Revenge Unleashed Read online

  “Nothing good would have come from that,” he replied without an iota of conviction. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the luscious, strait-laced blonde since he’d seen her out of his apartment that morning.

  A few beers after she’d gone, he found himself fingering the card she’d left conspicuously on his table and eyeing his cordless phone.

  It was then he’d called Remy to get him the fuck out of the apartment before he did something stupid.

  But would it be stupid? She wanted me too. A one-night stand with that woman would just be sticking it to Carter even more, wouldn’t it? She’d probably submit to me just for the chance to get me on board and I’d just be saying a giant fuck you to my father as he rolls around in his grave.

  It wasn’t really his style to lead women on. He’d never had to do it, after all. Women came and went in a slew of doggy-style and silken fistfuls of hair without attachment or commitment.

  Why can’t Meredith Maddox be one of those women?

  “How is Rachel taking it?” Remy asked suddenly and Luke grimaced.

  “Shit. I need to call her back. She’s going to the funeral.”

  “Brave girl, that one.”

  “Misguided sense of loyalty,” Luke retorted, reaching for his beer and downing it in one shot. “Carter should have left the company to her.”

  “Why don’t you give it to her?”

  Luke looked up at his friend through blood-shot eyes.

  “What?”

  “Why don’t you take over the company and transfer title to Rachel? I’m no lawyer but I bet it can be done somehow.”

  Fuck, that’s perfect. Why the hell didn’t I think of that? Rachel could run the company. She deserves it after the time she put in. She’ll love it and it would piss Carter off to no end!

  “You’re a fucking genius, Remy,” He leaned forward to clap his head to Remy’s in a headbutt and instantly released him.

  “That’s why I’m the brains of this operation,” Remy joked, but suddenly, he seemed to lose his interest in the evening.

  “I need to get out of here,” he mumbled. “Call me an Uber?”

  “Yeah.”

  Luke pulled out his phone and called up the app, ordering his long-time friend a car. As he lowered the phone to the bar, signalling the bartender for the bill, his eye caught the attention of a group of young women near the entranceway.

  They openly stared at him and Remy, making eyes at them coyly.

  “You sure you want to go?” Luke asked, nudging his friend. “We’ve got fucking potential at one o’clock.”

  “You always have fans,” Remy yawned, barely looking where Luke nodded. “Even the gay guys in our platoon wanted you.”

  Luke snorted.

  “Yeah. You’ve definitely had enough for tonight,” he agreed. He looked toward Emma who still hadn’t brought the bill.

  “Em? We’re calling it a night,” he told the owner and she scoffed.

  “Yeah. See ya,” Emma replied, still wiping the glasses with her dishrag.

  “Em…” Luke sighed. “Give me the goddamn bill, please.”

  The heavyset woman smirked and winked at him.

  “Not gonna happen, hunky. Get that one home in one piece.”

  “Emma, we’re gonna stop drinking here if you don’t start charging us,” Luke growled at her.

  “Baby,” the woman sighed. “You have paid for more than enough over the years.”

  She smiled warmly at him and lowered her eyes.

  “Your money is no good here.”

  “You’re a pain in my ass,” Luke sighed.

  “Likewise, honey.”

  She waved as Luke helped Remy away from the bar and his friend laughed.

  “You bought the damned building and don’t charge her rent, Luke. I think it’s safe to say we’re drinking for free forever.”

  “You know why I did that,” Luke growled. “She helped me when—”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know, Batman. You’re paying her back for helping you out after you told your old man to fuck off but you’ve also gotta let it roll both ways.”

  Luke grunted.

  Once outside, he dumped Remy in the Uber.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow,” Luke promised. “Get home safe.”

  “Wait, what?” Remy demanded, lifting his head. “Where are you going?”

  Luke grinned at him and looked back toward Emma’s where the girls were watching them from the window wistfully.

  “Just because you’re too drunk to get it up, doesn’t mean I am,” he laughed and slammed the door against Remy’s protests.

  Her name was Candice or Candy or something equally irrelevant. She kept calling Luke “Lou” which made their proper names that much less important.

  It was after two a.m. when Luke brought her back to his apartment, eight blocks from Emma’s.

  Candice or Candy was a fun girl with an infectious giggle, but that was not what had drawn Luke to her. No, even in his slightly intoxicated state, he knew that she bore a slight resemblance to Meredith Ruiz-Maddox.

  The tension which had been growing inside him since the previous day, the one which hadn’t been cured by fighting or jerking off, had to be cured by fucking, and Candice (or was it Candy? No, it was Candice...definitely Candice) was going to be the lucky girl who was relieved it, a role she seemed happy to take on.

  Naked and belly down on the bed, she tried to reach back and touch his pecs but Luke easily gripped both wrists in his right hand, pinning her relentlessly to the soft faux fur comforter.

  Candice moaned, bucking up against him and the feel of her cool ass cheeks against his shaft caused a drop of moisture to emerge from him. He slid himself over the crevice of her ass and she groaned invitingly.

  “Fuck, you’re huge!” she gasped. “I could tell you were huge. I have a sense for these things.”

  Luke wished she would stop talking and tightened his fingers around her wrists, forcing her deeper into the mattress as his left hand snaked around to explore between her legs.

  “Oh yeah!” she cried out the second he touched her clit. “Right there! Right there!”

  Shit, Luke thought, his jaw locking. She’s going to kill it.

  Even as he thought it, he felt the urge to screw her start to fade and he squeezed his eyes closed, trying to bring forth the image of Meredith Maddox but Candice wouldn’t stop yelling out.

  “Right there…yes! You’re like a bull! I’m coming!”

  The once sweet-sounding twitter was now becoming an annoying tweet. He released her wrists and pushed himself off the bed as soon as her quivers started to slow. He ripped the condom off, tossing it into the garbage while he simultaneously tucked his hard-on back into his pants and zipped them up.

  “Wait! What’s wrong?” Candice demanded. “Where are you going, Lou?”

  “I’m done.”

  “B-but…did I do something?” she asked and he shook his head,

  Candice sat up, a dazed look on her face as she crawled toward him.

  “Let’s do that again,” she purred but Luke shook his head and smiled at her.

  “Not tonight,” he told her. “I really should get some rest.”

  She peered up at him in shock.

  “Wow, really? You’re just going to kick me out?”

  “You got it, princess.”

  “No! You can’t – I mean…we had a real connection there, Lou. I think you touched my soul…”

  Her plea died off at the cold look on his face. She sighed, sliding off the bed. “I hope we can do this again sometime.”

  “Sure,” he mumbled.

  He saw her out and returned to his bedroom. He looked down and noticed that he had Meredith’s card in his hand.

  You can’t call her now, idiot. At least wait till morning.

  But I will have her, he vowed.

  Because something told him that he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had Meredith Maddox…if only one time.

  Chapter 5

  Meredith looked up expectantly, her eyes fixed on Catalina.

  “Well?”

  The rounder girl sat on the opposite side of the desk and slid a nondescript file toward her.

  “You won’t believe it until you see it yourself, Mer. The guy is a fucking saint,” Catalina sighed.

  “No one in his position is a saint, Cat. There’s got to be something in his past I can use against him if need be,” Meredith insisted, the words sticking in her throat like glue. It made her nauseous that she was this ambitious over something she was likely to get in the future anyway. But a challenge was a challenge.

  And Meredith loved challenges.

  Particularly ones with abs of titanium and a lower lip I could sink my teeth into.

  “Well, good luck finding anything,” Catalina scoffed. “He’s a decorated army vet. He spent five years in—”

  “I know about his military record,” Meredith interjected, pulling open the file. “Tell me what happened after he came home. Or what happened in college. Tell me he’s got a Kavanaugh or something.”

  More uneasiness accompanied her words and Meredith wondered what the hell was wrong with her. She couldn’t think of anything more sickening than the idea of using something that Luke Vaughan had done against him. But it was like the ruthless lawyer persona had overtaken the woman inside her.

  What woman inside you? For years, you’ve been focussed on school and work. Sex hasn’t even come into play if it hasn’t been dropped into your lap.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she had actively pursued a man. It simply hadn’t been necessary.

  It wasn’t as if Meredith was some puritan saint. She loved sex and everything it entailed but relationships were the farthest thing from her mind.

/>   Until now.

  Don’t be stupid. Men like Luke Vaughan are not relationship material. Besides, he’s probably a selfish bastard in bed and once would be more than enough to show me that.

  “I’m telling you,” the paralegal sighed. “You’re wasting your time. See for yourself.”

  Meredith turned her eyes back toward the file and scanned more of the same information she had already learned.

  “I asked for new information,” Meredith snapped, trying to sound stern but in her heart, she was glad there was no glaring arrest record to speak of.

  “There is new information,” Cat insisted, leaning forward to jab a finger at a random piece of paper inside the folder. “Did you see this?”

  Slowly, Meredith reached for the page and studied it, at first unsure of what she was reading.

  “His financials…?”

  “Do you see how much money he makes fighting?” Catalina asked, a breath of excitement lacing her words. “He’s a millionaire.”

  Meredith’s mind flipped back to the condo in Bloomfield Hills, the tastefully but relatively sparsely decorated apartment which Luke called home.

  It was obvious that Luke was well-off. Her previous research had told her that, but a fresh look made her wonder where all his money went. His bank balance certainly didn’t reflect the millions of dollars he earned.

  He’s not spending it on clothes, anyways. An image of his torn jeans and bare chest popped into her head – again.

  Why was it so difficult to get the picture of his eight pack out of her head?

  “Gambling?” Cat asked, trying to force hopefulness into her voice. “Hookers? Drugs?”

  The latter seemed improbable. Meredith was certain she’d know a drug user on sight by now, but some people did hide it better than others.

  “Gambling,” Meredith said with confidence, sure she’d figured it all out. He fit the profile after all. A cage fighter with too much money, likely easily bored.

  “I don’t think so,” Catalina grumbled. “Would you just read?” She was beginning to sound exasperated.

  “What’s wrong?” Meredith asked shrewdly. “Have somewhere important to go?”

  “No,” Cat retorted, rubbing her dark eyes tiredly. “I just stayed up all night digging into Luke’s past, as per your request and you’re not even looking at it.”

  Sheepishly, Meredith continued to look over what was before her and then she froze, her eyes narrowing.

  “This can’t be right,” she muttered, flipping through the pages. “There’s no way. Is this a front?”

  “I know you’re cynical, Mer, but this is going above and beyond, even for you,” Catalina sighed. “I told you, this guy is beyond squeaky clean. Why do you have such a hard-on for tarnishing his name?”

  “I-I don’t!” Meredith denied hotly. “But I need something on him…”

  You would really blackmail this guy into taking on an inheritance he doesn’t want?

  Guilt flooded her in a torrent and she wondered when she had become this desperate.

  Have I been groomed to become a heartless, cutthroat bitch from birth? Was this always where I was headed?

  Her childhood flashed through her mind in a series of picture snapshots, being lugged from private school to her parents’ office, joining debate teams and pouring over homework while her friends were off smoking pot and getting pregnant.

  It had never occurred to Meredith to regret any of the things she’d missed out on.

  Okay, maybe not the teen pregnancy bit, but is missing out on a normal childhood what led to becomimg this merciless when I’m in pursuit of something?

  More importantly, she wondered why it mattered to her so much now, of all times.

  If she was totally honest, Meredith admitted to herself that maybe it had nothing to do with her conscience and everything to do with the fierce attraction she felt toward Luke Vaughan.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” Meredith said, reclaiming her composure. “He can’t possibly give away this much money to charity. He won’t even get most of it back.”

  “I was thinking that I guess it’s possible…that it could be part of a money laundering deal,” Catalina confessed, and the idea sent a pang of despair through Meredith. “I have Denise in accounting doing a trace on the funds but there wasn’t enough time. I should have word later today, but from what I could find online, all the recipients and foundations are legit and have existed well before Luke was even in diapers.”

  Relief almost knocked the wind out of her.

  “What kind of charities are they?” Meredith asked, casting the file aside to look into it later. Her long fingers ran over the keyboard to investigate further.

  She’d been in the office since six a.m., unable to sleep, as her future hung in the balance.

  “They’re a compilation but all of them deal with helping children,” Cat explained. “Covenant House, scholarship funds, women and children’s shelters. There’s a monthly donation to a suicide prevention hotline and from what I can see, his money is keeping them afloat. The place has been about to go under due to lack of funding for years.”

  This time the wind was knocked from her chest and she flopped back to study Catalina’s face, shame coloring her cheeks wildly.

  “He’s a fucking saint,” she mumbled.

  A fucking saint who makes me wet just to think about.

  “You seem relieved,” Catalina pointed out. “If we can’t get something on him, how are you going to get him to take over the company?”

  Meredith scowled at her.

  “You’re not even supposed to know about that,” she reminded Catalina. “Don’t talk about it aloud.”

  Cat grunted.

  “I’m not telling anyone else about it,” she replied defensively. “Should I speak in code? Why are you acting like such a weirdo about this?”

  “I’m not!”

  The phone on Meredith’s desk began to ring and she snatched it up before Catalina could call her out on more of her bizarre behavior.

  Yeah, I know I’m acting stupid, Cat. I don’t need a reminder.

  “Meredith Ruiz-Maddox.”

  “Do you eat lunch?”

  A thousand hot and cold needles assaulted her simultaneously. She didn’t need to ask who it was. She was sure he had been whispering in her ear all night long in her dreams.

  “I’m sorry, who is this?” she asked and instantly cringed when she heard the weakness in her words. He laughed and for a terrifying moment, Meredith thought he might hang up.

  “Fine, we can play that game,” he replied. “It’s Luke Vaughan.”

  Her body sagged and tensed at the same time, her gut twisting like she was being pulled in two awful directions at the same time.

  “Luke!” Again, her tone was off and she could hear it, but Catalina didn’t seem to notice, her eyes bugging as she leaned forward in shocked interest.

  “Are you still looking for someone to take over Carter’s company?” Luke demanded. He seemed to be losing the amusement in his tone.

  “I-yes! I am. Sorry, y-you just caught me off guard. It’s a busy morning around here.”

  “I see. Does that mean you won’t have time to meet for lunch? I have a proposition for you.”

  “No! I mean yes, I can make time to meet with you, Luke,” she assured him. “Should I have a car come and get you?”

  “No,” he replied. “I’ll have one come for you. Noon?”

  “Perfect,” Meredith replied without looking at her schedule. She had no idea what was lined up for the day, but nothing was more important than seeing Luke Vaughan.

  Because of the company, of course.

  It took her a minute to realize that he had disconnected the call without saying goodbye and Meredith slowly replaced the receiver, a dazed look in her eyes.

  “Luke?” Catalina echoed, the teasing awe in her voice almost palpable. “You’re awfully cozy with someone you just met.”

  “He wants me to call him Luke,” Meredith said defensively. “Don’t judge me.”

  “Only God can judge you,” Catalina intoned with a grin. “I’ll just look at you skeptically when you tell me your face isn’t bright red right now.”

  “It’s hot in here.”

  “I bet.”

  “Just cancel my afternoon, Cat. And get out. I have work to do.”

  “Cancel your—how long do you expect this lunch to be?” Catalina asked dubiously without moving from her chair.