Page 7 of Chase
She doesn’t flinch; she merely stares back impassively as if I’m not there. I take the opportunity to step once again behind the curtain, out of view. Momentarily, I consider that she didn’t see me, even though I know she did. There was no scream of terror—she just looked at me like all the times she has as I watched her dance, with nothing but pity and disdain in her gaze. Having swerved an awkward conversation or beating from my brother, I take the chance to leave, scurrying back to my penthouse the way I came.
***
The Level Boardroom
Connor strolls into the boardroom the following morning like the cat that got the cream. Sadly, I watched as he drank, and the reality increased my anger, which hasn’t dissipated since last night. He’s dressed in his sweats while I sit in my full suit, ready to leave immediately after this meeting to head to our office in Canary Wharf.
We use the boardroom on the same floor as Connor and Harrison’s apartment for meetings that can’t be conducted in the office. Perhaps the information being discussed is highly sensitive, or it most likely concerns a case that isn’t officially on our law firm’s books. We meet here with men who support our other business dealings, the ones that can’t be discussed out in the open.
“Day off?” I snap as Connor walks over to make a coffee at the machine.
“Coffee?” he replies, glancing over his shoulder. “You sound as if you need it.”
“No.”
“No, thank you,” he corrects me. “Fuck Russ, who twisted your panties this morning?”
“You,” I mutter. “This is meant to be a business meeting, and you’re here dressed as if you’re lounging on the sofa scratching your cock.”
“Fuck off.” He lifts his mug from the machine, then walks over to sit down opposite me. The large glass boardroom table stretches out between us. “I’ll get ready once we’ve had this shitshow of a meeting, whatever it’s about.”
“Still got company?” I probe, unable to keep my questions at bay. The desperation to know whether Samantha stayed the night is fierce.
“No, she went home,” he says with a scowl, and I relax fractionally. Not staying over means things haven’t progressed beyond fucking. Once she spends the night, my position could become more complicated. Not that it isn’t already.
“Did your tongue action not satisfy her?” The words pass between my lips before I can stop them. His eyes narrow, but he says nothing. His response tells me that Samantha never told him about my snooping. My confidence rises a fraction with his lack of knowledge, so I revert to my old ways. “Maybe she needs a real man to make her cunt drip.”
He shoots to his feet and storms around the table until he stands above me. “Stand the fuck up,” he snarls.
“No.” His fingers take hold of my shirt collar and pull me to my feet. “What’s up, brother? Have I struck a nerve? Was your piece not satisfied with your performance?” We stand in the boardroom, nose to nose as he pulls me toward him. “Unsatisfied women have wandering eyes…and arses.”
My brother pulls harder on my clothes then pushes me back a few steps. Being taller and bigger than him, I could stop the motion if I wanted to, but I allow him his caveman moment.
“Never speak of Samantha like some cheap slut again,” he barks. “You’re not fit to lick her boots.”
“Possessive already, brother. She must be good in bed. That’s if you got the chance to find out. The little bitch has been holding out on you from what she said last night.” I keep goading him, unsettled by his reaction to my comments. It’s clear he cares, which makes my position even more precarious. If I am going to pursue Samantha, I need to know what I am getting into.
He laughs out loud and then rolls his eyes. “You’re still a fucking teenager, Russ. You’ve no idea what it feels like to be with a real woman. One you fucking want.” We stare at each other, and his eyes narrow. “Yes brother, I want to make her mine. Permanently. Do you have a problem with that?”
I force a shrug from my body to deflect his suspicion, but the uneasy sensation in my belly magnifies.
“No, it’s your life. If you want to be chained to one woman, it’s your cock that will miss out. Has she agreed to your request for exclusivity?”
“I haven’t asked her yet,” he says. “But I am confident she’s not sleeping with anyone else. She has too much respect for herself to be putting it around.”
“Maybe,” I mutter, pulling his fingers from my shirt collar. “I suppose you’ll find out. Probably best to head down to the sexual health clinic and get checked out, though. You never know what vermin chicks could be riddled with.” I don’t see his fist coming—the sharp crack to my jaw takes me by surprise, and I stagger backward.
“I said shut the fuck up.”
Just then, the boardroom door opens, and Harrison walks in already dressed for the office. “Morning, boys,” he says, jovially. All these happy bastards in love are doing my head in. “Shit, am I interrupting a Chase brothers’ debate?”
“No debate,” Connor responds as I rub at my chin. “Russ knows exactly where I stand.”
“That’s going to bruise, you arsehole.”
“Just don’t check yourself out in the mirror for a few days,” Connor shoots back. “Then you won’t need to stress about your good looks.”
“I’m due in court,” I say, petulantly. He shrugs, turns, and walks back to finish making his coffee, completely unruffled by the fact he will have marked my face.