The General nods. "I'll say whatever your approach, it was a huge success. Your bid will save the military millions and that's money we can invest in the troops."
"That's my hope. In fact it's my next endeavor, new body armor."
My stomach heaves. He'll peddle weapons to the enemy and then sell our military protective armor to save the troops from it. Sick, greedy bastard.
That disgusting fact sticks with me while plates are cleared, along with the ballroom floor. We stand as the first chord of a waltz resonates and I find myself staring. Only two people partake, and all eyes are trained on the President and the First Lady as they float across the tiles. He holds her as if she's precious, and it reminds me of Caden and his hands, and the look of adoration from that of husband to his wife is not so different than the gaze penetrating me from behind. I feel it. I know he's near. I know he's behind me somewhere watching. Watching me longing for him. My heart pounds so loudly I fear Lockman, who is so close his arm brushes mine, can hear it, but then it melds with the music as the dance transitions and pairs flood around the first couple.
Lockman turns toward me. With a deep breath, I take his hand, all while the heat of Caden's gaze burns into my back. The first steps are painful but Lockman is practiced, as am I, and we fall into an easy pattern. Where his feet go, mine follow, and for a minute I'm lost in the melancholy notes.
"You're a beautiful woman, Piper," he says, and then licks his bottom lip, an absent habit I've seen from him before.
"Thank you."
"I'm sorry you felt the need to run last year."
I tip my head, searching his hazel eyes for the truth. "Are you? I thought you must have been as relieved as I was not to be forced into a marriage of convenience."
He smiles. "For me it would have been different."
"Different how?"
Even as I ask the question, I know the answer. It doesn't ease the blow when I feel it. Feel him. Lockman is hard, and he doesn't hide his pressing erection as it digs into my stomach. He laughs. His smirk is masked by polite polish, and the gentleman and ladies in attendance will only see an enamored man admiring a woman.
"You could be my queen, Piper."
I swallow his statement, and it settles as revulsion in my stomach. Grinding my loathing down, I shake my head and play my part with batting lashes. "I only wanted to belong and have love. I didn't think that would happen through business aspirations."
"Stranger things have happened," he murmurs and whips us into a twirl. "I'm in a better position now. I don't need your father's influence to gain control. And you don't need to be forced to belong to me. Make the choice, Piper. I sit with kings; I dine with their daughters; the most powerful men in the world are in my confidence. I spread wealth amongst the wealthy, and there is no shame in that. You won't want for anything."
My breath sticks in my throat. "You want me? Without a contract, without the connection to Stevens International?"
"Oh, my innocent, beguiling girl, a woman is always the motivation behind a man. And yes, I've no need for your father's business. I solidified myself as an irrefutable partner with the wealthiest men in the world without his influence."
"What did you do?"
His arm tightens on my back, drawing me so close I tilt my head to look up. "I expanded Lockman Schultz into the Middle East."
I gasp, and my thought escapes with it. Marik. "You made a deal with the devil."
His lids lower by a fraction, his jaw hardening as they do. "We're all devils, Piper. Everyone here fights an inner demon. Power is a weapon we all want. Your father wants it. I want it. The President has it." He glances at Charlie as she's whirled into an expert spin by her husband a foot away from us. "But some have an angel for their redemption."
Understanding flashes in an angry spike, and my arms tense against his embrace. "I want a hero, Mr. Lockman-a man who instinctually knows right from wrong and fights for it." I pull back, but his grip is as violent as his twisting features.
In an instant, he smoothes out his expression but his voice holds on to an ounce of anger. "I didn't mean to imply anything but that. Of course you deserve every bit of joy the world has to offer, and you wouldn't fault me for wishing I could give it to you." He tips my chin with his finger. "Would you, Piper?"
This man is a monster. I know it; I feel it. Yet I have no way to prove he's anything but an upstanding businessman. "No, Mr. Lockman, I wouldn't."
He releases me and nods. "Good evening, Ms. Stevens. Think about what I said."
"I'll find you." I smile with the same evil intent I see in him.