Page 24 of Beautiful Lies

The car is silent except for the low growl of the engine and the warm breath of summer clinging to the air.

Isla sits beside me on the back seat, staring out the window like the night might save her.

Don, my driver, keeps his eyes on the road pretending—as always— that he doesn’t know something’s going on with me. Every now and then, I catch him watching her.

He’s the first member of my house staff to see her. This encounter will plant the seed of our relationship. By morning, the rest of the household will know I have a new woman in my life. And thatunlikethe women I usually hook up with, who live in penthouse apartments or fashionable homes in the suburbs, Isla is from Brooklyn.

But that’s where her family home is. My sources told me she’s currently staying with her mother. Isla actually lives in a rundown apartment on the East Side. At least we’re not going there.

I steal a glance at the platinum-haired beauty. Her hair catches the moonlight like liquid silver, and her delicate face almost looks unreal. Like an angel, if angels came with sharp tongues and too much fire.

Isla Monroe is far from innocent. She’s a siren with the bite of a Valkyrie. I’m certain she’s had a mouthful to tell me since we left the club and would have fought me off tooth and nail before she got in the car with me, but she’s being wise by picking her battles again. I’m also aware that part of her is scared. Scared of me.

She’s right to be. Most people are that way around me. It’s the power. They don’t know what I can do with it, and they’d rather not find out.

While I’m not as evil as some people in my circle, I’m not a man to fuck with.

From the sudden tenseness in Isla’s shoulders, I can tell she knows I’m watching her. And I’m pretty sure she’s thinking of the way she came apart in my hands.

I certainly am. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

Fuck, I don’t even know how I ended up with her tonight. This little impromptu meeting was totally unplanned.

I was just about to go into a late meeting when my sources told me she’d gone to Eclipse House by herself. No way was I going to allow that.

I left the office straightaway.

Thankfully, the club was only fifteen minutes away.

My timing was perfect. When I arrived, I caught two guys checking out the hot girl at the bar drinking alone. They were planning to take her back to their place.

The moment I realized they were talking aboutmy girl, I quickly set them straight and made sure they walked away with averydifferent plan. Then I conjured my own as I watched the girl at the bar drinking her whiskey, completely oblivious to my eyes. Until she wasn’t.

Though I wanted to teach her a lesson, I never planned to do so with her pussy, or kiss her the way I did.

That just sort of happened. I took one look at her in her little skirt and camisole top, and I fell into the same trap as every other man who’d been watching her tonight.

That smart mouth of hers sealed the deal, and when I saw an opening, I took it. Screwing the consequences and the fact that we’re supposed to be enemies.

I can’t complain. She tasted good. And she was so wound up she seemed to need the release just as much as me. Though, I’m the one sitting here with my cock rock hard.

For a moment, it was she who trapped me with her moans and groans of pleasure and her tongue dancing with mine. I wanted to see how far I could take her down the rabbit hole.

Then she came on my hands, stared at me with those huge doe eyes, and clarity returned to me, knocking sense back into my head.

Now, here we are. While I would love to get back to exploring her body and those glorious sounds she made when I pleased her, I have to stay focused.

Part of that focus is making sure I’m the one in charge here.

My phone buzzes with a text. The sound, even though subtle, breaks the deadly silence.

I retrieve my phone and look at the preview on the screen. It’s from Jessica, one of the women I see when I’m…bored.

The preview says:

I miss fucking you. It’s been too long.

Last time was amazing.