Page 28 of Allure
“Is that so? And where is your pretty little wife, hmmm? Have you forgotten that you made me keep tabs on her? Tell me, have you figured out if she’s fucked him yet? Because I can’t tell.”
Colton could feel Joel’s anger seeping off of him in waves and he soaked it up. He enjoyed pushing people, watching them snap once their breaking point had been reached, and it seemed that Joel and Marco had something in common. The sweet Syra had both men prone to fits of rage and aggression when she was the topic of discussion. He wondered what it was about her that made them act on their baser instincts.
“Do you have the paperwork or not?” Joel’s voice held all the anger and rage he was feeling, but he could do nothing about it. This wasn’t the place for violence, and while it was no secret they ran in the same circles, Colton would rather not have any suspicion cast their way. They had big plans that had already begun to unfold, though he wondered how well Joel would fare when it was his time to get his hands dirty. Not everyone had the stomach to do what needed to be done, and if he stared too closely at Joel, he could already see him wavering. He was soft; it was the reason he couldn’t keep his wife under his thumb.
Colton reached into his inside pocket and pulled out an envelope containing information on the businesses in Garrison Inc’s name, among other things. It was amazing what one could uncover with enough money and a little extra persuasion.
He put the envelope on the bar top and waited before he handed it over. How much longer did Colton need to keep Joel around? While the job was easier with two men, it was impossible to do it solo. They had the same goals, but the longer he glanced at Joel, the more he wondered if their goals truly aligned. He wanted Marco’s destruction so he could find a way to permanently tie his wife to him. He didn’t care if he rose from the ashes a second time.
Colton wanted to watch him burn and never recover from the aftermath.
“That has the deal on the building for Bleecker Street?” Joel asked, his gaze shifting back toward the table where his date sat.
If Colton was in the mood to be a particular ass, he’d make Joel wait the entire night for the information in the envelope. As it were, he was already running late to a special party he wanted to make sure he’d have time to enjoy.
“It has everything you wanted.” He slid the envelope over. “Money is an amazing motivator.” He pulled out a stack of bills and placed it on the bar top. “Word of advice, it might be fun to play with the look-a-likes until you get the real thing back, but someone’s going to pay attention when you least expect it, and instead of taking down Marco, you’ll be the one buried.”
He clapped Joel on the shoulder and turned to leave but stopped short when he took in the woman at Joel’s table. She wore an elegant green dress that clung to her body. Her features were similar to Syra in the dark color of her hair and the smoothness of her skin. They had the same bow-shaped lips, but where Syra’s eyes were dark and she looked like she had fire in her blood, this woman’s eyes were pretty blue and she looked almost breakable.
The curve of her neck was on display thanks to how high her hair sat on her head. That familiar ache in Colton’s gut made his palms itch to feel her pulse beneath his fingertips. He wondered how prettily she’d scream for him—how sweet her tears would be once he got his hands on her.
“She’s beautiful, no? Slightly better than the real thing because she knows how to sit still and be pretty.” Joel stood beside him, and the air felt charged with something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. It set him on edge, like he needed to watch himself because another predator had entered the room with its sight set on his prey.
“Pretty just like Christina Benson. You haven’t seen her around, have you?” Colton murmured, trying to reign in his need to snatch Joel’s date up right this second. “The police are hellbent on finding her.”
“You know I haven’t. I dropped her pretty self at her house. After you fucked her, I might add.” There was something in Joel’s tone he couldn’t mask fast enough. He didn’t sound like the nervous man with whom Colton had sat down to discuss their plans for Garrison Inc.
He glanced back at Joel, sizing him up and wondered if he had misread something. But Joel looked around Dos Amigos like he was nervous.
Must have imagined it.
“Don’t worry, Colton, I’ll be sure to save this one for you when you get back.” Joel brushed past him, ready to head back toward his date, but Colton stopped him, for no other reason than he wasn’t ready for their game to end on the account that Joel was being careless.
“A word of advice, I’d start switching up the women you’re seen with.” He kept his voice low. “As I said before, someone’s going to connect the dots, and while I have enough money to buy my way out of anything, you do not. So don’t cut my fun short, okay?” Because Colton wasn’t going down until he saw Marco’s world grumble, and he’d kill before he let Joel fuck things up for him.
Delilah helped Kat secure the mask she’d been given by one of the many men that had been lined up from the front door to the main lobby. The men all wore masks, a collar, and either nothing else or some type of chastity belt that encased their erections. All the men were well-endowed, and while Delilah had been to her fair share of parties, this was already starting to take the cake for her in different ways. It wasn’t bad—she was more intrigued than anything else.
“This place is huge,” Kat whispered just as Delilah tied the last knot of her pretty cat-like mask. It had ears and gold lines that reminded Delilah of whiskers.
It made her wonder if Marco or even Asli had given the host special instructions for their masks. Kat looked like a cat—something she enjoyed playing in her sexual activities when she was a member of Lush. Delilah’s mask was all black with red—her favorite color—outlined around the eye part of her mask. She didn’t want to believe they were outmaneuvered again, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was planned in some way shape or form when it came to the men of Garrison Inc. It not only pissed her off but also seemed to be adding fuel to the little dark cloud following her around that she couldn’t fully escape.
You’re wasting your time.
Sirens will fail, like everything else you’ve tried to do.
Just give up already.
You know how to end it.
Delilah felt Kat’s fingers intertwined with hers, and she looked down before she gazed up at her friend. She could see the concerned look in Kat’s eyes and slightly shook her head, praying she wouldn’t dive deep into her mind.
She was fine—she would be fine.
She didn’t need her friends to worry about something that would go away eventually.
And if you keep telling yourself that, maybe your voice will be louder than the darker voice in your head.
Delilah cleared her throat. “This is probably the biggest party I’ve been to.” She looked around the room they were in. There were people everywhere and most if not all had a mask on. She noticed those who didn’t were mostly male presenting, and she wondered if there was a specific reason for that.
