Sweet Obsession (Men of Whiskey Row Book 1) (21 page)

***

What. The. Fuck.
Noelle went from zero to a hundred real quick as she contemplated how she was going to kill Jack and this little hussy still wrapped around him like a fucking boa constrictor. She curled her hands into fists and took a step forward. They were too caught up in their moment to realize that imminent death would soon be upon them, bear dogs present or not. A deep, slightly-accented voice behind her stopped her in her tracks.

“Please excuse my daughter. She hasn’t seen her favorite brother in months. Don’t tell Casey and Darby I said that, or I will be forced to deny it.”

Noelle turned towards the voice and found herself staring into a pair of gorgeous, ink- blue eyes. They belonged to a giant god whose wavy, shoulder-length black hair was lightly threaded with silver. He was older; but his face was barely lined and not an ounce of fat could be found on his insanely fit body from what she could see as he walked towards her. His looks combined with that voice made him downright lethal. “It must be the water,” she mumbled to herself.

First the Sullivan brothers, then the girl in front of her, and now this strapping god. There really could be no other explanation for the freakishly good genes in this town. He reached her and held out his hand. Noelle found herself responding to his warm smile as she took his large hand. “I’m Alexei Romankov. And that unruly, wild child is my daughter Katerina.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Romankov. I’m Noelle Kr- er Sullivan.” She said sincerely feeling her blood pressure go down considerably now that she knew they were all family. So this was Vivienne’s husband? The woman was completely certifiable to have left a man this fine!

“Please, just Alexei or ‘Lex’. No need for formalities, eh? May I call you Noelle?” She nodded yes and went to pull her hand back but he held on, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Forgive me for staring, but you are a very beautiful woman.”

Suddenly her hand was pulled out of Alexei’s grasp as Jack yanked her against him. Noelle turned to look at him and found him giving the older man a menacing stare. “Stop putting the moves on my woman, you old commie bastard.”

Noelle gasped at Jack’s rudeness, but Alexei and his daughter found the hostile comment to be uproariously funny. While they laughed their heads off, she gave her husband
(oh how she loved that title!)
her best bitch face. “Jackson Conall Sullivan, that was completely uncalled for.”

Jack looked at her mischievously and pressed a hard kiss to her lips, making her gasp again in surprise. “Damn woman, I love it when you full-name me. Do it again; that was hot,” he drawled, and Noelle blushed furiously.

Still chuckling, Alexei rubbed his chin and looked at Jack speculatively. “So
Yakov
, the rumors are not just rumors,
da
?”

Katerina stepped forward and Noelle was taken aback at her exquisiteness. It made sense that the offspring of two great-looking people would look like this. Her facial features were all delicate and fine-boned with full bow lips. Except for her eyes. They were huge on her heart-shaped face and molasses in color with an exotic tilt, like her mother’s. She was a pocket Venus with a curvy, petite figure; Noelle felt like a giant standing next to her.

“Forgive me, Noelle. My Papa is right, and I’ve been incredibly rude. It’s just that Jackie hasn’t been home in so long, I couldn’t control myself when Mikhail announced that it was him,” she said in a soft musical voice before pausing to take a breath. She gave Noelle an impish grin and continued.

“My name is Katerina Romankov, but you can call me Kat. It is an absolute pleasure to meet
the
Mrs. Jack Sullivan. I can’t believe that I’ve finally got a sister! Yaaaay!!!”

Katerina launched herself at Noelle, who automatically caught her and thought
what the hell?
Amidst Jack and Alexei’s laughter, she spun Katerina around and around also.

Chapter Sixteen

He was late and Vivienne was going to kill him,
Casey thought as he got out of his silver Jaguar XFR and hurriedly walked up the sidewalk to her D.C. townhouse. His phone was buzzing in his pocket, but he just ignored it. He carefully balanced the bags of wine bottles and cheese in his arms so he could ring the doorbell. As he waited for the door to open, he heard another car pull up. Then a door opened and slammed with a woman’s porn-worthy voice cooing, “Thanks! Keep the change, baby!”

Why did it sound familiar?
Casey wondered and turned to look; but the door opened, and he was quickly pulled inside by his irritated godmother, who looked madder than a wet hen as she scolded him. “You’re late! What took you so long?”

“Oh, I don’t know; maybe it was someone’s insistence on needing to have a Blonde Lillet. You know Cheesetique was the only place in town that currently has it in stock right? And I’m sure you also know that it’s nowhere near my office?” he retorted, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Casey felt a presence behind him, so he stepped aside and turned around only to be enveloped in a cloud of flowers with a hint of apples as Sidra breezed past him to give Vivienne a hug.

“Sidra, I’m so glad you could make it! I hope the flight wasn’t too bad?” Vivienne cooed as they exchanged air kisses.

“So, so sorry, Viv! There was a slight delay on the tarmac, but I’m just glad I made it. Fabulous dress! Marc Jacobs?” Sidra asked, deliberately ignoring Casey.

Casey was in shock to see his nemesis here at Vivienne’s home. He’d spent way too much of his free time thinking about her and her smart-ass mouth. He gritted his teeth, realizing that his night had officially gone to shit. Reluctantly, Casey admitted to himself that she looked damn good. Her wild, just-got-fucked curls framed her beautiful face, and the short, clingy black and white geometric patterned dress flattered her body. Extremely high, black heels almost put her at eye level with him.

“Hello, Sidra. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” He would not say it was good to see her or some other untruthful bullshit. Although a certain part of his anatomy proved him to be a liar, as he discreetly shifted the bags in his hand to cover the front of his tented pants.

“Casey. You’re looking uptight as usual,” Sidra said in a honeyed voice.
If
u
ptight meant fine as hell
, Sidra thought to herself. She just couldn’t resist needling the smug lawyer. It helped her to resist being one of the thousands of women in his fan club. Although she would never say it out loud, Casey Sullivan was easily the best-looking man she’d ever seen in her life. She just knew the pickup line about heaven missing an angel was inspired by him.

Even now as Casey looked at her with distaste, Sidra’s reaction to his ire-filled gaze as they swept over her caused a tingling sensation in her lady parts. He lifted a hand to rake through his thick, dark blond hair in frustration, and she longed to replace his fingers with her own. To yank on the silky strands as he pleasured her. Damn, now the panties were wet also.
It was going to be a long night,
she thought, but not without irritation.

Vivienne’s delicate cough did not quite cover her laugh as she slipped her arm through Sidra’s and pulled her along. Watching them, Casey’s scowl increased tenfold. “Why yes, it is Marc Jacobs, Sidra. No bickering tonight, children. Come on and let’s mingle.”

Casey had no choice but to follow, ignoring his phone as it vibrated in his pocket once more.

***

The networking dinner was a great success; and after dessert, guests moved to Vivienne’s parlor to mingle. Casey stood in the corner, sipping a vodka tonic as he observed the room. Well, he was actually watching one person in particular; and she was having the time of her life, wrapping everyone she came into contact with around her little, itty bitty finger. He was annoyed to see one particular individual brave enough to linger in her presence without fear of his soul being sucked out of his body.

Casey’s fingers clenched hard around his glass as Sidra threw her head back and gave a lusty laugh at something Dominick Harris, the lead singer of Bison Blue, was whispering in her ear. The sound alone made Casey’s groin tighten with lust in response. When Sidra laughed, her whole face lit up, making her even lovelier than usual. Entranced, Dominick stepped closer to her, effectively using his body to block any other males from poaching on what he considered to be his territory, as he touched a blue curl.

Succubus is what she is,
Casey thought sourly. He’d seen the envious looks on the men in the club when Sidra jumped on a low table to dance by herself, her body twisting, bouncing and turning with the thumping beats. She’d drawn a crowd of admirers who egged her on; and he’d watched it all from afar, wishing it was only him she danced for.
Why was he even thinking about her???
He didn’t even like the bossy, demanding harpy. But he did want to fuck her. Yeah, he really wanted to fuck her, especially her mouth because for once she’d have to be quiet. He shifted his stance to again accommodate his growing hard on. He was going to have to do something about that and mentally he ran down his list of women that he could hook up with on a moment’s notice. There were plenty of prospects, but he wasn’t keen on fucking a substitute.
What would it take to get Sidra in his bed?
Casey wondered.

“Are you enjoying yourself, Mr. Sullivan?” a soft voice asked from his left, breaking his train of thought. Casey reluctantly dragged his eyes away from Sidra to glance down into a pair of shy, blue eyes. They belonged to Anna Dayton, a cute pit bull lobbyist who worked on Capitol Hill. In the past they’d attended a lot of the same functions, but before tonight had never really interacted. He looked down at her almost empty wine glass and back up to her flushed cheeks as she swayed to the music in her head.

“Indeed I am, Ms. Dayton. How about you?” he inquired politely. She laughed, and the high-pitched sound grated on his ears as he wondered what the fuck was so funny; but he forced himself to laugh with her. At least she was laughing, so apparently he hadn’t lost his touch completely; unlike Sidra, whose face looked like she smelled shit whenever she saw him.

“Yes I am, and please call me Anna. You are just the most attractive man I’ve ever laid eyes on, Casey Sullivan. And I can honestly say that if I hadn’t had three glasses of this wine for Dutch courage, I doubt I’d be over here talking to you,” she finished wistfully, tucking a strand of her long, blonde hair behind her ear. So he
was
losing his touch. Now women had to drink themselves damn-near silly to talk to him.
Great
. Casey watched as her face turned red with mortification at her admission. His phone vibrated once, and he pulled it out to read the text.

Please call me! I’m worried about you and won’t stop calling until I know you’re okay Casey!

“Well, thank you for the compliment, Ms. Anna. It was a pleasure speaking with you, but I’m afraid I have to make a call,” Casey said gently before excusing himself and walking away.

Cursing to himself, he left the room and stepped out into the garden, shutting the French doors behind him. Casey dialed a number, and it rang twice before someone picked up. He didn’t give the person on the other end a chance to say anything other than hello.

“Stop calling me; I have nothing else to say to you! What happened earlier didn’t mean a damn thing! I’m not coming back, so stop fucking begging to try again! Do you get it? The calls stop now!” His words were low and threatening. There was silence on the other end; and he hung up, knowing that the caller had finally gotten the message.

Casey shoved his phone back into his jacket pocket and leaned his head against the stone wall fighting the urge to smash something. His emotions were on overload and clawing to get out. Coming here tonight and attempting to be civilized after his session with Dr. Klaus had been poor judgment on his part. The case he was working was too close to what he’d experience as a child, and today he’d broken down and cried like a baby. Dr. Klaus insisted that it was the long, overdue breakthrough he needed to move on, but Casey felt too raw and vulnerable to go on with the session. He’d gotten the hell out of there, and she’d been calling him ever since. A tingle at the base of his neck made him realize he wasn’t alone; he whirled around to see Sidra glaring at him. Slowly she started clapping. “
Wow.
You are one cold hearted bastard. Whoever she is, she should be lucky that you were heartless enough to end it.”