Deception: The Deception Trilogy, Book 1 Read online

  It was incredibly unsettling to be attracted to someone I was quite sure I didn’t like.

  Suddenly that dark, compelling gaze of his returned to mine.

  Something in his countenance told me he knew I’d been staring. My chest felt tight as we found ourselves unable to look away from each other.

  “Sir, Madam, what drinks can I get for you tonight?” a waitress appeared, killing the intense moment between us as we both ripped our gazes from each other.

  “I’ll have a beer,” I said.

  Griff gave an abrupt shake of a long finger at the waitress. “She’ll have a glass of 2012 Chateauneuf du Pape. As will I.”

  I glared at him as the waitress strode off. “What the hell?”

  He crossed his arms on the table and leaned across it toward me. My body involuntarily leaned into him so I could hear him over the thrum of music. “One, you’ve been drinking wine all evening. Add beer into the mix and you’ll have the hangover from hell in the morning. Two, Melanie Jennings my soon-to-be wife and Boston socialite does not drink beer.”

  I frowned at that. “Why do you care so much what people think? Why is it so important that you marry a socialite?”

  He studied me for so long that I thought he wasn’t going to answer. But then he replied, “The Patrician memberships are made up by the wealthiest members of society. They’re the elite. Tomorrow you’ll learn more about the club but for now I’ll tell you it’s a place where they can come and be themselves without fear of reprisal. But they still expect everyone in their circle to act a certain way outside of it. Now I’m the son of an earl, I’m wealthy, and I run a club they all love. I could probably marry a Las Vegas stripper and they’d turn a blind fucking eye. But it’s easier this way. If I have to marry a pretend wife then she might as well be someone society doesn’t mind enfolding in their myopic embrace.”

  “If you really think that of them, then why spend time with them?”

  “Because not only do they make up my club members, I also have several other businesses tangled up in them. And they’re not all like that. In fact most of them are quite good people. They’re just hypocritical and judgmental en masse.”

  “Well, for future reference, our arrangement doesn’t include you telling me what I can and cannot eat or drink. If I want a beer, I’ll have a beer.”

  His expression was hard to decipher but after a second or two he gave me a slight nod of his head to say he understood.

  Good.

  Our drinks arrived, forestalling further conversation, and I’d only just raised the wine glass to my lips when a couple appeared at our table.

  He was of medium height with sandy brown hair and light blue eyes—handsome in an All-American kind of way. She was extremely tall, lithe, and exotic-looking with tan skin, huge dark eyes, round cheekbones, and a cupid’s bow mouth. Although his arm was around her waist and her arm was around his shoulders, she made it obvious as she looked at Griff and then glared daggers at me that All-American wasn’t her first choice.

  “Griff, I haven’t seen you out of the club in ages.” The man grinned, completely unaware of the tension radiating from his companion. His eyes flicked to me and his grin widened. “Just out for drinks?”

  “Dinner first, now drinks.” Griff reached out a hand to him and they shook, the man clapping his other against Griff’s in a friendly manner. “How are you, Nicholas?”

  “I’m good. I’m good.”

  Griff didn’t look at the woman which made her purse that pretty mouth of hers.

  “This is my girlfriend, Melanie.” He gestured to me with a smirk. “Melanie, this is Nicholas. He’s a club member.”

  “And a friend.” Nicholas shook his head, grinning at me. “This guy.” He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Melanie. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Griff refer to a date as his girlfriend before.”

  I laughed easily, Nicholas’s friendliness making me feel less uncomfortable under his date’s frosty gaze. “Well, Griff and I go back a while.”

  “Oh really? I can’t wait to hear that story.”

  “Neither can I,” his date suddenly said in a thick Italian accent. “You never spoke of a Melanie before, Griff.”

  Griff flicked her a careful look but didn’t say anything.

  Nicholas laughed, this time a little awkwardly. “Well, we all know how private Griff is, Nat.”

  I held my hand out to her, not wanting to be rude. “Nice to meet you.”

  She stared at it like it was a slug.

  Griff’s features tightened as the awkward moment lengthened. I lowered my hand as Nicholas blushed and muttered, “Natalia,” in exasperation.

  She smirked as if she’d won the moment.

  I didn’t know what came over me. Maybe it was the wine. But I turned to Griff. “Ex of yours?”

  If he was shocked by my bluntness, he didn’t show it. He merely shrugged.

  I smiled sweetly at him. “Good thing you ordered an upgrade.”

  The private prod at our arrangement and the audacity of my comment momentarily stunned him and then he threw his head back in bark of genuine laughter that made my heart thump hard in my chest.

  Natalia looked two seconds from clawing my face off. Instead she blurted out a rush of Italian I mostly didn’t understand, except for one word: vafanculo. I knew from a book I’d once read it was the equivalent of ‘go fuck yourself’ in English.

  “Jesus.” Nicholas looked around the room, embarrassed.

  Griff was no longer laughing but scowling at Natalia in warning.

  “Sorry, Griff.” Nicholas flushed. “We’ll get going. See you at the club, yeah.” He gently pushed a resistant Natalia and when she didn’t budge he said something in Italian that made her stiffen. She threw me one last hateful look and strutted out of the bar like a runway model.

  I looked back at Griff. “She seems… nice.”

  He flashed me a quick grin and I missed it as soon as it was gone. “She’s a bitch.”

  Grinning now too, I nodded. “Yes, she certainly seems it. What’s the story? She was with you and now she’s with your friend?”

  “She wasn’t with me. We fucked for a couple of weeks. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. It wasn’t good enough to put up with her. She’s been spoiled her whole life and, as you can see, she wouldn’t know what class was if it scratched her eyes out. So I ended it. She thought making a play for Nicholas would incite my jealousy. Seeing me here with you might finally get the message through to her that we’re done.”

  “Why would Nicholas put up with that? He seems like a nice guy.”

  “He is.” Griff nodded. “But sometimes nice men fall in love with not very nice woman and vice versa.”

  “That is true.” I sighed and then covered a yawn.

  “You’re tired,” Griff said. He threw back the last of his wine. “Let’s get you back to the club.”

  I really wanted to go but I thought the point of this date was to be seen. “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  I finished my wine as Griff called our driver. I felt a little buzzed as I got to my feet. Griff immediately put his arm around me, drawing me into his side. The smell and feel of him pressed against me overwhelmed me and I tilted my head, my eyes questioning.

  He looked down at me, and I shivered as his gaze briefly landed on my mouth, before coming back to meet my eyes. “The photographer I spoke about is outside. I don’t want a photograph that could be misconstrued as anything but us being a couple so I’m warning you when we get out there I’m going to kiss you before we get in the car.”

  My heart triple thumped at that. “Okay.”

  I felt nervous as I walked out of the restaurant in his arms. I tried to calm down by reminding myself that I was supposed to be Mel and Mel had been an escort. Even before she was an escort she was way more experienced with men than I was. Griff kissing her wouldn’t be a big deal to her at all.

  It’s just a kiss, I told myself as we w
alked out of the hotel. Just a kiss.

  Griff stopped us at the entrance as we waited for our driver to show. He turned me in his arms so my front was pressed against his, and I let my hands rest on his hard chest, trying to relax into him. Goosebumps prickled my skin as he looked down into my face but I told myself it was the cold night air and shivered.

  He slowly rubbed my bared arms and murmured, “Coat next time.”

  I nodded, my blood rushing in my ears as he lowered his head toward mine.

  “Relax,” he murmured against my lips.

  “I’m trying,” I murmured back.

  “I thought this was your job.” He cupped my cheek, his thumb caressing my cheekbone in a way that would might have looked tender to anyone with a camera.

  I covered with, “I’ve never put on a show for the camera before.”

  Griff smirked. “Good to know there will be no sex tapes resurfacing then.”

  Before I could retort he kissed me.

  Just a soft brush of his lips against mine.

  And yet he might as well have wrapped his mouth around one of my nipples for the bolt of desire that shuddered through me at the simple touch.

  I leaned into him as he nuzzled my mouth with his. My fingertips curled into his sweater, pulling him closer, and just like that he was kissing me.

  Really kissing me.

  My lips parted on an exhalation of relief that allowed his tongue inside my mouth to tease mine. The smell of him, the taste of wine on his tongue, the feel of his warm hands gripping me tight it… it all overpowered me and I made this throaty sound I couldn’t control.

  Griff’s hand slid around my neck and tightened as he groaned into my mouth. The vibration of it surged through me, skimming down my body like hands teasing my nipples, whispering across my belly and sliding home between my legs. His kiss grew harder, more demanding, until we were panting and pulling at each other’s mouths like we couldn’t get deep enough.

  Then quite abruptly he broke the kiss. I didn’t even get a chance to see his expression because suddenly he was almost dragging me to the town car. The driver had the door open, looking discreetly away, and Griff urged me into the back seat first.

  I slid in and watched him warily as he got in beside me.

  My heart was still racing, my skin was still hot, and there was a slick wetness between my legs that shocked me.

  He turned and looked at me and I just caught sight of his accusatory glare before the door shut and the interior light went out. Lights from outside filtered through the dark space, and I saw that he was still glowering at me.

  What?

  It wasn’t my fault the kiss had been more than we’d meant it to be.

  “Remember what this is,” he bit out.

  I didn’t think I was the one who needed to. It hadn’t been me who initiated the sexiest kiss in the history of kisses.

  Not deigning to reply, I looked out the window, willing my body to cool down. It was my first experience with unfulfilled lust and the pain was quite acute.

  Thankfully, Griff didn’t touch me again as we made our way into the club. The noise level coming from the private rooms was raucous but miraculously it was merely a hum beneath us when we reached the penthouse.

  Griff didn’t get out of the elevator when I did.

  My heels clicked on the marble hallway as I turned around in question.

  “I’m going back down to work,” he explained. His dark gaze was perfectly blank again as if our moment outside the hotel hadn’t affected him in the least. “We’ll have dinner together tomorrow evening. I’ll try to dine with you every evening so we can get better acquainted for the lawyer interviews. If work keeps me away, Xavier will take care of whatever you need.”

  I nodded and he leaned over to press the button to go down.

  The elevator doors closed, leaving me completely alone.

  Lifting a trembling hand to my forehead, I wondered for the fifty millionth time that day what the hell my twin hadn’t gotten me into.

  That night I laid in the big, opulent four-poster bed in my suite, feeling so freaking alone it was almost unbearable. But I wouldn’t cry. I could get through this. So what if I was attracted to my soon-to-be fake real husband. Attraction could remain as attraction. It didn’t mean I was going to screw everything up by falling for the guy!

  Still, I wished I was in my tiny bed in Mrs. Donovan’s. I wished I was going into work tomorrow to shrug off Angela’s lectures about me getting a life. Was this getting a life? Deception at every corner.

  My cell binged on the bedside table. Frowning, wondering who was messaging me, I reached over. The screen lit up the dark. It was a message from Octavius.

  You doing okay, baby?

  Griff’s voice played in my head.

  “Are you fucking your boss, sweetheart?”

  “Why would you think that?

  “Because he wants to fuck you.”

  Butterflies exploded to life in my belly at the idea Griff could be right. If there was one thing more dangerous than Griff’s kisses was the idea of Octavius Rock having a proprietary interest in me.

  All good. I texted back. Succinct, to the point, and it invited no familiarity between us.

  I waited with bated breath for a reply and when none was forthcoming, I relaxed and put my cell back on the table.

  Griff was wrong. Octavius was just the kind of guy who called you ‘baby’.

  That assurance, however, didn’t make it any easier to fall asleep. And when I did eventually drift off, I woke only a few hours later, tangled in my sweat-soaked sheets, my body pulsing from the erotic dream I’d just been trapped in.

  Needing release, I slipped my hand under one of the many silk nightgowns Anna had purchased for me, and beneath my panties. I found the peak of my engorged clit and let my legs fall open. Griff’s face intruded in my mind as I touched myself. It was his body braced over mine. It was him pushing inside me.

  I stifled my cry as I came, my inner muscles rippling around the ghost of his cock.

  Melting against the bed, I groaned in dissatisfaction and mortification, at once wishing he was really there to deal with this unwanted lust, and wishing I’d fantasized about anyone but him.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The next morning after I was served breakfast alone in the dining room, Xavier appeared as I was reading the newspaper. Griffin wanted to see me in his office.

  His office was located in the west wing of the penthouse to the right of the private drawing room Octavius and I had waited in just the day before. I walked in wearing a pencil skirt and silk T-shirt Anna had picked out at Dolce & Gabbana. Griff wore a white shirt with a navy three-piece suit, again without a tie, as he sat behind his desk. He stood up as I walked in. Another nod, I guessed, to etiquette that had been drilled into him as the son of an earl.

  Griff’s gaze flickered over me without expression. “Pete Svenson is my club factotum. That’s an old fashioned word for manager.”

  “I know what it means.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  I shrugged. “I have a penchant for historical romance.”

  Griff’s lips quirked. “An escort who believes in romance? How novel.”

  This time I could tell he was teasing so I rolled my eyes. “You were saying?”

  “Pete will be here in five minutes to give you a tour of the club, explain what we do here, how it works. He and I are friends, we have a history, but he doesn’t know I’ve hired you. As far as he’s concerned you really are an old flame rekindled. I’ve told him the story that everyone else will be told. Understood?”

  “Absolutely.”

  A knock sounded at the door. “He’s early.” Griff studied me thoughtfully. “Are you ready?”

  I nodded in a way I hoped reassured him I was ready.

  Griff told his factotum to enter and the door opened. A man, a couple of inches shorter than Griff, strolled in. He could be described as almost baby-faced, something he tried to hide with
unshaven cheeks like Griff. Except the affect wasn’t quite the same. He had almond-shaped blue eyes and the physique of a cyclist—wiry and strong. He was slight in build compared to Griff.

  He grinned, a boyish smile, at his boss. “Introduce me then.”

  Griff slid his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. I relaxed into him, resting my arm against his back and curling my hand over the top of his shoulder. “Pete, this is my girlfriend, Melanie. Like I told you, Melanie and I met a long time ago and just recently found each other again. Melanie, this is Pete, the club factotum and a friend of mine from business school.”

  I held out my free hand to shake his but Pete lifted it to his mouth to brush a kiss against the top of my hand. He grinned at me. “Nice to meet you, Mel. Can I call you, Mel? Griff never mentioned you back then but he’s always been annoyingly secretive.”

  I faked a small laugh as I gently extricated my hand from his. I already hated lying to Griff and now I had to lie to everyone else but doubly so. It was entirely incongruous to my nature. “That he is. It’s nice to meet you. And yes, you may call me Mel.”

  Pete’s gaze dragged down my body and back up again and there was something in his eyes I didn’t like as he turned to Griff. “You always could sniff out the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.”

  Griff tensed against me and he raised an imperious eyebrow at his friend. “Other women don’t compare to Melanie. She’s not like the rest.” There was something pointed about the comment and an air of tension between the two that I didn’t quite understand.

  Pete gave him a slow nod. “Griffin Mandeville in a serious relationship. Will wonders never cease. I never thought I’d see the day you settled down to choose just one.”

  There was a sly quality to the words that made me stiffen. Griffin looked perturbed. “Are you deliberately trying to be an arse?”

  His manager flinched and threw me an apologetic look I didn’t quite buy. “I’m sorry, Mel, that was insensitive. It’s not like there have been millions of women. There have been women and none of them stuck—”