King of New York (37 page)

Although Sierra
has only been working for her firm a short while, she was not to be counted as one
of those that were complaining. Luckily enough for her she’s one of the people
benefiting from the recession as the company she works for gained hundreds if
not thousands of clients after it hit, as they wanted to protect the money they
had left in case of another calamity.

Sierra had
started work for the company at the right time, and she knows for herself that
there is no room for her to complain as her pockets are fatter than most.
Sierra and others like her that work on Wall Street, whether in the Stock
Exchange or other firms, are almost exempt from the poverty which inhabits a
different world to the one in which she lives and works.

The world in which
Sierra works is made of money, especially for the managing directors,
executives and those in charge of the big companies. They are still filthy rich
– well most of them at least. Some had inevitably lost their jobs.

While ordinary
people tried to pick up the pieces of the recession and make things better for
themselves, those that worked in banks or highly rated companies feel no such
thing. The streets are hungry and the people are tired of waiting for help that
never seems to come. She feels their hunger, and it makes her feel hungrier to
get to the top of her game.

The area in
which she works reeks of money and on the outside it reeks of hate and jealousy
for those that have Sierra’s position or higher. Looking out the window makes
her realise just how privileged she is, especially as a foreigner, to have been
given such a highly sought-after position in one of the leading banking firms
in the entire United States.

Suddenly she
wonders why Uncle Danny had made his friend give her the job, when deep in her
heart she knew that she was not qualified enough for such a position. She had
only applied on a whim, hoping that luck would be on her side. But in the way
she got the job, she now feels it was something more sinister than luck. She
had never questioned why Uncle Danny made sure she got the job, but now she
has.

****

Sebastian calls Sierra and tells
her that he will pick her up for dinner after she finishes work. Her voice
lacks excitement and he knows it’s because Chad Perry is still on her mind. He
feels defeated as it seems his efforts to truly win her heart are proving
futile. But he still maintains optimism as he tries to get a smile from her on
the phone. Finally he senses her smile, and he feels a renewed sense of
optimism. He hangs up the phone, almost feeling smug with himself as he smiles
quietly, with thoughts of dinner and making sweet love to Sierra afterwards.

****

Sebastian goes to Sierra’s rented
apartment. She looks enticing in an electric-blue dress. His eyes widen with
need as he stares at her hungrily.

“Wow, you look
beautiful, babe.” She doesn’t reply; she has a distant look in her eyes and it
disturbs him.

“Is everything
alright, my love?” She nods and walks to the car without holding his hand. He
feels a cold tingle run up his spine and it angers him as he walks behind her.

The journey in
the car is awkward; she doesn’t show any interest in him, and it burns him with
fury, but he maintains his composure. His eyes spark with rage as he drives
calmly to the restaurant.

CHAPTER 29

Chad goes to one of his favourite
restaurants after work hoping for a quiet meal on his own and to try and stop
thinking about his demons. When he gets there, his regular table has been
reserved for him: it’s quiet, away from the crowd, and it lets him see the
other diners without hearing the noise they make. After ordering his meal, he
looks around and sees a familiar face on the other side of the room

She’s sitting
with him. Anger and hurt grips him as he sees the two together. Everything tells
him to turn around and leave, but it’s as if she has felt his aura. She turns
her head and makes contact with his ice-cold eyes.

Maybe she has a
hold on him as her stare brings warmth to his ice-cold gaze; he feels warm
perspiration on his skin. Time stands still as they stare at one another. He
sees the tears in her eyes.

Chad feels the
want in her eyes. She looks at him as if she’s been starved of him. There’s
hunger in her eyes, and he feels happy knowing that he still has such an effect
on her.

But he can’t
accept this discovery of Sierra, so he feels he has to retreat. He leaves the
table and calmly exits the restaurant.

****

Sebastian sees a tearful and
painful look in Sierra’s eyes. He looks back at the spot she is staring at, and
all he can see is a glass of cognac on the empty table in the private room.
Without warning, she runs out of the restaurant. She returns five minutes later
and remains quiet. Sebastian looks at her with a questioning look in his eyes
but he does not say a word. She doesn’t eat the food he had ordered for her; all
she does is drink multiple glasses of champagne and waits as he eats his food.
After dinner she tells him to drop her at her place, claiming she’s not feeling
well. He knows it’s a lie but he drops her home regardless. Sebastian had seen
tears in her eyes at the restaurant, but he didn’t know what they were for, and
it bothered him.

As he drives
away from her home, he begins to feel a certain hate for her. She is playing
with his heart and it pains him, making him believe she could love him when she
clearly loves another. He curses at her in his car and drives erratically into
the night, promising payback as the darkness swallows him.

****

Seeing Chad at the restaurant
created a renewed desire for him that exceeded anything she’d felt before as
she’d ran after him when he left. She couldn’t get to him quickly enough, but
she saw the direction that his car took.

Sierra waits for
a few minutes inside her apartment, making sure Sebastian has left, before
going to her car and driving to the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

She drives
recklessly into the night. She needs to find her heart’s desire – Chad Perry.
Her heart beats violently as the car swerves through the night. Although he had
a look of love in his eyes, she could also sense the hate in them and it
frightened her to the core. But more importantly his danger also excites her.

She finally gets
to her destination. Her body shakes from fear – she fears the unknown as Chad
had a look that was pure poison behind his loving stare at the restaurant.
She wonders if
Chad still thinks about her because she couldn’t read him.

Feeling
anguished, she smashes the rear-view mirror of the car with her heels. She screams
and shouts relentlessly until finally the madness passes and her sanity
returns. She takes a look in the distorted mirror; her face is puffy from
crying, smudged with mascara and a trail of blood caused by a cut from stray
glass. “I love you and I have to get you back,” she says to herself as she
walks from the car looking like a battered woman. She waits outside the car for
her courage to return.

****

There is a knock on Chad’s door.
Reluctantly he goes to open it. He is shocked to see a woman wearing nothing
but a red coat and a pair of red heels. She is the one whose voice somehow
reminds him of Sierra. Unable to feel aroused by her sexy clothes, he shouts
angrily at the woman outside his door. “What the fuck are you doing here? How
do you even know that I live here? No woman knows this place except Si –” he
says, unable to say her name.

“Don’t worry about how I know
this place, darling,” she says softly, touching his face with a seductive smile
on her lips.

“Don’t touch me!” he shouts,
pushing her hand away from his face before calming his voice. “Please, just go.
I am never going to make love to you, so just stop trying. Please leave,” he
says, almost begging her. He is surprised and relieved as she starts to walk
away from him without a fight. Before she turns the corner, he sees tears in
her eyes and it actually pains him to see a woman cry. But he pushes the
feeling aside and slams the door shut.

****

Sierra finally gains the courage to go and
see Chad. There is a woman in a beautiful sexy red jacket with red high heels
walking towards the car park. She doesn’t see her face but her walk and teary
blue eyes seem scarily familiar. She feels a cold shiver through her body as
she tries to think where she might know the woman from. She cannot recall where
she knows her from so she forgets as she heads up to Chad’s penthouse.

Feeling nervous, she
knocks at his door quietly. He opens it with a shocked look in his cold stare.

“Why are you here,
Sierra?” he asks icily.

The lack of emotion in
his voice hurts her more than she could imagine. She doesn’t know what to say
so says nothing.

“Please leave, Sierra, or
I won’t be responsible for my actions,” he says with a fearsome tone in his
voice. She is wracked with dread at the sound of his voice.

Sierra turns away, but her
heart won’t allow her to leave. She turns back and looks at him.

“Why can you not look at
me, Chad? Do you detest me so much? Am I so repulsive to you?”

He says nothing.

“Look me in my fucking
eyes,” she says, the fear almost leaving her body.

“How dare you! Who the
fuck do you think you are to walk into my fucking home shouting orders at me?
HOW DARE YOU!” he thunders, causing the fear in her to return.

He scares her as she
hears all his emotions pour out. She’s about to speak, but he interrupts her.

“I don’t want to hear
anything you have to tell me. You’re outside my door, so you’ll listen to what
the fuck I have to say.”

She looks at him as he
stares at her, revealing all the pain he’s tried to keep hidden for so long.
His eyes briefly fill with the pain, but he doesn’t allow it to stay. Instead
he asks her a question.

“Did you ever use me?”

“No, why would you think
that?” she replies, confused.

“Never mind … someone
told me that you did.”

“I would never do that to
you, baby. You do believe me, right?” she says, as his eyes show his distrust.
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he takes her hand and walks her into his home.

But before they
fully enter she reveals a hurtful truth to him.

“I have
something to tell you. You need to know this.”

“What is it?”

“When I told you
that Sebastian was just a guy I had sex with, it was a lie. The truth is I lost
my virginity to him back in London. Tom Winters had done plenty of sexual
things to me but I never fucked him. After we broke up I grew a desire to know
what it felt like
to feel the length and breadth
of a man inside me, and it wasn’t until a year or so later when I met Sebastian
that I gave in to my desire.
”

Chad looks at
her, shocked, almost bemused. “You’re joking, right?”

“No. I dismissed
it because Sebastian simply bores me in comparison to you, and in my mind you
are the first and only, I did not want to accept that Sebastian was my first,
so I never told you. I’m sorry! I only allowed him to touch me for one night
only while in London. But I will allow you to touch me anytime you want.”

Chad appears
livid and hurt, but he hides it well. “Well I guess I better show you who owns
the sweet treasure between your thighs, and that him sleeping with you for only
one night before you became mine is void, because he couldn’t fulfil your
desires. Only I can, and I need to show you,” he says roughly.

CHAPTER 30

“Get naked now!” he orders.

Sierra is
hesitant, because a while ago Chad had told her to leave and insinuated she’d
used him. While still confused, Chad walks towards her and rips her clothes
off, leaving bruises and red marks from his rough touch. The pain feels sweet
to Sierra and she whimpers with desire.

A sweet chill
runs up her spine as his fingers touch her skin. His stare is cold and
haunting. “I’ve not been intimate with another woman since you left. I only
desire you, Sierra.” Chad’s eyes lack emotion as he stares at her like a man
starved of sex.

“Why do you look
at me like that, Chad?” she whispers.

Chad doesn’t
speak; instead, the hunger in his eyes speaks louder than words. Sierra
attempts to pick her clothing off the floor to hide her nakedness.

“Stop! I want to
look at you. Stand still, Sierra! I want you to quench my thirst tonight. I’ve
been longing for you so much.”

He touches her
face and a tear falls from her eye as the feelings of love release a moan of
pleasure from her lips. Chad’s touch brings an inferno of longing within
Sierra. “I need you, Chad. I need you like the air I breathe. I know I’ve done
wrong, but forgive me, my love.”

“How badly do
you need me, Sierra? Do you need me so badly that if I walk out of this room
right now without pleasuring your body you will die? Is that how badly you need
me?”