Page 23 of The Silence of Monsters

Channing stepped forward and gave me a sharp look indicating she wanted me to remain mute.

But I had no intention of letting her leave with Alistair or lose the opportunity to make my position in Channing’s life — and soon, her bed — clear.

I stepped next to her and met the surprised gaze from the brother I refused to acknowledge. “I put the sign outside the door. I didn’t want to be interrupted. Harvey and I had some important business to discuss.”

The kid’s achingly familiar gaze skimmed over us, and a smirk broke out on his stupidly attractive face. “Looks like it was a pretty intense conversation, but you better get back to the gala. Your mother is ready to send in the National Guard to find you. I overheard someone complain that they paid over a hundred grand to get their single daughter seated at your table for dinner. I think your mother plans to have a bachelor auction with exactly one candidate on the block.”

I grabbed Channing’s hand before she could slip away. I squeezed her fingers and met my brother’s curious gaze with a pointed one of my own.

“That’s impossible. My mother knows that Channing and I are married. She can’t auction me off, regardless of what she promised.”

I wanted him to know Channing was off limits. To my surprise, Alistair barely reacted to the news.

“I know that you’ve got a shady contract marriage going on. That was one of the first things Channing told me when I hired her. Your mother conveniently seems to have forgotten that you’re spoken for. Which doesn’t surprise me. She’s treated you like a pet since you were young.” He wiggled his dark eyebrows at Channing. “Do you want to get out of here? I wasn’t officially invited. They were about to kick me out when I decided to find you. This party isn’t any fun. I can show you a wild time since you’re in the city for the night.”

Before Channing could agree, I pushed Alistair out the bathroom door and stepped back into the busy hotel. Several pairs of curious eyes found the three of us.

“Channing’s my plus one. We’re not staying much longer. She’s coming back to my apartment with me, and I’ll take her home tomorrow.” It was a direct declaration of ownership.

Alistair lifted his eyebrows and hummed softly. “Shouldn’t Channing get to decide if she wants to leave with me or wait for you?”

I clenched my teeth. She should have had a choice, but I was worried it would be him. I couldn’t handle that, so it was best to snatch the decision from her.

“Come on. If my mother is determined to sell me off to the highest bidder, we need to ensure that person is you.” I pulled Channing toward the banquet room. I heard her tell Alistair she would contact him later. I was pleased that she didn’t seem upset that I dragged her away from my half-brother. I gave her a hard look and saw her smile fade. I cleared my throat as the frost surrounded us once we stepped back into the high-end circus.

It didn’t feel like we were playing with fire the way Channing warned. We were toying with something that could be harder to control than a firestorm.

Feelings were far scarier than flames.

Channing

I was shell-shocked from what Win and I had done in the bathroom. There wasn’t enough whiskey in the world to excuse the way I lost my mind the second his hands touched my most intimate places. I could chalk it up to my year of self-care and celibacy. It’d been a while since I’d felt a man’s touch and even longer since I let my wants and needs override my common sense. If someone told me a couple of weeks ago that Winchester Halliday would be the reason I let my resolution to spend a year alone fall by the wayside, I would’ve laughed in their face. The man historically made me want to fight — not fuck. There was no denying that I felt incredibly turned on as soon as he caressed me. I was supposed to be past the messy, rushed fingering stage in my romantic life. I thought I was beyond attraction to a man I could never be with.

Leave it to Win to send all my convictions tumbling to the ground. It seemed like he wouldn’t rest until he had dismantled every certainty I’d had about him. He even turned the idea of being enemies into something sexier and more compelling. Who said only friends could have benefits? Was it necessary to like each other to sleep together? They said the only emotion that could rival the intensity of love was hate, and I had plenty of that where Win was concerned. It was possible that I could want him without having any affection for him. People had relationships all the time based on lust and mutual need rather than love. I was the weirdo who fell head-over-heels at the drop of a hat and started planning a future as soon as someone showed an interest in me because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life alone.

I wanted to ruin Win just as much as I wanted to fuck him.

He was right. We were married. We were stuck together for two years, no matter what. When I vowed to be alone and focus on myself, I did so with the idea that I would come out of the sexual drought a better version of myself. There was no way to anticipate that Win would turn my social life into a wasteland. Either I feast on him or suffer through a carnal famine until the contract was up. With only those two options, of course I was going to eat. If Win was willing to be a warm body and willing cock to meet my needs while the contracted years dragged on, who was I to say no? Plus, when would someone like me get another chance to fuck a billionaire? An extremely handsome billionaire, at that. A billionaire I spoke of often, according to my second ex-husband. Maybe I’d always been a bit curious what it would be like with Win. I would never give those troublesome thoughts room to grow. I didn’t have to like Win for him to get me off. He easily proved that.

It was far too easy to talk myself into thinking that enemies with benefits might not be such a bad idea. And it would make Colette apoplectic if her precious heir lowered himself to roll around in the sheets with a commoner like me. Anything that would raise her blood pressure was a win in my book.

After we went back to the banquet, his anxious assistant and his mother immediately whisked Win away. He didn’t look happy that he had to leave me behind. Alistair graciously decided to stay to keep me company. He even offered to get me another drink. I declined, since I’d gotten myself in trouble after the first one.

I could feel Win glaring at me from the stage where he was giving a stilted speech, thanking everyone for coming and for their generous donations. He made a stale joke about the food barely being worth the price of admission. It was obvious he was trying to hurry through the formalities, but his mother refused to let him. Colette clutched his arm and kept him rooted to the spot as she took over the microphone, playing the generous and humble host. I looked around the room for my new friend, Beverly. I wanted to introduce her to Alistair. They were close to the same age, and both were talented and driven. I thought they would have a lot in common. I wasn’t a matchmaker given my horrible track record, but I wanted to try my hand with the two of them. Before I could locate her, Win’s head of security stopped in front of me and Alistair. The large, muscular man looked fierce enough to make anyone take a step back.

I was used to him lurking in the shadows since I’d been at the Halliday estate. Alistair wasn’t as familiar with Win’s team, though, and made an audible noise as he shifted his weight nervously away from me.

“The boss said you weren’t invited, kid. He wants you to leave.” The man’s gravelly voice was no nonsense and flat as day-old soda. “I’m happy to escort you out.”

Alistair gave a low chuckle and lifted his eyebrows. “I came as a plus one. I paid the entrance fee and bid in the auction. I have as much right to be here as anyone else.”

Rocco’s expression didn’t fluctuate in the slightest. He continued to stare at the younger man to the point that I couldn’t handle the awkwardness any longer.

“I wasn’t invited, either. And I didn’t pay a dime to get in. If Chester is kicking people out based on those requirements, then you should ask me to leave, as well.” I could feel Win’s eyes on me from across the room as I confronted his go-to person. “Let’s go, Alistair.”

I turned toward Alistair to push him in the direction of the exit. He protested, but Rocco quickly held out a hand to stop me from leaving.

“Mr. Halliday made it clear that you’re supposed to wait for him to finish his speech, Ms. Harvey. Please don’t make me make you stay.”

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