"I'll give you some credit for the plans I unveil so we can both make a fortune. I already have a buyer," Bradford continued.

"Haven't you ever heard it isn't good to bite the hand that feeds you?"

Bradford sighed. "d.a.m.n it. I need money. I couldn't wait until your plans were implemented in hopes that my company begins to turn a profit again-"

"Then you forged your company's financials."

"No, I didn't!" Bradford huffed out a breath. "I tweaked my personal a.s.sets, so I made Livvie-"

"Leave your sister out of this." Dominic's guilt grew as he remembered the disapproval of the audience at the auction. Bradford had been using Olivia to get an easy ride. "Her involvement in your dealings ends now."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. I don't understand why you used Olivia but she doesn't need to be involved in your schemes."

"She involved herself!" Bradford flared. "She's so determined to get a college degree. How the f.u.c.k was I supposed to pay for it without money?"

That explained a lot. Such as how someone as strong-willed as Olivia could be talked into navigating society on behalf of her brother. She wanted an education.

"I need Livvie back, Luca," Bradford cut in. "She has to deal with her boyfriend Garth, and Karen is threatening to go to the police and the media if she doesn't hear from her. They were going on some vacation. So I need the little b.i.t.c.h back here to get her f.u.c.king friend out of my hair. I don't need the police or the media snooping around."

Dominic just bet the a.s.shole didn't. Who knew what skeletons would surface. The rest of Bradford's words settled in and he gripped the small phone. "Olivia has a boyfriend?"

"Olivia had a boyfriend," Bradford corrected. "She's a social-climbing gold digger just like her mother was. She was our family maid, you know?"

"If he cared about her, he wouldn't give a f.u.c.k if she was as poor as a t.i.tmouse." He snapped the words before he thought better. But, so far, he liked Olivia, and he hated to think she'd be looked down upon because of circ.u.mstances out of her control. Namely, her birth and whether she'd been born the daughter of a maid or not.

"Livvie is a reckless little fool. Garth Walters wanted a few f.u.c.ks from her. Who could blame him? Not many red-blooded men would pa.s.s up the opportunity to have a twenty-one-year-old beauty like my half sister."

Dominic choked. "What did you just say?"

"Not many men-"

"Not that, Bradford. You said she's twenty-one."

"She is."

"That...Olivia told me she's twenty-five."

Bradford snickered, grating on Dominic's temper. "No. I a.s.sure you she's twenty-one. I'll never forget the day my mother held a cleaver to my father's b.a.l.l.s when she discovered one of our maids was pregnant by him. He's lucky he got away intact. That auspicious occasion took place almost twenty-two years ago. Olivia is twenty-one and she just turned twenty-one."

What difference did her age make? It was only four years. But f.u.c.k...she'd just turned the legal age to drink.

"Again, Luca, how much do I have to fork over to get the inept wench back?"

He needed to throw out a number the weasel would be willing to fork over from Dominic's money and send Olivia back. His conscience warred with how he'd annihilated his enemies his entire life. If he sent her away, she'd be the f.u.c.k out of his life and he would've recouped some of his losses. It would be a compromise.

No. Absolutely not. Compromises were for weaklings. He'd stick with his original plans.

"You have three days to get the entire f.u.c.king amount you stole from me."

Not waiting for Bradford's answer, Dominic hung up.

The sound of a clearing throat broke through the contemplation of his morals and his sanity. Olivia stood before him, wearing one of his white dress shirts, which hung on her slender frame. Her hair fell around her in a wild tangle and her lips were swollen and red from his lovemaking. Now that he'd satisfied his animal urges and used her body to work out his rage toward her brother, he saw how young she looked.

He marveled at her strength of character under the circ.u.mstances. Other, more mature women would have crumbled by now. Kidnapped. Tethered naked to a bed, then losing her virginity to a total stranger. Who was this young woman and from where did she learn to deal with whatever came her way?

He rubbed his eyes and leaned forward, elbows on knees, and studied her. A true enigma.

"Where are we going?"

The huskiness of her voice sent desire pulsing through him. He supposed he owed her an answer. Somehow he had to find a way to rectify the wrong he had done and disregard how his father would've disapproved of his sudden conscience over a business rival. Following his father's lead in the company had never failed him. He remained on top of the business world and brought in more money than he knew what to do with. Problems arose when tried and true methods were disregarded. Dominic didn't like problems and he didn't like change.

"Dominic?" Olivia called softly and he realized he had yet to respond.

"Charleston," he said. "To my home."

She chewed on her lower lip and the image of her wrapping her lips around his erection rose in his head. She looked at her toes and shifted her weight. "Are you into BDSM?" she said, raising her gaze to meet his.

He lifted a brow, staring at her swollen mouth, at the softness of her eyes. Her black hair formed a curtain around her, a stark contrast to her ivory complexion and his white shirt she wore. The memory of being inside her made it difficult for him to remain where he sat. He wanted to reach over and touch her. Caress her. Take her.

"No," he answered, recalling her question when her dark brows furrowed. "I'm not into that lifestyle. I am, however, into doing whatever the situation calls for."

"And the situation called for me being tied up while we made love?"

Dominic looked away, unable to meet the confusion in her steady gaze. Guilt gnawed at him but he shoved it aside. He wanted what Bradford stole back. He didn't want a pair of stunning green eyes, a headful of midnight hair and a flawless complexion to sway him. He nodded, a brusque movement meant to deter her questions.

As if.

"Tell me a little about yourself," he ordered, the perfect way to put an end to her queries.

She eyed him with suspicion. "What do you want to know?"

Dominic shrugged, not caring to explore his need to know everything about her and not willing to admit it to her, either.

She wrinkled her nose, glanced at him, at her toes, and then at the window next to him. "I...my mother...Blaine's father...he was my father, too."

"Your mother was a maid," he blurted to make her explanation easier.

She bristled, her nipples pressing against the fine material of the shirt she wore. "I see you and Blaine discussed more than the terms of my return while you spoke just now."

"A little more," Dominic agreed.

"Why did he call back? I heard the phone and his special ring."

Ah, so that's what had brought her out. "Your friend is concerned about you."

"Karen?"

He hated the way she hooded her eyes, shutting him out.

"She shouldn't be. She won't be once she discovers I'm a b.a.s.t.a.r.d Bradford with no pipeline to an inheritance."

She pursed her lips. He wanted to un-purse and nibble on them.

"Not every wealthy person is so shallow." Was he? His parents had been. He'd never considered not marrying someone outside of his socio-economic cla.s.s. Therefore, any shallowness he did or didn't possess had been a non-issue. "Did your mother have any other children?"

"No."

"Where did you grow up?"

"Nowhere in particular," she said carefully. "We were always on the move. Momma would...would-"

Lifting a brow at her, Dominic searched her face, studying the pink rising to her cheeks, the cool control in her green eyes. She shoved some hair behind her ear.

"Would what?"

"Shoplift," she snapped. "Get arrested for prost.i.tution. My father would bail her out, do whatever rich people do to make problems go away, then we'd be off to the next town."

"Wouldn't it have been easier if your father just gave your mother money?"

"If he was still alive, you could ask him. Better, ask Blaine one day. He seems to know the reason behind everything our dad did. On the other hand, I have no clue why my father did what he did. Until he died, he sent me a new laptop every year but refused to give us money for the basic necessities of life."

"Makes sense that he'd give you the equipment," Dominic offered. She didn't look hurt and affronted by his words. Still, he wanted to comfort her. What had come over him? "The computer division of Bradford Industries made sterling products at one time."

Instead of answering, Olivia straightened. He wasn't a man in touch with his emotions, willing to soothe someone in a time of distress. He was cut-and-dried and only knew how to offer what he'd received growing up-detachment.

"But you were able to get an education?"

"By some miracle. Yes."

"And now your brother is paying your tuition to attend college?"

Her features turned inscrutable and she nodded, the movement guarded. "Yes."

Her wariness intrigued him. He wondered what he was missing.

She swallowed, waited a moment. Lifting a brow, he leaned back, indicating he'd follow her lead.

"Am I to share your bed as part of your revenge against Blaine?"

The moral, rational part of his brain told him to tell her no and to apologize for taking her virginity under the circ.u.mstances. But the lascivious male and scorned business partner demanded he tell her yes. He couldn't afford whatever instinct that made him notice Olivia's moods. In three days, he'd take whatever repayment Blaine sent to him and return Olivia. He would've exacted revenge, and to maintain respect, Dominic knew it was imperative to make an enemy pay by any means possible. It had been one of his father's golden rules. Ignoring the smallest infraction undermined a man's worth. As a result, Dominic had followed in his father's footsteps and steamrolled anyone who got on his bad side.

It's what set him apart from everyone else and kept him a winner. He was able to separate the aspects of his father's personality that he'd admired from the ones he detested. He'd appreciated his father's no-nonsense, hard-nosed att.i.tude in business. On a personal level, he'd despised the man's cheating ways and the cold manner he'd had toward Dominic's mother. On the other hand, his mother was not much better. She'd had her share of affairs and remained in the marriage for money. As husband and wife, they were a joke. As parents, they were distant.

Dominic stayed away from relationships and had only cultivated one friendship-with the man who'd become VP of the company once Dominic took the reins.

"Mr. Luca?"

He started and scrubbed a hand over his face. Whether or not her brother was a motherf.u.c.ker, she didn't deserve to be caught between them. She'd done nothing but been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately, if he released her now Bradford would think he bested Dominic. And he liked the fact that he'd been her first. He wasn't ready to give her up for reasons that had nothing to do with the f.u.c.ker she was related to.

Weakling.

His blood ran cold at the unbidden memory of his father screaming that word at him. As a child he'd heard it so often, Dominic didn't know which memory his mind had drifted to. As a teenager and adult, he'd learned not to be a weakling.

"Mr. Luca?" she repeated.

She continued to amaze and amuse him. After what had taken place between them, she called him Mr. Luca? She hadn't bothered to ask him if she could go into his closet and take one of his shirts but she couldn't call him by his given name? "Call me Dominic, Olivia. You've earned the right."

A rush of pink stained her cheeks and neck and she tiptoed forward.

"You don't have to worry about my men. The carpet is soundproof and the door between the sitting room and main cabin is closed."

She sat on the edge of the seat and her flush deepened. "It isn't that," she mumbled.

"Then what...?" His voice trailed off. She looked ready to erupt into flames. Of course. She was sore. What a supreme cl.u.s.terf.u.c.k. "Never mind."

"You were big," she confessed. "You and Garth are vastly different in length and width."

Why the h.e.l.l it should matter to him she'd seen her boyfriend's c.o.c.k, Dominic wasn't sure. But the thought he wasn't the first naked man she'd seen up close and personal irritated the s.h.i.t out of him. He couldn't even bask in the glow of her compliment about his size. He glowered at her. "I didn't realize you had any relations with this Garth."

"He...I-I mean...I...um...sucked him."

Jealousy burned through him and he leaned back. His hands balled into fists in his lap. So many thoughts ran amok in his head he couldn't focus on any long enough to form a reasonable response.

Jealousy? He'd known her how long? Certainly not long enough to be envious of a man whose d.i.c.k she'd blown.

To prove he remained in control, he unzipped his pants and pulled out his c.o.c.k, spreading his legs apart. "Come here."

He thought she might refuse or maybe his conscience would overcome his l.u.s.t and stop him. To his immense relief, neither happened. A heartbeat after his order, she stood, took the step to reach him and then dropped to her knees. She wrapped her fingers around him, just above where his hand held on to the base. She leaned into him and dragged her tongue across his sensitive tip. Just as he had imagined, she wrapped her lips around him and slid her tongue along the underside before traveling up, trailing the thick vein running the length of him. He growled, grabbed a handful of her hair and thrust his d.i.c.k into her mouth. She sucked in air through her nose, drew him in deep, her tongue swirling around him, the back of her throat ma.s.saging his c.o.c.k head.

His b.a.l.l.s drew in and his grip on her hair tightened. He pushed a final time into her mouth and exploded, anchoring her head in place to make sure she swallowed every drop of his c.u.m.

Rising to his feet, he lifted her and set her on the chair, her a.s.s facing him. Her p.u.s.s.y dripped with moisture and he inserted two fingers into her, circulating her juices, dragging them upward toward her a.s.s. She had such pretty, firm cheeks.

The crack of his palm resounded in the silence. She jerked and cried out. His red palm print on her lovely skin heightened Dominic's libido, sending his d.i.c.k into f.u.c.k mode. He slapped the other cheek, eliciting the same response from her.

He lifted her off the chair and carried her to the bed, keeping her face down and bent on the edge, her a.s.s raised for his easy access. "Don't ever, ever suck another man's c.o.c.k again."

The thought infuriated him and he slapped her a.s.s again, was rewarded with a rush of wetness seeping down her thighs. He wiped her cream away and coated his c.o.c.k with it before delving into her p.u.s.s.y again. He spread her essence to the tight hole between her a.s.s cheeks and she moaned. The sound earned her another crack. Using her p.u.s.s.y juice, he slid a finger into her forbidden area, stretching her, while the other finger worked inside her p.u.s.s.y.

He poised at the entrance of her a.s.s, still ma.s.saging her c.u.n.t, his thumb working her c.l.i.t. Her breath came in short pants and he knew she was close. Her inner muscles clamped around his finger and she pushed against him, trembling as she fell apart.

"Dominic!"

His name sounded so f.u.c.king s.e.xy falling from her lips while she was in the throes of her o.r.g.a.s.m. He cupped her s.e.x, his thumb caressing her bud as he inched a finger into a.s.s. She groaned, arched against him, and he slipped farther into her. He gritted his teeth, her little moans driving him insane. He continued caressing her s.e.x, didn't want her to descend from the heights of her o.r.g.a.s.m until he'd breached her a.s.s, determined to erase the thought of any other man, especially Garth.

Garth.