Trapped in his End Game (Series)

The club has a live rock band, so I’m in a better mood than usual. Sales are up and the liquor keeps flowing. Michelle shakes her ass on the dance floor with the other girls, and I wander around, my boots marking up the floors. It’s almost four a. m. when we close for the day, and my ankles ache. Michelle slides up to me hopefully as the last customers trickle out.

I told her what I heard from Tommy about Ben, but she still insisted on coming. I hoped she would cancel her plans. No such luck.

She adjusts her low crop top and brushes her long, streaked hair, giving me a wide smile that I’m sure will make the bastards melt.

“Let’s just have a good time,” she says, touching my arm.

Fat chance.

There are butterflies fluttering in my stomach because I know he’ll be there. I don’t care what she wants; I’m not sticking around for more than an hour. My stomach feels like lead as I open the door to the Employees Only area and we walk around the deserted lockers, passing by my office, which is crammed with mobsters. Their voices boom through the door and raise the hairs on my arm. I open the door. Heat burns my face as I watch them in there, drinking my alcohol, putting their shoes on my coffee table as if they fucking own the place-own me.

It’s as if we stumbled upon a scene. There’s a slight haze of smoke in the air from the cigarettes. It curls around their fingers and blows upward. Dark suits stand everywhere. In the corner, I see an exchange of something-bricks of cocaine. Vince wraps his arm around Jack’s shoulder, and through the throng of people I see stacks of cash slowly being counted. Michelle’s wide eyes take it all in.

I freeze in the doorway, my heart stalling in my chest.

We’re not supposed to be here.

Tommy’s smiling face appears out of nowhere. He wears a light-blue shirt and a black suit, which is loosely buttoned. I catch a glimpse of a broad chest and my eyes travel up his neck, which is covered with short, brown stubble. My neck feels hot for some reason I can’t understand, and suddenly stacks of cash are picked up-shoved quickly into a duffel bag.

He takes my arm before I can pull away, and the feeling of his coarse fingers on the sensitive skin of my wrist makes me tremble violently.

What the hell is that?

“Please, come in.”

I resent being invited into my own fucking office, but the sight of all these people seems to have temporarily robbed me of breath. It’s like being dumped into shark-infested waters. Sooner or later they’ll notice my presence and tear me to shreds. I can’t mouth off to them, not while the boss is standing right there. Tommy grins as he leads me to the couch, as if he’s conscious of that fact.

The black leather squeaks as I settle in, Tommy sliding in right next to me. He’s way too close and fear slowly pricks over my skin.

Fucking hell, what did I get myself into?

Michelle presses her palms together eagerly. “So, is Ben coming over tonight?”

A stony expression hardens over his smiling face. “I don’t know where he is.”

Blonde hair dangles over the coffee table as she leans in, giving the men across the room a fantastic view of her cleavage. They grin at her behind her head.

“He’s really missing?”

“Yeah.” He takes a sip of his scotch. “Do you ladies want a drink?”

This is my opportunity to leave.

“Um-maybe we should get going, Michelle.”

Tommy’s face falls comically. “C’mon, you just got here!”

“I’m staying,” she says in a chipper voice. She takes a bottle from the table and pours herself a drink, and then she stands up, giving me a roguish wink.

“Ben won’t be here, though.”

“Eh, that’s okay.”

Fuck you! Don’t leave me here with this psycho!

That suits Tommy fine, and he casually spreads his arm behind my head.

Jesus. Fuck.

I lean forward and grab the drink Tommy passes me, taking a huge gulp. If I’m going to stay here and hang out with this guy, I’ll need to be drunk. My heart feels as though it’s going to split from all the jostling in my chest. Jesus, it almost hurts. As the alcohol burns down, I feel my nerves quell almost instantly.

“You know, you were very quiet at the deli, and you’re quiet again now. It’s unlike you. No insults, no, ‘Fuck off, Tommy.’ It’s a nice change, but what gives?”

“There are a lot of people in here.”

He snorts. “That never stopped you before.”

Fingers lightly stroke the top of my shoulder and I tense all over. It’s confusing. The heat alcohol burns my throat, spreading warmth all over my skin as a light dizziness takes me over. It’s pleasant. It suddenly occurs to me why I felt so confused in the deli. There was fear, yes, but also excitement. Somewhere, deep down in some fucked-up, dark recess, I’m attracted to him. I concentrate on how it feels when he touches me. Then he chuckles, and the sound goes right through my body. An electrical shock runs through my arm, across my breasts, all the way down to the heat growing between my legs.

He stabbed someone to death right in front of you.

When I don’t pull away, his fingers continue their slow, circular massage. I can hardly think of anything else except how sensual it is. It’s as if he’s running his fingers up my thighs. My fingers tighten on the glass. I lean forward and put it down.

I’ve got to get out of here.

“I should go.”

His fingers curl over my shoulder. “No, stay!”

“I really shouldn’t.”

“Just have one drink with me,” he says with a friendly smile. “Besides, you need to watch your friend.”

“What?”

I snap my head around and my vision seems to take a while to slow down and readjust. Then I see Michelle wearing a coy smile as she leans over Vincent’s desk. He eyes her with a small smile.

“Oh fuck,” I swear, thoughts of leaving immediately abandoned. “Is she out of her mind?”

Tommy’s body shakes with a chuckle. “I know his wife, and she’d fucking lose it if she saw anyone hitting on her husband.” He shakes his head. “She’s wasting her time.”

“I just don’t understand why she’d want to date any of these assholes.”

Shit.

“Including me?”

I turn my head sideways, horrified.

“Um-”

He laughs his head off, and a warm flutter fills my stomach when he smiles and winks at me.

Then he squeezes my shoulder.

“So what do you do outside of work?”

My eyes narrow under my slightly buzzed haze. He’s trying to figure out what I like so that maybe we’ll have something in common and maybe I’ll want to go out with him and we could do that fun thing we have in common together.

No.

“Not much. This job takes up all my time.”

Depressingly true.

“Why do you work so much?”

I give him a sharp look, trying to gauge if he’s being sarcastic. His face is smoothed over. Maybe he really doesn’t have a clue.

“My dad is too old to deal with all this shit, so I fill in for him every day.”

He rests his drink on his knee, tracing the rim of the glass with a finger. It stops. “That’s it? You’re just helping your old man?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

He gives me a look. “I just figured you owed Jack, or something. I didn’t realize-”

“I’m not doing this for myself. I’m doing it for my father, who could not handle the things you do. I can barely handle it.”

My heart thumps resolutely against my chest, and I swipe the glass from the table to take another huge gulp.

“Then what do you want to do?”

“I want to go to college.” It bursts out of my mouth as if I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me that. “I want to make something of myself, maybe medical school, but that’ll never happen at this rate.”

The couch squeaks as Tommy leans in, and this time his whole hand grabs my shoulder and his chest moves in until his face is centimeters from mine. I’m suddenly aware that the room is almost empty, and most people are mingling outside.

His breath billows over my lips. The drink makes my thoughts descend into a haze of desire. When was the last time I felt like this around someone? The alcohol strips away all pretenses, and I can’t help but sit here and hope that he doesn’t turn my face toward him. I can’t look at him because I’m afraid that I’ll kiss him.

“I could handle it for you, you know. Just say the word, and you could do all of those things. You would never have to visit the club again.”

A shaky laugh leaves my lips. “Yeah, and I’m sure you’d do it out of the kindness of your heart.”

He smiles darkly. “Well, I would need some kind of compensation.”

I stare at the wall across the room, determined not to look at him again. He’s way too close. The last person leaves the room and all I can hear are my heartbeats.

Jesus Christ, someone help me.

“Like what?”

The sound of a glass being placed on a coffee table makes me jump, but he pulls me in closer. Closer and closer, until his lips are tickling my ear. I just let him. It feels incredible. The thrill builds up and builds up, until I’m on the verge of doing something incredibly stupid. What’s wrong with me?

His voice hisses in my ear and the effect it has on my body is alarming. A hot line burns all the way from my neck to the wetness gathering between my legs.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“I’d skim off the top, of course. It’s only fair, considering the work I’d be doing.” Then his voice dips lower with a small chuckle and he reaches over, brushing the hair from my shoulder. His hand palms my cheek. “And I’d also need something else.”

Oh God. Oh my fucking God.

I’m still staring straight ahead. “What-what else?”

He applies a bit of pressure to turn my head, and I can’t fight it anymore. It’s inevitable. The moment I took that drink in my hands and decided to stay, I was done for. There’s a moment where I can almost taste his breath, and then his lips crush against mine. I’ve lost my ability to breathe because the pleasure filling my chest is so unexpected and warm. I lean into his body, which is saturated with an intoxicating smell. It’s like cigars, cedar, and something wholly male that makes my mouth water. Then his hands, oh God, they yank me onto his lap and I still can’t breathe. His lips swallow every breath. It’s as if he’s waited for this for weeks, and now that he has me, he’s never letting go. His tongue suddenly pushes through my mouth, and I’m so lost in the sensation that I don’t notice that my arms wrap around his head. My fingers dig into his hair and I pull his neck down toward me. Electrical shocks continue to shoot through my spine, singeing every nerve near the skin’s surface. Rough hands reach up to my head, fingernails grazing my skin. They curl into my hair and yank, making me bend over his arm. Our lips break apart and I gasp at the sudden, sharp pain, but then his hand grabs my chest, squeezing my breast.

Jesus Christ. I’ve never been groped like that without warning. They would always ask first, which somehow always made it feel less thrilling. I open my mouth in a gasp and he looks down at me with a confident smirk, his eyes hot for me. Still smiling, he kisses me again, his thumb circling my nipple. Even through the tank top and bra, it feels incredible.

My back sinks into the cushions and I feel a growing sense of horror and excitement as he rips off his jacket, hurling it down the couch. Then there’s a noise at the door and I freeze. Tommy makes a violent movement and grabs something metallic at his ankle. He aims it at the door, at the person standing in the doorway.

“I’ll shoot you in five seconds if you don’t get the fuck out.”

“Jesus Christ, Tommy!”

My heart beats in my throat as I watch him lower the gun. The door slams shut, and he replaces it in his ankle. The desire still hums in my body, but now there’s fear, too. He turns toward me, smiling, and leans down, but I hold his shoulders back.

“What’s wrong?”

His smile twitches.

“I don’t know. It’s just-I’m too-”

Overwhelmed.

A frustrated sigh leaves his mouth, and I look down, noticing his erection straining his pants. The sight of it makes my heart slam into my chest.

“You make me so fucking crazy.”

I sit up on the couch next to him, and he tries to draw me in again for another kiss, but I stop him by placing both hands on his chest.

His brows furrow.

“I’ve got to go.” I stand up from the couch, face flushing.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He yells as he stands up. “You kissed me back!”

“I-I know.” I swallow the guilt down as I look at his angry, frustrated face. He glowers at me and underneath that hard exterior; I think I see a bit of hurt feelings. My stomach caves in and I suddenly take a few steps toward him. I lift myself on my toes and my lips bump against his smooth cheek. He grabs my elbow when I turn away, and his eyes open again with a smoldering look, making me hot all over.

“Stay.”

“I can’t.”

I pull my arm out of his grasp, and I leave the office, trying to forget about the sad image of Tommy standing there alone.