Page 10 of To Catch A Rook

“Trust, Aaron. It’s about trust.” Venom laced her tone as she too, took a casual sip of her martini. “I can’t trust that you are not a puppet for your parents. I want nothing to do with your parents, as I’ve made clear from the start. They’re vile creatures who have no loyalty for me, and I don’t do business without loyalty.”

I cocked my head and assessed her fully. She wore a dark burgundy dress today, the fabric clinging to every curve her small frame possessed. Soft waves curled around her shoulders and a single solitary ruby pendant gleamed from the hollow of her throat; I had given it to her as a friendly present when we agreed to merge our companies.

Another subtle power move–ruthless. I stifled my grin.

“Is it loyalty you crave? Or absolute control? I can’t seem to tell the difference.”

She responded with a light scoff before she sucked the vodka off an olive and snapped it between her teeth.

“If I wanted to control you, Aaron, I’d simply put that collar you love so much around your neck. I don’t control my friends.”

Friends. She spoke the word without irony, as if friendship could possibly describe what we were. I had attended every family celebration since we were children, despite our four year age difference. I had watched as Logan Eccles shared her first dance at her debutante ball, though later that night, my lips were the first to kiss her pussy, and my hands were the first to make her come.

I let her put a collar on me to satisfy my need for pretense and her need for dominance, but there was nothingfriendlyabout the way I fucked her.

Her sharp brows rose as she scrutinized my flat expression. “Do I have your loyalty, Aaron? If not, I am walking away from this deal right now. I don’t need you. You can find someone else to fund your whorehouses.”

My mask slipped in slight surprise as the flicker of an arrogant smile traced her lips.

“You think I don’t know your secrets, A? You think I didn’t investigate every atom of your businesses before I agreed to this deal? I know about the ‘other’ revenue streams too.”

Shesat back in her seat, the smug smirk no longer in hiding. “And they suit me. I may need them one day. Gray is a color I’m willing to trade in. But I will not contribute to your businesses without your loyalty.Undyingloyalty.”

I reassessed the woman in front of me. Her fierce eyes stared back, unblinking in her specific request. She knew about our secret brothels with certainty. One secret in a vast sea of deceptions, but it could damage enough in the right hands.

Yet, she was still here, still offering to be afriend, although that definition was far more blurred with our alliance.

“You have my loyalty, Hillary.” I drained the bourbon with a smooth pull and licked its remnants from my lips. “But I will not die for you.” I shifted in my seat, leveling my stare.

“Undyingis not a commitment I am willing for. That’s your own burden to bear.”

As my answer satisfied her, she nodded and the fire dissolved from her gaze. Had I told her I would give my life for hers, she wouldn’t have believed the lie. In our world of predators and prey, Hillary and I would always herald the top position; she wouldn’t choose to lay her life on the line for me, either.

“We have a deal, then.” She tucked the remainder of her papers into the small champagne briefcase by her side before sliding gracefully out of the booth.

“Sign the paperwork, Aaron. And be a fucking man about it next time.”

I smiled as her perfect form strolled away from me; the confidence of a true ruler. As far as battlefields went, this was a simple win, but I had no illusions—Hillary wouldn’t be forgiving this slight with a simple declaration of loyalty. I’d have to put her enemy’s head on a spike to prove it.

Metaphorically, of course.

“So, he just sat there with his tail between his legs? Just stop.”

Martin, my assistant of the last five years and one of my dearest friends, was the poised picture of professionalism at the best of times; at the worst of times, he was a petty, vicious gossip, and I loved him for it.

“The Vs have him wrapped around their knuckles, Marty. Aaron is a force to be reckoned with most days, but for them, he’s a soft-balled patsy.”

The slim brunette man snickered and sipped his coffee despite the midnight hour. We were seatedin the comfortable meeting area of my office, reviewing the last of our notes for the weeks ahead; the rest of my team had long gone home for the day. It wasn’t unusual for us to work late when new developments in my business arose, but tonight had been a particularly long strategy session.

Weston, Martin’s husband, worked late into the evenings as a named partner for Tracey Williams Law—likely why my star employee never seemed to mind it. I paid him handsomely for the flexibility, but I did occasionally feel teeny twinges of guilt that he was tethered to me during most of his waking hours.

“Anyway.” I drained the last of my Sauvignon Blanc with one swallow. “They have some serious decisions to make. This isn’t a game to me.”

Martin nodded and his light gray eyes turned deadly serious. “I know, Laney. Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t walk away from a deal with you—not one this good. He’ll come around quickly. Even Veronica Rodriguez wouldn’t risk ruining this merger.”

I hummed absently and ran the pad of my finger around the rim of my crystal wineglass as I considered what would happen if this merger didn’t go through. I’d stay obscenely rich; they’d stay obscenely rich … but the real reason I wanted control of the Rodriguez company was one of my deepest secrets. A secret even Marty didn’t know.

The security buzzer sounded. I grabbed my phone off the coffee table and flicked to my camera feed, only half-surprised to see Kellan Carlos brooding on my front step.

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