Catching Sin, page 14
I don’t get this place. These are not my people.
Turning on the faucet, I cup my hands and allow the cool water to pool up before I splash it across my face. It’s not the cure, but it is a start. I do it twice more, washing off all remnants of mascara in the process. My breathing calms and my heart slows, and I drop my head, staring down at the water as it slides down the white porcelain and into the drain.
“I don’t think I can do this.”
Blowing out a long, slow, exhausted breath, I raise my head and jump two feet in the air, screaming out as I do. Jesus. Can’t these men announce themselves for once?
“What can’t you do?”
“Work for egomaniacs like yourself. It’s giving me high blood pressure already.” The lie slips past my lips smoothly. Effortlessly. I want to taunt Maddox Sinclair. Possibly for being indebted to Anthony Conti in the first place. Possibly for dragging me along for the ride. Or possibly to get him to fire me. Right now, I can’t decide. Because I think I’ve finally got it all figured out and it’s driving me wild. He sacrificed everything for Fiona, and even though I know he’s not her lover, I’m still psychotically jealous of her. Of all that she has.
“You work for him.” It comes out as an accusation.
“No,” he replies quickly and with more force than I would have expected given the situation we find ourselves in. “I’m the Chief Operating Officer for Turner Hotels.” He pauses here, reading me intently through the reflection in the mirror. He reaches around me, shutting off the faucet and removing the only sound between us other than the blood thundering in my ears. “I owed him a debt.”
I nod my head because I know all of that now. I can add one and one with the best of them.
“And you working here is his way of cashing in.”
I turn away from him at that. I don’t know why, but for some reason, his easy truth bothers me more than when Conti told me. It’s as if he just admitted he’s not invested in me being here other than for the obvious reasons. Like everything else between us, all those stolen moments, all those heated gazes and lingering touches, were a lie. If it were strictly up to my pride, I’d walk right out of this job. He never wanted me for it anyway.
Can you blame him?
“Is that going to be a problem for you?” His fingers clasp my chin, dragging my face back toward the mirror and up until my eyes lock on his once more. “It doesn’t have to be. I really do need an assistant and you really do need a job. Nothing has to change.”
Except everything has changed.
Guilt captures me, seizing the air from my lungs. I’m a horrible person, Maddox. Lock me out and throw away the key.
“Is that why you don’t like me anymore? You found out the real reason I hired you?” Much to my chagrin, he chuckles. The man finds me amusing when I feel anything but. Maddox is my undoing. The one who picks at the loose strand of yarn and pulls. Suddenly, I wish he were actually married.
“You’re not a very likable guy, Maddox.”
His smile is broad and charming and showcases all his perfect white teeth that I want to punch in. “You’re disturbingly young looking without makeup on. Why are you washing it off in my bathroom?”
“And you’re frighteningly old looking with those gray hairs and crow’s feet, but I’m not judging, and you shouldn’t, either. Why didn’t you tell me about the debt?”
“Why are you answering my questions with a question? Last I checked, I’m the boss and you’re the employee. I don’t answer to you, and I sure as shit don’t owe you any explanations. Remind me next time I’m out to lock my office door. You’re ruining my white towels with all that black shit.”
A groan sears past my lips as I roll my eyes. But the truth is, with his intense scrutiny in the reflection of the mirror, I feel fearless for the first time in my life. Or maybe reckless is the better term for this bubble in my chest. I want him to see me. To look at me with those crystalline baby blues and boyish smile and cut past all my bullshit.
Call me out, Maddox. I dare you. Or better yet, let me be your Fiona. Yep. I went there. I don’t even feel bad about it. I can’t stand the man, we fight more than I’ve ever fought with anyone, yet he’s all I think about. Dream about. This crush is a killer.
He doesn’t, of course. How disappointing. He just continues his game of who will blink first.
“Your bathroom is nicer. And closer.”
“I don’t remember giving you permission to enter my space without me.”
“Ouch.” No, really, that hurts. He might be right, but still. “If I wanted to be treated like nothing, I would have continued taking my clothes off for money.”
Maddox has the audacity to laugh. “As I recall, you were fired from that.”
I jut my ass back, trying to bump him back a few pegs. The wall that is Maddox doesn’t budge. Does he have to smell so good? Stand so close? Push every one of my buttons?
“True. It’s such a shame that Infinity is the only strip club in Las Vegas. What’s a sexually starved man like yourself to do when he’s hard up for the champagne room?”
“Are we done with this? It’s like we’re going around in juvenile circles, playing duck, duck, goose. Can we get back to work?”
“You’re funny, Maddox. All these kid jokes are a laugh riot. And what do you think I’ve been doing all morning?”
“Walking around the atrium with that fuckstick Morgan. I believe I told you to stay away from him.”
So, that explains the angry look he was giving me downstairs. “You’re my boss, not my keeper.”
I toss his reflection a saccharine sweet grin and turn to leave, needing some air that doesn’t taste like desire and sin. Suddenly, everything spins in place and before I can make sense of anything, I’m hoisted into the air, my feet dangling, a squeal of surprise flying past my lips just as my butt lands hard on the stone counter of the sink.
Maddox stares down at me, his hands sliding to the smooth marble on either side of my thighs. He leans in and whispers, “That’s where you’re wrong, Isabel. And as long as you work for me, you’re going to stay away from Morgan Fair Junior. In fact, you’re going to stay away from every stupid, punk-ass, adolescent boy, man or whatever the fuck. I don’t discriminate, and I don’t care. No exceptions.”
His hands meet my hips, sliding my ass forward on the counter until I nearly fall off. He steps into me, spreading my legs with his hips and inching so close I can taste the mint on his breath. Feel the heat of his skin. Note the hardening length in his pants. God, that’s a turn-on like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Nothing has ever made me higher than doing battle with Maddox. Than straddling this thin line between love and hate.
Only there is no love in this war. And nothing about my situation is fair.
I press my hands to his muscular chest, taking a second to appreciate the way his heart pounds beneath my palm, betraying his cool façade. Leaning up, I drag my lips across his cheek toward his ear. His self-control is hanging on by a thread. I feel his restraint in every tight muscle. In the way his hands white-knuckle the counter. It’s empowering and sexy as sin and I need so much more. Waves of anticipation course through my body. What would we be like together if we finally gave in to this?
Explosive.
Consuming.
Deadly?
“Is that one of the promises you intend to keep? I wonder, Maddox, what will you do to me when I break your rules?”
Drawing back, I push against his chest and slip off the counter, leaving the bathroom and him behind. I just struck the match to ignite our fuse.
Sixteen
ISABEL
* * *
“Oh my god, these are the most adorable onesies.” Adorable is a bit of a stretch. The onesies read, ‘We’re what happened in Vegas.’ They came with bibs that say, ‘Vegas Babies.’ They’re both a bit cliché, if you ask me, but since no one did, I don’t comment other than to smile and clap along with everyone else. Baby showers are a spectacle. There is a whole onesie decorating station, a scrapbook page-making station, and we’ve already played the weirdest game where people are handed a sheet, and everyone had to ‘find the guest’ that matched the item on the sheet. The questions people kept asking me made me laugh.
I didn’t play. I was a happy spectator.
I didn’t have time to buy Sarah a baby present, and honestly, I don’t think I could have afforded the type of swag this girl is walking away with. Who needs silver baby rattles? Like the babies care if they’re Tiffany’s? But last night when I went home, Evelyn cornered me to chat outside our apartments and I told her about the shower. We spent the following two hours baking cookies by the dozen. Apparently, Evelyn’s grandmother owned a bakery in Brooklyn a million years ago, so she knows what she’s doing. Good thing, too, because I had no idea.
Sarah gushed over them, which is why I like her.
They’re regular old chocolate chip, but she oohed and ahhed as if they were gourmet.
I always assumed baby showers were a female-only thing, but not this one. Our entire floor, men and women, are here, including Jake Turner. His wife, Fiona—talk about a girl crush—is the one responsible for the fete. But those two are inseparable. I’ve been watching them out of the corner of my eye. He’s always touching her and she’s always smiling up at him, and they’re always stealing kisses whenever the moment strikes them. Jake Turner is a looker. And now I sound like Evelyn. Awesome.
I learned Fiona is in college, getting her Bachelor’s in psychology because she eventually wants to be a social worker. She’s best friends with Maddox and she, Jake, and Maddox are some kind of close-knit secret unit. That’s what Olivia called them. “Even Morgan Fair Senior, who has been part of this company forever, knows nothing about them.”
I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t be jealous—I’m starting to realize I’m a very jealous person—but I am. I’ve told myself over and over again that I cannot like Maddox. That he’s potentially just as bad as Conti.
Only, I don’t think he is.
I think he risked everything for his best friend. For his best friend’s girl. And Conti is how he managed to walk away. He risked it all for her, for them, and he promised to do the same for me. So yeah, that whole not liking him stuff? Well, I’m working on it. Because he is clearly the better person in this scenario. I’m the black-hearted thief. When he eventually learns what I’m up to, he’ll hate me. So will Fiona and Sarah and Olivia and Carmen. I’ve seriously wondered if Maddox, or Jake, will have me arrested. Will I have to call in a favor to Conti?
Is this where my life is headed?
Just as I’m feeling about as low as a person can possibly feel, I get a text from Justin. It’s a picture of him holding up his mid-term test with a big A+ circled in red ink on the top, my brother’s smile is unstoppable. Thanks, Justin. I totally needed that. I shoot him back a text that tells him how proud I am of him. How much I love him. Lots of super cheesy emojis, too.
Love you, too, Is. Miss you!
Damn him. Now I’m getting choked up in the middle of this stupid baby shower.
“Don’t tell me it’s that Diaper Genie thing that’s making you all misty-eyed.” Maddox’s soft breath washes over my exposed neck. It gives me such a thrill, and thank Jesus I decided to wear my hair up today.
“Why does someone need a special trashcan for diapers?”
“You’re asking the wrong person here, Izzy. I don’t understand any of this stuff, but then again, I’m the baby of five.”
I smile at that. Personal information on Maddox Sinclair? Check. Only something tells me that Anthony Conti could give a rat’s ass that Maddox has four older siblings.
“How long do we have to stay?” I ask, still feeling a bit down after my twentieth pity-party in the last week. I don’t know what I can’t stand more, the fact that I’m feeling so sorry for myself or the fact that I’m legitimately scared of what will happen when it all comes down.
“Anxious to get back to work?”
I shrug. “Sure. If that’s what you need.”
“Let’s go take a walk.”
I stare at Sarah who is in baby gift heaven and ask, “Won’t we be missed?”
“Nope. And if anyone asks, I’ll say we needed to do something. It is a work day, after all.”
“Right. Work.” I spin around on my heels and peer up into his blue eyes. “So, where are we going on this walk?”
“Wanna go swimming?”
I laugh, smiling stupidly up at him. “This isn’t more of that European-style thing, is it?”
“Absolutely not. Your days of showing off your tits are over.”
I shake my head at him. “I don’t have a bathing suit. And for the record, this is the weirdest place I’ve ever worked, and that includes Infinity. What kind of job is this where we can go swimming in the middle of the day or get massages and pedicures?”
“No swimming, then? We can dip our feet in the water. Come on.” He takes my upper arm like he’s dragging a wayward child out to punish them. “It’s warm and sunny out today. I don’t want to be here, and neither do you. Let’s sneak out and play hooky.”
“Yes, Boss. I’ll sneak out and play hooky with you.” I roll my eyes at him, huffing out an exaggerated breath. “You’re such a tyrant. Always giving me the worst jobs to do.”
My steps falter as we walk along the hall that leads away from the event area and back toward the main resort. I want to tell him, but there is no way I can. I glance around us, and though we’re completely alone, I don’t trust it. We reach the sunshine, and suddenly I find myself standing on the edge of a deserted pool area. I have no idea how we got here so quickly without my noticing, but that’s where we are. The pool is beautiful and huge. Glistening blue ripples against the gentle breeze. The sound of water lapping gracefully against the rocks as it glides down the manmade waterfall reaches my ears. White loungers arranged in rows and columns extend as far as the eye can see. It’s almost eerie out here, seeing as how we’re the only two people. Maddox told me that all the redesigned pools are set for their soft opening next week and their grand opening the beginning of April.
And maybe I’ve watched too many movies or been hanging out with the wrong people, but I have to ask, “Did you bring me out here to kill me?”
“If I were going to kill you, I certainly wouldn’t do it out here in broad daylight at our newly renovated pool. Blood would stain the stone and be a bitch to get out of the water.”
“You’re supposed to laugh when you say that, Maddox. Not sound so serious.”
“How about we sit down, and I promise I won’t kill you? Is that good enough?”
“Not really,” I grumble, wondering where fun Maddox from the party went.
Slipping off my heels, I sink down to the warm stone, my bare feet sliding into the water. It’s cool but not cold, and I scissor my feet back and forth, reveling in the way the water feels like flowing silk against my skin as I move. It’s casual Friday, so Maddox is wearing jeans, which he rolls up to his knees, then takes a seat directly beside me. For a long time, we’re silent, enjoying the warming rays of the sun on our backs and the cool water on our feet.
“You’ve been here almost two weeks,” he starts, and there is something in his voice I can’t quite place. “How do you like it so far?” Yep. That’s a loaded question.
“I like it a lot,” I tell him honestly, staring up at his perfect profile. “I like the people. Lunches and pedicures aside, the stuff you do is interesting. At least, the things I’ve seen and been a part of.” Leaning forward, I try to meet his eyes, but he’s staring out at the stone waterfall in the center of the vacant pool and not at me. “I’m not asking for more, though. I understand that will take time.” Please hear the plea in my voice. Don’t give me anything of use.
“How did you meet him?” he asks, after an eternity of silence. His mercurial mood shift makes me uneasy. He wants to talk about Conti again, and Anthony Conti is the last man on the planet I want to talk about. Most of the time, I like to pretend he doesn’t exist. But after the way I accused Maddox of working for him yesterday, I suppose he’s entitled to his questions.
And then it hits me. He knows I’ve spoken with Conti.
I accused him of working for him. I made it clear I was aware of the debt. I tipped my hand, and now Maddox is suspicious. He should be. He should be very, very suspicious.
“My mother died of an overdose when I was sixteen. He was there the day she died.”
“What does that mean? There?”
Dammit, Maddox. Don’t do this. My face drops as I stare at the clear blue water circulating around my lower legs. “He walked into the bathroom of our apartment where I was sitting with my mother’s body. That’s how I met him.”
“That was the first time you met him? He just walked in?” He’s incredulous, though his voice barely rises above a gentle purr. Hardly audible above the sound of the waterfall. I assume that’s intentional. I nod, and even though he’s not looking at me, I know he saw it. “So . . .” he trails off like he’s trying to work this all out. “He knew she was dead even though she had just died.”
“Yes.” Because that’s how I figured it out, too. That he killed my mother. The timing was too perfect and there are no coincidences. Not from my experience.
“Who was your mother to him?”
“No idea. I’ve asked, and he’s never said anything more than that she was a junkie whore.”
Maddox’s jaw clenches, his fists balling up in his lap. I realize now that this is why he brought me out here. Why he asked me to play hooky and go swimming. It was to get me completely alone and ambush me. I should mind. Part of me does a little, but not enough to get up and leave or stop answering his questions. I want Maddox to know everything without me having to offer it up.
