High Stakes (A Deal With The Devil)

CHAPTER THREE

Aiden

She’s pretty. Even when she’s mad and her gorgeous, flawless face is all screwed up in anger. And my god does she smell good, all vanilla and fresh. Being so close to her makes me want to drag her off and lock her away, only letting her out to pleasure me with those plump lips.

I continue to watch this creep yelling at her, and notice JP glaring at me. “What?” I mouth, shrugging.

He points to Bella, who I note is giving as good as she gets. “Save her,” he mouths, and I laugh . I will, just not yet .

Bella’s friend nudges her arm against mine. “Hey, fancy a drink?” She gives me a cute smile. “We could be waiting for this to die down for a while,” she adds, nodding to Bella and her boyfriend.

I indicate to JP to get us a drink and guide her over to my booth. “Is your friend always like this with her fella?”

“He’s her ex. Bella hates him, but she needs a place to stop.”

“Can’t she stop with you?” I nod a thanks at JP, as he places our drinks down on the table.

“The plan,” he whispers in my ear, but I shoe him away, much to his annoyance.

“She doesn’t want to bring trouble to my shop,” she explains.

I figure this must be Aria, the cake shop owner and Bella’s best friend. She’s pretty, in an English rose kind of way. Pale skin but rosy cheeks and large brown eyes. Her brown hair is cut short, and it suits her small oval face. She’s petite and if I didn’t have my sights set on her friend, I’d consider seducing her. “She must have other friends she can stay with?”

“There’s Jack, but he just moved his boyfriend in, so she doesn’t want to put on him. She’s spent so much time looking after her dad, she’s kept her circle small.”

I watch Carl grab Bella and try to drag her from the club. I guess this is where I swoop in to save the girl. I stand and fasten my suit jacket as I head over. “Let her go.” I say it firmly, I hold all the authority in this club, and I don’t appreciate this idiot causing a scene in my VIP area where some of the top socialites hang out, including the top dogs that sign his pay check.

“Who the hell are you to tell me what to do, Tremos. This is my girl and I’m taking her home.”

“She doesn’t want to go with you, Harris. I suggest you let her go before I call DCI Caine and tell him what a fuss you’re causing in my club.”

He lets go of her arm, shoving her towards me. I catch her. “Keep her, she’s too much trouble anyway,” he spits, “-and don’t get your hopes up, she doesn’t put out.” He storms off and I roll my eyes at his childish behaviour.

“Are you okay?” I ask, turning to Bella, but she doesn’t look happy at all. In fact, she looks like she’s about to explode.

“Why do you keep jumping in to defend my honour, I can look after myself.”

I watch in confusion as she stomps away towards Aria. “Win her over they said, it’d be easy, they said.” I scoff, shaking my head. I catch sight of Raff and JP laughing from behind the bar. Jake’s probably up there with the big man and killing himself laughing. Bastard.

I join the two women, much to Bella’s disgust, but they’re sitting in my private booth and I’m not one to waste a perfectly good opportunity to get what I want. “So,” smiles Aria, staring back and forth between me and Bella. “That went well.” Bella throws a peanut at Aria’s head, and she dodges it, laughing.

I wave my hand in Raff’s direction, indicating that I need more drinks.

“Does everyone just serve you when you wave your hand like that?” asks Aria, arching a brow.

I shrug, “Usually. What’s the point in owning a club if you have to serve yourself?”

Bella

I swallow my drink in one go because I feel uncomfortable. Carl's completely ruined my night and now I’m stressing about where I’m going to stay. If I was a normal girl of my age, I would probably hook up with some random guy and spend the night with him, only I’m not normal. I’m starting to feel like holding on to my virginity for the right one has become a hindrance.

It’s not like I woke up one day and decided I was going to save myself, it just kind of happened. I haven’t met a man that I’ve wanted to go that far with. The thought brings my attention back to the gorgeous God, sitting opposite me.

“Do you own this club?” Aria is quizzing him.

“Sort of.” He finishes another drink and indicates to the bar that he needs a refill. It must be nice to hold that much power, and boy can he drink a lot.

“How can you sort of own a bar? You either do, or you don’t. Why did you turn up at Bella’s today?”

He shifts in his seat looking uncomfortable. “She already knows why.”

“No, I want the real reason,” insists Aria, “Why would some hot, club owning man, with people that run around after him, just turn up and pre-warn a girl about that. Why would it bother you what happens to her?”

I feel like I should jump in and rescue him from her never-ending questions, but I want to know the answer to this one, Arias got a point. Suddenly I’m shoved along the booth by the bar man. He grins at me as I squash up next to Aiden.

“Hey gorgeous ladies, your night doesn’t look very fun from where I was standing.”

“We were trying to get to know this mysterious man here, but he’s not giving much up.” says Aria .

Raff gives me a mischievous grin. “You want to get to know my man here, Bella?”

I feel myself redden with embarrassment, and I stare down at my drink. “It’s Aria that wants to know him, not me.” I’m mumble before kicking Aria under the table.

She laughs, “I just find it odd that he keeps popping up to rescue Bella, are you even single?”

Aiden gives Raff a warning glance, and when he notices I’ve witnessed it, he stands abruptly. “If Bella wants to ask me shit, then she can do it herself, we aren’t in school.”

We watch in surprise as he stomps away. Raff shakes his head, still grinning. “Don’t mind him, he gets moody quicker than a woman. No offence.”

We carry on our night. Shots and various cocktails are constantly being brought to the table, all compliments of Mr. Tremos. Aiden occasionally appears, chatting to various people, before disappearing again. It just adds to his mystery.

It’s not long before I’m starting to feel sick, and I realise I haven’t been this drunk in a long time. I look around and notice the other girls we arrived with are nowhere to be seen. I get to my feet, grabbing on to the table for support because my head is seriously spinning but I need to pee. “Toilet,” I explain, when Aria and Raff stop their conversation to look at me.

I stumble my way to the bathroom and stand in the queue, wondering why the hell we have to wait when this is supposed to be VIP treatment.

I pull out my phone and notice I have fifteen missed calls from Carl. “Wanker,” I mutter, deleting them.

“Charming,” rumbles a deep voice from behind me. I jump in fright, dropping my phone.

“Shit.” I bend to get it, and lose my balance, falling on my backside. I look up at Aiden, who doesn’t look amused by my stumbling, drunken self.

Sighing heavily, he swoops down and grabs my hands, tugging me back onto my feet. “Come, you can use my bathroom.”

I rub my backside, then shove my phone back in my clutch bag. How many times can I possibly embarrass myself in front of him?

Aiden leads me back through the club, his huge hand encasing mine. He stops by the booth and says something to Raff and Aria. I notice how cosy they’re looking together and make a mental note to ask her about it.

We continue on and into an office. It’s huge and there’s an entire wall off books which impresses me slightly. Before I can question him, he draws my attention to an elevator by pressing the call button. The doors open and he waits for me to step in, before entering himself and punching a code into the panel. The minute the doors close, I inhale and hold my breath. Anticipation pours from me, and I can’t stop the slideshow of possible scenarios playing through my imagination. Him kissing me or pushing me against this elevator wall and demanding I fuck him. I shudder and press my thighs together, trying to ease the ache that he's unaware of.

The doors open into a lobby. It reminds me of a hotel. There’s a large white door directly in front of us and he leads toward it, opening it and pulling me inside. My mouth falls open. The place is luxurious with a minimalist look and floor to ceiling windows that I’m sure have a fantastic view over London. “Wow, you’re like Christian Grey,” I blurt out without thinking. He rolls his eyes in amusement. “But you look like that actor, the one from Game of Thrones, Drogo.” He leads me to the kitchen area and sits me on a stool. “Oh my god, you really do, what’s his name?” I say it more to myself than to him.

He sighs and hands me a glass of water, “Jason Momoa.”

“Yes, that’s him,” I say with glee, clapping my hands together. “You look just like him, only without all the hair. I really need to pee. ”

He takes me back through the apartment and to his bedroom. “Are you going to seduce me?” I ask with a giggle. He shoves me through another door and I’m in a bathroom. The lights flick on, and I’m temporarily blinded by the brightness.

“Hilarious,” he huffs “Now pee.”

I wait for him to leave before fumbling about to lift my dress. The relief is instant, and I groan in pleasure. Once I’ve finished, I open his bathroom cabinet and peer inside. Aria reckons you can tell a lot about a man from what he keeps in here. It’s all very neat and tidy, with bottles of expensive looking aftershave all lined up. Painkillers, a razor and a comb, nothing exciting.

I wander back through to his bedroom. It’s clean and bright. Nothing like Carl’s. The sheets are white cotton, not a crease in them. I run my hand over them, loving the feel of the cool cotton against my hot skin. It’s so inviting, I can’t stop myself as I slip out of the dress and climb onto it, allowing my head to sink into the fluffy pillow, closing my eyes.

Aiden

“I’m serious, JP, it’s not funny,” I whisper yell into the phone. “She’s completely naked and lying on my bed. What am I supposed to do?” His laughter rings out. I knew I shouldn’t have rung him, the useless bastard. I left her for five minutes and when I went back, she was lying on top of my bed, fast asleep.

“Bet she as the most gorgeous pair of tits,” he muses, “Is she tanned everywhere?” When I don’t respond, he calm’s himself down. “Okay, just chuck a blanket over her. I’m sure she’ll be mortified when she wakes up. But see this as a great opportunity. She’ll respect that you didn’t try it on with her, and that you took care of her while she was wasted and vulnerable. Girls love that shit.”

I disconnect the call and quietly creep back in to where she’s curled up on my bed. She is tanned everywhere, I note, as I pull a blanket from my built-in wardrobe.

I freeze when I hear her moan. “I’m sorry, please don’t.” She’s clearly having some kind of nightmare. I feel like I’m intruding so I start to back out, she suddenly cries out. I place the blanket over her quickly so that I can make my escape, but she grabs my arm. I’m frozen to the spot, staring at her tiny hand gripping my thick, tattooed wrist.

“Stay,” she whispers, and I can’t tell if she’s still dreaming. She gives me a gentle tug. “Please Aiden, stay with me.” She shuffles over and gently tugs me until I lay down.

Well, this is an unexpected turn, I didn’t even have to make an effort, I muse .

I lay on my back and hold my breath as she crawls against my side and snuggles down, burying her face against my bicep.

“Thank you,” she murmurs, and I hear her light snores a second later. I lay wide awake for some time, trying not to notice the heat of her warm, naked body, pressing into my side.