Fraud

Gabriel

Check. Fucking. Mate.

This moment is far more enjoyable than I thought it would be, the tremor in Ivy’s voice and the way she keeps flicking nervous glances back at me doing things to my body that make me worried I’m more of an evil bastard than I’d thought.

Do I enjoy causing pain in other people? Not usually. But do I enjoy trapping them?

Yes. I happen to be a master at it.

And I especially enjoy trapping this particular woman for all the crap she’s caused in my life.

She’s cute with the way she marches down the hall like she has a leg to stand on. Her blue eyes keep glancing over her shoulder, her quick stride not fast enough to outrun mine.

It’s not fair to her, actually. My legs are much longer. So she’s practically ru

Reaching the elevator, she stabs at the button repeatedly as if it will send the car fast enough for her to slip inside and the doors to close before I can walk in behind her.

Obviously, that doesn’t happen, and I take the opportunity to draw close, to press my chest against her back and drop my mouth to her ear.

“Where are you ru

Ivy shivers at the whisper against her ear then attempts to hide it with a sneer, her reflection staring back at me in the mirrored doors.

“Away from you,” she says with that ultra-sweet voice that drives me fucking crazy.

She should stop using it on me. I know she does it to piss me off, but all it does is turn me on.

Nobody, and I mean not one other woman that I’ve ever known, has affected me like she does.

We all have an ultimate in life.

The ultimate career. The ultimate home, the ultimate vacation, or car or lover.

Yet, for me, none of those other things have ever really mattered as much as the ultimate conquest I’ve always sought:

The complete destruction of Ivy Callahan.

In body, mind and soul.

It’s within my reach now, and I’d spent the past month preparing. Meanwhile, she’s been traveling around enjoying a superficial life with no real substance or meaning.

In the end, this will all come down to finishing the task my father set me on, but for the time being, I can finish a task I’ve wanted to accomplish for what feels like a lifetime.

A bell dings to signal the elevator has arrived, the doors sliding open with a smooth motion.

Ivy steps inside and moves to a far wall on the left, while I take up the wall on the right.

For fourteen floors we stare at each other, her eyes brimming with distrust and speculation, while mine simply enjoy the sight. I don’t miss the tension in her body, the way her arms cross over her abdomen before she untangles them again to hang at her sides.

She has no idea what to do with herself while I’m staring her down.

“This is ridiculous, Gabriel. What do you plan to do? Follow me to my car and chase after it like the dog you are? Isn’t that just a bit beneath you at this point?”

I grin and say nothing. It’s insane how much I love the sound of my name on her lips.

The doors open as we reach the bottom floor, and I swing out an arm.

“After you.”

She laughs. “Such a gentleman.”

“Only for you,” I murmur, her eyes flicking to mine for only a second before she crosses the lobby to approach the front desk.

Standing back, I chuckle to see the female desk attendant’s face light up. Her excitement will be short lived. It makes her just one more i

Practically bouncing on her toes, she glances between us and down to Ivy’s finger. Not finding the engagement ring I’d used to lie my way into Ivy’s room, her expression falls, and her eyes seek me out again.

I wink and shrug. “Can’t win them all, I guess.”

The poor woman looks broken-hearted.

I hadn’t actually pla

“I take it you’re checking out?”

Chuckling at her snappish tone, I cross my arms over my chest and wait.

Flinching at the woman’s voice, Ivy pastes on a wobbly smile, clearly still off balance with me standing nearby.

Normally, someone snapping at her would have no effect. Our prep school was practically wallpapered with spoiled, bitchy people. We’re used to this.

Which only makes seeing her knocked back by the clerk’s anger even more hilarious than it should be.

Fuck, I’m enjoying this.

Perfecting her hundred-watt smile, Ivy rounds her shoulders and drops her purse to the counter, becoming little Miss Congeniality right before my eyes. It won’t help her, but it’s fun watching her try.

“Yes, I’m checking out a little early, so I hope that’s not a problem.”

The desk clerk’s eyes shoot to me again, and I shrug and feign a sad face because the sympathy is fun, and it only pisses her off more.

When her gaze locks back on Ivy, there are a thousand knives shooting out of it.

“Normally, we’ll work with our guests who have to check out unexpectedly, but in your case, that won’t happen.”

Tapping her fingers over the keyboard, she slams her pissed off eyes back on Ivy.

“You’ll need to pay for the full two weeks.”

“What?”

When Ivy’s jaw drags the floor in shock, she loses the fake facade, her eyes narrowing on the woman in return.

“But I was only here for one night.”

The clerk shrugs, her eyes darting to me again as she flashes a conspiratorial smile.

I’d expected to reap my own revenge eventually, but it’s nice to have someone conspiring with me.

Eyes back to Ivy. “Full two weeks. That’s how long you reserved the room for, and that’s what you’ll pay. Give me the card that you placed on file with us so I can run it.”

Ivy opens her mouth, an argument right there on the tip of her tongue. It clings with scrabbling hands as she fights the urge to spit it out.

But then she looks at me and lets out an angry grunt, her eyes rolling as she whips her gaze back to the clerk.

“You know what? That’s fine. Anything to get away from that a

Slapping the credit card down on the counter, Ivy misses the change in the desk clerk’s expression.

Anger colors the woman’s cheeks a healthy red, her eyes flicking to me where I stand like the unwanted war hero, a poor neglected man who was cast aside by the woman he’d worked his ass off to chase down.

It only makes her angrier.

Snatching the card, she inserts it into the reader, a bark of laughter bursting from her lips when a beep sounds from the computer.

Slapping it back down on the counter, she locks a pissed off glare on Ivy. “Declined.”

“What?”

The one-word question is a shriek of sound that echoes through the lobby.

I cover my mouth to hide my smile, my shoulders shaking with silent laughter that I play off as soft sobs when the desk clerk peeks my way again. Thankfully, my eyes are watering, but not for the reason she thinks.

“How could you do that?” the clerk asks, truly upset that I’m being treated so poorly.

Ivy’s brows tug together as she pulls out another card and slaps it down.

“Do what? Try that one.”

The clerk runs the new card only for the computer to beep again.