When Carter came for me, I was his.
14
Carter
I could just barely see the bay in the distance, occluded by a light fog and surrounded by forests. I knew it was the bay by the lights that surrounded it and the lightless gap that sat in the middle of all that construction. I leaned back in my folding beach chair, a glass of whisky in my hand, trying to enjoy the night.
The charity event had gone more or less as planned after I met Emily up on the roof. We sat down at the table, ate and drank and smiled at shitty jokes, and eventually we gave a little interview to the media. She was perfect, just like I knew she would be, and things went great.
I didn’t see her much the next day, since I was too busy with work. After I got home, I came right up to the roof, mostly to get a few minutes alone to myself but partially to keep myself away from her.
I knew I was going to get sucked in. It was just a matter of time before I got lost in that girl and gave up everything to have her again and again. It was stupid and there was so much at stake, but I couldn’t help myself.
Not after having her lips wrapped around my cock.
It was fucked up and stupid to let that happen, but it happened. I wouldn’t do a single thing differently if I could go back, and that thought scared me a little bit.
She was gorgeous and incredible. Evelyn knew something had happened, but she wasn’t pushing to find out what, not yet at least. I was thankful for that, since I didn’t know if I could keep it from her. Well, maybe the details of what had happened, but not the greater picture of something going down between Emily and me.
But nobody caught us and nobody seemed to know what was happening. Otherwise, I’d likely get castrated by my damn board and end up a pauper. Well, maybe not a pauper, but significantly less rich.
Being wealthy, young, and handsome meant that a lot of women threw themselves at me over the years. I lived for a long time to fuck, drink, and party, and life didn’t seem like it could get any better. I neglected my company, leaving it in the hands of other people while I indulged myself.
I continued to get richer and richer because I created a solid foundation for Valor and I hired great people to run it for me. But I wasn’t doing much of anything, at least until the last two years. I got back to my roots, doing research and real work for the company, at least until the whole married women scandal broke.
I knew there was more out there than just fucking. I knew I needed to change, needed to do something differently. I thought that could be just lying to the media and giving the illusion of having changed, but maybe I really was going through a real change.
It was strange and exciting, a lot like my relationship with Emily was. Things were complicated, and although in the past I ran like hell from anything difficult, I felt for the first time in my life that I was ready for something a little more meaningful.
I didn’t know what form that meaning would take, but I wanted something more. Maybe that more was Emily, or maybe it wasn’t. I couldn’t be sure, not yet at least. All I knew was that I wanted her, and I couldn’t pretend otherwise.
As I sipped my whisky, I heard the roof door open. I looked back and watched Evelyn step out, adjusting herself as she frowned over in my direction.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I said as she approached.
“I’ve been looking for you all over.”
“Why didn’t you check the Marauder’s Map?”
She blinked at me. “The what?”
“Never mind.”
“Anyway, I wanted to talk to you.”
“What about?”
“There have been some changes around the mansion that I’m a little concerned with.”
“Like?”
“Well, there are a lot more strange men hanging around than there were a few days ago.”
“Increased security,” I said. “After the dog’s head incident, we beefed things up.”
“Did you catch who did that yet?”
“Not yet. Cox is working on it.”
She nodded, looking out toward the bay. We were silent for a few minutes while I sipped my drink. Evelyn was smart, probably way too smart to be my secretary, and I figured that if she had a better chance in life she could have really done something amazing. As it was, she raised an awesome daughter and did a damn good job for me, so that was pretty great already.
“I’m worried,” Evelyn finally said.
“Don’t be. Cox is very good at what he does.”
“I believe you. But things are very shaky right now, and the last thing we want is someone breaking into this house.”
“Nobody is breaking in,” I grumbled.
“Still, Carter. You know what I’m saying.”