“Mum, I was put here to do something like this in my life. I am the product of you and Dad. It’s safe to say I’ll be alright.” I don’t want my Mum to worry. “Please trust me.”

There’s a pause. The silence lasts longer than it’s welcome.

“Well, I hope he’s worth it.”

She makes me smile.

“Wasn’t Dad worth it? I love you. I’ll be out there this weekend.”

I end the call and think about my words. At this point, Pacer is worth more than I care to admit.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Deja vu.

I’m sitting in the foyer of honeybee’s office once again, waiting for her to escort me inside. Except this time, I’ve just spent twelve hours fucking you until my dick went limp.

The wooden door swings open and there she is, boring suit, boring hair … but I know what lies beneath. She’s late again, but I didn’t expect anything else.

“Thanks for seeing me, Pacer.” I’m certain she’s saying it for the benefit of listening ears.

“It must be important.” I follow in the act, and try not to laugh at my joke.

I had to see her again. She knows damn well that I wouldn’t take no for an answer.

I feel them all watching—lenses, whether they’re a camera or the naked eye. They’re all the same and I pay little attention to any of it.

I know I’m being watched when I’m in public, so I stay out of it as much as possible. It’s been my motto for years, and so far it’s helped. I’ve spent less than a year in prison when I’ve faced a combined one hundred and forty years’ worth of charges against my name. They can’t get me, and she can’t work out why. She will never know, no matter how far she digs.

My hands stay in my pockets as I walk, and feeling the packet of cigarettes within them just makes me want to light another …  right now. I can’t help it—I’m an addict.

Honeybee’s ass waving at me from her skirt gives me a flashback of that same ass bouncing against my cock when I had her on all fours. Lifting my leather glove to my top lip, I rub it past my nostrils, catching the scent of her. It’s still there. Fuck you smell good, honeybee.

She waves at the open door to her office. “Take a seat, Mr Fratelli.”

I stroll through the doorway and do as I’m told. “Make sure the blinds are shut,” I say, not looking at her when I speak.

The door closes behind me, and I hear her footsteps against the plush carpet. The brush of her fingertips against the back of my neck makes my smile impossible to hide. You are a firecracker, my honeybee.

I take hold of her hand, and pull her around to my lap. She fits perfectly in my arms. I want to rescue her from all the troubles she’s about to walk into. If only I could just pick her up and carry her out of this office, like they did in the shitty romance movies of the 70s. But it’s not that simple. There are debts to be paid, so I have to stick around until they’re settled.

Looking into her deep blue eyes, I wish I could tell her everything so that it stops her going on the wild goose chase that she’s about to head down. But right now, I want to spread her gorgeous body across her desk, and have her begging me not to make her moan.

From the angle that she’s in on my lap, my thumb slides up her thigh with ease. Her skirt has enough stretch to let my hand travel towards her sexy little honey pot. She doesn’t stop me either. Her lips crash onto mine, as if she never wished us apart in the first place. Her kiss makes my worries dissolve; her tongue makes my control disintegrate.

I hold her under her ass and tilt her hips towards me. My other finger slides her panties aside and slips into her sweet spot. Her body winces. I forgot how tender she must feel. My cock has been on fire all day, so I can only imagine what she must feel like.

She chuckles and holds my face in her hands as she kisses me hard. I love the feeling of her palms against my cheeks.

My gloved finger works into her slit with gentle strokes. I feel her relax, and she rocks onto my invading finger. Her head tilts back in pure bliss. It’s something about my gloves that really sets her off. Whatever it is, I love it.

I keep working her until My cock starts to swell, now sitting uncomfortably in my pants.

There’s a jolting knock at her door and she flies off my lap.

Adjusting her skirt, she leans into the door and speaks. “This had better be good.”

It’s a younger girl’s voice. Must be that cute secretary I’ve seen a couple of times. “Brad just said he saw your Dad down stairs. He thinks he’s on his way up here. I have told him all morning that you were in meetings, but I guess he’s just not taking no for an answer.”

“Fuck.” Her blue eyes flash back to me. “Lets get out of here before shit hits the fan.”

She grabs her folder from her desk, and coat from the hat stand beside the door.

I follow her. “We’ll leave through the stairwell. Thanks, Sienna. I’m going to my next appointment with Mr Fratelli.”

Sienna doesn’t raise her eyes to me before Chelsea leads me down a series of narrow hallways. Wood panelling is on each side, broken up by the occasional glass window that peeks into someone’s office. We reach the emergency exit at the end of the hallway and Chelsea pushes down on the handle. The door swings open. Thank fuck it’s not alarmed.

“You do this often?” I joke.

She glances back at me with a look that’s less than impressed. Why is she being so touchy? It’s not my fault her father is hell-bent on seeing her. Is she that insecure about us being together? Surely it can’t be that bad?

She keeps running down the stairs. She’s quick for a chick in heels. Is she seriously going to run down all twelve flights of stairs? I stop at the next landing and go to open the door to the right.

“What are you doing? Not this level.” She snaps out with both voice and hand.

“Are we going down all twelve flights by stairs? I’m not trying to be funny here, but I haven’t exactly dressed for this.” I watch her eyes take in my well-chosen suit by Hugo Boss. “What’s the sudden rush to get away from your father? I know he’s not going to be happy, but we do have business to attend to, together.”

She sighs and nods. “You’re right. It’s just this whole newspaper expose has got me all wound up. This thing between you and I—I thought we were going to get a chance to work out what we were before we had to share it with everyone else.”

Her half-smile is gorgeous. Is that embarrassment? I move in and hold her, pulling her into me. Taking a deep breath and searching her eyes, I try to find the answers I need.

“And what do you want us to be?” I ask with a low voice.

She shrugs. “I don’t know … and I’m sure you don’t know either. We’ve spent all of a night together. How does anyone know what they feel after twenty-four hours?”

“I know.” I don’t care anymore. I know exactly how I feel. I’ve known from the moment I met her.

“You do?” Her eyes rake across my entire face.

Smiling to give her reassurance, I hold onto her tight. My gloved hand palms her face.

See it in my eyes, honeybee. See how much you mean to me.

She kisses me again. Our mouths really have a hard time leaving each other. I don’t need to say any more, and neither does she. We both might not say it, but there’s definitely something between us. Fuck, I feel like a soft-cock for just thinking it. But with her, it’s different. I want to love her. I need to love her, and I’m going to love her. Right here, on the stairwell.

Loosening my belt, and unbuttoning my pants, I sit against the steps and pull her with me. She wrenches up her skirt and I slide her panties off. I take them and put them in my pocket. She watches me, and smiles. With a quick wink, she gets it—I’m keeping them.