Page 58 of The Passion

I know we are running short of time to make all these negotiations to the other parties involved. The money needed to do this is vast, and although my wealth is high, it will never match Felisha or the likes of Nic either. They are both in that next level of wealth that I’ll never reach. I’ve spoken to my bank and organized for a loan to be put in place to finance the deal if I can manage to get them all to agree to the sale. Forrest is concerned I am putting all I own on the line for someone I have only known a short time, but I don’t care. I know that he doesn’t really understand what is between Felisha and me. And until he’s been hit by the force of a woman you can’t walk away from like Felisha, he will always doubt my decision. Thankfully, though, through all the doubt, he is still on my team and guiding me. The financial world is his specialty, not mine.

But regardless of all Forrest’s worries, Nic turning up on my doorstep last night, the night he arrived home in London, wasthe reassurance I needed. First came the lecture asking me if I was out of my mind, followed by him demanding to know everything and where we are up to with it. Before Rem and Forrest both then arrived, and I knew that no matter what, they had my back.

Finally, Forrest and Rem had said their pieces and left Nic and me alone, which I really needed. We have been through a lot over the years, and he is the person I will always turn to for that stability when things are in a rough place. But before Nic left me to go home to his wife and there was just the two of us again, he told me there was no way I was going to the bank. He would help me to buy Felisha’s business out from under her father’s nose and would be happy to do it.

I must have had a worried look on my face as he said it, and his reassurance was fast coming. It had nothing to do with them being our competitor, to which I was relieved and never should have doubted him. He is as appalled as I am at the way Felisha has been treated by her father and wants to make sure he pays for what he has done. Again, he reminded me that he has more money than he can ever spend in a lifetime, and as far as he is concerned, I’m his family so it’s my money too. I don’t know if I can accept his generous offer, but at least I know it’s there if needed.

Rem gave us an update on what Broderick has started to find out about Ewan Kentwall, and it’s not pretty.

To the world he is Lord Ewan Kentwall, upstanding member of English society, but it’s so far from the truth.

He’s a gambler, and from what Rem can work out, he is not playing in the same room as the average man. No, he is playing with the big boys, and that usually doesn’t end well for most of them. Because a lot of the men at that table are playing with dirty money, and it’s not always a fair playing field. Corruption is rife, and if you make the wrong move against someone who has noproblem destroying you, then every minute of the day, you need to be watching your back. And I’m worried he could be in deeper than any of us realize.

And my mind straight away wondered how much money he is gambling with and if it is in fact his actual money. They might have a lot, but playing with the devil can see that money disappear in the blink of an eye.

I just have to sit back and wait until the guys learn more and then make a decision about what we tell Felisha. It’s almost killing me.

Pulling into Forrest’s parking spot, it feels weird to be stepping into his life. He is the most private about his life out of all of us. Nic and I pretty much know everything about each other, and Rem has gotten better over the last few years, well, besides that one big secret of him and Lou being together; that didn’t go down well with me, but that’s another story. Although I might understand more now about secrets that need to be kept since I’m in the middle of the worst kind of secret myself. But Forrest is my brother, and I’ll be honest that I know less about his personal life than I do our friends’.

Some might think that’s weird, but we are just so different, and I spent so much time living in Australia that it has taken us a few years to get back to where we used to be, living in each other’s pockets twenty-four seven. He left home to go to university when I was only fourteen years old, and then I moved to the other side of the world. We grew up apart, and although I always lived in his shadow in my parents’ eyes, to be honest, I was so far away that I didn’t even truly know what his shadow was like.

The moment I walk into his apartment I light the fire then message Felisha while I am still busy undoing the buttons on my shirt sleeves, after I threw my jacket onto the ottoman in the living room. My shoes are off and I walk to the door, rolling mysleeves up as the soft knock echoes in the foyer, and my heart starts beating harder with anticipation.

I open the door and there she is, standing there as stunning as ever, but I wish I didn’t keep having her arrive on my doorstep looking like the world is on her shoulders.

“Come here, princess.” Stepping toward me, I pull her into my arms and kick the door closed. My arms are wrapped around her, and she squeezes me back just as tight. The unease I heard in her voice on the phone I can now feel in her body and the tension is seeping into me.

I tilt her head back from where she’s buried it against my chest, and she looks at me with her beautiful deep brown eyes, and I know exactly what they are asking of me.

“Time to make you forget and show you how much I’ve missed you.”

Not giving her time to answer, my mouth is on hers, and the world is already slipping away for both of us.

Chapter Thirteen

FLYNN

Before I have time to move, Felisha jumps up and wraps her legs around my waist. She is as desperate as I am, and that is saying something. Because I feel like I could erupt from just that kiss alone.

If I were in my own apartment, I would still be devouring her lips as I walked to my room with her, but being in my brother’s place, I don’t want to hurt her running into a wall I forgot was there. I break from her, and the sound of her panting turns me on even more.

“Mmmm, you smell so good,” Felisha whispers, and I’m not sure if she meant to say it out loud or not, but her sexy voice fuels my fire.

Walking through the door into the spare room that Forrest has prepared for us, it still feels strange to be about to fuck Felisha in my brother’s place. If the ramifications weren’t so important, I wouldn’t stand for this bullshit we are having to go through. But there is no other way. I’ll buy him new sheets when we are finished staying here, actually a new bed is probably theanswer. No one is going to want to sleep in this bed by the time I’m finished with it.

I’m too keyed up to be gentle, throwing Felisha into the center of the bed, while she shrieks at the unexpectedness of it.

“Strip. I need you, and I need you now.” Although she seems fragile, and I’ll get to the reason for that later, I know what she wants from me and that’s to take all the decision-making from her. I watch her eyes finally light with a spark in them, and I know I’m right.

Unbuttoning my shirt, I pull it from my pants and it’s on the floor before she even has time to get her shirt over her head and kick her shoes off the bed. I push my pants and boxers down in haste, and my cock is excited at the freedom finally. I swear it’s been hard all day at the thought of tonight and getting some action.

“I’m stuck,” Felisha starts complaining.

“What the hell do you mean you’re stuck?” Standing at the end of the bed, I watch her thrashing around with her hands on the side of her dress pants. She’s naked from the waist up, and her delicious breasts are bouncing around. She’s struggling with a zipper, and all I can think is how much I want those hard nipples between my teeth.

“Get over here,” I growl, catching her by the feet and dragging her body down the bed toward me.

“What are you doing?” Felisha yells at me, and I’m too busy trying to push her hands out of the way.

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