Silver Fire (Guardians) (27 page)

“Fuck off,” Layla hissed.

For all her charms, Layla Robinson did not compare with the ethereal beauty of Sophie Leroux. But with her generous curves, there was no question this woman would make a good fuck for any red-blooded male. As far as Justin was concerned, Derek should have just kept to Layla Robinson and saved them all the headache.
 

“You don’t want me to do that. I can help you get what you want.”

That piqued her interest. “Derek?”

Justin nodded.
 

“What’s in it for you?”

“He has what I want.”

Realization hit Layla and the woman cackled like a witch. She was definitely not in Sophie’s league. Her mascara had run and her eyes were swollen,
 
Justin actually felt sorry for her. Derek Lockwood used and discarded women, and Justin would not have him do the same to Sophie.
 

“I can’t believe both of you are salivating over the same blonde bitch,” Layla sneered. “She
 
hardly has any boobs, why would you want her?”

“She suits me more,” Justin shrugged. He had opted to go with the scholarly harmless look tonight. “Lockwood doesn’t know what he is throwing away in you. Sophie is not for him. I’ve known her for years. He seduced her away from me. She is meek and submissive. Whereas I’m sure you know what Lockwood really prefers—sexually.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling him!” Layla exclaimed. “The man is insatiable in bed, and I don’t think your Sophie is enough woman for him.”

Justin felt his temper flaring. The thought of Lockwood taking Sophie over and over was not the image he wanted in his head when he was so close to achieving his goal.

“So, will you help me get Sophie back?” Justin cut in before Layla Robinson angered him further.

“What do I have to do?”

Justin smiled. The saying was true:
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
.

***

“That’s the last shot of tequila!” Sophie announced. “I can’t take anymore.”

“Well you need enough liquid courage to jump his bones and force him to have sex with you,” Beth replied.

Beth Turner was keeping her company in the AGS bunker while she waited for Derek to pick her up after the fundraiser. She couldn’t wait to see him in his tuxedo and to strip it off him. He had dropped her and Beth at AGS before he went back to his condo to prepare for the event. Sophie decided that she was going to call off the moratorium on sex. How Derek had such amazing willpower given his past indulgences was beyond her.

They had a conversation yesterday, and Derek had admitted he wanted to take it slow with her, especially after the shock of the past few days. Contrary to what he thought, she needed him inside her, filling every crevice of her sex to feel alive. What Justin did to Polly terrified her and giving herself up to Derek made her feel safe.

It had been determined that Polly Smith had innocently divulged information about Endpoint Systems, and she had been seduced by Justin to provide such information—any information really. It was not clear how long Polly had been trysting with Justin, but there was speculation based on her behavior that it had been a few weeks.

“I don’t want to be too drunk I wouldn’t remember the sex,” Sophie said.
Did she just slur her words
?

“You have a point,” Beth said and they both giggled.

“It’s almost 11:00 p.m.” Sophie said grouchily. “He promised he would call before then to let me know what time he’s coming by.”

“Believe me, baby girl, these fundraisers do not end early. The more drunk the guests are, the looser their wallets will be, especially when the auction begins.”

They dissolved into giggles again just as Sophie’s phone vibrated with a text message.

“What, can’t he even call me?” Sophie groused and frowned. The message was from Christopher Blackstone.

In her drunken state, she remembered Derek mentioning that her old friend was going to be there. Derek did not like Christopher that was for sure.

She looked at her message and gasped, momentarily slapped out of her drunken haze.

Christopher

I’m sorry Sophie, but you should know...

A picture of Derek and Layla dancing intimately. And then another picture of Derek and Layla in an empty hallway. Derek had pushed Layla against the wall, his hands on her shoulders as if he was about to kiss her.

“Oh my god,” Sophie whispered hoarsely. “How could I be so stupid?”

Beth grabbed the phone from her. “It’s a compromising position. But let’s not jump to conclusions. Talk to Derek. Remember, Blackstone will get any dirt on the MDI guys, especially Derek, because of you.”

Sophie nodded. How lucky she was to have Beth to keep her levelheaded. She sent a text to Derek.

Sophie

What time are you coming to get me?

She accepted another shot of tequila from Beth. After all, she was anxious to have a discussion about the pictures. Fifteen minutes passed and there was no response.

Sophie

I really need to talk to you, something’s come up.

After another ten minutes of no response, Sophie couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up unsteadily and said to Beth. “We’re going to the condo.”

“What?”

“We’ll have Taggart take us,” Sophie declared.

“What if Derek comes looking for you and you’re not here?”

“We’ll leave a message with the guard, and I’ll also send him a text message,” Sophie said. She knew she was behaving childishly, but she was feeling a bit insecure right now. “Serves him right if he wastes a trip. He should have called when he said he would.”

Beth sighed as she followed her friend, who tipsily staggered out of the bunker.

***

Derek’s head felt like it was about to explode and his mouth was dry. He was also feeling extremely aroused, and he could feel his cock in full erection. Something hot and slippery was sucking on his dick.
Hmm, that feels good
. It took an effort for him to open his eyes, which felt weighed with lead at the moment, but when he did, he couldn’t comprehend the sight of the woman giving him head.

Wait. What? Fuck no!

“What the hell?” he croaked as he grabbed the woman’s head. It felt like a punch in the gut when he stared straight into the satisfied face of Layla Robinson. He shook his head; his double vision must be playing tricks on him. His brain may be muddled, but it was definitely Layla.

What had he done? He recognized his surroundings. Why was he here in his condo, sitting on the couch, and receiving a blowjob from Layla Robinson?

“Sit back and enjoy the show, lover,” Layla purred as she swallowed his cock once more and moaned with pleasure. Derek hissed; physically it felt fantastic, but his mind was curling in revulsion.

“Layla,” Derek groaned. He threw back his head, trying to gain control of his urges. He made an effort to dislodge the enthusiastic bobbing at his crotch again when he heard gasps coming from the entrance of the condo. He straightened up and stared straight into Sophie, Beth and Taggart’s shocked faces.

This has to be a bad dream
, Derek thought in alarm.
 

“Derek,” Sophie whispered brokenly. Her face crumpling, she turned around and ran out the door.

“You’re a fucking asshole, Lockwood!” Beth screeched at him before turning to follow her friend.

“Layla, get the fuck off me,” Derek growled, managing to free his cock from Layla’s mouth, but when he stood up, the world tilted on its axis.

“Shit,” Derek muttered as he tried to steady himself.

“Derek?” Layla asked hesitantly.

“Go home, Layla!” Derek snapped. OK. He can do this. He felt himself stagger to the doorway, remembering at least to tuck himself back into his trousers and zipping up. He clung to the doorjamb
 
and lurched through. His heart splintered when he caught sight of Sophie sobbing into Beth’s shoulder as they waited for the elevator. Taggart stared at him stonily, effectively branding Derek as the scum of the earth. And he was feeling exactly as such.

“Sophie!” Derek shouted as he used the walls to guide him down the hallway. His head was still spinning and his vision was shifting in angles making him want to throw up. “It’s not what you think!” And even to his ears, that sounded lame.

“Screw you, Derek!” Sophie yelled back. “You almost fooled me, you’ll always be a manwhore! It’s encoded in your damned DNA!” She jabbed the call button repeatedly. “Where’s the damned elevator?”

When he got near them, he tried to reach for her, but Beth beaned him with her purse.

“Don’t you fucking touch her, you filthy bastard! And to think I was on your side!” Beth shouted acidly.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Derek muttered, still absorbing what was happening and what had happened.

“What’s wrong, Lockwood was you got hammered and went home with that skank,” Beth spat in disgust.
 

“Sophie, please listen to me.” He was going to beg. But fuck, his mind was blank, and he couldn’t explain how he had gotten from A to B, and the evidence was so damning. Derek felt naked fear rising from his throat. He tried to reach for Sophie again.

Taggart blocked him and shoved him against the wall.
 

“Damn you, Taggart!” Derek swore as he tried to push back, but his limbs felt rubbery.

Taggart kept him pinned against the wall until the elevator opened. Sophie couldn’t wait to scramble in fast enough.

“Angel, please don’t go. We can discuss this—”

“I’m done. We’re over,” Sophie cut him off, her voice flat and rife with finality.

“Sophie,” Derek choked in defeat as her beautiful gray eyes, brimming now with contempt, disappeared from his view when the elevator doors slid shut.

He stood in front of the elevators for a while before staggering back to his condo. The door was wide open with Layla standing uncertainly in the middle of the living room.

“Get out, Layla.”

“Derek—”

“Get out! Before I throw you out!” Derek roared.
 

Layla did not need to be told again. She quickly disappeared from the condo.

Derek pulled out his phone from his tuxedo jacket’s inside pocket. He laughed bitterly when he saw Sophie’s text messages. His chest was caving in. How could he fix this? He couldn’t lose her.
He couldn’t fucking lose her
.

He called Jack.

“Derek? Where did you go? Your limo driver—”

“I fucked up.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know man. I fucked up.”

“Where are you?”

“Condo.”

“I’ll send your driver home. Maia and I will be there in fifteen.”

Derek sank to the floor and buried his face in his hands. He had never felt more defeated in his life.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Sophie stared at the blur of buildings as their car traveled back to AGS. Derek wouldn’t stop calling her phone, so she turned it off. He started calling Beth and Taggart too. Her friend turned her phone off while Taggart had his switched to silent. After her emotional breakdown by the elevators, she had nothing more to give. She was tapped out. The events of the past two weeks had finally caught up with her. She realized it had been Derek all along pulling her through. Now that he had betrayed her in the most painful way, she was left with nothing. She was exhausted. She just wanted to curl up, close her eyes and not wake up until fate dealt her a kinder hand.

“You OK, baby girl?” Beth asked as she reached out to stroke her cheek.

“Resigned,” Sophie whispered as she looked at Beth sadly. “I make the worst choices in men, don’t I?”
 

“Oh, sweetie...” Beth replied, tilting her head and pursing her lips.

Sophie cringed at her friend’s unusually gentle tone—and her lack of a comeback. Which meant her statement rang true. Sophie sure knew how to pick them. Or maybe it was the other way around and the asshole men could spot a gullible her from a mile away.
 

When will she ever learn
?

“Why did I even think I was enough for the likes of Derek?” Sophie said morosely. “Men like him need women like Layla Robinson. Not an insipid, shapeless nerd in a lab coat.”

“You are not insipid!” Beth countered angrily. “Don’t you ever put yourself down like that again.”

“Lockwood is a fucking idiot,” Taggart growled from the driver’s seat. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

“Thanks, Taggart,” Sophie mumbled, but tears stung her eyes again. Everyone was rallying around her. That should make her feel better, but it didn’t. Because the one person she wanted had his penis in another woman’s mouth. She had allowed another man to crush her heart again, shredding her self-esteem in the process. He had not been taken away from her, she just wasn’t enough woman for him.

“It’s OK to cry, Sophie,” Beth said softly.

“Not wasting another tear on that jerk,” Sophie said, but her scratchy voice belied her words. “But my life sucks. Honestly, how much worse can it get?”

The words had barely left her mouth when a car slammed into them from the left. Sophie could hear screaming and she was not sure if it was hers or Beth’s. After the jarring from the initial impact stopped, Sophie tried to clear the cobwebs from her head. She felt like she had gotten tossed around in a rollercoaster. She was not wearing a seatbelt and ended up on the floor of the car, Beth half on top of her.

“Beth, are you OK? Taggart?” Sophie shrieked in panic. She heard her friend groan.

“I think I hit my head somewhere,” Beth mumbled. “Oh. Am I too heavy, Sophie?”

“Um. Yeah. Taggart?”

No response.

“Taggart!”

They heard the breaking of glass followed by two gunshots.

“Oh my god, oh my god,” Sophie repeated over and over, goosebumps creeping all over her body. This was how she was dying, a gunshot through the head. Beth froze above her too. The women stared at each other, the million emotions in Beth’s eyes probably reflecting her own: fear, despair, outrage and sorrow. Then the back passenger door across from them flew open and Beth was hauled off her.