Page 160 of My Dark Prince
This was my career. My passion in life. Howdarehe come here.
“Boundaries,” I heard myself say.
“Boundaries?” Hailey cocked her head sideways, as though the mere idea confused her. “Like, safe words and shit?”
“Like, if I tell someone they cannot come to see me, they have to respect that or bear the grave consequences.”
I said the last part loud enough for Oliver to hear as he cracked the door open. He sauntered behind me, clasped my shoulders, and dropped a kiss to the crown of my head.
“Darling,” he drawled in his Count of Wherever-the-Fuck tone, dripping patronizing charm and seduction. “There you are.”
“Honey.” I smiled tight, clutching onto his palm and squeezing it until I heard his bones crack. Two could play this game. I refused to show him my fury. “What a surprise to see you here.”
“No need to be surprised. Every employee of the Grand Regent Group has strict orders to let me know if they see you on the premises, so I can court you.” He waited for the outrageous piece of information to trickle into my system. “Yes, all 184,000 of them, worldwide.”
“How …”
“Romantic?”
“I was going to say deranged.”
“Missed you too much to stay away.” He slid into the chair next to me. “Hope you don’t mind.”
Mothertrucker.
I was in the middle of a business meeting.
“Not at all,” I cooed, grabbing his cheek and giving him a pinch that nearly tore his skin off. “But my client here understandably won’t feel comfortable with sharing her intimate preferences with a complete stranger.”
“Oh, I don’t mind him joining usat all.” Hailey giggled, thrusting the back of her hand for him to kiss. “Oliver von Bismarck, I heard so much about you.”
“The pubic lice rumors are unfortunately true.” Oliver sighed, rounded the table, and took her hand, giving it a limp shake, as opposed to the kiss she wanted. “But my lovely fiancée here was kind enough to pluck them out one at a time when we first got together. The woman is a saint.”
He returned to the seat beside mine, clutched my shoulders, and smushed our cheeks together.
I was going to kill him.
Life in prison was a small price to pay, circumstances considered.
Hailey glanced between us, obviously disappointed. “You guys are engaged?”
Now I knew we couldn’t work together. For one thing, she was ogling my fake fiancé like she wanted his face as her new favorite chair. For another, she purposefully leaned forward, so he could get a better look at her cleavage.
She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “How come I haven’t heard about it? I follow you on the gossip columns, Oliver.”
“We made an announcement on a doubleNew York Timesspread just the other day.” Oliver seemed completely unaffected by her heavy flirting. “I had no choice. She wore me out, Hailey. She was relentless in her pursuit. Day in, day out. I couldn’t even take a piss without her showing up in my bathroom, opening her mouth to be my own personal toilet.”
My blood simmered in my veins, hot, thick, and full of anger. He was about to find out that payback is a bitch, and so am I.
“Really?” Hailey eyed him with a grin, tracing the bust of her shirt with a single fingertip. “I like bold women. I was just telling Briar I have no red lines. No hard limits.None,” she enunciated, in case he missed it the first hundred times. “Whatsoever. I’m game for everything. Totally open minded.”
“Wow, sounds like you two would make an amazing couple, yourselves,” I exclaimed, sliding my hand under the table toward his lap.
I nestled my palm over his groin, aware that if someone peered through the glass, they might see it. Behind his smart slacks, Oliver was fully erect, hard and throbbing. The heat of his cock pulsed through the rich fabric.
My breath caught in my throat.
I’d done this to him.
