Dirty Little Secret (Forbidden Desires #1)

I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “Everything’s fine. Good night, Miss Bell.”

“Good night, Gavin.”

“My assistant will be in touch with you when I have another event I need an escort for.” It was cold, even to my ears, but I didn’t know how to make it sound any different. It had always been the way I operated.

With a flash of anger in her bright gaze, Emma turned for the door and headed inside, closing it firmly behind her. I stayed until I heard the lock turn and then headed back to the limo.

“Where to, Mr. Kingsley?” Ben asked.

Knowing sleep was a long way off, I weighed my options. Though the idea of jerking one out appealed to me greatly, I couldn’t bring myself to go home to an empty house.

“Take me to the office.”

Despite it being after eleven at night, the lamp in Quinn’s office was still lit, and I bypassed my own office in favor of his.

His social skills were worse than mine—if that were even possible—but still, it surprised me he wasn’t out somewhere, or at least relaxing at home.

“Gavin? That you?” he called out.

He must have heard my footsteps approaching down the hall. I could have laughed at the fact he didn’t even consider that it might be Cooper.

“What are you still doing here?” I asked, rounding the corner to his office. I found him seated behind his desk, a glass of bourbon in front of him.

“I could ask you the same.” He smirked. Dark circles rested beneath his eyes, and his hair was overdue for a cut. In short, he looked like shit.

I knew he worked too much, knew he shouldered too much of the responsibility around here. But it had always been that way. Quinn was barely two years older than me, but he took the older-brother shit seriously. Growing up, he’d always looked out for me. Shit, he looked out for everyone. He had a soft spot in his heart for prostitutes and escorts. He’d saved more than one girl from life on the streets, and protected those who worked for us fiercely. Even though we didn’t always see eye to eye on everything, he was a good man.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I was just going over last quarter’s financial statements.” He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temples.

“Everything good?” I asked, helping myself to a glass of his bourbon before taking a seat in front of his desk.

“Everything’s good,” he confirmed, closing his laptop.

I sensed there was something else going on, some other reason he was here right now, but I didn’t press him.

Quinn took another slow sip of his drink, watching me. “Why are you here? Did you forget something?”

I shook my head. “Just wanted to check on a few things.” The lie rolled easily off my tongue, but my brother knew me better than to believe it. He didn’t have to say as much—I could see it in his eyes. He saw right through me.

“Tonight was your evening out with Emma, wasn’t it?” His dark brows drew together as he continued to study me.

“It was. I just dropped her off at home.” Taking another long sip of my drink, I hoped he read my fuck off signal loud and clear.

“How did that go? Did she live up to expectations?”

No such luck.

I shrugged. Maybe he thought I fucked her. I obviously didn’t. Ben could vouch for that. Jesus. “It was fine. We went to the event, and then I took her home. I won the Seychelles trip this year.”

“Oh, good. Another overpriced vacation you’ll never go on. Don’t change the subject.”

I rolled my eyes, adding another measure of bourbon to both our glasses. The bastard was referring to the trip to Tahiti I never took. Not that it went to waste. I gifted it to our highest-earning girl last year. She took her parents. I still had the photo of them on lounge chairs sitting on my desk.

As much as I didn’t want Quinn’s advice right now, I knew he was about to dish up a heaping serving. I bit the inside of my cheek and waited. The dude clearly had something he needed to get off his chest.

“Something’s different with this one,” he said. “I’m just trying to put my finger on what it is.”

He’d figure it out eventually; it didn’t take a rocket scientist. I drank the rest of my bourbon, waiting.

“I’m just trying to figure out if it’s more than just the fact she looks like Ashley.”

Ding, ding, ding.

Fucker.

“Drop it, Quinn. It has nothing to do with that.”

I didn’t want it to, and honestly, as I got to know Emma, the less their similarities seemed to matter. That first time I saw her in the coffee shop, though, I’d been knocked back three years.

Looking at Emma was like staring into the face of my once-upon-a-time. But I knew that wasn’t possible. I’d been there the day they’d lowered her into the ground. I’d said my good-byes, as final as they were.

They shared a few similar features, but Emma was her own woman, and one I was quickly becoming fascinated with.

“I know there’s something different about her. You haven’t even looked twice at a woman in months. Just be careful this time.”

I rose to my feet, my blood pumping fast. “Don’t you think I fucking know that?”

The fucking kicker? Quinn was right. Emma was feisty, yet had all the leanings of a submissive, which I’d always been attracted to.

“I don’t want this to end badly,” Quinn added.

Rubbing my temples, I regretted ever coming into the office tonight. Jacking off alone in the shower would have been much better.

“If you’re through, I’m tired. I’m going to head home.”

“Didn’t mean to piss you off,” Quinn said as I headed out of his office.

“Don’t worry about it,” I called over my shoulder, not bothering to look back.

As fucked up as all this was, I knew it was only going to get more complicated.

Tonight’s foreplay wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy the beast inside me. I wanted the pretty little Emma Bell. And I was going to have her.