Page 42 of Fool's Gold

It adds an air of mystery to every interaction, and honestly, I’ve come to appreciate Sherry more than I’ve ever admitted to myself.

Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

I wonder what it says about me and Empire. I lean against the closed door of the town car, the driver waiting inside. I don’t want any absence from her. In fact, every second I spend in her company only makes my heart beat fucking faster. Like I’m constantly poised on the edge of dropping dead.

Can lust kill you?

If so, I’m in a prime position to find out.

Nine on the dot, the front door opens up, Empire leaning hard against the glass to prop herself up. Her body is angled oddly. Alarm bells clang inside my head. She’s perfect, her hair a riot of blonde curls and her makeup perfection. The stylist went with a smoky eye and a nude lip to really show off the dress—

She’s not wearing the dress I picked out for her. I narrow my eyes, taking her in in all her woozy glory.

Empire trips over her own feet on her way to the car, the heels adding six extra inches to her height. The train of the dress she picked instead tangles around the ice-pick heels, and she stumbles forward. The train might be massive, but the front of the skirt is cut to midthigh length. High enough that if she moves wrong, the entire world will see whatever panties she’s wearing.

My dick twitches at the thought before rage blots out the rest of my better judgment.

What happened to the dress I sent over?

This one is the wrong shade of green for her coloring, a bit too yellow for her skin tone. Chosen, no doubt, to fucking taunt my high-handedness.

I hustle forward and grab for her when she lists forward dangerously. “What did you do?” It comes out much harsher than I want.

She snarls at me, her cheeks red, too flushed to be from makeup alone. “Shove off, Marcus.”

She’s slurring her words again, and reality crashes down. Fuck me, did she seriously get drunk again before tonight’s viewing?

“Wow, very succinct of you.” I practically force her into the back seat and grab the seat belt, pulling it tight before she’s had a chance to get comfortable. “What did you do, break into a liquor store? I can’t leave you alone for a second.”

“Would it be more succinct to tell you to go fuck yourself?” She settles back in the seat, fixing her hair that doesn’t need to be fixed. She adjusts herself, pulling the strap tighter across her breasts, the cut of this dress showing more cleavage than the one I picked out.

Tits and ass. That’s what this city is about, isn’t it?

The thought of Empire on display for every Tom, Dick, and fucking Harry fills me with fury.

“Bitchy and belligerent isn’t a good look for you,” I add.

She scoffs, the sound loud enough for me to hear even outside the car. “Scolding me isn’t going to get you your way this time. I told you I don’t want to do this.”

I round the car and open the opposite door. “I told you that you don’t have a choice,” I say, dropping into the seat beside her. Two taps have the driver pulling away from the house. “This is part of what we have to do with the regime change. Fighting against it will only get you hurt.”

She tips her head back and laughs. “Hurt? I live there. I can handle anything.”

“Except your liquor, apparently.” My voice is dry and dies in the back of my throat when she rests her hand on my leg.

I’ll never know what the fuck happened to me in the next five seconds.

Not when Empire flips over, the seat belt gone as she maneuvers those long legs on either side of my hips. Suddenly she’s on my lap with my dick hardening to full mast.

She’s got me caged now.

Not like I want to go anywhere. She’s close enough for me to smell the alcohol on her breath and see the way her eyes go dark with desire. The heat already between us flips up to full blast as she presses her tits to my chest.

“What are you going to do now, Marcus?” she whispers. “You want to scold me again? Tell me what a bad girl I’ve been?”

She gets in my face, nipping her teeth in the air in front of my chin. It takes everything I’ve got, control hard won, to keep my hands where they are instead of touching her. My fingers clench, and my tendons tighten. Stay still.

The heat from her pussy is all-encompassing. Fuck me, I want to bury myself inside that heat.

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