Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (25 page)

Placing the tip of his cock at her entrance, he slowly began working it inside her. She was tight. He could still feel her resistance to the invasion, so he lowered his other hand from her hip and reached around her body until he found her swollen nub. With stimulation to all her parts, he knew it was only a matter of time before she exploded. Dylan began pushing into him, letting him enter. He needed to take it slow with her. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. Stopping his movements, he let her take control. He was about halfway in when she came unleashed. Her body began shaking with her eruption. Pulling out, he took his hand and began stroking his cock until he spilled his seed onto her back. He watched as his cum coated her skin. It was a turn on for him to watch the milky substance slide down her body. Pulling her close to his chest, he softly whispered, “No matter what, Sweetness, I will never let you go.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Dylan knew she needed to get back to her apartment. She couldn’t stay hidden in his penthouse. She also needed to get back to work. Dressing, she brushed out her wet hair and put it up into a hair tie. Rade was already dressed and working in his study. She would never get over the way she felt when she saw him sitting behind a desk. So powerful and in control. As she walked into the study, his gaze fell upon her. He could see she had her bag hanging from her shoulder.

“I hope you aren’t planning on leaving, Dylan,” Rade firmly stated.

“I need to get back to my apartment. I can’t stay here forever,” Dylan retorted before her argument was put on hold with a knock at the door.

Rade stood stopping in front of Dylan. “This discussion isn’t over.”

Dylan was left in his study as he went to answer the door. Hearing the door open, she heard the exchange of a few choice words. Curious as to who he was talking to, she exited the study and looked over the balcony to the front door. His heart pounded as she stood, feeling the temperature rise in her body.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Chloe?” Rade said, furious at himself for not informing security not to give her admittance.

“I just stopped by to see how you were doing. I know hearing that Evan Taylor was your brother must have been a shock for you,” Chloe said with fake concern. She knew exactly what she was doing. When she looked up and saw Dylan standing shell shocked, it only sweetened the pot.

Rade followed Chloe’s gaze just in time to watch Dylan jog down the stairs. Dylan walked past Rade, needing to exit. “Dylan, wait,” Rade pleaded as he took hold of her arm.

Needing to escape, Dylan pulled her arm from his hold. “Don’t you dare,” Dylan yelled.

“Let me explain, Dylan. It’s not what you think,” Rade pleaded.

“You have no idea what I think. You two make the perfect couple. Evidently she knows more about you than I do,” Dylan laughed, trying to hide the hurt she felt trusting he wouldn’t keep secrets from her.

Pushing past Chloe, she wished she had the strength to punch her in the face. Knowing she wasn’t worth the effort, Dylan escaped to the elevator. Once inside, Dylan crumbled. She could no longer hold in her feelings. Seeing Chloe was one thing, but to hear that Evan was his brother was too much. These things just didn’t happen in real life. If she hadn’t experienced it herself, she would think she was on the other side watching a soap opera.

Rade was speechless. What just happened? Focusing his attention back on Chloe, he took hold of her arm. “Get the fuck out.” He never treated a woman the way he was treating Chloe. There was only one person that he hated as much as her.

“Rade, don’t be like that. You need to quit denying that we are meant to be together,” Chloe cajoled as she placed her free hand on his chest.

“You. Will. Never. Have. Me.” Rade began leaning closer to her ear. “Stay the fuck away from me,” Rade said with gritted teeth.

Rade firmly pushed Chloe out the door. He didn’t even care that she lost her balance and ended up on her ass in his foyer. His only concern was losing sight of her. There was no guilt when he slammed the door on her. He didn’t have time for her games. He turned to walk away from the door, but then he lost it. His fist met with the door. “Fuck, I am so tired of this shit,” he yelled as he hit the door one more time. He didn’t feel any pain. He only felt his heart pounding faster as the adrenaline from his anger took over.

Grabbing his cell, he called Richard. At least he was able to think straight enough to make sure that Dylan was being protected. He hated that she left. Somehow he needed to convince her to come back to the penthouse. He needed to convince her that staying with him was more secure than her apartment.

“Richard, don’t let Dylan leave the building alone. I want you to stay with her 24/7 even if you have to camp outside her door,” Rade ordered.

“Yes, sir. If you don’t mind, can I ask why?” Richard inquired.

“Chloe showed up. Somehow she found out about Evan Taylor. Needless to say, Dylan didn’t give me a chance to explain,” Rade explained. “Don’t leave her alone for one minute. Sooner or later she is going to have enough and call me,” Rade said confidently.

Hanging up with Richard, Rade took a chance and called Dylan. He knew she wouldn’t answer, but he had to give it a try. After several attempts calling her and texting her, he threw his phone on the counter. He had so much built-up aggression in him, and he knew he couldn’t keep taking his aggression out on the penthouse, so he decided to work it off in his gym.

Two hours later, his temper was under control, only to be replaced by exhaustion. His life was tumbling in a downward spiral. He needed to take control.
How can a man running a billion dollar company struggle at taking care of his personal life?
He knew why. It was because every move he made, he was blindsided by another turn of events. Somehow he needed to figure out how to stay one step ahead of the game, even if that meant having eyes on every threat.

Rade contacted Peter and requested additional watchdogs be placed on his father, Chloe, Alex, and Evan Taylor. It was the only way he could minimize surprises. If he was made aware of their every move, he would be assured of not being blindsided.

Rade tossed and turned all night. When he woke the next morning he was still exhausted. The only thing he saw when he closed his eyes was the expression on Dylan’s face when Chloe opened her big mouth. He would never forget the pain he saw. His only hope was that with Richard was shadowing her, eventually she would get tired of him invading her space and reach out to him. Any contact was better than none. Rade took a quick shower, got dressed, and headed out of the penthouse garage, forgoing his normal cup of coffee.

Arriving at his office, he could hear Gwen and Peter talking as he stepped off the elevator. He wasn’t surprised to see Peter, since Richard was probably camped out in the hallway outside Dylan’s apartment.

“Good morning Rade,” Gwen said smiling.

“Good morning, Gwen. Do you have my schedule for today?” Rade asked, taking the time to nod at Peter, acknowledging his presence.

“Yes, sir. You only have a few meetings on the agenda. Your first one is at one o’clock. I also left some proposals for you to look over on your desk,” Gwen answered.

“Good,” Rade said. “Peter, did you have something to see me about?”

“Yes, Mr. Matheson. If you have a few moments,” Peter replied.

The two men walked to Rade’s office with Peter one step behind Rade. Rade hoped that whatever Peter had to say was good. He didn’t think he could handle any more bad news.

Rounding his desk and taking a seat, Rade commanded, “Have a seat, Peter. Tell me what this is about.”

“I placed surveillance on the people you requested. I thought you might find it interesting to know that Ms. Dupree and Mr. Moreno met at a small café off of 5th Avenue earlier this morning. They weren’t there very long. I also thought you might want to know that Mr. Moreno was pretty banged up,” Peter stated. “It looked like he may have had a run-in with somebody’s fist. More than once, I might add.”

“Interesting,” Rade began, “I have a funny feeling that Chloe may have been behind what happened to Dylan at
The Castle,
and if Mr. Moreno was her sidekick, then he was the one who assaulted Dylan. He deserves a lot worse than what he got.
Keep an eye on them. I want to know every move they make. What about Mr. Stewart, were you able to get a handle on his whereabouts?”

“About that… he hasn’t returned to the hotel. I have three guys watching it. After he got away from us, I had more men put on him to make sure it does happen again. I’ll let you know when he returns.” Peter looked away from Rade, unable to face the fact that he and his men made a mistake that could have cost Dylan injury or even her life.

“Hopefully we will have the results of the DNA test for Mr. Moreno. We should confirm without any doubt if he was the one who assaulted Ms. Adams.” Rade didn’t want to remind Peter of his mistake, so he changed the subject. He could tell that Peter was remorseful for his negligence and knew exactly how Rade felt about carelessness.

Finishing his meeting with Peter, Rade set his focus on the proposals Gwen left on his desk. Given everything else he was faced with the last couple of days, it didn’t surprise him that the Spectrum proposal was on top. Scanning the documents, he could see that Keeve Black and Mason Stone signed all of the required forms. Not one document had been signed by Dylan. He wasn’t sure if it was an oversight or her stubbornness that prevented her from signing. “Damn, that woman is going to be the death of me.”

Rade couldn’t wait any longer. He went against his initial plan and decided it was time to give Dylan a surprise visit. Taking his phone from his pocket, he located Richard’s number in his contacts and pressed send.

“Richard, I’m on my way to see Dylan. Where are you?” Rade asked.

“At her office sharing a cup of coffee with her,” Richard said. “We’ve been spending a lot of time together over the last twelve hours.”

“Don’t be cocky, Richard. I’m not in the mood. Make sure she doesn’t leave.” Rade didn’t wait for his response as he hit the end button.

The BlackStone building was on the other side of Manhattan, but Rade managed to make it there in record time. When he reached her floor, the same two girls were settled behind the reception desk. The minute Rade walked up to the counter, they stopped what they were doing and greeted him with lustful expressions. They looked like they had died and gone to heaven.

“I need to see Dylan Adams. No need to call her. I know the way.” Before they could stop him, Rade was on his way down the hall. As he entered her office, he could see that she was not surprised by his visit. Rade’s only conclusion was that Richard filled her in.

“What do you want, Rade? I have nothing to say to you. Shouldn’t you be focusing your attention on Chloe? After all, you seem to trust her with your little secrets more than me,” Dylan said with a hint of sarcasm.

“Stop, Dylan. Do you even hear yourself? I wouldn’t share the time of day with that woman, let alone any secrets,” Rade argued.

“Huh…” Dylan chuckled. “So you’re admitting you do have secrets.”

“That’s not what I meant. It was just a metaphor. I didn’t tell her anything. I just found out myself,” Rade confessed, moving closer to her desk. “Dylan, why didn’t you sign the proposal?”

Standing, Dylan walked to her office door and pulled it open. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“I’m not leaving without an explanation,” Rade confirmed.

“You want an explanation? Fine. I didn’t sign the proposal because… because… you wouldn’t understand,” she said, knowing what she really wanted to say was,
“Because I still love you, and in order for me to get over you, I can’t have anything tying us together, even if it means losing the Spectrum deal.

“That’s not a reason, Dylan. That’s only an excuse not to tell me the real reason,” Rade said, walking to her office door where she still stood. “Let me do this for you. Please just sign the damn agreement.”

“I can’t. I just can’t,” Dylan replied, pushing her way past Rade. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have worked to do.”

“I’ll find out the reason, Dylan, one way or the other. Since I’m here already, I’ll just wait for you to finish work and take you home.” Rade knew the minute he told her he was staying it would get a rise in her.

“You don’t need to stay. Nothing is going to happen to me while I’m at work. You’re being ridiculous, Rade,” Dylan barked.

“Not going to happen, Sweetness. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Before Rade could say another word, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Dylan said.

Alex opened the door. Dylan couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw him. “Oh my God. Alex, what happened to you? You look like you got hit by a truck,” Dylan gasped.

“Had a run in with a fist. Evidently the guy didn’t like the way I was looking at him,” Alex said. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know that Keeve and Mason wanted to meet with you. They will be in the conference room in fifteen.”

When Rade saw Alex, he had a pretty good idea that his injuries were not caused by an unwanted look. There was something about Alex that didn’t sit well with him. He acted the part of a homosexual, but Rade was good at analyzing people, and Alex was as phony as a three dollar bill.