Knight Series Book 2: King Takes Bishop
Author
Laila Callaway
Reads
15.5K
Chapters
19
“I’m not your vacation fling.” Deacon hears it and smiles anyway. Like he’s already unbuttoning the argument.
Allie arrives at a secluded lake house with one rule: no men, no drama, and absolutely no more brothers of exes. She’s still running on the kind of rage that makes you do something deliciously petty… which makes it worse. Then she hears snoring, opens a bedroom door, and finds Deacon sprawled in the bed like he pays rent. Of course it’s him. The CEO flirt from her sister’s wedding. The one who watched her like dessert, asked for one night, and got told no. Now he’s holding a key, she’s holding her suitcase, and you’re about to watch them negotiate “kitchen hours” like they’re not two seconds from biting. He drags a sketchpad to the counter and starts drawing up house rules. Then the front door swings open and a voice calls, “Allie?”
Chapter 1: Revenge is Sweet
ALLIE
“Oh, fuck, I’m gonna come.”
I push my hips back against Matt as he digs his fingers into my hips. I clench my pussy and hear him choke in response.
“Fuck, that’s it,” he hisses, and finally, he comes.
He’s panting behind me as he pulls out and falls onto the bed beside me. I roll onto my side and smirk at him, my chin resting on my fisted hand.
“Good?”
“So good,” he says breathlessly. “I can’t believe I met you tonight. I wasn’t even going to go out, and Simon convinced me.”
Simon is a coworker of mine and a mutual friend of Matt. He owed me a favor, and I cashed in by getting him to drag Matt out to the bar tonight so I could make my move.
My smirk deepens. “Thank God for Simon,” I mutter.
“Amen,” Matt agrees and gets to his feet.
He goes to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. I get up and stretch my arms over my head. Checking the time, I smile to myself.
Hopefully, this will all keep going to plan.
“What time is your brother coming round again?” I ask casually as I scoop up my bra and thong from the carpet.
“Shit, I forgot,” Matt hisses and grabs his phone. “Fuck, he’ll be here any second.”
He glances at me and gives me an apologetic smile. I can tell he feels awkward about asking me to go.
“Don’t worry, I’m leaving,” I tell him. “Let me use the bathroom, then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Thanks, Allie. You’re great, you know that?”
I grin at him. “That’s why you slept with me.”
He laughs and shakes his head, pulling on some sweatpants. “You’re not leaving without me getting your number. We’re doing this again sometime.”
I don’t answer him, just smile tightly and head for the bathroom. There’s no way in hell we’re doing this again. I use the toilet but don’t make any effort to calm down my messy sex hair.
A knock echoes through the apartment. Matt curses and leaves the bedroom to answer the door. I grin at my reflection and snatch Matt’s discarded shirt off the floor.
Pulling it on, I make sure that you can see my nipples pressing against the fabric, and then I wait by the door, listening for my opening.
“Why are you half naked?” I hear the guy snort and ask Matt.
“Sorry, I’ve had someone over. She’s about to leave, though.”
“Couldn’t have invited her another night? Well done, anyway.”
“Thanks. And no, you’ll understand when you see her. She’s pretty hot.”
Satisfied that this is my moment, I open the door and step out. Both of the guys look up. Matt smirks, and Peter—well, Peter looks like he’s about to swallow his tongue.
I smile casually and cross the room, giving them a great look at my jiggling breasts under the T-shirt and my bare legs stretching out from under it.
“Sorry, just getting a glass of water. I’m thirsty after all that,” I say lightly and wink at a grinning Matt.
I open random cupboards, finding glasses in the second one.
“Alice?” Peter blurts.
“Alice?” Matt repeats.
I fill the glass in the sink and glance over my shoulder to find Matt looking incredibly confused.
“Alice, what the fuck are you doing here?” Peter says angrily, his fists clenched at his sides.
“Wait, wait, Alice?” Matt looks between us both, a panicked expression growing on his face.
I smile behind the glass as I take a sip.
“Alice as in your ex? That Alice?”
“The one and only,” I sing and pour the rest of the water down the sink.
“You told me your name was Allie!” Matt splutters.
Peter is silent, looking between us both with his mouth hanging open as his poor small brain tries to process the fact that I just fucked his brother.
“You really thought you could cheat on me and there wouldn’t be any repercussions?” I ask Peter innocently and cross my arms over my chest. “Of course I wasn’t going to just get over it.”
“I can’t fucking believe you!” he bursts, getting over his shock. “You fucking slut!”
“Says the guy who cheated on me in our bed,” I retort.
I turn my back on them both and go into the bedroom. I quickly put my underwear back on, then my tiny dress and my heels. When I step out, the two of them are arguing.
Peter is accusing Matt of knowing, and Matt’s trying to defend himself. To be fair, Matt had no idea that I’m Peter’s ex.
The man doesn’t have social media, so he never posted pictures of me in the year we were dating, and I never once met any of his family. I assume he told them about me, but he always called me Alice, never Allie.
“I’m gonna go,” I say loudly, drawing their attention. I point at Matt. “I had a great time tonight. That thing you did with your tongue? Keep doing that; women love that shit,” I tell Matt, and despite the situation, he grins.
I turn to Peter. “And you? Learn that tongue thing, you always were crap at oral. Have a shit life, and I hope I never see you again.” I open the door, clutch in hand. “Bye, Matt!”
I hear the shouting resume as I rush down the hallway to the stairwell, forgoing the lift. I take my phone out; my fingers are shaking with adrenaline as I order an Uber.
Thankfully, there is a car only a minute away. The driver pulls up as I get out onto the street. I climb inside, say hello, and then silence falls.
As he pulls out into the traffic, I burst into tears.
Getting revenge like that felt good, for all of five minutes. Now, I’m just filled with regret and shame.
I slept with that man purely to get back at another. I used him for sex—not that he complained.
I’m twenty-six years old, and I had sex just to spite someone.
What does that say about me?
***
I arrive at the lake house with a sigh. The taxi is idling at the end of the road, paid to wait for me. Using the spare key Lana gave me when I dropped my things off at her place yesterday, I drag my suitcase inside.
I grab only my handbag, lock up, and turn right back around without even looking around the place. I jog back to the taxi, being careful not to twist an ankle on the way and ask the driver to take me to the nearest supermarket.
Over an hour later, a different taxi drops me off at the end of the road. I’m panting as I lug the three bags of groceries up the pathway toward the lake house. My brother-in-law seriously values his privacy.
The house doesn’t have a garage. There is no driveway, no access via cars after a certain point. It’s totally secluded and frankly, just what I need.
The last two months have done an absolute number on me, and I need some time to be by myself to sort my head out before I have to face the world again.
I put all of the food I’ve bought into the cupboards, fridge, and freezer. I’m here for two weeks, so I’ve stocked up.
I carry my suitcase upstairs and look at the rooms. I ignore the master room because that’s obviously where Erick and Lana stay.
Instead, I pick the room opposite because it has a great view of the lake. It takes me half an hour to unpack everything, and by that point, I’m sweaty and desperate for a shower.
The water pressure is so good, I stay in the shower far longer than I normally would. I step out feeling like a new woman—as much as I can do from just a shower—and grab one of the giant fluffy towels to wrap around myself.
There are many perks to my little sister marrying an insanely rich guy, one being that she is ridiculously happy, but also it means that everything he owns is luxury, right down to the towels.
I freeze mid-step as I’m walking into the bedroom. My ears strain to hear the noise that has stopped me in my tracks. It sounds out again.
A mixture of panic and confusion fills me.
Is that…snoring?
Confused as hell, I go out into the hall and follow the sound down to the bedroom at the front of the house. I wonder if Lana and Erick have forgotten that they agreed to let me stay here and maybe they’ve come to visit.
It’s not like I can check for cars in the drive…there is no drive. The door is ajar. Holding my towel tightly, I cautiously push it open and poke my head around.
In the middle of the king-sized bed, a man lies on his back. One arm is bent above his head, the other spread out beside him. He’s fully dressed…and snoring.
“What the fuck?”
The words come out louder than I intend. The man suddenly sits up, blearily looking around. I spot the suitcase in the corner, and my stomach sinks.
What is he doing here?
“W-what?” he blurts.
His eyes land on me, and he rubs his eyes. He blinks a few times and squints, trying to make sense of what he’s seeing, just like I am. “Alice?” he says, confused.
“Deacon,” I reply stiffly, trying to muster some authority despite wearing nothing but a towel. “What are you doing here?”
“Me?” He blinks rapidly again and gets to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily. “What are you doing here?”
“Lana and Erick agreed to let me stay for two weeks,” I reply indignantly and grip my towel a little harder.
Deacon frowns, his mouth popping open in shock. “That can’t be right.”
“It is,” I retort and straighten my spine.
“But Rachael told me that I could stay here for a couple weeks.”
“Rachael?” I splutter. “Erick’s rep?”
“Yeah, that’s the one,” Deacon mutters, looking around like he’s searching for something. “Where’s my phone? I’ll call her.”
I look down at myself and realize that I should probably get dressed. “I’ll put some clothes on,” I tell him and leave him to make the phone call.
This is clearly a case of miscommunication. Rachael thought the cabin was free and gave a key to Deacon, not knowing that Lana and Erick had already agreed to let me stay here.
Well, there is no way that I’m leaving. I have nowhere else to go, and I’m not imposing on the loved-up couple; they’ve already done enough by offering me the lake house.
I just have to convince Deacon to leave.
Fuck.
