Park Avenue (Book Six in the Fifth Avenue Series) (48 page)

Who else was he going to
appoint as his successor?
 
Leana?
 
Hardly.
 
But it could happen, which was another
reason she was feeling more confident about the decision she made earlier that
day about Leana.
 
He’ll turn to
me when it’s time for him to retire, just as he would have turned to Celina if
she were alive.
 
He’ll have no
choice.

She dropped her bag onto
the kitchen counter and pulled out her cell.
 
She wanted Parker now.
 
She wanted Parker in her bed and inside
of her.
 

He answered on the second
ring.
 
“Pepper,” he said.
 
“Are you OK?”

She needed to continue to
act as if she had been threatened, so she stuck to the script.
 
“I’d be better if you were here.
 
Are you free?
 
I mean, if you’re with someone that’s
fine, but—”

“I’m not with
anyone.
 
I’ve given that up.”

“You’ve given it up?”

“I did.
 
I have enough money.
 
I’m going to find a job that you’ll be
proud of.
 
Give me thirty minutes
and I’ll be there.”

It was enough time for
her to shower, blow out her hair, and make herself as attractive as possible to
him.
 
When he arrived, she wore only
a red silk robe, and it took him one glance at the desire on her face to know
what she had in mind.

With a passion that
surprised her, he came into the entryway, shut the door behind him, and crushed
his mouth against hers.
 
His hands
slipped off the tie that held together her robe, and he shrugged it off her so
she was standing naked in front of him.

“You’re so beautiful,
Pepper.
 
Every part of you.
 
From your heart and your soul to your
incredible body.”
 
He came forward
and held her face in his hands.
 
“I’m yours if you want me.
 
I’m finished with the past.”

“Parker—”

“Just give me a chance,
Pepper.
 
Just a chance to be with
you and to prove to you that I’m the one.”

You’ll never find anyone
like him again.
 
You know that, so
do something about it.
 
Do it, or
lose him.

It was Penelope talking,
but this time Pepper listened.
 
She
did feel something for Parker.
 
Though he would have to legally change
his name from Manny to Parker if she was going to be with him.
 
But that was for another time, a
different conversation.
 
Now, she
just wanted him.

“Take off your shirt,”
she said.

He pulled his shirt over
his head, dropped it to the floor, and exposed to her his lightly hairy chest
and thickly muscled torso.

“Now, your shoes and
pants.”

He removed them and
tossed them past her into the room beyond.
 
She stared at him in his underwear, saw his excitement, and became inflamed
by it.

“Follow me to the
bedroom.”

She turned to move toward
it, but was surprised when he spun her around to face him.
 
She looked down, saw his erection, and
was thrilled when he pressed her back against the entryway wall.
 

“You’re not going to be
in control all the time, Pepper.”

“You don’t think so?”

“I know so.
 
Turn around.
 
Spread your hands against the wall for
support.
 
You’ll need it.”

She did as she was
told.
 
She loved it when he was like
this.
 
She needed him to be like
this more often.

“Lift up your ass for
me.”

“Fuck you.”

“Do it.”

“Make me.”

He reached around, took
her nipples between his fingers, and squeezed them so hard that she arched her
ass back in pleasure and pain.
 
She
was expecting him to enter her from behind when, instead, he slapped her hard
against her left cheek.
 

She wanted to cry out in
pain, but instead she swallowed it and said, “Is that really all you’ve got,
Parker?
 
Really?
 
Because that was pathetic.
 
That was a slap given by some pushover
pussy.
 
You can’t slap an ass to
save your sorry—”

This time, using the back
of his hand, he walloped her right cheek hard enough that he nearly sent her to
her knees.
 
She closed her eyes
against the pain and knew that this is what she needed.
 
This is what was missing in her
life.
 
She now was in control of so
many projects and so many people, but she needed to be submissive to
someone.
 
A strong man.
 
Someone who wasn’t intimidated by
her.
 
Someone who would spank her
ass hard, fuck her harder, and not give a damn whether he hurt her in the
process.
 
Parker was that man and he
didn’t judge her for it.
 
Instead,
he seemed to get off on the control, which just made her wetter for him.
 
Again, his hand rained down on her
ass.
 
And again.
 
By the fifth time he’d struck her, she was
spent.
 
She turned to him with such
a sense of urgency that he lifted her into his arms and took her to the
bedroom, where he threw her down onto the bed, spread her legs, and pressed his
face between them.

“Come on,” she said,
writhing.
 
“That’s right, you piece
of dog shit.
 
That’s right.
 
Eat me!”

He did, and when he was
finished, he stood.
 
Again, she was
expecting him to enter her, but again, he surprised her.
 
“Don’t you ever call me a piece of dog
shit, Pepper.
 
Ever.”

“Oh, please.”

“Get on your knees.”
 

She laughed at him.
 
“Now you sound like a little boy trying
to be a man.
 
Make me.”

With surprising speed, he
reached out, grabbed a handful of her hair, and forced her off the bed.
 
He shoved her down to the floor and made
her kneel in front of him.
 
His
cock, large and throbbing in front of her, was aching for her mouth.

“Suck it,” he said.
 
“Suck it and swallow it.
 
And don’t worry.
 
It takes me a long time to tire, Pepper.
 
You take my load and I’ll be all over
you.”

She did as she was
told.
 
She grabbed the base of his
cock, put it in her mouth, and started to suck, her head bobbing up and down on
it.
 
When he was close, he said,
“Your choice, Pepper.
 
I’m coming.
 
Who’s the pussy now?
 
Take it all, or win the title of Biggest
Pussy.”

As he shot into the back
of her throat, she took it all with a fierceness in her eyes that burned into
his.
 
Still hard, he slid out of her
mouth, told her to get back onto the bed, and to open her legs for him.

“You ready for this?” he
asked.

Her head was spinning.
 
He’d never been this rough with
her.
   

“I asked if you’re ready
for this, Red.
 
Don’t make me ask
you again.”

“Fuck you,” she said, and
spat in his face when he forced himself inside of her.
  

*
 
*
 
*

Later, when they were
finished and sheathed in sweat, he asked her if she’d like him to leave.

“No,” she said.

“You want me to stay?”

“I want more than
that...”

He turned onto his side
and looked at her.
 
“What do you
want?”

Close the deal,
Penelope.
 
He’s the one you’ve
always wanted, but never could have.
 
Poor, fat Penelope.
 
Too fat
to attract this kind of attention from this kind of stud.
 
Too mousy to stand a chance against the
other girls, all thinner and prettier than you.
 
Remember her?
 
You could become her again.
 
You could go back to your old ways and
get fat again.
 
Nibbling on pizzas
at midnight.
 
Eating cake for
lunch.
 
Shoveling through bags of
chips like they weren’t going to make them any longer.
 
That’s who you were, and that’s who you
could become again.
 
So, now’s your
chance.
 
He’s right here.
 
Close the deal, help him find him the
job he wants, and have it all.

“You,” she said.
 
“I want you.
 
And if you’re interested, I want you to
move in with me.”

He climbed back on top of
her with a smile on his face.
 
She
smiled back at him, and then leaned up to kiss him.

“What took you so long?”
he asked.

“Nerves.”

“No one’s going to
threaten you again,” he said.

You’re right,
she thought.
 
They’re not.
 
Not after today.
 
Soon, there won’t be anyone left to
threaten me.

His head dipped beneath
the sheets.
 
He tickled her with his
tongue on the way down to where it really mattered, and when they began again,
it was in earnest.

CHAPTER
SIXTY-NINE

The next morning, at his
office, an intrigued James Cullen hung up his phone and sat at his desk,
wondering what fresh hell this was and how he would handle it going forward.

Depending on how it
turned out.

The call came from a
Marty Spellman, who identified himself as a private investigator, and who now
was on his way to meet Cullen so they could discuss Louis Ryan’s will.

“May I ask why you have
an interest in the will, Mr. Spellman?”

“If you don’t mind, Mr.
Cullen, I’d prefer not to discuss it over the phone.
 
I know you’re busy.
 
I won’t take up much of your time.
 
Where might I meet you?”

James could have let the
situation end there.
 
But an
investigator calling with an interest in Ryan’s will?
 
There was no way he was going to resist
meeting this man and trying to find out why he was so interested in it.
 
What did this Spellman know?
 
What did he suspect?
 
Did he have a copy of the will?
 
Of course, he did, which meant he
already knew that each one of Ryan’s beneficiaries was now dead.

He obviously is making
something of that,
he thought.
 
But
what brought him to the will?
 
Who’s
behind it?
 
And what questions does
he have?

He decided it was in his
best interest to find out.

“I have an office at
Manhattan Enterprises, Mr. Spellman.
 
You can meet me here.
 
Just
announce yourself at the front desk and you will be allowed through.”

“Manhattan Enterprises?”

“That’s right.
 
Louis Ryan’s former building.
 
You know, on Fifth?”
 
He said it in a light, conversational
sort of way.
 
He said it as if it
wasn’t a big deal.

“I know of it.
 
I’ll see you in thirty?”

“That would be fine, Mr.
Spellman.
 
We’ll have coffee or tea,
and discuss the will.”

When Marty Spellman
arrived, Cullen’s assistant, Marta, let him into the room and Cullen rose from
his desk to greet him.
 
“Coffee or
tea, Mr. Spellman?” Cullen asked.

“Coffee,” Marty
said.
 
“Black.
 
Thank you.”

“Tea for me, Marta.
 
No need to knock.
 
Just come right in with it.
 
Thank you.”

He assessed Spellman as
he came around his desk.
 
Tall,
broad shoulders, early forties, very handsome.
 
Notebook in hand, as well as a manila
envelope, in which Cullen knew was the will.