G-Men: The Series (102 page)

I immediately turned to see who the recipient was of the look I thought had only been for me. It was Christopher! It was her fucking photographer, Christopher Rolando. Fuck me! I immediately felt anger and betrayal flooding my veins as I was catching the woman I had uncommonly committed to in the act of letting everyone know that she was fucking someone else.

I made a hasty departure back to the flat I owned in Milan, where she was staying. I had to sort this out in my mind. I needed verification of some type. The only proof I had was a ‘look,’ yet I knew that was all the proof I needed. I should’ve have followed my mother’s advice when Bianca and I had last visited. She’d told me only a fool would trust a woman like Bianca’s faithfulness. She’d chided me for not having her under the surveillance of a private detective, reiterating that most women cannot be trusted. She’d asked me what type of a fool I was. I’d responded the type that trusts.

I’d torn up the flat, looking for something, anything that might authenticate my suspicion. It didn’t take long to find just that. The pain still felt fresh, though it was two years ago. So many women since then, but until Darcy appeared on that beach in Belize, none of them had looked a thing like Bianca Templeton, the cheating, fucked-up whore that had made a fool out of me to the world.

My phone rang, interrupting the tortuous trip to my past. It was a welcome interruption, forcing me to put all of that pain and misery out of my mind once again.

“Matthews,” I answered curtly.

“Sir, everything’s in place with respect to the instructions you gave relative to Darcy Sheridan. She’s under surveillance, as requested. How often do you require status reports?”

“Daily, until I instruct otherwise,” I answered. “The GPS tracking’s been activated?”

“Yes sir. All devices are live; Ryan Dobbs is the operative on this one.”

“Fine; thanks, Colin.”

Ever since the weekend, I couldn’t shake Darcy from my mind. Initially, she’d sparked my interest due to the physical similarities between her and Bianca. Though Darcy was not as tall as Bianca who was 5’10”, she still possessed the same long, shapely legs, ample breasts, olive complexion and beautiful blue eyes. Darcy’s eyes had a bit more soul to them than Bianca’s, but of course, I might be biased since I indisputably loathed the (former) model bitch.

That’s right; I’d made sure Bianca’s assignments dwindled to nothing within months after our tumultuous break-up in Milan. It was small compensation for what she’d done to me, in my opinion, not only with Christopher Rolando, but the scheme they had going that took me less than an hour to unravel, once I’d discovered the documents in her lingerie drawer.

As it turned out, Bianca had discovered she was five weeks pregnant a month before the Fall Fashion Preview in Milan. She’d not even bothered to share the news with me. A week later, while traveling with me on business, she apparently arranged for an abortion in Amsterdam. As I gazed at the documents from the clinic she’d hidden away, I recalled that week we’d spent in Amsterdam. When I returned one evening from one of my daylong meetings, she’d been curled up in bed. She said she’d gotten her period and was cramping. I had no reason to question that; it wasn’t as if I tracked her menstrual cycles. I could still almost feel the single tear that had rolled down my cheek upon discovering what the murderous bitch had done.

I’d quickly composed myself, putting the flat back in order and then made myself comfortable in the bedroom next to the master suite, where I’d lay in wait for her return. The memories of that night once again invaded my mind with vivid imagery that hadn’t faded in the least over time.

“Would you like a glass of champagne, Christopher?” Bianca asked sweetly.”I feel like celebrating, how about you?”

“Of course, darling; we both have much to celebrate tonight. You were smashing this evening. I believe you were snapped more than any other model; I found myself counting.”

“Really? I’ve worked so hard for this moment. My career’s on the fast track; I’m making more money than I ever dreamt possible, plus I’m seeing the world through new eyes. Life is great! Cheers! The sound of crystal clinking had made me want to puke.

“I think you may have left out a couple of things, love.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” she said to him. “The thing I want to celebrate most is my eternal love for you; that goes without saying.”

“Of course, we need to toast good-riddance to the little bastard you were nearly saddled with as well. That was a close one, Bianca.”

“Indeed,” she replied, tapping her flute against his. “That would’ve been a career killer for certain.”

“As long as we’re talking about the future, how long before you break the news to Easton that you don’t love him and are leaving?”

“Christopher, you must have patience with me on that. He was instrumental in building my career. I need to deal with my departure very carefully or he could unhinge it altogether.”

“Certainly he wouldn’t be so vindictive if he truly loves you, right?”

“You don’t know him like I do. He’s had a horrid past that left him extremely distrustful of women. He’s only shared a bit of it with me, but I’d guess his mother had something to do with it. Constantly ignoring him and sending him off to distant boarding schools. At any rate, it will just take some time for me to extricate myself from him.”

“God dammit, Bianca! I fucking love you and the thought of you still screwing him is fucking driving me crazy!”

“Oh, baby,” she said soothingly, “Easton doesn’t make love to me; he rough fucks. I only tolerate it because I have no choice at the moment. Do you know he’s never, even said “I love you” to me? It’s always “I adore you” just like he adores all of his fucking possessions! Anyway, does it help to know that I always pretend it’s you I’m with while Easton fucks me?”

“No, not at all,” Christopher said, clearly irritated. “He’s a despicable bastard.”

“Come baby, let’s not waste time dwelling on it now. Come to bed and let me show you just how much I love you. Come sink yourself inside of me, Christopher. You’re so gentle and caring.”

Within moments, from the next room, I could hear the sounds of their love-making. Bianca was moaning his name over and over again. My heart was shredded; the sounds of him telling her how sweet her pussy tasted and how much he wanted to bury his cock inside of her reverberated in my ears. It took every ounce of restraint I could muster not to barge into that room and rip them both to pieces, just like my heart. I’d learned timing was everything.

Several minutes later, I heard Bianca begging for his cock. I knew that he’d obliged when I heard the sound of the headboard hitting the wall in measured rhythm. I knew Bianca’s vocals like second nature. I could tell when she was approaching orgasm. I’d crept from the room and, as her moans became more guttural, I knew the time was right. The door to the master suite was open; after all, they presumed they were alone. I walked through the entrance and stood at the side of the bed, as Christopher continued plunging his cock in and out of her, unaware he had an audience. Bianca’s head was rolling back and forth on the pillow, her eyes closed getting ready to climax.

With one arm, I reached out, snatching Christopher up and out of her, flinging him over to the other side of the room. He landed with a loud thud, squealing a pathetic “Ummmph!” Bianca’s eyes shot open and, within two seconds, the passion was replaced with pure terror. She grabbed the bedspread, clutching it up against her breasts as if it could shield her. Her hands were trembling.

I tossed the papers from the clinic onto her stomach, thoroughly sickened by my own poor judgment and idiocy. Christopher wasn’t making a move, crouched down on the floor next to the dresser.

“Easton,” she finally croaked, “I can explain everything, love.”

“No explanation required, Bianca. I want you and your pimp out of this flat within ten minutes. I’m not going anywhere, in order to make sure it happens. I’ve already contacted Colin, and all of the locks to my various properties have been changed. All of my staff has been advised of your current status. You may contact Colin within the next couple of days and he’ll arrange for your belongings to be shipped wherever you wish.”

“My status? And just what is my status?” she snapped, some of her spirit now returning.

“You’re a murderous whore, whom I regret ever having cared about. I’m happy you’re gone from my life, and I’ll be even happier when you’re gone from my house. Now get to it.” I whirled around, focusing on Christopher. “You’re to leave immediately, dressed or not, I want your scrawny, limp dick out of here. Now.”

If I hadn’t been so devastated, I might’ve found it comical the way Christopher had scooped his pants up from the floor, doing a one-legged hop out of the room as he tried to get them pulled up before he fled into the night. I was right behind him, tossing his jacket to him, as he fumbled with the door handle, finally getting it opened to flee.

Once gone, I’d turned my attention back to Bianca, observing as she dressed quickly, grabbing everything she could manage and stuffing it into the designer luggage I’d bought for her. She was frantic to get away from me; I could only imagine how I looked to her at the moment, towering over her, not attempting to mask my fury.

“Really, Easton, how can you possibly not forgive me? I thought what we had together was stronger than that? I really wanted the baby! It was Christopher that talked me into the abortion, I swear! I was so confused. I thought you’d be angry, thinking I was trying to trap you by getting pregnant. I swear that wasn’t it, baby! Christopher said you would ruin me because of it. We just have to work this out, Easton. You’re my life, I truly mean that!”

“Bianca!” I yelled, causing her to jump and stop chattering. She looked up at me with those incredibly blue eyes that now appeared very sad and penitent.

“Yes?” she said timidly, waiting for me to say something.

“We’re done. So just shut the fuck up and leave.” I wasn’t angry anymore, truthfully. I wasn’t hurt. I wasn’t disappointed. I just wanted revenge against the last woman who would ever make the mistake of fucking me over.

I didn’t like when dark memories surfaced like that out of nowhere. It wasn’t as if it happened daily. There were occasional triggers that caused them to come floating back to me. Darcy was a trigger, perhaps one that my instincts were telling me to avoid. I wanted to avoid her, but something else was at play here and I realised it was my fascination with her. Her resemblance to Bianca had definitely initiated it; even Lacee remarked about it in her usual accusatory tone. It was if I had some unfinished business with Bianca that somehow Darcy might fulfill. It was crazy, yet being drawn to her was potent.

If I possessed any decency, I’d let it go. I would simply put her out of my mind, along with the things that I fantasized doing to her. But I’d never claimed to be a decent man.

^{chapter 16}

It had been several weeks since I had last seen Easton Matthews. I had heard nothing from him since that phone call during the painful and blush-worthy afternoon, the day after he basically rocked my fucking world. And I was beginning to wonder if that was just a courtesy-call that guys tend to make after hooking up. You know the one: where they’re afraid to hurt your feelings, so they just kind of tell you that you’re great and
hint
at seeing you again? Seriously, why even call at all? Not to get all annoyed or anything, but I was trying and failing to understand that maybe this was all part of the game. And that maybe I was just
one
of the many women Easton Matthews was playing with. Dudes are just plain freakin’ from another planet; I wasn’t thinking Mars either, more like Ur-Anus!!

I’d been a little mopey, not to mention snappy, over the past week or two. Trust me, it didn’t go unnoticed by Eli. He crept up behind me at work just this morning, seeing my new scrolling marquis screen-saver in
Broadway
font that read,
“Men are Dirt!”

“Hmm, someone has a case of the hard ass,” he commented with a grin, looking over my shoulder.

“Is there something you need?” I asked curtly.

“Just wanted to remind you about the All Employee Meeting in ten minutes. I thought maybe we could walk to the conferencing center together.”

“Oh shit,” I replied, “I forgot about that; what’s this meeting about anyway?”

“How should I know, babe? You’re the owner’s daughter. I figured you’d be in the know.”

“I haven’t really thought about it, to tell you the truth. Besides that, my dad’s been hard to pin down lately. I think he’s still ticked off at me, for whatever reason.”

“Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” he replied. “Helen in Purchasing said she heard from Marsha in Accounting that it’s a hostile takeover of some sort.”