Twisted Desire (The Twisted Series) (2 page)

She gives him a pointed stare.  “I want it all. 
Tell me everything you can about this, Aliah Brooklin, who is tagging onto my
man.  There’s fifty percent up front.  I’ll give you the other half
when you deliver me the goods.”

David smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.  “You mean
business.”

“You’re damn right I do.”

“I think we have ourselves a deal, Ms. Hawkins.”  They
shake hands and she stands up.  “Jillian, my assistant, will have you sign
a few papers before you go.”

She makes to leave the room, but he stops her.

“Oh, and Ms. Hawkins?”

“Yes?”

He gives her his most alluring masculine smile.  “Have
a nice day.”

She looks flustered as she leaves the room.  He
chuckles to himself, as he kicks his boots back onto his desk.  He thinks
for a few moments, while listening in on the women’s conversation at the front
desk.  He’s curious to know how Jillian knows his new client.  He
hears how there’s no need for introduction and they call each other by first
name.

The second Brandee Hawkins leaves the reception desk, he
finds himself drifting there to get the particulars.  He hands Jillian the
fat cheque.

“Can you get this in the bank, please?”

“Sure can.  Here are the file opening forms for the
Hawkins case.  Sounds interesting.  And this girl, Aliah, sounds like
a real piece of work.”

“You don’t know her?”  He sees the way Jillian acts
like she’s thinking about it and refuses to make eye contact with him.  He
catches the unusual twitch in her eye.  She definitely knows her.

“Nope.  I don’t think so.”

He lets it go, making a mental note to test her again
later.  Jillian has been a loyal assistant to him for many years. 
She has always been forthcoming with information on the locals, where
possible.  So, why won’t she just admit that she knows Miss Aliah
Brooklin?

His lips remain unsmiling, his eyes unaffected by her
deceit.  He was good at hiding emotions from his face.  Then again,
you would have to have emotions in order for them to outwardly show.  As
for him, he’s convinced he has none.  “I don’t know why Hawkins doesn’t
just confront the girl or call the cheating bastard out on it.”

Jillian smiles and the worry hiding behind her eyes seems to
flutter away, like her blackened eyelashes.  “You shouldn’t care too
much,” she says, waving a hand flamboyantly.  “Her lack of eagerness to do
a little digging on Cavanagh just made you a small fortune.”

He turns on a charming smile.  “That’s only half of
it.”

“Really?  So, what are you going to do to earn it?”

He taps the papers on her desk, ready to take his
leave.  “I’m going to get started right now.  And tonight, I’ll pay
this Aliah Brooklin a visit.”

“Isn’t that a little forward?  I doubt she’ll tell you
anything when she realizes who you are.”

“I’ll be discreet.  Have you ever known me to gloat
about who I am?”

Jillian smiles gingerly.  “Yes.  All the time.”

“Not tonight.”  His real smile makes an appearance and
slants a little to the left.  “Tonight, I’m just Harley.”

“Who’s Harley?”

“How long have you been working for me?” he teases. 
“That H in the middle of your pay check.  What do you think that stands
for?”

Jillian’s smiling again, disbelief still marring her
attractive features.  She tucks a strand of long blonde hair behind her
ear.  “Your name is Harley?”

“My middle name.  My mother used to call me that before
my father died, so she wouldn’t get us confused.”

Jillian nods her head slowly, with a smile so large it seems
to stretch across her face, almost unpleasantly.  “Well, in that case,
have fun tonight,
Harley
.”  Her voice turns as seductive as her
muted beauty.  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

He turns for the door and gives her a friendly wink over his
shoulder.  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Aliah Brooklin has never moaned in one sitting more than she
has today.  “Oh, yeah.  That’s the spot… right there.”

It feels that good.

“
Yes!  That feels so good.”  She feels like
the stress of her life comes rolling off her body in waves.  “Don’t
stop.”  Her voice is low and throaty and borderline breathless.

The man’s fingers continue to dig into her skin, massaging
away the tension from her muscles.

“Oh, Michael.  You’re the man.”

Aliah rolls up to a sitting position.  Michael is in no
way alarmed by Aliah’s forwardness.  She’s completely nude, except for the
white towel tossed across her lap to cover the bare minimum, which she’s only
wearing to appease him.  Otherwise she’d be happy to tell him where he can
stick the rules of his high class establishment.

She’s not at all concerned about flaunting her body around
Michael when she visits him for her weekly massage.  He claims that he
likes
the gentlemen
.  Funny, he keeps sneaking a peek at her chest
whenever he thinks she’s not looking.  She smiles anyway, not much caring
in this moment.  He is good at what he does and worth every pretty penny.

Who needs a man when you have Michael?

“Thanks, Michael.  You’re amazeballs.  Same time
next week?”

He delivers her a friendly smile; the same one that
sometimes makes her wish he was a little less gay.  “I’m glad you liked
it.  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do next week. 
Vacation.”  And the way he says it tells her that he is flagrantly taking
it up the ass.  “I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”

“Aww.  What am I supposed to do without you?”

“Honey, go find yourself a man.  There are plenty of
them out there that would be happy to get their hands on you.”

Aliah sticks out a pouty lip, not much liking that
idea.  “I’ll see you in a few weeks then, I guess.  Because I’m not
letting them put their dirty paws on me.”

Nope.  Aliah Brooklin is not going to find some random
dude to help her through her down time.  She’ll have to suffer.  She
will have to find other, more productive, things to do with her time.

She quickly redresses and heads home to ready herself for a
night on the town.  Ever since her best girlfriend Abigail got married and
had a baby, their nights out were becoming few and far between.  She is
really looking forward to tonight.  It has been months since their last
night out without a kid attached at Abigail’s hip.

Abigail is still her best girlfriend.  She is her
only
girlfriend, actually.  Aliah isn’t one to hang out with the ladies. 
Men are easier to be around.  They tend to cut the crap and skip the
drama, and she is plenty dramatic for the whole lot of them.

Aliah pulls up to Abigail’s house in her yellow BMW and
wails on the horn.  When no one makes an appearance in the door, Aliah
tries again, beeping her car’s horn twice.  She then holds it down for
three long seconds.

Still nothing.

She turns off her car and heads for the front door of
Abigail’s restored Victorian, soothed by the steady click of her ridiculously
tall shoes.  Aliah shouldn’t be surprised that her friend isn’t ready
yet.  It’s a rare occurrence that she be ready on time.  But still,
Aliah likes to harass her.

Aliah lets herself in the house and quickly realizes that
her friend has company.

Shocking!

The young girl sitting on the sofa bears a striking
resemblance to someone she knows.  Very familiar indeed.

Can’t be.

Distracting her from that obvious dilemma, a wet and wiggly
little girl comes pattering toward her, flashing her naked bottom for anyone to
see.

“Maya!” Aliah cheers, even though everyone knows she’s not
particularly fond of kids.

Maya doesn’t know any different and takes a running leap
into Aliah’s arms, soaking her bar clothes.  Aliah moans, but quickly
replaces her annoyance with a smile.  Knowing what little-Maya likes, she
throws her up into the air, to hear her giggle.

Edwin and Abigail Santora have made the most beautiful baby
girl and she is a sweetheart. 
There is just something special about
this little one.

Aliah quickly lowers the kid to the floor and sweeps her
hands over her wet shirt, acting like she isn’t completely horrified. 
Then she looks over to her friend, who appears down the hallway with a
beautiful baby bump encompassing her middle.

“Woman!” Aliah shouts.  “Why aren’t you ready
yet?  You can’t go out looking all sweet and romantic when I look like
this!”  She points toward her own excessive cleavage and lifts a five inch
stiletto from the floor.

Abigail sweeps the hair from her face with a sudsy, wet
hand, and then dries it on the towel hanging over her shoulder.  “Ally,
don’t you remember?  I told you I couldn’t do it tonight.  I promised
Aubrey I would meet with her and the wedding planner to go over the details of
her wedding.”  She dries Maya on the spot and lifts her into her arms
while she talks.

“I’m sorry, Ally.  But you’re on your own
tonight.  That is, of course, unless you would like to join us.” 
Abigail’s smile is sarcastic at best.

“Looking this good?  That’d be a waste.”

Abigail knows damn well that Aliah despises weddings more
than anything else in this world.  She despises love and all of that other
girly crap that goes along with a lifetime of happiness too.  She hasn’t
always been this single sighted.  But ever since Hunter Wight crushed her
heart into a blender and hit the pulse button repeatedly, she has vowed never
to love again.

It was an easy task, really.  She will never let a man
get that close again.  And if he dares try, she will cut off his balls and
pin them to the wall as a reminder for any future takers.  No man is
willing to risk his balls to win that fight.  It’s a losing battle.

Saving her from another futile discussion about getting back
out there, Aliah welcomes the company, as another woman rings the doorbell. 
Aliah opens the door and waves a dramatic hand.

“Come on in.”

Aliah doesn’t recognize her at first, but as soon as the
girl opens her mouth, Aliah is quickly reminded that it’s none other than that
big-mouthed bitch, Ashley Clarke.

Ashley’s eye bug out of her head the instant she notices her
niece sitting in Abigail’s living room.  “Pheobe?  What are you doing
here?” she screeches.

That was my reaction exactly.

Abigail shifts from one foot to another and lowers Maya to
the floor.  “Pheobe, would you please take Maya to her room to get
dressed?  I’ve picked out her clothes.  They’re on top of her
dresser.”

Pheobe doesn’t ask questions.  She is old enough now to
understand when adults need their privacy.  Pheobe reaches for Maya’s
hand, then hikes her onto her hip.  “Come on, Maya.  I’ll help you
get dressed.”

Ashley doesn’t waste any time opening her big mouth. 
“I can’t believe my brother even talks to you, after what you did to him. 
He’s still a wreck.  You’ve ruined him.”

Abigail turns her head toward the floor and massages the top
of her baby belly.  You can see it in her features that she means what she
says.  “I didn’t mean to hurt him, Ashley.  I still care for Cameron,
very much.  But I’m truly happy now and I know in my heart that I made the
right choice.  Life couldn’t be any better for me, really.  Marrying
Edwin was the smartest decision I’ve ever made.”

As if waiting for the perfect moment, Edwin enters the door
and piles into the overcrowded foyer.  Maya hears her father arrive home
and comes toddling back into the room at full speed, only partially
dressed.  She springs into her daddy’s arms.  Edwin kisses her all
over her face, then blows on her belly, making her giggle even harder than she
already was.

Pheobe renters the room and giggles too.  Everyone
admires the way Edwin is with his little girl.  Even Aliah has to admit
that he’s a good dad.

Abigail makes eye contact with her husband.  Those two
are truly in love.

It’s sickening.

“Can you bring the girls to Maya’s room for a few minutes?”
Abigail asks him.

Edwin kisses Abby on the cheek, as he caresses her belly,
then he carries his little girl down the hall.  “Ladies,” he says, with a
nod, as he walks away.

Pheobe follows after him, like a lost puppy.  It is
crazy, but the girl appears to have really taken a liking to him.

Ashley notices Pheobe’s fixation too.  “That isn’t even
right.”

“What isn’t right is you flapping your gums like that in
Abby’s house,” Aliah vents.

It’s bad enough Abigail has to put up with Ashley long
enough to get through her sister’s wedding.  Aliah is happy to lend a
hand, if only to get the girl to shut her big fat mouth.

Abby presses her hand to her forehead.  “Do we have to
do this now?”

Ashley seems to think so.  “I just can’t get over the
fact that Cam’s asked
you
for help with his daughter.  Pheobe is
my
niece.  She can come stay with me.”