Chapter 2: Betrayal becomes a game

It's been two years since I resigned from the army. I have a decent job, and a happy home. What more can I ask for?

Thinking about how far I have come, I get into my favorite dress. Champagne red, and bare at the back, down to my waist. Hubby wants to create the best impression on the Kingston's at tonight's dinner and I can't let him down.

“ What do you think?” I spinned before him. “ Enough?”

“ You look ravishing,” he exclaimed with a contented smile plastered on his face.

That was all I needed to step into the hall with calculated poise. 

Moments in, Adam's hands wandered to my waist. He takes a sip of his wine, raised his glass to someone a little way from us, and leaned in to whisper to me.

“ You see the man in gold?”

“ Gold?” I quizzed myself, throwing my gaze around the room until they settled on an intense gaze. 

He's looking directly at me. Eyes lingering too long. Too attentive. Burning with a strikingly familiar fiery glow. I have seen those eyes somewhere. But I can't recall.

“ You see him?” Adam asked again, glancing around and at nothing in particular. 

“ Yes, I do see him.”

“ Good. That's the man. I need his goodwill. One contract from him will set me up for life, but he doesn't hand it out on a platter. A third part of the people here are here for the same thing I have come for. I need you to make him bend his will.”

“ How?” I snapped my neck at him, worry creeping into my voice. Hope he's not suggesting what I'm thinking.

“ Mia mor, slow down. I just want you to indulge him a little. I see that he's completely captured by your ravishing look…and here he comes.”

I swallow, taken aback, yet, I have to put on a smile and go through this night. If this is as important as he says, I have to try. Hopefully, it won't slide into what I'm thinking.

“ Hello, Mr. Adam West. I'm glad you could make it.”

“ Thank you for the invite, Mr. Kingston.”

They greeted each other, exchanging a handshake. 

Holding my smile at a moderate level, without fawning, I made a light bow, and heard him gulp loudly. 

He looks forty, by Adam says he's over fifty. His clean shave gives him a younger look, and a strikingly handsome appearance. 

“ You are?” He quizzed, taking my hand.

“ My sister, Moraine.” Adam hurriedly interrupted. I managed to keep calm while he lowered his head and planted a kiss on the back of my left palm, his gaze fixed on me like his latest favorite artwork.

“ Sister?” I smirked inside. “ Adam, what are you up to?” I thought, as Mr. Kingston released my hand. 

“ You are worth every hype you have received from your brother. It's been a long time I have seen a woman so enchanting, graceful and with an undeniable and magnetic allure. Yet, so aloof as if the world hasn't seen half of her.”

“ You flatter me, Mr. Kingston. Surely, a man of your caliber must have seen better damsels.”

He chuckled, and something flicked in his eyes. Bright and starry. 

“ Why does he…oh my God!” I blinked and swallowed, looking away from both men. “ There's no way he could be Luthor’s father. Right? It's just a coincidence…please, this better be a coincidence.”

I take a deep breath and exhaled, throwing my gaze back to them.

“ Please, walk with me, Miss West.”

I flashed a radiant smile, and took his hand. A side glance at Adam and I could see the happiest smile he ever had. “ But why lie? This is crazy.”

From a tour of his gallery, he brought me to a vast flower field at the back of the mansion, away from all the noise and clinking of glasses. “ No offense, but nothing beats a beauty among these beauties here,” he said, taking out a digital camera from the back of a flower vase by a pillar.

“ Okay, I get it. I just have to pose for photos.” I told myself, and got down for the best shot. 

“ Well then, I hope she gives you a photo of the year,” I joked, hitting a pose in the midst of the flowers, bringing to life, my imagination of a love drunk woman, with an edge of lawlessness and raw seduction. 

I waited for the call to change the pose after the shutters have died down. I look up and met him frozen. 

“ Is it such a beautiful view?” I quipped, throwing my gaze away. He chuckled and ploded towards me. 

“ I have a better idea,” he said and set the camera down on countdown. “ If you will let me.”

I smile in consent, but when he takes his place behind me, his hands wanders to my burst. A moan escaped my lips, tearing free like a s*x starved girl.

And yes, I have been starved.

Adam hasn't touched me in a long while. His schedule is fully booked and there's barely enough time for us to sit and eat together, not to mention making out.

It's over a year now, and my pacing heartbeat has come up as a reminder.

I play along with him, expecting it to end with just the pictures alone, but he's far from being done with me.

“ Let me make you a deal, Miss West or shall I say, Mrs. West?”

I gulped down, panic crawling to my chest. 

“ You know?”

“ Come on. I'm Alexander Kingston. Surely it wouldn't pass my eyes. I see that your husband is willing to trade you inorder to rise, and you are basking in a blind devotion, willing to do anything to please him. So, let me make you an offer.”

I raised my hand, holding him off. “ Why come this far when you already know?”

He grins with mischief. “ I needed privacy with you alone. Besides, it would be too inappropriate for my son to walk in on me drooling over a woman.” He explained with no edge of seriousness. 

“ And what is this offer?” I asked, throwing my weight on my left leg. He follows the sway of my hips and smiles lustfully at me.

“ A contract. Be my girl for a year.”

“ What?! An affair, you mean?”

He nods. “ Nothing worse than what your husband planned for tonight.”

I stopped mid breath, pushing away a sudden chill flooding my bare back. “ And what did he propose?” I maintained a calm demeanor, looking him straight in the eyes.

“ You, as a gift.”

I chuckled. “ Did he really do that?”

“ I document evidence. I could show you.” He replied, hands in his pockets.

“ No need,” I said, waving him off. Do I need another evidence to know that I have become a tool…a mere tool in my husband's ambitious journey?

“ So, what do you say?”

I tilt my head, and flashed him a smile. “ Not so fast, Mr. Kingston. The night is young. You might get your gift, or maybe not.” I sidestep him, about to leave, but he grabs me by the waist, urgent and voice raw with lust. “ Name your price.”

We are so close now that his lips hovers over mine. Caught in the arms of a man…an attractive one at that…my hormones are kicking out of order.

“ I'm a gold digger, Mr. Kingston. When I find the opportunity to dig, I dig deep. You may not like my proposal.”

He glanced down at my boobs, and ran his lips over his lower lips. “ Say it!” He commanded.

“ Marry me,” I demanded.