverish kisses upon my neck as he took
me. Before I knew it my orgasm was upon me and I screamed, bucking against him,
the water now flowing freely out of the tub as we both undulated in ecstasy. “I
swear it, Maddy. I’ll take care of you, always.”

And
then my stepbrother was spilling inside of me, filling me to the brim with his
seed. I shuddered beneath him, feeling as though we’d made a pact, a bond that
couldn’t be broken by anyone, not even our families.

Everything
would work out. I was sure of it. We’d run away together, if we had to. Preston
had promised me as much.

I
turned and kissed his lips, no longer thinking of him as the man who would
become my stepbrother, but rather the man who would make my deepest, wildest
dreams come true.

Later,
I would hate myself for being so damn blind.

Despite
all the
money I had, all the privilege extended to me by mere virtue of my birthright,
it was only now that for the first time in my life, I felt truly powerful.

I
had long viewed my status as a billionaire as more of a curse than a blessing.
Maybe in some other family it would have been different, but in the Harvey
family, I lived in a gilded cage. People always thought that because of my
money, I could do anything I wanted. They were sorely mistaken. I could only do
what my father would allow. Hell, my mother had died alone as proof of that fact.

For
years, I had cowered in his shadow. But now I was defiant. Now I felt like a
man. And it was all thanks to Madison Hearst, my soon-to-be stepsister and the
love of my life.

I
gave her the next day off and invited my father to meet me at my office, where
I would break the news to him that I wasn’t his good little soldier boy
anymore. It had taken most my life for me to see him for what he really was,
but now that I had, there was no turning back. This was do or die. Either my
father would back off and let me run the company as I saw fit, or he’d threaten
to ruin me and stalk out under the impression that I still gave a fuck. If the
former happened, Maddy and I would have to keep our relationship secret, but
that wasn’t impossible to do. If my father chose the latter, I’d take
everything out of my bank account, dump my vested shares, and she and I would
run away together. It really was that simple.

There
wasn’t much for us here, anyway. Billions of dollars could give us a fresh
start somewhere new. Hell, maybe we could go into business together, a joint
venture where she kept me honest and I kept her realistic. Part of me was
secretly hoping that was the way things would turn out. There was nothing I
wanted more than to throw my father’s misery right back in his face just before
I vanished into thin air.

I
made myself a cup of coffee while I waited, imagining my gorgeous, half-naked
stepsister lounging on my bed and getting a well-deserved break from all this
insanity. Whatever happened next, I was rushing right back home to her. I
couldn’t stand to be away from her for more than a few hours at a time. Waiting
here without her was torture.

Thankfully,
I heard the front doors open and close not long after.
Oh, thank God.
He was finally here.

I
made a point not to bring him a mug of coffee as I strode out, smiling as I
envisioned the pure rage on his face once he heard my decision. But that smile
soon turned to a slack jaw and a frown as I saw who was standing in my foyer
instead.

“Jane?
What the hell?”

She
grinned, tossing her long, auburn hair as she sauntered toward me in her
leopard-print kitten heels. “Don’t you ever get tired of greeting me like
that?” she asked me, clutching a manila folder in her hand. “A girl could get
the idea that you’re not very fond of her.”

“I’m
not,
” I growled. I didn’t want to
leave any room for her to get the impression that I was somehow pleased she was
here. “I was expecting my father. Why are you here?”

“Because
the senior Mr. Harvey doesn’t need to get his hands dirty,” she said, stopping
mere inches from me. She was wearing a very expensive brand of perfume, but on
her, it was putrid. “He knows how to delegate. Shall we do this in your office,
Preston, or would you rather get into it right here?”

I
hated the way she looked at me then. There was a hunger in her eyes, one that
made my stomach turn. I snatched the folder out of her hand, knowing damn well
that whatever she wanted was detailed in there.

“What
the hell is this?” I asked her, flipping it open. “Is he trying to buy me out?”

I
choked as I saw the reality of the situation. My eyes widened and a hot ember
of rage took flame in my chest. This wasn’t a buyout offer at all.

I
looked at Jane, trying not to shake as I asked her, “Where the
fuck
did you get this?”

“Oh,
Preston,” she purred, walking around behind me. “It wasn’t that hard.” She
stopped and slid her hands around my waist from behind, trailing her blood red
nails down my stomach as she whispered, “Next time you’re fucking your
stepsister, maybe don’t leave the balcony doors open.
Anyone
could just look in and see.”

“And
take pictures,” I snapped, whirling on her so fast I almost knocked her down.
This was how my father had known about me and Maddy. Jane the hell-bitch had
delivered the photographic evidence right into his sleazy hands.

She
regained her balance and smirked. “Don’t shoot the messenger, Preston. I just
do what I’m told.”

“Oh,
yes. I’m sure my father twisted your arm about this,” I sneered, tossing the
folder and its contents into her face. “What does he think this is going to
accomplish, huh? Does he think that I’ll come crawling back now, begging him
not to ruin my future at Harvey Enterprises with these obscene photos? She’s
not my stepsister yet, Jane. Nobody going to give a shit if my father—”

“—waits
to release them until he and Madison’s mother are legally married?” Jane asked,
batting her eyelashes in mock innocence at me. “If he cuts off all your money
and then sends these photos to ever single potential employee Madison will ever
interview with in her entire life? You
really
think no one will give a shit that Madison Hearst was fucking her stepbrother?”

I
shook my head in disgust and disbelief. “He can’t possibly be serious.”

“Oh,
he is,” Jane assured me, grinning from ear to ear. “In fact, he’s willing to
throw you completely under the bus, if that’s what it takes. He’ll leak the
photos to some tabloid somewhere and watch you go down in flames, if he has to.
He might even come out the better for it, denouncing his only son’s perversions
and rooting him out from the company.” She stepped on one of the pictures and
slid it toward me with the toe of her high heel. “Check your bank accounts,
Preston. I’m sure you’ll find that you really are between a rock and a hard
place.”

I
pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly logged in to my personal accounts.
Just as Jane said, every single one of them had been frozen. Two of them I
couldn’t even log into at all, and the third had a red banner across the screen
that said “pending the results of an investigation.”

“I
have cash,” I told her. It wasn’t much, but it was still enough to get me and
Maddy the fuck out of here. “Hundreds of thousands. I don’t need billions to
start a new life without my father and you.”

“You
mean the money you keep in the safe at home?” she asked me, and I felt my
insides coil with dread. “Carla was sweet enough to fetch that for us. But
don’t be too mad at her, Preston baby. She was very loyal—right up until the
point where your father threatened her with deportation. Little Enrique would
be so torn up if his mommy had to go back to Venezuela without him.”

I
wanted to wring this bitch’s neck. I wanted to watch the life drain out of her
eyes as I pressed and pressed until her throat collapsed. I wanted her to suffer
through every moment leading to her death. And then I wanted to do the same to
my bastard father.

“Think
about Madison,” Jane said, snapping me out of my murderous rage. “Maybe you
don’t care what people think. Maybe you’ll find a way to get by with that
business degree of yours. But let’s face it—Madison will be fucked. She’ll
never get a job anywhere ever again. And who knows? Maybe some day she’ll have
a mysterious accident just like your mother did—”

“I
swear to God, Jane,” I whispered, just barely holding back the fury inside of
me. “Keep talking about Madison and my mother. Say one more word about either
of them, and I’ll make sure
you
have
an accident somewhere down the line. Maybe not now, maybe not even in a year,
but it’ll happen. And it’ll be messy. It’ll hurt. You’ll suffer in ways you
can’t even comprehend. Say something smart, Jane—I dare you. But if you know me
at all, I’m betting you keep your fat, whore mouth shut.”

Jane’s
lips parted, and I waited for her to say something stupid, anything at all that
would give me a reason to carry out the sentence she so richly deserved. But
then she shrugged, shouldering her Prada bag as she told me, “Just think it
over, Preston. You can ruin both your lives, or you can both come away from
this relatively unscathed. Maybe it’s a shit choice, as far as choices go, but
at least he’s giving you one.”

“Go,”
I said. It was the only word I could manage that wasn’t an expletive.

“You’re
right,” she said. “I should. Mr. Harvey will be wanting an update.” She looked
me up and down before adding, “We could have had it all, Preston. And maybe, if
you play your cards right, we still can. I’ve always liked the thought of
having a baby, you know? Stranger things have happened. Feel free to stare at
my ass on my way out. Maybe you’ll be seeing a little more of it soon?”

I
watched her walk away, fiddling with her cell phone as she stepped back through
the doors to my office and out into the sunshine that seemed at odds with the
anguish I was feeling now.

I
spent the next ten minutes ripping everything apart. Everything I owned,
everything I had built—I didn’t want it. All I wanted was
her.
And she was the one thing I could never have.

When
my knuckles were raw and bloodied I sank to the floor in front of the stairway,
my chest heaving as I fought for air between snarls and gasps. Everything was
crumbling down around me, and the person I needed the most was the one whose
heart I was going to have to break in just a matter of minutes.

Someone
texted me. My hands shook as I reached across the floor and retrieved my phone
from where it had struck the wall when I’d thrown it. Beyond the cracked
screen, I read the last little message from Jane.

Carla went ahead and set up a few
cameras on her way out. If you tell that sweet little stepsister of yours
anything we talked about, your father will do all that he promised and more!
J

She
was the most evil fucking bitch in the entire world. And I was the bastard who
was going to do her bidding. What choice did I have? My father was going to
ruin my life, and Jane had threatened to do something far darker than that. How
did she know about my mother’s accident? What the hell was she trying to imply?

****