“How about 20k? You know, I’ve been fantasizing about those lips of yours since that night at Inferno,” he says.
He undoes his belt and zipper, and reaches into his suit pants. My heart is beating a mile a minute, and I can’t tell if I’m terrified or excited.
Chapter 12
A lexander
“Come here,” I say, my voice harsh.
Elena obeys. She gets up and slowly walks toward me until she’s standing between my spread legs. She’s got that infuriating defiant look on her face, and I almost failed to notice the way her hands tremble slightly.
I pull on her hand, and she falls to her knees on my hard marble floor, her face precariously close to my dick. Her mere proximity has me rock hard.
“You were willing to do this for John at Vaughn’s, weren’t you? Had I not entered the room when I did, would you have dropped to your knees for him?” I raise my hand to her face, my thumb tracing over her lip. “Would you have opened your pretty little mouth for him?”
Her eyes flash with disgust at the scenario I’m confronting her with. The real thing would be far worse—she has no idea how much worse. “Men from your father’s circle frequent Vaughn’s. Do you know how many men that you know you’d have to fuck? Do you understand that they’d humiliate you? Any anger that they might have toward your father, they’d take out on you.”
Fear melts away her previously confident expression and she looks away. She and I both know that men in our circle don’t get where we are without getting our hands dirty. It’s clear she hasn’t actually considered anything beyond her mother.
She doesn’t even realize that she walked right into a trap. Vaughn told me someone called to say that Matthew Rousseau’s sister was going to drop by. He was going to allow her to offer her body to avenge me for all the shit Matthew has put me through, and Elena has no idea. She has no idea how bad things would have gotten for her.
She looks up at me, frustration bringing tears to her eyes. “What is it you’re offering me, Alexander?” she asks. “You want me to suck you off? I will. If it helps save my mother’s life, there’s nothing I won’t do. If our roles were reversed and it was your mother’s life on the line, can you honestly tell me you wouldn’t go to hell and back to save her?”
She places her hand over the hand I’m palming my erection with and squeezes. She’s looking up at me through her lashes, her expression a jumbled mess of desire, desperation, and shaky confidence.
I push her hand away and re-adjust myself before taking my time zipping up my trousers and fastening my belt. I run a hand through my hair and look out the window. How do things escalate every single time I’m alone with her? When I came up here with her, this wasn’t what I intended to do at all.
“Get up,” I snap, more angry at myself than I am at her.
She rises and sits down next to me. I lean back in my seat and stare at the ceiling, sighing.
“This isn’t going the way I intended it to, at all,” I say, sounding just as defeated as I feel. “I honestly barely recognize you, Elena.”
She looks away, but the way she draws herself up like a wounded animal tells me she’s hurt by my words. I sigh and stare out the window, at a loss for words. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were that night?” I ask eventually.
She struggles to hold my gaze and looks away in guilt. I wonder what she’d say if she found out that I’d been planning to go back to Inferno every weekend until I ran into her again.
“It was the way you looked at me,” she tells me. “I recognized you straight away, but I knew that as soon as you found out who I am, you’d change. You were flirting with me and you were being playful. I saw a side of you I’ve never seen before, and I selfishly wanted more of that. I wanted more of the Alexander who actually saw me as a woman, and not the awkward teen that followed him around everywhere. I wanted to be more than the little sister of the man you hate.”
I’m not sure what I was expecting her to say, but this isn’t really it. I thought she was playing games with me, or making a fool out of me for not recognizing her. I didn’t think she did it because she was actually interested in me. She’s right though, she is Matthew’s sister.
I grab her hand and entwine our fingers, staring at our joined hands silently before clearing my throat. I look at her and brush her hair behind her ear with my free hand. She looks startled, a small blush coloring her cheeks rosy.
“Like I said, I’ll give you the money, Elena. You might not have been part of our lives for the last few years, but that doesn’t mean my mother ever forgot about you. She was devastated when she was informed that only immediate family is allowed to see your mother, and then you and Lucian stopped being friends, and she lost you, too… I could tell by the warmth she portrayed just now when she hugged you. Seeing her with you was like seeing the woman she was when I was a child.”
I sigh, struggling with words for probably the first time in my life.
“You’re from a good family, Elena. You’re well connected and Ivy League educated—with a full scholarship, no less. I know you won’t accept charity, and had I been in your situation, I wouldn’t either. I wouldn’t trust anyone with my mother’s life, and I wouldn’t be able to live with not knowing when someone’s goodwill runs out.”
She nods, but she looks confused, and I can’t blame her.
“Elena, I want you to marry me.”
She stares at me in disbelief, her eyes wide.
“You… what ?”
“Marry me, Elena.”
She blinks, her lips moving but unable to form a reply. I tighten my grip on her hand and smile at her gently.
“You’re aware that the heirs to our conglomerate must be married before taking their seat on the board?”
She nods, her cheeks reddening. She’s no doubt remembering the way our mothers used to joke about their children getting married. I always wondered who they imagined her getting married to, me or Lucian. I guess the decision is out of their hands now.
I clear my throat and look away. “My mother has been arranging dates with socialites and acquaintances. I don’t have time for this shit, and I’m not looking to get married. However, I don’t have a choice. I know my mother wants to try and change the rules for me, but my grandfather won’t let her. I worked too hard to lose everything now.”
Elena nods and bites down on her lip as she mulls my words over. “Why me?” she asks.
“You need a place to stay and money for your mother’s hospital costs. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be a charity case and leech off whoever is willing to help you. I need a wife who won’t get in my way and won’t expect me to put any effort into making our marriage work. If I have to marry, I’d rather marry someone who owes me. Your family background is good enough, and you’re bound to inherit your mother’s shares, so you’ll be able to increase the Kennedy family’s wealth and influence. Besides, my mother has always loved you, so I know you’ll fit well into our family.”
Elena rises to her feet, and I follow. She starts to pace in my bedroom, and I walk up to her. She takes a step back for every step I take toward her, and before she realizes it, I’ve got her backed up against the wall.