Devil She Became (Devil's Angels Book 1) (13 page)

“No, I haven’t. I had a few flings that lasted a couple of months, but nothing like with Reese.” Harrison rubbed her thigh beneath the table.

Ava sat back and crossed her arms underneath her breasts.

“Ok, I see. You meet Barbie over here and everything changes. Now you want wifey gone.”

Harrison sighed. “No, not exactly.”

Ava sat up and leaned right into his face.

“What is it, then? Why do you want her dead?”

“Because I am tired of living in hell. Tired of living in fear that she will find out and ruin me. She saw me dancing with Reese at a charity ball a few weeks ago and threatened to destroy me if I had another affair. My father would disown me, and I would lose everything I have. I refuse to allow that to happen!” Harrison slammed his hands on the table so loudly people looked over at them.

Ava hissed. “Fucking idiot! Be quiet! Don’t draw attention to us!”

“Calm down, it’s okay.” Harrison held up his hands.

“I suppose you and your Barbie have considered all options, consequences, etc.”

“Yes, we have.”

“Being an attorney, I assume you are aware of the consequences of conspiracy. Therefore, you are aware of the severity of this situation?”

Harrison nodded. “Of course.”

“Ok, Mr. Grantham, then listen to me carefully. I don’t care to repeat myself, as you should know by now. My methods are not to be questioned. I will not cause unnecessary pain. I am not a sadist. I am not, as you so callously described me, an assassin. I don’t lie in wait with an assault rifle. I am only providing a service. So as not to arouse suspicion, I work slowly. This job, however, will be completed within sixty to ninety days. Prior to committing the act, I will leave a business card for you in a location only you will find. The card means it will be done within seventy-two hours. That being said, you need to be sure you have a solid alibi for every second of that time. Barbie cannot be your alibi. Got it?”

“Sure.” Harrison nodded. “Does she need an alibi too?”

“I would advise it. Be sure you are not together within these seventy-two hours. I would also advise you start thinking now about how to establish your alibi. And all traces of this meeting will be destroyed. Whatever computer you used to contact me with, destroy it. And I mean destroy the whole thing. Smash the hard drive and incinerate it. I do the same with all my equipment. I will memorize this information you provided and I will burn this note. Never speak of this again. After you have wired the money to my accounts, destroy that information. It should be untraceable. Now, if you follow my instructions precisely, we should all be satisfied with the outcome. Also, you should never speak of this with each other either.”

Ava narrowed her eyes and leaned in very close to them. “If you get caught, it is because one of you did something stupid. I will not be caught. I do not exist.”

Standing up, Ava slipped the paper Harrison gave her into her purse.

“One more thing, if you think you can skip out on giving me my money, think again. I have contacts everywhere, and I will get my money one way or another. It’s non-negotiable.

Now we are done here. It was a pleasure to meet you both. I hope you are pleased with the decision you have made.” Ava extended her hand to both of them.

They all shook hands. Then they watched Ava slink off into the night in her impossibly high heels.

Reese and Harrison turned to each other.

“Wow.”

Harrison and Reese drove home in total silence. Both knew they were thinking the same thing.
What have we done?

Reese, running her hands up and down her arms to alleviate a chill, spoke first. “Wow. This is unreal.”

Harrison kept his eyes on the road. “Yeah. I don’t know what to say.”

Reese straightened her skirt. “She’s unbelievable. I’ve never met such a powerful woman.”

Harrison nodded. “I know what you mean. She’s strong, vital… viciously sexy.”

Reese smiled. “Excellent way to describe her. She had a potent aura. Not a person to be taken lightly; that’s for sure.”

Harrison turned to her. “Well, it’s done. I guess I just go about my normal routine until I get the card.”

Reese nodded. “Seems like that’s the best thing to do. Harrison, I want you to know I’m sorry.”

Harrison grimaced. “Sorry for what?”

“For starting all this with you. Look where it’s led.”

Harrison whipped the car over to the shoulder. He put the car in park and grabbed her shoulders.

“This is NOT your fault, Reese. I made the call; this was my decision to make. I started this with you, and I made a choice of where it led us. I don’t want to hear any more about it. We are not bad people. We are
doing
something bad. Got it?”

Reese bowed her head and whispered. “If I could tell her I am sorry, I would. She’s just become a liability.”

Harrison smiled grimly. “Yes, a liability. We are eliminating a problem. That’s all.”

Reese nodded, feeling a bit sick. Harrison seemed confident about the situation, so she felt a bit more at ease. She just hoped they wouldn’t end up in prison.

As they pulled up to her apartment, Harrison opened her door and scooped her up into his arms. He carried her through the lobby to the elevator and all the way through her front door.

Walking through the door, he carried her straight to the bed. Instead of ripping her clothes off, he dropped her on the bed.

Curling up next to her fully clothed, he spoke softly.

“Reese, this is serious. Ava is right. If we get caught, it’s because we fucked up. I know I can keep a secret well. Can you?”

She looked up at him. He was running his hands down her thighs.

“Of course, baby. I wish it hadn’t come to this, but it has. And I am willing to follow you anywhere, do anything. I love you, Harrison.” She buried her head in his chest.

Harrison stroked her upper thigh. “I love you, Reese. Please remember how important it is to follow all of Ava’s instructions.”

Reese nodded.

“What about your kids? Have you thought of them?”

Harrison pulled back. “Of course, I have. All the time. I don’t want them hurt by this, but, of course, they will be. I plan to send them to my parents’ home for a while afterwards, like Darrell did with his children, so they will not have to hear about this on the news.”

“And get them out of our hair…” Reese finished, her voice deep with sarcasm.

Harrison pushed her back. “No. I love my kids. I don’t want them out of my hair at all. That’s another thing. You need to be prepared to help me take care of them if you want us to be together.”

With that, he began passionately kissing her. She threw her head back and he devoured her neck, biting and licking her. Reese stood up, went over to the dresser and lit several candles. Harrison set his phone on a seductive tune. Reese began to undulate in a seductive dance. She swayed her hips as she slowly removed her skirt. Keeping her heels, bra, and panties on, Reese began grinding in his lap. She reached her arms up and spilled her blonde hair across his face. Harrison caught the scent of her silky hair. She kept dancing around in front him, her hands reached up to undo the clasp of her bra, and she tossed it in his face as she kept her breasts covered with her arms.

Grabbing her in his arms and standing, Harrison began slowly moving with her to the music. Feeling his growing hardness pressed against her thigh, Reese moaned softly. He kept dancing with her as he ran his strong hands over her lithe body. He dipped his head low to kiss her softly on her forehead. As the dancing intensified, they began grinding their bodies harder and harder into each other. Reese reached down and caressed him through his pants. He was so brutally hard by now that when she unzipped his pants, he burst forth into her hand. Reaching between her legs, Harrison found her as wet as he always made her. As the candlelight illuminated their writhing bodies, Harrison picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. As he entered her, Reese’s head fell back in sheer ecstasy. As he bounced her up and down his shaft, he whispered “I love you, goddess.”

She pulled her head up and met his lips. “I love you, Harrison. You are everything.” She gasped for air as she felt herself begin to come.

“Not yet, baby.” Harrison pulled himself out of her. “Like this.” He put her down on the floor and rubbed her wet slit. He pushed his fingers in and out of her as she knelt on all fours.

“Mmmm…” She moaned deeply. His fingers were so long and supple, playing her. She adored it. Slowly he removed his fingers and slid them backward, wetting her. Harrison then slipped himself deep in her ass. She felt a sharp pain at first, then she felt like melted butter all over. He stroked in and out very gently this time, churning himself deep inside her. “Oh, my God, that’s amazing,” she moaned.

Harrison groaned deeply as his hands rested on her hips, pulling her back and forth and up and down his immense, hard shaft. He then took one hand and started slipping a finger up inside her. Shivers went down her spine as she felt both parts of her being filled at once. Being stretched open to him like that, she felt completely vulnerable. Laying her head on the floor, she reached back and pulled herself open even more… a final surrender to him. As he pumped in deeper, she felt him pulsing as he came. Stars shining behind her eyes, she collapsed breathless onto the floor.

Harrison collapsed on the floor beside her, exhausted from their lovemaking, breathing heavily. Their passion sated for the moment, they fell into a deep sleep.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack. The sound echoed across the hushed room. Then the sound stopped as an exquisite pair of high heels with equally exquisite legs stemming up from them took a seat in the front row. Then the whispers started.

“Who is
that
?”

“Never seen her before.”

“Gorgeous shoes!” whispered one female.

The mysterious woman reached up to smooth her sleek short black hair with one bejeweled, manicured hand. Her impeccable suit was a deep-blue color that matched her beautiful eyes. A brief smile played upon her full, lacquered lips. Donning a pair of Chanel eyeglasses, she surveyed the room.

A woman walked up to the front of the room. “I see we have a new face here today. Let’s welcome Ava.”

The mysterious woman smiled broadly as she stood up.

“Hello, Ava. Welcome to our acrylic painting group. We have been working on impressionist-style painting. I hope you find this as enjoyable as we all have.”

“Ava?” the female next to her inquired.

The mysterious woman turned and smiled at the tall brunette. “Yes. Hi, I’m Ava.” She extended her hand.

“So nice to meet you. I’m Lisa.”

Settling down in the seat next to Lisa, Ava began removing tubes of paint from her bag.

“Those are beautiful shoes, Ava. Prada?” Lisa smiled at her new acquaintance.

“Manolo.” Ava gave her a warm smile.

“So, how long have you been painting?” Lisa peered over at the assortment of paint tubes Ava was arranging at her easel.

“For a while. It’s been a lifelong hobby of mine. I went to school for art history.” Nonchalantly, Ava brushed her hair from her face. She pulled a light-blue-colored smock out of her bag.

“Really? So did I! Where?” Lisa looked amazed.

“I’m from California, but I was going to go to Princeton. My father became ill, so I decided to stay local and went to UCLA instead.”

“Amazing. I went to Princeton. What a coincidence. Do you have a portfolio?”

“Sure. Do you?”

“These are great, Ava. Beautiful use of color here”. Lisa gestured to the blue wash on a painting of a beach scene.

“Thank you.” Ava scanned Lisa’s paintings. A bunch of amateurish paintings of children at play, sappy sunsets, and a few dreary nature scenes.
Blah
.

“Beautiful work, Lisa. You have a natural talent.” Ava smiled warmly. As she looked away, she rolled her eyes.

“No, I don’t really. But thank you. I enjoy painting.” Lisa blushed and looked down.

Scanning her with her eyes, Ava noticed Lisa’s outfit; stylish but baggy pants as though she was trying not to call attention to her very large thighs, a red expensive-looking sweater which she failed even minimally to fill out, and a pair of medium-heeled Prada pumps. Over this, she wore a green paint-flecked smock. Lisa was tall, about five-foot-ten-inches, with dull brown hair. Her haircut was obviously expensive and styled well, but the color was unbecoming to her sallow complexion. Ava could definitely see how Harrison was attracted to Reese over Lisa. Reese was the complete physical opposite of Lisa. Although, how a girl as hot as Reese could want an arrogant, self-serving prick like Harrison was beyond her. She was weak.
So many women are weak!
Ava thought, shaking her head. Harrison was conventionally handsome, but she herself could never tolerate his arrogant banter and exaggerated swagger.

“So do you have any children?” Lisa asked, bringing Ava out of her reverie.

“No, I don’t. Do you?”

“Oh, yes. Two beautiful ones. Here, look.” Lisa pulled out her phone to show Ava several photos of two beautiful little girls. Neither looked like Harrison.

“Oh, how precious. Are you married?” Ava studied the photos Lisa presented to her.

“Yes. Are you?”

“No, I am divorced. My husband was cheating on me with his trampy secretary.” Ava’s eyes clouded over and she clenched her jaw in anger.

“I’m sorry to hear that. It happens to a lot of women.” Lisa was sympathetically shaking her head. Ava started arranging her paintbrushes in the jar next to her easel.

“He was a real bastard; that’s for sure. He was one of those types, you know? So full of himself. So taken with his own self-importance. He was a lawyer.” Carefully, Ava watched Lisa’s face for any flicker of empathy.

“I know what that’s like. Lawyers are their own breed. My husband is a lawyer too.” She laughed. “Very arrogant, so I know exactly what you mean.”

Ava kept her eyes riveted on Lisa. Would she admit to Harrison’s flings or not? Would she lend Ava a sympathetic ear by saying her husband had done the same?

Lisa continued. “We have been married for almost eleven years. Harrison, that’s my husband, comes from an extremely wealthy family. All Ivy League and quite successful, if you know what I mean. Harrison comes by his arrogance naturally, and he can still be quite impossible.”

“Sounds like it. Wow, Ivy League. I’m impressed. My ex-husband went to law school in the Midwest, and he still had a ‘God complex’.” Ava laughed.

Lisa sighed and turned back to her paintbrushes. “Well, I wonder what we are going to paint today.”

Dammit. Ava scowled and rolled her eyes as she turned away.
Talk more
, she thought.

“So what does your husband’s secretary look like?” Ava laughed, trying to coax Lisa back into conversation.

Lisa chuckled. “I don’t really know. I haven’t been to Harrison’s office in years. He really doesn’t like me to drop in as he is swamped all the time. I’m usually too busy anyway, running the kids to soccer practice, dance classes… you name it. I do volunteer work at their school as well, so I am way too busy to worry about that!” She laughed.

Ava winced a bit. Her laugh was quite annoying. The sound reminded her of a small dog yipping. She kept throwing her bait, but Lisa wasn’t picking it up.

She decided to change tactics. “When I found out what my husband’s secretary looked like, I almost flipped. She was gorgeous! Like Pam Anderson from the 90s era. I should’ve known what he would do with her! She was just his type, but I naively believed he wasn’t interested in her. ‘Her boobs are too big,’ he said. HA!” Ava shook her head convincingly.

Looking thoughtful, Lisa was quiet for moment. “Sounds like Harrison,” she mumbled softly.

“What did you say? I’m sorry. I didn’t catch that.” Ava hid her smile.

“Oh, nothing. Marriage can be complicated; that’s for sure.” Lisa turned back to her easel. Sensing that Lisa wasn’t going to be more forthcoming today, Ava decided to change tactics again.

“What kinds of things do you like to paint?”

Lisa turned to Ava. “Mostly landscapes. I have done a few pictures of my children, but I don’t really think my talent is for painting people. It’s so hard to portray them. I find nature to be easier to capture.”

Ava nodded. “Me too. I adore painting landscapes. Last year, I was able to do some amazing work when I was vacationing in Colorado.” Ava retrieved a few paintings out of her leather portfolio.

Lisa studied them carefully. “Very beautiful, Ava.”

Ava smiled broadly as if something had just occurred to her. “Hey, I’ve wanted to do a series of urban landscapes, but I’m not very familiar with this area. Do you think you and I could do something together?”

Lisa pondered her question for a moment. “Yes, I think I would like that. I never really have anyone to paint with, and all these women are so stuck up.” Lisa leaned in to whisper to her. Glancing around the room at the perfectly-coiffed women in their designer outfits and Birkin bags, Ava giggled. “I can see that. What time would be good for you?

“My girls leave for school around 8:30 a.m., and I usually pick them up around 3:30 p.m. So I’m free during the day.”

Ava smiled warmly, holding a paintbrush in her hand. “Ok, let’s say Wednesday around 10:00 a.m.? We could meet somewhere.”

“Why don’t we just meet here and you can ride with me? I have a huge Range Rover.”

“That would be great! I’m driving a Ferrari right now.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “Wow. My husband would love that. He adores fast, expensive cars. He bought himself an Aston Martin One-77.”

Ava’s mouth dropped. “Really? Those are gorgeous. Extremely expensive. My Ferrari came from my divorce settlement. It was kind of gift to myself having survived such a crappy marriage.” Ava laughed.

Lisa smiled at her. “Ok. Well, we will plan on Wednesday then.”

As Lisa turned away from her, Ava’s smile faded and her eyes narrowed. Oh, yes, this would be easy.

********

Pulling her red Ferrari Spider up to the rec center, Ava spotted Lisa’s white Range Rover at once. Checking her lipstick in her mirror, Ava gathered her painting gear and walked over to Lisa’s SUV.

“Lots of room in here!” Ava exclaimed, loading her leather tote full of paints and brushes into the backseat.

Lisa laughed. She was dressed casually in designer jeans and a loose, cotton top. Her drab hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. She wore only a touch of mascara and lip gloss. In contrast, Ava’s eyes were fully made up and heavily fringed with mascara. Her long fingernails manicured to perfection. Ava wore a pair of jeans also, but hers were very tight and showed off her excellent figure. She wore a pair of leopard print Manolos.

“Great shoes.” Lisa commented, looking down at the beautiful, leopard-print heels.

“Thanks. I’m addicted to shoes,” Ava laughed.

As they drove along, they chatted briefly about trivial things. Ava rolled her eyes behind Lisa’s back at most of her comments.
No wonder Grantham wants to kill the bitch. She’s boring as hell and completely unattractive,
Ava thought. It was all Ava could do to stomach being around this woman. Her laughter was shrill and irritating, her banter ignorant and tedious. Ugh. How much longer did she have to fake an interest in painting? It simply bored her to death.

Finally, after finding a spot near Lake Michigan to set up their easels, Ava began to broach the subject she wanted Lisa to talk about.

Ava sighed. “God, my ex-husband used to love to go boating every weekend. I miss that so much. If he could’ve kept his hands off his slutty secretary, we would still be boating together.”

Lisa nodded sympathetically. “That’s too bad.”

Ava pursed her lips and dared to ask about Harrison. “So you said your husband had a hot secretary?” Ava gave a light laugh.

Lisa smiled and shook her head. “I don’t really know. I told you that I haven’t been to his office in years. But Harrison has had a few issues.”

Ava was nearly salivating. Finally! “Oh, really? I’m sure he didn’t do anything.”

Lisa bit her lip and looked down. “I really don’t like to talk about it, but Harrison had a bit of a fling once. Oh, he claimed she was nothing, but it was more than that. He came home intoxicated with blonde hair and perfume all over him.”

“Wow, what did you do?” Ava turned to face Lisa.

“Not much. The typical hysterics. I screamed at him, threatened to throw him out, take the kids… you know, all that usual stuff. He swore it was nothing, and it never happened again.” Lisa shrugged, fiddling with her brushes.

Ava gave her a sympathetic look. “Yes, I know exactly how that feels. Men are such assholes sometimes. I swear, after I left my husband, I felt like becoming a lesbian I was so done with men.”

Ava studied Lisa’s reaction to her statement.

Lisa turned back to her easel briefly. Then she faced Ava again. “Don’t think I haven’t considered divorce, but that’s just not possible. I don’t want my kids to grow up without their dad, and both of our families find divorce unacceptable. Harrison knows my threats are empty, and I know he’s not really going anywhere, so we both try to make the best of it. I try to focus on our kids most of the time.”

Ava nodded. Now she would lay the foundation of her plan.

“You know, I suffered a lot of depression after we split. It about killed me. I couldn’t get out of bed, didn’t want to leave the house or anything. I lost my job. Everything was downhill for a long time.”

As Ava kept her eyes on Lisa, she noticed Lisa’s eyes begin to tear ever so slightly.

“So how did you manage to get out of the depression?” she asked.

Ava smiled to herself. This was going to be so easy.

“Well, after about six months of wallowing in misery, a close friend of mine told me about an antidepressant she was taking. She said it turned her life around. At that point, I was ready to try anything. I was sleeping all day doing nothing. Honestly, I didn’t feel I had anything to live for. I mean, my husband left me for a prettier, thinner woman. I tried losing weight, getting botox, lipo. It just didn’t work. I thought about implants, but didn’t feel that I needed that much of a boost. I didn’t feel any better.” Ava paused, giving this time to sink in with Lisa.

Lisa was staring intently at Ava, nodding her head. “That sounds exactly like me a few years ago after I found out about Harrison.”

“Really? You did the whole plastic surgery routine?”