Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 7) Read online

  “Hot damn, you look good enough to eat, Cat. I mean, your dress even looks like dessert.”

  Is it wrong that the slight accent he has is turning me on? No? Okay, but I can’t let him have the upper hand, even if he does look edible himself in that black suit and skinny tie with his dark blonde hair pushed back, just begging for me to run my fingers through it.

  “Darcy. My name is Darcy.”

  “I know your name, but I already told you that you’ve been ‘Cat’ to me for ten years.”

  “If you want to live another ten years, you’ll cut the crap.”

  The smirk that had been on his face falls off at my words. “I assure you, Darcy, I am completely and totally serious about what’s going to happen between us. In and out of bed. I will have my family’s jewels back, and I will also have you. Make no mistake about either of those things.”

  Two can play at this name game. “You’re the one making the mistake, Donkey. I don’t take kindly to threats from playboy princes.”

  “Donkey?” he asks, his nostrils flaring.

  “Well, they do ‘bray’ and you’re an ass, so it fits.”

  “You little bitch,” he says, stepping into my personal space. I hold my ground, because while I may be considerably shorter than him, I’m not some shrinking violet.

  “You can’t intimidate me.”

  “It’s so cute that you think that.”

  “I know it. Bigger and badder men than you have tried and failed.”

  “I don’t fail, Darcy. Ever.”

  “Neither do I.”

  “Well, one of us is going down,” he tells me, and the smirk is back. Bastard.

  “You’ll be on your knees longs before me. Trust.”

  “You’d like that.”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  “Fuck yeah.”

  He reaches for me, but a man who looks to be a few years younger than us has appeared behind him in the hall. I put my hands on his chest, and subtly gesture behind him. “There’s someone behind you.”

  “Noah?” he asks, on a sigh.

  “Yes, Bray. It’s time to go.”

  “Of course it is.”

  I step around him, stopping to whisper in his ear. “Hee haw.”

  * * *

  Brayden

  Damn little vixen. And damn my best friend. “Perfect timing as always, Noah.”

  “You were going to kiss her,” he says as he comes to stand next to me and we both watch her walk towards the stairs.

  “Obviously.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea? Getting involved with her?”

  “I’m not getting involved, I’m getting inside. Or, at least, I was on my way there before you interrupted us.”

  “She’s not like your usual bed mates. And don’t forget, she holds the key to the mystery you’ve promised to solve.”

  “So? You don’t think I can fuck the truth out of her?”

  “Maybe you can, but getting out unscathed? That’s another matter entirely.”

  “She’s not that hot,” I lie.

  “I’m not going to touch that comment.”

  My jaw clenches as an unfamiliar emotion takes over me. I’m afraid it’s the one called jealousy. “Stay away from her. I mean it.”

  “I don’t want her. At all,” he says with a shudder. “But don’t try and tell me you’re not already in too deep now. Because we both know you’ve always shared your women with me.”

  Damn it. I need to rein it in before everyone sees it. “Go for it. If she wants you, she’s all yours.”

  “I don’t really think she’s my type, but why not?”

  He jogs down the stairs, and I force myself to walk slowly behind him. I don’t know what’s gotten in to me, but that’s how I’m feeling—and he knows it. That’s why he’s messing with me. Darcy’s different, and it’s not just because I’ve dreamed of her for so long. I can’t pinpoint exactly what turns me on the most about her, but I know he’s right. I’m already screwed, and if she takes him up on the offer he’s about to make, I just might have to kill my best friend.

  “Son of a bitch,” Noah yells.

  I take the last stairs at a run, only to find him on the floor with Darcy pushing her heel between his shoulder blades. I can’t stop the smile that takes over my face. I do refrain from the fist pump I want to do, though. She turned him down. No one turns down Noah. I’m secure enough to admit that he’s hotter than me, and he’s also well-known as my best friend.

  “Keep your friend in line, Brayden. I’d really hate to have to mess up his face for all the women who might actually want to take him up on his lame offers.”

  I can’t stop myself from saying the words, because I want complete confirmation. “He knows about us, so if you wanted to…”

  “I don’t,” she replies, drilling into me with her gorgeous green eyes that look like hard emeralds at the moment.

  I ignore the danger, and walk over to whisper in her ear. “Good, because I’m not willing to share you.”

  “This isn’t real.”

  “Maybe the engagement isn’t, but this fire between us is. And I’m not trained to fight fires.”

  “I am.”

  “Forget the training, just burn with me tonight.”

  “We have to go to dinner.”

  “Yes, we do,” I tell her with a smirk, already knowing what I’m going to do. I walk her out to the car, and put the privacy screen up. “Ready to play with fire, Cat?”

  * * *

  Darcy

  Damn him and that stupid nickname. I want to hate it, but I kind of love it. And I love that he wants me too much to wait. I lick my bottom lip, and see him swallow hard as his eyes track my tongue. I am ready to play, so I bite it gently, and he doesn’t try to disguise his moan.

  We meet in the middle of the seat, and attack each other. There’s no other way to describe it. We’re both fighting for dominance as we kiss, lick, and bite. First lips, and then we open for each other, and it’s tongues. I suck on his tongue, running my teeth lightly over it, and he pulls back to look at me.

  “I can’t wait until you do that to my cock.”

  “How do you know I will?”

  He licks up the column of my throat, and then back down again, biting lightly on the place where my neck meets my shoulder. I whimper, and lean back as he moves his mouth lower.

  “I hope you will.”

  I want to. Dear God, I want my mouth on him. I reach down to palm him through his pants, and feel his hands move from my hair to my zipper. He pulls it down slowly, growling as I squeeze his hard length. He’s not the biggest I’ve ever had, but I’m already half in love with what I’m feeling. And I haven’t even seen it yet.

  My dress is peeled down and then his mouth is moving over my sheer white bra. The friction of the fabric between my nipple and his tongue has me almost coming. He bites down, and then smiles.

  “You’re so fucking responsive.”

  “You’re so good at this,” I reply, and then stop in the middle of pulling his zipper down.

  My brain has just caught up with my body. He is good at this. Because he’s done it so often. I’m no shy virgin, but it still hurts a little to know it’s not me making him crazy with lust. It could be any woman here with him, even though I’ve never reacted to another man like this. I need to stop, no matter how good it feels.

  I’m so lost in my pity party, that I don’t notice he’s stopped and is looking at me. “Where did you go, Darcy?”

  “I was just realizing that I’m not special, and that this is just normal for you.” I paste a smile on my face. “It’s okay. I just need to get my head in the right frame of mind.”

  I lean back towards him, but he pulls back, looking pissed and more than a little hurt. I move closer, and he practically jumps to the other side of the car. “Fix your hair. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Can you zip me up?”

  “No. You did it yourself in your room, you can do
it now.”

  “What just happened? Why are you so angry?”

  “You’re kidding right? You just said that you think you’re interchangeable with the other women I’ve slept with.”

  “Aren’t I?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh. I already told you I’ve been thinking of you for ten years. I’ve never thought of another woman for more than a few weeks.”

  “Did I live up to expectations?”

  “Before you insulted me? Fuck, yeah. You’re better than anything I could dream about. I could write a sonnet about your mouth.”

  “Really?” I ask, brow raised.

  “No,” he says with a laugh. “I suck at poetry.”

  “I’m sorry, Brayden. I didn’t expect to be attracted to you, but I am. And then I just got weird, and stupid, while you were doing nothing but wonderful things to me.”

  “Good thing I happen to like weird and stupid,” he says, picking up my hand to kiss my knuckles. “Just for the record, though. You are special. I’ve been with a bunch of girls and women, I can’t deny that. But I never treated anyone badly, and they were all special to me when I was with them.” I try to pull my hand away, but he’s not done. “That doesn’t make you any less special, so stop trying to get away from me. If I’m honest, you may be the most special of all.”

  “Do you mean that or are you just saying it to get me to confess?”

  “Maybe both. I don’t know.”

  The problem is that neither do I. I need to stay on my toes because I can’t tell him about those jewels. I’m bound to an oath I made, and I won’t break my word. I can’t. Even though he makes me want to.

  Chapter 2

  Brayden

  It sucks that Darcy thinks she’s just another notch for me. She should be, but she’s not. Even though we’ve only officially met, I know that she has the power to bring me to my knees, and make me want to forget that my end goal is to bring her down. The teenage girl rappelling down our castle intrigued me, the woman who has charmed the media—and my mother—for the past two months challenges me, and the vixen who sucked my tongue like her life depended on it inspires me. They’re all rolled into one, and I don’t know any man who could resist that combination.

  I help her out of the car when we arrive at the restaurant, and we smile and share small kisses for the paparazzi. That right there is different. In the past, I’ve stuck my tongue down a woman’s throat and groped her, knowing we’d end up in the news the next day. Never mind that I want Darcy to know things are different with her, I need the press to see it. For my mother, and my country. They’re all counting on me, and I won’t let them down. Not when I’m finally closing in on my promise.

  I sit across from Darcy in the booth we’re shown to, instead of snuggling up next to her like I want to. Again, this is not my normal M.O. I’ve been to this restaurant many times, with many women, and never sat across from a single one. Until tonight, with the most important woman. The one who literally holds the keys to my kingdom, and more.

  “Why did the maître d’ look at me like that when you sat down?”

  “I don’t know,” I lie.

  “Brayden.”

  “Fine. I’ve brought many women here before, but never once have I sat across from one.”

  “Where do you usually sit? Next to her?”

  “Yes. Or more accurately, half on top of her as I stick my tongue down her throat.”

  “Oh.”

  “No. It’s not like that, Cat. You know I want you.”

  “Then what is it like?”

  I pick up her hand and hold it in mine, running my thumb over her wrist. “I want everyone—including you—to realize that you’re different then all the rest.”

  “Even after I insulted you?”

  “Especially because you insulted me. You weren’t wrong, and I’ve already told you that. I’d like the chance to show you that I can be more than what I’ve been.”

  “I’m willing to give you that chance; although, you know that this will never go anywhere, right? I mean, this is just a job to me. I won’t fall madly in love with you. Once you’ve been seen as monogamous and settled, I’m going back to my friends and my video games.”

  Ouch. I have to admit to myself that her words hurt. I won’t admit that to her, though. Especially if she means what she says. Which I don’t think she does.

  “Our kisses weren’t just a job. You want me just as much as I want you.”

  She starts to open her mouth, but the waitress is suddenly at our table. Unfortunately, she just happens to be one of my old acquaintances, too. Just what I don’t need right now.

  “Hi, Brayden.”

  “Hello.”

  “You haven’t called.”

  “I said I wouldn’t.”

  “But it was fun. I know you enjoyed it.”

  “I think we’re ready to order,” Darcy says, barely hiding her smile at my discomfort.

  The waitress, whose name totally escapes me, glares over at her while speaking to me. “What are you having, Brayden baby?”

  “Darcy should order first.”

  “You’re letting her order for herself?”

  “Yes.”

  I know it’s a shock. I always order for the women I take out. Unless I’m mistaken, Darcy will know that, and this will be just another way that I can show her she’s different.

  "I’ll have the sole with the risotto along with a beer. Whatever you have on tap is fine.”

  “Beer?” the girl asks with a sneer on her face.

  “Do you have a problem with my order? Because if you do, I’m sure your manager would like to know.”

  “Bitch,” she mumbles, and I’ve had enough.

  I wave the manager over. “We need a new waitress since this one is intent on being rude to my fiancée.”

  “You’re not really engaged.”

  I lift up Darcy’s hand and turn it towards her. “Yes, I really am.”

  “I’ve lost my appetite, Bray,” Darcy says, standing suddenly. “I’d like to leave now.”

  I nod, and stand as well. The manager tries to get us to reconsider, but we walk past him. I place my hand on Darcy’s lower back, and whisper in her ear.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  All I get is a nod. I should’ve known this restaurant was going to be a train wreck, but I thought the staff would be on their best behavior with all the publicity about my engagement. I’m not that good of a fuck for women to lose their minds over. Okay, well maybe I am, but there’s no coat check for class, so where that waitress left hers, I don’t know. Maybe she never had any, and being around Darcy makes me realize I should’ve set my sights higher all along. Then again, I did. It’s always been her, and a part of me is afraid that getting to know her better will solidify that. A big part.

  * * *

  Darcy

  It’s not completely Brayden’s fault that the waitress acted crazy. I mean, I’m pretty sure she was one of his random hookups, but he at least tried to act professional. He still shouldn’t have taken me there. I’d never take him to the bars I frequent in Vegas, because I have my own share of hookups, and he should really give me the same courtesy. Not to mention that I’m hungry.

  “On a scale of one to ten, how angry are you?”

  “If I wasn’t so hungry, it would be a one. But I am, which means I’m at about a twenty.”

  “So you’re not one of those girls who would’ve picked at her food in front of me?”

  “I ordered a beer. That should’ve given you a clue.”

  The smile on his face reaches his eyes for the first time since we left the restaurant. “I knew even before then. You’re never going to put on a show for me.”

  “Not when it comes to food.”

  He pushes the intercom in the car, and instructs the driver to pull over at the next open café. When he does, I jump out of the car like it’s on fire. I get a few looks in my fancy dress, but the nearest
waiter smiles at me as I take a seat. I’ve already told him it’s going to be a take away order when Brayden finally saunters through the door with another smile on his face.

  “Is it safe? I mean, I didn’t want to get between you and your food.”

  I laugh at his teasing. “Shut up and look at the menu.”

  “You’re not ordering for me?”

  “Could I?”

  “Yes.”

  “What if I order something you hate?”

  “I’ll eat it with a smile on my face.”

  It hits me then. He’s a prince. I knew that, but I forgot what exactly that entails. He’s probably had to endure many meals that he hated with a smile on his face. I hand him both menus.

  “Order for me, please.”

  “What? No. I want you to have something you like. I know you’re really hungry.”

  “I think you’ll do just fine.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  When the waiter comes back, the smile is gone from his face. He’s polite, but it’s obvious that he was hoping my dinner companion was going to be another woman. Brayden orders in French, earning him a little respect, but nothing more. At least from the waiter. I lean over and kiss him lightly after I hear him order me salmon with potatoes. I knew he could do it.

  “I did good?”

  “You did.”

  “Think he’ll spit on my steak frites?”

  “Probably.”

  “I can’t fault him for hoping he’d get a chance with you.”

  “I am pretty awesome.”

  “You really are, Cat,” he says, looking really serious all of a sudden.

  “But you’ll still try and destroy me if you don’t get what you want.”

  “Yes. I will destroy you.”

  “You’re welcome to try, but I’ll warn you now that I won’t go down without a fight.”

  “I have an army behind me.”

  “So do I.”

  He snorts, but he really shouldn’t. We may be smaller in number, but the women—and men—who have my back should never be discounted. The fact that we so often are is how we have such a high success rate on our missions. We’re underestimated, and while modern society has embraced strong women, I think there’s still a ways to go in thinking of us as equally dangerous. And yet we are. Brayden’s going to find that out if he keeps pushing me, and I will honestly be sorry to have to harm him. But I will.