Page 50 of Watching Her

Not just any woman, but one who’d captured my attention, refusing to let go.

Granted, I’d enjoyed capturing my prey beginning all those years ago. I couldn’t consider myself a man of any means had I not enjoyed both deflowering and dominating some of the most beautiful and powerful women on the East Coast.

However, I now found the contest and undertaking completely different than before.

Perhaps the years of concentrating on building my empire had taken the edge off the dark game, the act of filth and seduction no longer holding the same appeal.

My longing for her was a quiet kind of torture, heavy and persistent. I carried the weight of it in the silence of my room and the crowded noise of the streets. The substantial weight felt like a thirst that only grew the longer I went without, an elegant but agonizing ache that had settled deep into my bones.

I’d even tried to pass it off, returning to my full work schedule, but as with every time before, my buddies had refused to allow my ideas to vanish.

They were already embroiled in sinful acts of their own.

We’d never taken stalking lightly or the play by play and careful calculations needed. The one real difference was that during the opportunities we’d forged in college, every outcome had allowed us to gain power. We’d been born of privilege but forced to prove ourselves to our respective fathers. We’d excelled at capturing and controlling the darkness, all three gaining access to the family kingdoms at an early age.

And all three hungering for more than every goal surpassed.

In this case, there was no such alternative prize.

By all rights, I should consider the chase boring.

That wasn’t the case.

In learning more about her, I’d become even more perplexed. Why? Being the master observer, I knew when only part of the story was being told. During her employment at Covington Enterprises, from all I’d been able to discover, she’d done excellent work. Including being responsible for obtaining a lucrative client for the company, a loss for mine. All because the owner of the three delicious properties in the Caribbean had enjoyed her social media posts.

If I had to guess, I’d say she’d used her feminine wiles to get what she’d wanted for the company.

Men were creatures of habit, their dicks taking control of almost every decision.

Had she used her skills on me?

I should hate her for keeping me captivated, but I was further intrigued by her sudden departure. No fanfare. No announcement. And I’d yet to be able to hack into their computer system to read her personnel file. Perhaps that should be next on my agenda. There was a secret there and perhaps one worth discovering.

But first things first. Having powerful information on anyone meant nothing without leverage.

I stood in the grand ballroom, admiring the exquisite decorations provided by the Galt Hotel, the largest and most opulent in Louisville.

And not one of my properties.

Perhaps I’d need to change that after tonight.

Until recently, I’d had limited time and opportunity to engage in my usual methods of discovery. Due to my requirement to spend time in Paris as well as with Penelope spending so much of her time inside her home, until only a few nights before, I hadn’t attempted to gain entrance.

Even the time spent had been limited, which had annoyed me.

I’d never believed in karma or coincidence, but when I’d noticed a wedding invitation pinned on her bulletin board in her small office, I’d remembered I’d also been invited to the swanky event.

The opportunity had been too good to pass up.

When I’d realized she was a part of the wedding party, I’d felt somewhat strange or perhaps different than I would have should she have only been a guest.

I’d yet to complicate things with ascertaining why, other than the nagging voice lingering in the back of my mind.

In the limited time I’d been inside her house, I’d learned a good deal about her, but not nearly enough. However, what I had discovered was that she was very private even though her new business was based on providing emotional details and insights into the world of romance.

I’d gone through her selection of DVDs, noticing there wasn’t a single romantic comedy in the collection. While she had a Kindle, she coveted hardback books, keeping them on a top shelf in a wall unit in her office. However, her choice of reading material was much more eclectic than I would have guessed.

Horror. Thrillers. Mysteries. Supernatural.