Page 63 of Crossing the Line
I’m glad I had the willpower to stop her. But the clincher was, later that night, I caught her topping off Orion in the hot tub. Head underwater, she was holding her breath while taking him into her mouth.
Arms spread across the rim of the hot tub and head tilted back, Orion sighed and said, “Damn, you’re an expert, baby.”
Of course, he would do a woman who was supposed to belong to me. The only reason he hasn’t made a move on PG is that she’s Treasure’s cousin. She’s the only woman he’s ever given a damn about.
However, neither Orion nor Lauren knows I caught her blowing him. I figured it would take her a while to get him off, being that a person can only hold her breath underwater for so long. I hurried back to my cabin, retrieved my cellphone, and waited for him to be done humiliating her by making her struggle to blow him with her head underwater. Orion likes doing shit like that, making women sink to depths so low just to have him. I think Treasure Grove flipped his script on him, though.
When he finally stood so Lauren could finish him off, I captured them on video. According to the Lord Trust rules, sucking my brother’s cock makes her ineligible to be my wife. What I captured will come in handy one day and maybe sooner than I think. It all depends on how things go with Achilles this morning.
The inside of the mansion I grew up in is impressive and too large for a family our size, and now that my mom lives here alone, it’s especially too big for one person. My footsteps echo through the wide gallery hallway as I walk on the travertine marble floor on my way to the dining room. The closer I get, the easier it is to smell breakfast mingling with fresh coffee. Oddly, the scent puts me at ease. It reminds me that I’m home. My mom is never my enemy. Sure, she’s motivated by money, but still, if any of my family members can be swayed to take a new path toward the same goal, it’s her.
I love my mother. And I believe I’m Marigold Lord’s favorite son. That’s why, when I enter the dining room, she leaps to her feet, holding Fifi, her fluffy white bichon frise, who’s barking and wagging her tail. I’m Fifi’s favorite son too.
“Hercules, you made it, my love,” my mother sings.
I ignore the way Achilles, who’s seated across from the place setting that’s waiting for me, scowls at his cellphone as I close the distance between our mother and me.
“Good morning, Mother.” I kiss her on the cheek. Fifi jumps into my arms and licks my face.
“All right, enough,” Achilles says sourly. “Let’s get this over with. I have meetings, and so do you.”
I snort a laugh without humor. This guy, this brother of mine, can’t exist without being controlling. I fight the urge to resist him. But he’s right. I do have meetings. Plus, I’m curious about why I’m here.
I hand Fifi back to my mother, where she’s happiest. The dog has lost all her excitement too. Even Fifi knows to fall in line when Achilles starts barking orders.
“Good morning to you too,” I say snidely as I take my seat.
Achilles grimaces at his phone as his finger works the screen. A server I’ve never seen before pours me coffee. My mother goes through servers like they’re potato chips.
“Thanks,” I say. “And your name…?”
“My name is Bailey,” the kid replies. He looks to be in his early twenties.
My mom has a way of chastising her house staff with her eyes, which is what she does with Bailey after he tells me his name.
“Thanks, Bailey. What are you doing in these parts?” I ask him.
His eyes grow wide. He doesn’t know that if my mom fires him, I might hire him. Working for her isn’t a great gig. She’s high-maintenance and can be impolite. And to compensate for being lonely out here in the middle of nowhere, she will pick at the staff just to interact with people.
“Bailey, leave us,” Achilles says.
Bailey seems happy to get the hell out of here.
“What’s this?” Achilles asks.
I focus on my brother again. He’s holding up his cellphone. I squint at a video of me in the hot tub with Paisley yesterday evening. It was the moment when I could hardly stand the distance between us, so I closed it. Damn, I wanted her so bad. I’m starting to wish I’d nibbled her neck to see what she would’ve done.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, even though I recognize the signage fromRag Mag.
Achilles sneers. “You see, Hercules, you’re asking the wrong fucking question.”
The sarcasm in his voice makes me snort. I scoot to the edge of my chair, look him dead in the eyes, and ask, “Okay, then, tell me—what’s the right question to ask?”
Achilles’s eyebrows snap upward. I stop myself from smirking in victory. He expected me to back down and cower to him so we could commence the process of me being his whipping boy. But that’s not going to happen. Not this time. And actually, I’m surprised by how committed I am to defying him.
Achilles snarls at me. “You believe you have a choice in this matter, don’t you?”
“I didn’t know you were seeing the Grove daughter—the smart one,” my mother says out of the blue.
