Page 11
Griffin
“He left her everything?” I queried, staring at the file in front of me in utter disbelief.
“Not really. His nephew got a chateau in France, and his extended family got a ranch. But everything else went to her,” Micheal replied, flipping the pages until he got to the part where Adrian Diamond willed some of his landed properties to a few family members.
Not that it mattered, though. Those were as good as a free meal ticket coming from a man of his wealth and status.
It was that the estates, the winery, the construction companies, the finance firms, and his ultra-modern house in New York, including every drop of money left in his account, went to Mira that bothered me.
He only knew her for about three years. They were married for two, and yet he gave her everything. She sure does have her way with wrapping men around her fingers .
Like she did with you , my wolf mocked, but I chose to ignore him and focus on the task at hand.
Mira has a game plan, of that much, I’m certain. No one amasses such a level of wealth without one. I just had to figure it out as soon as possible.
“So, she met a multi-billionaire who left her all of his money after knowing her for three years, and no one came after her?” The story wasn’t adding up to me.
“Adrian’s nephew, Tom, contested the will several times, but Adrian left a letter stamped with his private seal.
In it, he spoke about how he met Mira at the darkest time in his life, and she brought life to him.
He equally iterated that he was terminally ill and was given, at most, a year by his doctors and, while family members concerned themselves with how to share his wealth, Mira kept him alive longer than a year. ”
Michael’s words silenced me for a moment. That did sound like Mira, at least the Mira I thought I knew. She was kind. She had something in her, and it gave life to all around her. But at the same time, the fact that she was always gaining from influential men didn’t sit right with me.
There was Karl, her Alpha’s son. There was me and now Adrian. Karl and I might’ve been strong enough to resist her, but Adrian was on his deathbed.
“She was able to turn the fate of the company around in two years with no help at all? There was no high-profile benefactor or investor?” I queried, unable to wrap my head around how one woman could turn the fate of an international, multi-million company around.
“I was able to pick the brains of one of her employees. She said Mira is the best boss she has ever worked with and that she has a way with people and an intuition that is almost always accurate. Some people even say she has the Midas touch and can transform anything given to her. Personally, I think her multiple charity balls and fundraising humanitarian projects helped win her the favor of the high society, hence, more investors.”
“Charity balls?”
“Yes,” Michael replied, showing me an invite to a past charity event that was held in London. “It’s an annual project she hosts to raise money for kids and old people with no one to care for them and some estranged animals.
A charity to help the helpless. That sounded like something she would do. But now that I’ve seen past her mask, her motives were questionable to me, and I didn’t trust that her intentions were entirely for the best.
I let out a long yawn. The stress from a day of chasing after Mira’s past and shadow was finally slowly catching up with me.
What had been a few minutes of interaction turned into hours and a long night of obsessing over her.
She was all I could think of. Her heart-shaped face and blue-gray eyes consumed me whole.
Her scent still lingered, haunting my senses, and sometimes, I could swear I felt her touch burning through me.
I should have left her alone last night.
I had no business forcing a dance on her, but she waltzed into the ballroom in that long red dress that clung to her body like a glove, commanding the attention of almost every red-blooded male in the room, and I was overcome with the sudden urge to stake my claim.
Even then, I could have controlled myself to an extent. I was doing a good job holding my wolf in, but she just had to go ahead and call me Mr. Thorne in that monotonous voice of hers, like she was meeting me for the first time, and I snapped .
It was one thing for her to try to disappear after trying to ruin my life and go after my business from the shadows, but acting as though I was a stranger was something I was not going to stand for.
I was hell-bent on forcing the truth out of her.
I wanted everyone in that room to know that I wasn’t “Mr. Thorne” as she called me.
I wanted them to know that I was…..well, it didn’t matter what I was or what we were to each other.
The only thing I seemed to have achieved that night was carrying bits and fragments of her with me and obsessing over every little detail of that night like a mad man.
My fingers curled into a fist, my claws digging into my palms as I gritted my teeth in anger. She seemed to always have a way of eluding me and beating me at every point, but I was done letting that happen.
“Keep digging,” I said, returning the file to Michael. “I want to know every detail about her: when she wakes up, when she goes to bed, what she eats, and how she eats it. Heck, I want to know the brand of cutleries and makeup she uses. Leave no stone unturned.”
“Yes, my prince.” He bowed, picked up the file, and closed the door behind him.
I leaned into my chair, taking a few deep breaths to calm me. It didn’t do much. She seemed to have tainted even the air around me, and my pitiful attempt at meditating was ruined by her pillowy, soft lips and long lashes fluttering as she spoke back at me at the gala.
Frustration coursed through me, and I decided to retire for the night. A good sleep would help with my mood. I might end up finding her lurking in my dreams, but I’d be rested and in a better mood to deal with things.
I opened the door to my room and was immediately confronted with the image of Lilith sprawled naked on the bed, a seductive smile playing on her lips .
She looked like something out of any man’s wildest fantasies with the dim lights of the candle softly illuminating her skin and adding a golden sheen to her hair.
My cock stirred slightly, but that was it. No erection, no throbbing, no jumping with excitement like it would’ve done a few years ago, just a brief acknowledgment at the sight of a naked woman and nothing else.
“Hey, baby.” She purred, letting her legs fall apart and giving me an eyeful of her pink glistening pussy. The potent smell of her arousal clung tightly to the air in the room, and this time, I felt nothing. Not even a twitch of acknowledgment.
“Won’t you say hi to me? I’ve been waiting all day for you, and it took everything in me not to touch myself at the thought of you.” Her hand trailed from her neck to her breast. She cupped and toyed with the mound of flesh for a moment before moving to her pussy.
She dipped a finger into herself, and an exaggerated moan escaped her lips. I watched as she stared at me with heavy lids, slowly fingering herself.
Against my better judgment, I found myself thinking about what it would feel like to walk in on Mira fingering herself to thoughts of me.
Was she as affected as I was after our meeting?
At some point in our dance, I could feel her taut nipples brushing against my chest and her voice growing breathy.
Did she return home to get off to thoughts of me? A wild image of Mira spread out on her bed, her back arched in pleasure while she moaned my name in the throes of passion sent blood rushing to my cock, and I was as hard as steel.
Lilith must’ve noticed the prominent bulge in my pants as a sly smile stretched across her lips. She decided to take matters into her own hands by slipping out of bed and coming to stand in front of me .
“So hard, so thick…” She murmured, softly gripping my cock through my pants and scattering kisses on my neck. “I knew you missed me.”
I moved to push her away but decided against it. Maybe this was what I needed. Maybe if I buried myself deep enough in another woman, I would flush out every bit of Mira and whatever hold she had on me. That’s what I needed to do. I refuse to be controlled by emotions.
I gripped Lilith’s neck, angling her face for a kiss, and swallowed her lips into mine. She let out a moan of approval, her fingers immediately busy with my buttons and belt.
I kissed her harder, fighting the image of Mira that was slowly forming in my head.
Lilith must’ve taken a few steps back while we kissed, and the next thing I knew, I was sinking into the bed with her.
I didn’t mind. I was fighting my own demons, and every stroke of my tongue against hers and light ministrations of my fingers on her clit was my way of purging myself of the ghost that haunted me.
If this was what it would take to get Mira out of my system, I was willing to do it.
You might just get an heir in while you’re at it—a classic win-win situation , my wolf mocked, and I was immediately snapped back into reality.
Something about an heir and sealing my faith with Lilith left a bitter taste in my mouth, and now that I knew Mira was close, it tasted even more rancid.
“I’m sorry, I have to go,” I muttered, tearing myself away from her and pulling up my trousers.
“No, we’re barely started,” Lilith whined, reaching out for me .
“There’s something I need to take care of,” I replied, fixing my belt. She jumped on me, immediately grabbing my cock, but her face fell when she found it as soft as freshly baked bread.
Her eyes lit up, transforming her face into the perfect picture of rage.
“What is wrong with you!” She yelled, shoving me roughly.
I caught her wrists before she could shove me a second time.
“Lilith, get a hold of yourself. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”