Beautifully Revealed (3 page)

“Fine,” she
sighs, “but I’m warning you if she makes one wrong move I won’t hesitate to ruin your party.”

I couldn’t care less if she tore the walls of
f this place, as long as she is by my side tonight, everything is alright. Ella settles in at our table, and relaxes once she realizes she knows most of the people at the table from Maddox Enterprises.

“So I finally get to meet the lovely Isabella Moss,”
says Adrian, the head photographer of
MADDOX
magazine. She smiles warmly at him as he kisses the back of her hand. I rein myself in and suppress the urge to take that leering look off his face. Many mistakenly think Adrian is gay, but I know he’s just metro-sexual at the most. He enjoys women as much as I do and the way his eyes are skimming Ella’s body is making me tense.

“You have to let me
photograph you for the magazine,” he says. Arianna chuckles behind her hand, and I give her a sharp look as a warning. She pouts at me and I’m disgusted I was ever involved with her.

“Yo
u have got to be kidding, Adrian.
MADDOX
magazine is a high-profile magazine. You can’t just put a nobody in it,” Arianna rolls her eyes, and her dismissal of Ella irritates me so much that I decide to go along with Adrian’s idea.

“You
’re right, Adrian, Ella would be perfect for the next cover.” Arianna gasps beside me, her eyes widening in shock. “Everyone’s been clamoring for a story on our relationship. Why shouldn’t I introduce the love of my life on the cover of my own magazine?”

Ella looks at me with amazement. I’ve never voiced my love for her in public
, and I’m sure I surprised her as much as I did myself. Arianna crosses her arms over her chest, seething from my comments. I never realized how petty she was when I was fucking her. If I knew she had the capability to be so petty, I would have kicked her out even sooner. Before Ella, I liked women who weren’t clingy, and from the grimace on Arianna’s face she’s beyond clingy, she acting like a disgruntled girlfriend.

“Oh this will be wonderful,” Adrian eyes light up. “With your beauty this may be the best cover I’ve ever done.”

“I don’t want Ella half naked like most of the covers you do, Adrian.”
MADDOX
is a men’s magazine and as such, most of the cover models reveal a lot of skin. I will not permit Adrian to strip Ella near naked for his viewing pleasure.

“Don’t worry
, Mr. Maddox, I will display your lady with grace and elegance.” I inwardly cringe at that comment. It’s hard to imagine Ella with elegance and grace; she likes to keep it raw and gritty.

The party progress
es without any further snide remarks from Arianna. She spends the night mingling so I’m free to enjoy Ella without being a buffer between her and Arianna. Neyo’s
Let Me Love You
plays over the speakers and Ella pulls at my arm. “Let’s dance,” she says, leading me to the dance floor.

She
stops at the center of the dance floor and her hips begin to sway to the up-tempo beat booming through the speakers. Her eyes gleam mischievously as she begins to rub her sexy body against mine. It’s beginning to feel really warm in the room, and when the tips of her breasts brush against me, I swear they burn a trail across my chest. She grabs the collar of my shirt and pulls me tightly against her body.

“Are you going to dance or what?” she says smiling at me. I’d been so mesmerized by her I
didn’t even realize I hadn’t made a move yet. I spin her around and plaster her ass against my hard cock. She gasps and her body goes rigid as my hand rests high up on her thighs. I rock my rigid shaft against her as my fingers inch up her indecently short dress.

She looks over her shoulder at me and I can see the lust burning in her gaze. The attraction we feel is unexplainable, it’s
a primal instinct, and I’m completely enthralled with her. The movements she’s making with her ass are driving me crazy. I want nothing more than to bend her over, pull the dress up around her waist, and plunge my aching cock deep into her.

She stiffens as my hand brushes her nipple. I hadn’t even realized my hand had traveled to her breast. She turns around and wraps her arms around my neck. Light
, feather-like kisses trace my jaw, and I’m seconds away from dragging her home when she whispers into my ear, “You’re being summoned.”

“Huh?” I ask as she gazes into my eyes and smiles. She looks
towards the stage and says, “Arianna is calling you to the stage.”

I
hold her tightly in my arms and nuzzle her neck. “I wish I didn’t have so many responsibilities, I want to stay lost in you all day.”

“I know
, but you have to get up there. Everyone’s staring at us so I’m going to the restroom while you go be the man of the hour.” She giggles when I pat her ass then places a kiss on my cheek before rushing off.

I stride over to the stage and give Arianna
an obligatory hug as she steps aside from the mic. After hundreds of speeches like this I function on autopilot. A couple minutes into my speech I notice Ella coming out a hallway in the far corner of the room then she stops to chat with a tall blonde man. I try to concentrate on the words I’m saying, but I’m too busy observing her nervous body language.

It doesn’t take long for me to cut my speech short and make a bee line for Ella. I stop short a few feet away, surprised to discover she’s having a rather heated conversation with the great Dr. Cayden Knight. He’s whispering into her ear, and when she catches a glimpse of me over his shoulder she jumps back guiltily. Her eyes widen and she rushes over to me in a panic. Her hand shoots up to my face and I take a step back. “Did you invite him here?”

“Why would I do that
, Liam? I had no idea he would be here.”

“Can I never have you to myself? Is
this how it will always be? Will there always be some guy lurking in the corner?” I ask pointing at Cayden, who’s openly scowling at me.

“
It’s only me and you, Liam, always will be.”

I gaze into her eyes suspiciously
then something catches her attention to my left and she stumbles backward. The fear in her eyes is disturbing and frightening. I look over my shoulder but don’t see anything out of the ordinary. She hunches over taking short puffing gasps and Cayden steps in behind her and whispers softly in her ear. “What’s going on, Ella?” I ask.

“She’s having a panic attack
, and I’m pretty sure that guy standing in the corner staring at her caused it,” Cayden says.

My
eyes dart over to the corner, and I see a tall man with dark hair and dark clothes staring over at us. I feel torn between deciding whether to stay and help her or go see who this guy is.

“I’ll help her
while you go talk to him,” Cayden says. I watch him talk to her and she begins to calm down. I hate that he can help her this way, but right now I need to find out who this man is.

He watches me approach
, but makes no move to leave. His eyes are blank and his lips are set in a tight grimace. “How do you know Ella?” I snap at him.

His
grimace turns into a sardonic smile and he shakes his head. “Ella huh? Funny, her father used to call her that before he found out how much of a whore his daughter was.”

My hand shoots out
and wraps around his neck instinctively. He sneers at me, and I tighten my grip causing him to wheeze as he tries to break free. Someone pulls me off him, and I watch as security leads him out the room, trying to calm the rage that’s consuming me. I’m pissed at myself for losing control. I needed to find out who he was and why he frightens Ella so much, now I have nothing. A small hand circles my arm and I turn to see Ella looking up at me worried.

“I’m sorry I
ruined your party.”

“I don’t care abou
t the party. Are you alright?” She nods, looking nervously over my shoulder. She thinks he’ll return. “Who is he, Ella? Why did he scare you so much?”

“I need to get out of here,
” she says. I notice her hands are trembling and her face is pale.

“I’ll take you home.”
I lead her to our table where we grab our things and say our goodbyes. Lillian and Richard appear as we walk towards the exit asking Ella what happened, but she brushes them off with an excuse of being tired.

By the time we get to the car she’s shivering and it’s not
even a chilly night. I pull her into my lap as the driver pulls off and she nuzzles into my neck.

“His name’s Damon Porte
r,” she says before taking a deep breath. It’s like saying his name took a lot out of her. “He isn’t just a piece of my past. He’s the person who shattered me.” Her hands begin to shake uncontrollably so I rub her arms and kiss the top of her head.

“We don’t have
to talk about it tonight, I can wait.” The last thing I need is for her to have a complete breakdown. She nods her head and sighs heavily, relieved to not have to talk about him. I hold her against my chest until her body goes limp with sleep.

When the driver pulls up to our building I carry her to the elevator and into our bedroom. She doesn’t even stir when I undress her and
lie her down under the sheets. She looks so delicate in her sleep, not at all like the strong-willed woman I know. I’d do anything to protect her if she’d let me. This Damon guy is trouble, and if she won’t let me in, I have to find out what I can about him. I grab my phone and step out the room.

“Hello
.”

“Brett
, I have a new assignment for you.”

“Liam
, I need to talk to you about the investigation you have me doing on your dad. He may have been responsible for the death of Cindy Fields.”

“What?”

“There was a witness that says your father’s car was chasing her when she lost control and hit the barrier. This witness changed her story a week later and moved to California. Coincidence?”

No
, it’s not a coincidence. My father probably paid her a shit load of money to keep quiet. My mind can’t even begin to contemplate all the things my father has hidden from me because right now I just need to protect Ella.

“Don’t worry about that right now. I need you to look up a Damon Porter. Give me everything you have on the guy and how he’s connected to Isabella Moss.”

“Okay, I’ll get back to you as soon as I have anything, but about your father-”

“I don’t give a fuck about him right n
ow. Just focus on this Porter guy.” I slam the phone down and head back to the room. If my father is responsible for Cindy’s death, I’m sure the guilt of causing the woman he loves to crash to her death is eating away at him. It’s probably what caused him to become such a bitter man. At this point in my life I’d much rather be done with him and this whole investigation. Everything I needed to know about what he did to my mother was revealed in his expression weeks ago.

I slide in next to Ella
on the bed and she automatically snuggles her soft body against mine. I tuck her head under my chin and stroke her hair until we’re both contently asleep.