Breaking Out

  “Start at the beginning. How did you meet?”

  She adjusted her clothes and tucked her hair behind her shoulders. “Like I said, he called the agency asking if we had anyone who fit a description. He wanted thin, long chestnut hair with hues of auburn, blue eyes, early twenties. They sent me and two other girls. He sent the other two home and invited me in.”

  “What happened during that first meeting?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “Um, what usually happens . . .”

  “He fucked you?”

  “Well . . . yes.”

  Lucian titled his head. “What’s the ‘well’ about? He either fucked you or he didn’t. It’s a yes-or-no question.”

  “Um, first we talked for a while. His time eventually ran out, but he put more money on the table and asked me to stay until morning.”

  “And did you?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did you talk about?”

  “He was, um . . . inexperienced I guess you could say.” Lucian chuckled and she paled. “Are you going to turn me in?”

  “No. My issue is with him, not you. Tell me more.”

  She licked her lips and sat back. “Well, he said he didn’t have a lot of experience and he wanted to know how to . . . please a woman.”

  “He was a virgin?”

  “Not exactly. He wanted to learn how to . . . make love. He said his experience was only with, well, quickies, I guess.”

  Lucian growled. “Go on.”

  “We started with kissing and he asked a lot of questions, what I liked, what I didn’t like. Then we moved on to other things. He was very insistent that I not, um, you know . . . fake it.”

  “I bet he was,” Lucian mumbled, shaking his head. “Continue.”

  “Well, we slept together that night, and then he asked me to come back every two weeks. He said he would hire me more if I kept our arrangement between us and left the agency out of it. I’m not supposed to do that, but I sort of, um, liked him.” She shrugged, a gesture Lucian imagined some men found cute.

  “So he could pay you less, no doubt.”

  “Well, yeah, but that wasn’t what it was about. At the agency’s rate he would only be able to afford to see me every few weeks. If I cut them out, I took home everything I got. So, since he was nice, I . . .” she suddenly looked upset. A tear fell from her eye and she batted it away. “I came to see him every week, sometimes twice a week.”

  Lucian watched her critically through narrow eyes. Then it dawned. “You liked him.”

  “I’m a call girl. Emotion doesn’t play into it.”

  “But it did for you, didn’t it, Sherry?”

  She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. Her frustration with her emotions was evident in the way she kept readjusting her posture, searching for ways to hide her upset. Giving up, she confessed, “He was just so nice. He made me feel special. It wasn’t just about the fuck for him. It was about the touch, the kisses, the looks. Clients don’t usually look at me the way he did. I swore he was falling for me, but then . . . then he sent me here and I don’t understand why. I assumed you were friends.”

  “Certainly not friends.” He sat back and crossed his ankles. “He was learning how to seduce a woman and practicing on you.”

  The statement stung her, he saw. She shrugged, pretending indifference and failing at it. “I guess.”

  “Will you go back to him?”

  She didn’t answer for a long time. Quietly she whispered. “I think I’m in love with him.”

  This woman was sent to fuck him, physically and metaphorically, yet he pitied her. She was caught up in a game she didn’t understand. Parker used her to up his game when it came time to seduce Evelyn. All other thoughts got interrupted by the king of all thoughts. “Was he a good lover?”

  She met his gaze. “He wasn’t when I met him. I was the first person he ever . . . took his time with. Once he learned how to savor it, it became incredible, for both of us. He was the first person I ever made love with, so yes, I think he’s a good lover.”

  He drew in a slow breath that shook inside his ribs. “Did he bring you to orgasm often?”

  She blushed. “Every time.”

  His back teeth clenched. “What did he expect to gain from you coming here?”

  “I don’t know. He told me not to call him. Said he would call me. He said he wanted me to remember everything we did, every way you touched me, how you looked at me, then he said he would invite me over one day and I was supposed to report on what we did when he asked, no matter who was present, but I wasn’t to admit that I’d been paid.”

  “Son of a bitch,” he hissed. That shit wanted it to get back to Evelyn that he’d been unfaithful during their time apart. Fuck that. He needed to think. Here was a woman under the misconception that she loved Parker, yet she knew nothing about him. He’d used her to get closer to another woman.

  “I want to tell you something, Sherry. You’ve been honest with me and I want to be honest with you. Parker Hughes is not in love with you.”

  Her face tightened and she blinked back more tears.

  Lucian continued. “He’s in love with a woman who looks remarkably like you. He’s trying to seduce her and he used you to enhance his skills in the bedroom. If he succeeds, you’ll never hear from him again.”

  Her shoulders shook as she cried silently. “How do I know you aren’t lying to me?”

  “Because I’m in love with the woman he’s after. He sent you here thinking you were a close substitute in her absence. I’m sorry, but you’re not. You see, when you love someone, only their touch will do. It’s only in their scent you find intoxication, their kiss that tastes so perfect. It has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with her.”

  “Believe it or not, I know what you mean. I felt the same way with him. I loved going home and still being able to smell him on my clothes.”

  “Will you tell him about our discussion?”

  She frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to believe. I thought he cared for me, but if what you say is true, well, I don’t want to help him. It’s just, I may seem stupid to you, but I don’t really believe he would do that. You’re a stranger. He’s not.”

  “A stranger he sent you to fuck. Does that sound like the actions of a man in love with you?”

  She was silent. Poor girl really did have her heart wrapped up in that little fucker. Lucian wasn’t stupid enough to say anything that shouldn’t go back to him. There was a huge chance love would outmaneuver reason, and she would help Parker again no matter how Lucian warned her.

  He sighed. “Look, I can’t tell you what to do. I can’t even convince you of what I know. What I can do is make you a promise. I promise you, Sherry, that if you do what he asked, if you confess things that happened tonight in mixed company, it will only work to screw us both. When you speak to him next, I predict he’ll try to persuade you to lie about what we did. He’ll want to hear that I easily fell into bed with another woman and he’ll try to convince you to say so in front of the woman I love in order to push us further apart. The problem is, the further she is from me, the closer he can get to her, and where does that leave you, Sherry?”

  He didn’t want to say much more. Who knew how sane Sherry really was? The last thing he needed was some jealous, confused hooker going after Evelyn.

  “What do you expect me to do?” she asked.

  “I expect you to go to him the next time he calls, which you will. I’d advise you not to, but I can see it in your eyes that you’ll need to see for yourself what a prick he is. I don’t really expect anything from you, Sherry. Except for your honesty when it comes to reporting back to him about what we did this evening. The only reason I touched you is because I’ve been drinking and I mistook you for someone else. The moment I realized you weren’t her, I stopped. Nothing happened because
I will not do that to her.”

  “Who is she?”

  “Someone I hope you’ll never meet. And, Sherry, I’m a nice guy, but I’m also a powerful guy. Whatever you and Hughes have going on is between the two of you. I’ll be able to find you if I want to. Don’t get her involved and make me find you. You’ll regret it. Do you understand?”

  The girl’s expression fell from intent focus to terror. She scooted toward the edge of the chair.

  Cutting her some slack he said, “Put my key on the desk and you may go.”

  She stood, slowly walked to his desk and dropped the key. With her back to him, she slipped on her coat and took her time doing up the buttons. As she turned, she said, “Thank you. I have everything I came for. I hope we never meet again.”

  “As do I.”

  A moment later the door closed and the elevator pinged softly. Parker must have acquired a key during the brief time he worked at the hotel as a bellhop. Lucian knew he could no longer waste away his evenings drinking. He needed his mind sharp.

  Parker Hughes was not a man to underestimate. His ploy tonight had only showed Lucian that having the odds tipped in his favor was not enough. No, Parker would do everything he could to fuck him over, and Lucian would never underestimate him again. If he couldn’t go to Evelyn, he needed to get the hell out of Folsom.

  Chapter 18

  Flight Square

  A square in which a piece can move in order to escape an attack

  The jet squealed through the air as it careened toward the earth, altitudes decompressing the cabin with every inch of descent. When the wheels finally skidded along the tarmac, Lucian undid his seatbelt.

  “Look, Isadora, I’m landing. I’ll call you once I check in at the hotel.”

  “Lucian, don’t you dare hang up on me,” his older sister snapped, using her most stern voice. “What’s going on with you? You haven’t been to Paris in years and all of a sudden you announce you’re taking a holiday to go visit Daddy of all people.”

  He stuffed his papers into the briefcase sitting beside him at the table. “I’m not visiting Christos and Tibet. I simply needed to get away and decided Europe was the place to go.”

  “Away from what?”

  “All of it.”

  Isadora was silent for a beat. “Luche, are you okay? Jamie told us you and Evelyn had a disagreement and the two of you were taking some time apart.”

  He paused. Fucking Shamus. “When did you talk to Jamie?”

  “He, uh, he came by last night. He’s been visiting a lot lately.”

  Lucian scowled. “What the hell for?”

  His sister drew in an audible breath. “Okay, listen, don’t freak out. She’s twenty-three years old—”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? Toni? What the hell happened to that ass wipe she was dating?”

  “Oh, come on, Lucian. You knew that was never going to go anywhere. You should be relieved. Could you imagine if she would have married him and we had to put up with him all the time? At least we know Jamie—”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, no one is getting married.”

  “Calm down.” She growled. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. We all knew this would eventually happen. The two of them have been dancing around each other for years now. She’s not a kid anymore, Luche.”

  “Why didn’t Shamus tell me? He should have fucking asked.”

  She snorted. “Because you ask? Come on, get real. Besides, he wanted to tell you this week, that’s why he popped into your office, but he said you already had enough on your plate with Evelyn. What’s going on with you two, by the way?”

  The captain opened the door to the cockpit and nodded, informing Lucian it was safe to exit. He adjusted his phone between his ear and his shoulder and stood, looking around for anything he might have left behind.

  “Don’t change the subject, Isadora. How long’s this been going on with the two of them?”

  “Only a few weeks.” She lowered her voice. “Lucian, I don’t even think they’ve slept together yet.”

  “Good God, I don’t want to hear about that!”

  “What? It isn’t like I’m telling you they’re going at it like rabbits. I thought that might be a relief.”

  “Fuck.” The idea of Shamus and his sister was one he had tried to avoid for years. Isadora was right. It was only a matter of time.

  Toni and Jamie had been doing that bullshit playground flirting ritual since they were young. The only difference was he and Jamie were a lot older than Toni. However, Toni—the little brat—took great pleasure in pointing out that she and Evelyn were the same age. “Fuck.”

  “Stop saying that,” Isadora scolded.

  “Well, what the hell am I supposed to say? My best friend wants to screw my baby sister.”

  “Damn it, Lucian! She isn’t a baby.”

  “I should have known this was coming. Now that I think about it, Shamus has been breaking my balls about her being an adult now, more so than usual. He could’ve just come out and told me what his intentions were like a man, so I could’ve punched him in the face and moved on, but no. He had to be a tissue about it and let my older sister tell me.”

  “I don’t think he wanted anyone else to tell you. They’re probably going to be mad I blabbed.”

  “Well, they can get over it. And while they’re at it they can get over any ideas they have of this continuing. Toni’s too young for him.”

  “Okay, Grandpa. Listen, you go check into your hotel and call me when you get settled. I’ll be sure to inform the two lovebirds of your disapproval while you’re away. I’m sure it will put a halt to all their intentions. You are the center of the universe after all.”

  “I’m the patriarch while Dad’s—”

  “Well, I’m the matriarch and older than you by quite a few years, so I’m overruling you. Besides, I think it’s sweet.”

  “Oh, spare me.”

  “Oops, here they come now. I gotta run, Luche, we’re going shopping. Au revoir!”

  “Isa—” The phone went dead. He stood at the bottom of the steps and went into his contacts. He pulled up Jamie’s number and texted:

  Prepare for an ass whooping when I get home. MY SISTER? Really??

  A second later his phone vibrated. He looked at the screen.

  Sorry. I tried to warn you.

  I’ll start hitting the gym again to prepare, because I’m not walking away.

  Lucian growled and slid his phone in his jacket pocket. It wasn’t that Jamie was a bad guy. He just had similar appetites to his own, and Toni wasn’t the type of girl to be bossed. She was the furthest thing from submissive and Shamus, that voyeur pervert, only slept with girls who gave him control of the ropes. Literally.

  Maybe it won’t work out.

  And maybe Hughes changed his mind.

  His sister was right. He had to get real.

  “Bienvenue, Monsieur Patras. Votre limousine est de cette façon,” an attendant said as he waited for Lucian, his bags already loaded on a cart.

  He followed him to the limo. “Merci.”

  Jacques, a long-term employee of Hôtel Patras and the last chauffeur he had had when in Paris, stood awaiting him at the door to the limo. “C’est bon de vous revoir, jeune Monsieur Patras.”

  He took the chauffeur’s extended hand. “Good to see you again, too, Jacques. How have things been in my absence?”

  “Très bien, monsieur. Et où allez-vous aller aujourd’hui?”

  Where would he be going? Good question. He supposed it was only proper to visit his father first since it had been about five years. He sighed. “Je voudrais voir mon père et le Tibet, s’il vous plaît.”

  “Ton père va être content.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure,” Lucian mumbled as he climbed into the limo. While most fathers were happy to
see their sons, Lucian had never been the typical son. Christos Patras also was not the typical father. As the limo pulled away, he shut his eyes and prepared for the worst.

  Chapter 19

  Resign

  To concede the loss of a game

  Jacques pulled into the rounded cobblestone drive of his father’s primary residence, and Lucian climbed out of the car. The brick façade of the mansion stretched high and wide. Nothing in America was this old and therefore could never be as beautiful. The chauffeur lifted his bags from the trunk.

  “Oh, don’t bother. I won’t be spending the night. You can take my things to the hotel and I’ll call when I need a lift home.”

  Jacques frowned at his English.

  “Shit.” Lucian thought for a moment. Changing gears, he recalled the French lessons he’d been forced to endure since the womb. “Je vais dormir à l’hôtel.”

  Jacques raised an eyebrow. “Mais votre famille est ici.”

  Exactly. If his family was here, he wouldn’t be. At least not with this side of his family. The driver nodded his understanding, not masking his disapproval well, and placed the luggage back in the trunk of the car.

  “Je vais telephone l’hôtel quand je suis prêt,” he said, waving the chauffeur off. Jacques slowly pulled out of the stone drive, leaving Lucian alone on the steps of the mansion. “No time like the present,” he grumbled as he climbed the stairs and rang the bell.

  “Juste une minute,” a female voice called from the other side of the door. When the door opened, Claudette, his father’s maid, stood on the other side, her hair a bit more gray, her build a bit softer. She looked at him and he saw the moment he’d been recognized. “Oh mon dieu, Lucian! Que faites-vous ici?”

  “Bonjour, Claudette,” he greeted, and she reached up, grabbed his ears and pulled him down so that she could kiss both his cheeks.

  “Your père shall be so pleased to have you here! ’Is son ’as finally returned. It is magnifique!”

  She tugged him over the threshold and stripped him of his jacket. “’Ave you been in Paree long, mon garçon?”