Devotion (The Seductors Series Book 3) (7 page)

“Georgie and Drew have turned up in New York unexpectedly. I forgot to tell them that I’ve moved into your apartment. They were hoping to stay…”

“Jade, the apartment is your home, too. If you want your friends to stay there, you don’t have to ask me.”

“Why are you so wonderful?” I sighed.

“We could take them out for dinner tonight, too. Do you want me to make a reservation somewhere?”

“No, I can do that. You’re working.”  

“I’m looking forward to meeting them. I’ll try and get away from work on time tonight, but if anything comes up, I’ll call you.”

“Okay.”

“I love you. I’ll see you
and
your friends later.”

“I love you, too,” I muttered before we both hung up.

“Jeez, could this Mr. Rich buy a place any bigger? How could you fall for all this shit?” Georgie gasped as I let her and Drew into Oliver’s apartment an hour later.

“If you’re going to keep that crap up, you can leave right now,” I cautioned, turning to Drew. “Hey, Drew.”

“Hi, Jelly Bean,” he grinned, pulling me in for a tight hug. “You look good—really good.”

“Thanks,” I grinned.

The three of us spent the next new few hours catching up and going over their cover story so Oliver wouldn’t get suspicious. With the mission being so close to completion, I couldn’t afford any silly mistakes like that.

They were here to steal a valuable antique from a local museum for their client, and were only staying one night. All the preliminary details for the assignment had already been taken care of.

“Drew, why don’t you go and buy some of Jade’s and my favorite wine?” Georgie was up to something. She had that look in her eyes.
 

“If you need to talk to Jade alone, you can just ask, Darling. We are married, after all,” he teased, kissing her forehead.

“Watch what you do with those lips,” she threatened, grinning up at him. “Now, go get our wine.”

“I have wine here, Georgie,” I pointed out.

“Do you have
our
wine?” I shook my head. “Off you go then, Drew,” she giggled, turning to him. He sighed but nodded, checking that he had his wallet before leaving.

“What was all that about?” I asked once we were alone.

“Jade, your mission isn’t going to end how you think it is.” What was she talking about? How would she know? “Molly overheard Evan talking to Jason. I didn’t think anything of it until a fake kidnapping was mentioned. They had to be talking about your mission. Oliver will find out who you are, Jade. You’re too valuable for The Seductors to lose. They want you to stay even when your contract is up.” The world began to crumble around me. I knew it was all too good to be true. When did headquarters
ever
let a Seductor and a target be together after a mission? I wasn’t going to get the chance to spend my life with the man I loved, but I
would
make sure my client didn’t get their hands on his power core. I owed him that.

“Are you sure Molly heard it right?”

“She spent the night with Evan. Jason didn’t even know she was in his bed. Evan made her swear not to say a word when he realized she heard everything. He said it was a matter of life and death. It has to be your mission. It all fits.” I was numb. “Jade, do you understand what I’m telling you?”

“I need to find the strength from somewhere to let him go,” I whispered. My voice was unrecognizable. It sounded so broken.

“Come here, baby girl,” Georgie cooed, hugging me tightly.

I knew everything could fall down around you in the matter of a few minutes—I’d been there before—but this was different. To give up on the only love I’d ever known? How was I supposed to do that?

I had to find a way, though. Oliver’s life would depend on it.      

I don’t know why I was so nervous about Oliver meeting my friends. I kept pacing the apartment, waiting for him to get back while Georgie and Drew got ready for dinner in one of the spare bedrooms on the ground floor.

Georgie had ripped my world apart with her words. I didn’t even know how to deal with it. Never having a life with Oliver… How did I do that now? I didn’t realize how much faith I’d put into The Seductors to keep to their word. How was I going to walk away?   

The door opening interrupted my thoughts
. Oliver greeted me with a big smile, and I forced one back, hugging him tightly as he pulled me into his arms. “Sorry I’m a little late. You look beautiful.”

I’d opted for a dark blue dress tonight with a low cut back, curling my hair in soft ringlets. I’d been pretty distracted while I got ready, and hadn’t gone to as much effort as I usually would have. “I’ll have a quick shower and then we can go. Which restaurant did you book?” Oliver let me go, pulling on his tie to loosen it.
 

“That’s okay, Drew and Georgie are still getting ready anyway. I booked us a table a The Vineyard.”

“Good choice,” he smirked, pecking my lips. “I’ll be ten minutes. Why don’t you pour us all a glass of wine? Use the really good stuff near the bottom of the rack.” He was clearly trying to impress tonight. I nodded, watching him rush up the stairs.

Drew and Georgie came out of their room moments later, looking
like magazine cover models.

“Wow, look at you two,” I giggled. “You scrub up well. Oliver is taking a quick shower. How about some wine?”

“Let the games begin,” Drew winked, nudging me.

“No games tonight, please,” I pleaded. “I’m too close to the end of this.” Drew turned to look at Georgie, who gave him a knowing look.

“Okay, I’ll be good,” he sulked, crossing his arms.

I walked toward the kitchen to pour us all a drink. The two of them followed me, taking a seat on the stools there.

“I can’t wait to meet this Oliver,” Georgie mused, watching me pour the wine. “I need to see what all the fuss is about.”

“He’ll be down soon, so maybe you two should start looking lovey-dovey. You’re married, after all,” I pointed out, glaring between them.

“Okay, honey bunny.” Drew took Georgie’s hand in his, staring deep into her eyes. “You know how much I love you, right?”

“Yes I do,” she giggled, rubbing her nose against his. Damn, they were good. I stood there gawking at them as Oliver entered, showered and looking smoking hot.

“Sorry I’m a little late. My office never sleeps,” Oliver greeted them, shaking Drew’s hand first. “Great to see you again, Drew.”

“Likewise, Oliver. You have a great place here.”

“Thank you.” Oliver moved his attention toward Georgie, whose mouth was slightly open.
Christ, I hope she remembers that she’s married.  
“You must be Georgie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, no, the pleasure is all mine,” she giggled, standing up and hugging him. “You’re the first man to capture Jade’s heart. I’ve been
dying
to meet you. I can see what the fuss is about now, too. You’re gorgeous.”

“Georgie!” I snapped, annoyed. What was she playing at?

“
What
? It’s the truth!” She smiled over Oliver’s shoulder, still hugging him.

“You’ll have to excuse my
wife
. She can be a little over-friendly at times.” Drew pulled Georgie toward him as the realization hit her face.
Yes, Georgie, you’re married, remember?

“Sorry, Oliver. I got a little overcome with emotion right then. It’s just so nice to see Jade happy.”

“I can understand that,” he grinned, pulling me into his arms. “I love seeing Jade happy, too.”

We made our way to the restaurant. Georgie and Drew played their cover well, but I was distracted. Every time I looked at Oliver, I was reminded that we only had so much time left together.

“Well, now that you’ve finally met a few of Jade’s friends, do you want to hear some of her embarrassing stories?” Drew had a gleam in his eye while the plates from our main course were being taken away.

“Oh, good idea!” Georgie giggled, clapping her hands.

“No, let’s not!” I protested, looking over at Oliver who had a smirk playing on his face. He loved learning new things about me. I knew this.   

“Have you gotten sick of clearing away all her half empty water glasses yet?” Georgie snorted. “Oh, and do you have to wake her up three times before she
actually
gets up?”

“I seem to be rather good at waking Jade up in the morning.” Oliver turned to wink at me. He was right; morning sex was the best way to get me out of bed. “But I do understand what you mean about the glasses of water. She told me about that not long after we got together.”

“I can’t help it. It’s habit,” I snorted.  

“What about her never ending rock playlist that she has on
all the time
?” Drew was joining in now. “And has she told you about her secret crush on Alex Harbour from Steel Roses that she has had since she was ten?”

“DREW! Shut up!” I cautioned, watching Oliver choke a little on his sip of wine. This was too embarrassing.

“Alex Harbour? Really?” he chuckled. “The guy is a complete idiot.”

“How do you know?” Why was I defending a
rock star that I’d had a crush on years ago?

“I’ve met him a few times at charity events. He is a complete asshole—completely self centered.” Why wasn’t I surprised? Oliver met world leaders all the time. A has-been
rock star was nothing compared to that.

“It was long time ago. I was young and easily influenced.” He was still grinning at me, obviously enjoying this!

“That’s why you still have his old concert T-shirts?” Georgie was
not
helping.

“Why don’t we look at the dessert menu?” I suggested, ignoring the soft chuckles around the table.

“Mmm…my favorite course,” Oliver whispered into my ear while stroking my arm with his fingertips. “I can get you more excited than Alex Harbour ever could anyway.”

“Yes you can.”

“Did you want anymore
ice
for your water, Beautiful?” Now was not the time to be thinking about ice cubes and Oliver.

“Remember, we have company.” I motioned toward the two sets of eyes watching us closely.

“Maybe I’ll save this conversation for later.” The playful look in his eyes only meant one thing: he was thinking about sex again.

“Let’s just enjoy this dinner, and no more picking on me,” I commented toward Drew and Georgie. By the look on all their faces, they agreed.

“Thank you for dinner, Oliver.” Georgie fluttered her eyelashes at him when we arrived back at the apartment. She was such a flirt.

“It was my pleasure. It’s not very often I get to take Jade’s friends out to dinner.”

“I really do love your apartment,” Drew commented as we all took a seat in the large living area.

“It’s been in his family for generations.” I forced a smile, sliding onto Oliver’s lap. He’d been giving me wary looks all evening at the restaurant. He knew something was wrong. Hiding my feelings from him wasn’t something I could do anymore.

“Can I get anyone a glass of wine, or maybe a cup of coffee?”

“We need to think about calling it a night soon. Drew and I have an early start in the morning,” Georgie said as she faked a yawn. For once, I was dreading being alone with Oliver. How would I explain my solemn mood to him? “It’s been wonderful to finally meet you, Oliver.”

“And you,” he smiled as I slid off his lap so we could all stand up and say our goodnights.

I watched Drew and Georgie head toward the spare room downstairs before moving my gaze to Oliver’s concerned face.

“Jade, what’s wrong?” he asked, pulling me into his embrace. “You haven’t been yourself all evening.”

“It was just Georgie saying she’s never seen me as happy as I am right now,” I whispered into his neck, inhaling his skin.

“And that’s made you sad?” he frowned, pulling back to look in my eyes.

“She’s the only other person who knows about Mina and my past. It just got to me today, that’s all. Ignore me, I’m being silly.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Beautiful. You have nothing to fear.” He ran his hands through my hair before moving to trace his thumb over my bottom lip. “I love you so much.” I leaned up, crashing my lips against his.

“Take me to bed and fuck me,” I moaned against his mouth, desperate for his touch. My time with him was ticking away, and I didn’t want to waste a moment.

It was strange how this mission had come full circle, just like the first mission did. I should have known someone like me didn’t get a happy ending, though.

“With pleasure. I’ve been looking forward to my dessert all evening,” he smirked, lifting me by my ass and carrying me upstairs.

Georgie didn’t really want to leave me the next morning. I knew she was worried about me.

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” she whispered, hugging me goodbye. “Nothing reckless, do you hear me? I’ve noticed the way you look at him. You’ve got it bad.” I nodded, fighting back my tears. I was stronger than this. I needed to focus on keeping Oliver safe. That was all that mattered now.

“See you soon, Jelly Bean,” Drew called. “Thank you for letting us stay, Oliver. We’ll have to have that round of golf next time I’m here.”

“Definitely,” Oliver called, wrapping his arms around me from behind. “It was lovely to meet you both. Don’t take too long to visit again.”

“We won’t,” Georgie smiled, nudging Drew to leave.

“You’re friends are great. There’s one thing I don’t get, though.” I froze, trying to think if we’d slipped up at any point. “Why does Drew have the ridiculous nickname for you?”

“I have no idea,” I giggled, following him into the kitchen. Mrs. Davis was on vacation for the week, so I was looking after him.      

“You don’t even look like a jelly bean.”

“I think it has more to do with it beginning with the letter J,” I snorted, pulling some pancake mix out of the fridge for our breakfast.

“And did you hear how loud they were last night? I thought we could be loud, but when I came downstairs early this morning, I could hear them from my office.” I almost dropped the pancake mix. What did he mean about noise?

“What do you mean by that?”

“What do you think I mean?” he chuckled. “I’m talking about sex, Jade. Just because they’re married doesn’t mean they stop having sex. I know for a fact we wouldn’t stop if we got married.” I was so confused. Was Oliver trying to tell me Drew and Georgie were having sex last night? That was crazy.

“I can’t believe they would do that here,” I gasped.

“It’s a completely natural thing. I mean…how many times did we do it last night?” His hands squeezed my butt as he came up behind me again.

“I lost count at orgasm number four,” I giggled, feeling his hands creep up into my top. “You need to let me make your breakfast. Otherwise you’ll be late for work.”

“Work doesn’t seem to hold my focus as much now that I have a different PA,” he muttered into my ear, sucking on my earlobe. “It was good of you to go for coffee with her yesterday, though. She understands the new filing system now.”

“As long as she keeps her hands off you, we’ll get along just fine,” I teased.

“Mmm, I love this possessive side to you, Jade.” His voice was husky as he hands moved further into my top, cupping my breasts. “Why don’t we have breakfast a little later? I don’t have any appointments until early this afternoon. My office can manage without me for one morning.” I couldn’t resist him. I didn’t want to.

A few hours later, we were finally eating breakfast.

“Will you be okay to accompany me on a trip to Macon next week?”
 

“Of course. I haven’t contacted any of those clients you gave me yet. With Mrs. Davis being away, I wanted to concentrate on looking after you.”

“There is no rush, Beautiful. You know I’ll support you until you get back on your feet.”

“I know, but it feels wrong. I like to pay my own way.”

“You do, trust me. I love having you look after me,” he winked. “Plus, if you get bored, you can always come back and work for me.”

“We’ve had this conversation,” I snorted.

“It was just an offer.”

“Are we visiting Macon for business or pleasure?”

Oliver looked intensely into my eyes. “I’m going to tell Macy to destroy the power core before Dylan finds out about it. The world will never be ready for it. I was wrong to fund the testing.”

“I knew you’d make the right choice.” I reached over and took his hand in mine, relieved that the
power core would be destroyed after I left. My client wouldn’t be able to get their hands on the real core after I’d gone. I swallowed at the thought of leaving and felt sick to my stomach knowing that The Seductors were betraying me like they were. I counted my blessings that Molly had overheard Evan. At least I had time to prepare myself to say goodbye. It was only a matter of time until Oliver found out who I really was, and then he would lose every ounce of love for me. I wasn’t the Jade he thought. I didn’t expect him to love the real me, anyway. He was too good for that.

I had that familiar feeling as I arrived at the mansion in Macon. Richard and Claire were away on vacation so we had the place to ourselves, but my impending doom was at the front of my mind.
I’d been here before...knowing that I might only have hours left with the man I loved with every fraction of my heart.

Sonia had debriefed Alicia and me on the steal last week. Oliver believed he had a meeting with an investor, who was being played by Evan, one of our clean up crew. We’d all be attending the meeting—Evan, Alicia and I. Once we were all inside the factory, Evan and Alicia would use me as a hostage to gain access to the
power core. Even I knew Oliver would give them anything in order to keep me safe. Sonia told me I’d be taken along with the power core, but of course I now knew differently. Something would go wrong, and Oliver would learn of my true identity, voiding the agreement I signed.

“I need to make a few calls. Make yourself at home,” Oliver called, coming down the grand staircase after dropping our luggage off in the master suite.

I was glad Alicia was staying at a hotel nearby. She’d become intimate with Dylan over the last few weeks while he’d been in New York heading a science fair, and I expected he’d be joining her at the hotel.

I walked into the large kitchen and poured Oliver and myself a glass of red wine. Tonight was our last night together, and for once, I needed the alcohol to help calm me. Wandering into the homey living area, I settled down on one
of the comfortable couches and waited for Oliver to finish his calls.   

“Sorry about that. I needed to call Macy. She’s coming over so I can talk to her about the
power core. She already suspects what I’m going to say, I’m sure, so I’ll speak to her in private. Knowing Macy, it’s going to be an ugly argument.”

“Okay,” I sighed. “I poured you some wine. I thought you might need it.”

“You read my mind.” When he sat next to me, I moved to rest my head on his chest and listened to the beat of his heart while he played with my hair. We stayed that way until Macy arrived a few hours later.

Oliver took her into his study and I decided to watch some television. I was flipping through the channels, not really paying attention to anything, when the doorbell rang. We weren’t expecting anyone else that I knew of, so I groaned internally at seeing Alicia at the front door.

“We need to talk. Where is Oliver?”

“He’s in the study with Macy. What’s wrong?” I frowned, letting her in.

“There
is
a power core, not just a prototype.” My worst fear had been realized. Alicia had found out about the real core! “Dylan has been keeping tabs on Macy. She has a secret laboratory. He hacked her computer and discovered the tests she’d done on it. I’ve called Sonia and confirmed this. The plan for the steal is still the same. We’ll be able to gain access to anywhere if we threaten your life—we just need to make sure Oliver takes us to Macy’s laboratory, not the joint one she shares with Dylan.”

“It can’t be…Oliver would have…”

“You’re not as amazing as you think, Jade. I told you I’d knock you off your pedestal with this mission,” she goaded.
God, I hated her so much!  

“It can’t be. I would have known. Let me call Sonia.”

“She’s in a meeting now, but she already sent the new steal information and protocol for tomorrow. Nothing has really changed, anyway. We’ll just get a bigger payout. Isn’t that amazing?” No, it wasn’t! What was I going to do? “I better go before Oliver sees me,” she stressed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I was numb, watching her leave. This mission was falling down around me.

Pulling my phone out, I called Miles. I needed to know if he’d found anything out about our client. He couldn’t bury his head in the sand on this one. There was too much at stake.

“What’s wrong, Jade?” he asked after the fourth ring.

“Have you heard?”

“Yes,” he sighed. We had to be careful how we worded things. Our calls were monitored.

“Did you finding anything about what we’d been talking about?”

“I started, but couldn’t finish it. I think you’re right, though. You need to be careful. You have a lot in your hands right now.” Was he trying to say I had been right? The client was Imogen.

“Thanks, Miles.” I knew what he was trying to tell me. If I could stop the
power core from getting into our client’s hands, I’d save the world…and Oliver in the long run.

There was only one way I could do that. I’d have to confess who I really was to Macy and get her to swap the core before it was stolen tomorrow. For my plan to work, Oliver couldn’t know. He had to think that the real
power core was being taken.