SmokeandMirrors Read online

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Smoke and Mirrors

  ISBN 9781419918049

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Smoke and Mirrors Copyright © 2008 Natasha Moore

  Edited by Briana St. James.

  Cover art by Syneca.

  Electronic book Publication November 2008

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Smoke and Mirrors

  Natasha Moore

  Dedication

  To Juliet Burns for your support, inspiration, friendship, and awesome critiques.

  And to my editor, Briana St. James, for helping make my stories the best they can be.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Mercedes: DaimlerChrysler

  Chapter One

  Alexander Black stalked out of the Winslow Building, anger simmering just below the surface. Robert Winslow hadn’t mellowed any in the past ten years. If anything, he was more of an asshole now than he’d been before. Why had Alex expected Winslow to talk to him like a civilized human being?

  The last time he faced Gabriella’s father, he’d been wearing torn jeans and a faded T-shirt. He should have known the tailored suit he wore now would have no affect on the bastard. To Winslow, Alex would always be white trash, regardless of the name he’d built for himself, the success he’d garnered, the money he’d made.

  The old man couldn’t make it easy. Alex clenched his fists as he remembered the condescending sneer that slid across Winslow’s face as he sat in his corner office behind that huge mahogany desk. His voice was still just as patronizing as the last time. His mind just as closed. He’d refused Alex’s most simple request outright, not even hearing him out.

  Alex had never taken “no” well.

  He slipped on his sunglasses and contemplated his options. It appeared he’d have to resort to Plan B. Or perhaps he’d known all along it would come to this.

  He signaled for Foster to bring the car around. As he turned to open the passenger door of the black Mercedes, he glanced back to the door of the building, remembering the bastard’s snide remarks, refusing to let the old man make him feel small. When the tall, slim redhead stepped out into the busy sidewalk, his heart stuttered in his chest.

  Gabriella.

  The past ten years had been good to her. He caught a glimpse of her emerald eyes before she covered them with her designer sunglasses. Her oval face showed a maturity that hadn’t had a chance to develop the last time they’d been together. She strode down the sidewalk with the same sway of her hips that had always driven him wild.

  Was she trying to hide that sex goddess body beneath the tailored navy suit? It wasn’t working. Her magnificent breasts strained against the jacket. Those long, sculpted legs stretched out forever below the sedate slim skirt. It was a shame to try to rein in that fabulous body in those no-nonsense clothes.

  He remembered how she’d looked onstage with him, her hair blowing in the artificial wind, her body clad in nothing more than a leotard and scarves. She’d moved her limber body to the heavy music pumping through the speakers and swayed seductively before him. Alex’s cock stiffened in his trousers as he remembered grasping her wrists and pretending to force the handcuffs on her before she stepped into the cage.

  Foster came up beside him. “Talk to her.”

  Alex took a deep breath and shook away the memories. She didn’t even glance his way. His heart hurt to see her walk by him like a stranger. He caught a whiff of her perfume, something heavy and exotic that was at odds with the straitlaced image she was trying too hard to portray. The real Gabriella was in there somewhere. “Soon.”

  Winslow would be sorry. He could have made it so much easier on them all. Alex watched Gabriella’s retreating figure, his stiff cock twitching as her shapely ass tempted him.

  It wouldn’t be the first time he made something disappear.

  * * * * *

  The back of Gabriella Winslow’s neck still prickled when she got back to the office. It might have been from the sweat collecting beneath her heavy hair, brought on by the heat radiating off the L.A. sidewalks, but she knew better.

  It was her father’s fault.

  She didn’t even stop to freshen up before she headed for his corner office. Time to give him a piece of her mind.

  “Gaby! Wait!”

  Gaby froze when she heard the voice of the other man on her shit list right now. She stopped in the middle of the hallway and took a deep breath. Then she whipped around to face him.

  “Aaron. I’m in a lousy mood. You really don’t want to talk to me right now.”

  Her father’s right-hand man frowned, but the scowl barely creased his pretty-boy face. “You’ve been avoiding me all week.”

  She really didn’t want to get into this now. She turned and started back down the long hallway. “I’ve been busy.”

  Aaron fell into step beside her. “I want to apologize.”

  She didn’t even glance his way or slow down her pace. “It’s a little late for that.”

  He grabbed her shoulder to stop her. “Gaby, don’t be this way.”

  She wrenched out of his grasp. “What way? Tell me, Aaron, what way am I acting?” She knew she sounded like a bitch, but she didn’t have time for liars.

  He reached for her, but she stepped away. “I said I’m sorry. You haven’t given me the time to explain.”

  She wanted to scream in frustration. “You stood me up. What is there to explain?”

  “It was unavoidable. I was so busy on a project, I forgot about dinner.”

  “If your project was more important than I am, then we having nothing more to say to each other.”

  “Let me explain.”

  Did the project involve a blonde or a brunette? “I’m too busy to listen to any more of your bullshit.”

  “Let me make it up to you.”

  He sounded so sincere. His smile was so very charming. But she couldn’t summon the desire to care. The mediocre sex wasn’t worth it. She wasn’t even jealous, just angry that she’d been left waiting at the restaurant.

  “Say you’ll give me another chance.”

  Anything to get him out of her face. “I’ll think about it. Now I have to deal with my dad before I lose my really good mad.”

  She turned her back on Aaron and let the anger she felt for him feed the fury that had already been building. Her usual discreet knock ended up sounding more like a battering ram.

  She’d never been good at discreet.

  Gaby burst in at her father’s call. He leapt to his feet from behind his desk when he s
aw her. Yeah, he should look worried.

  “Gaby? What is it?”

  She slammed the door behind her, even though she knew no one else could hear them in this secluded corner. Her father had designed it this way. She froze halfway across the wide office. What was that scent? The one she could barely detect above her father’s strong aftershave? Why did it smell so familiar?

  “Sweetheart, are you all right?”

  She couldn’t even smell it anymore. Maybe she’d imagined it. “No, I’m not all right,” she replied in answer to her father’s question. “I’m pissed. At you.”

  “At me? Why? Is that new assistant giving you trouble?”

  She crossed her arms in front of her and stared him down. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Stop following me.”

  He spread his arms in a gesture of innocence. She doubted her father had ever been innocent. “I’ve been in my office all day.”

  She rolled her eyes and began to pace, trying to expend some of the pent-up frustration. “You know what I’m talking about. I’m a grown woman. I don’t need your lackeys keeping an eye on me.”

  Her father had been stepping toward her, reaching for her, but froze at her words. “I don’t have anyone watching you today.”

  From the expression on his face, she could almost believe him.

  He rushed back behind his desk and she turned to stare at him. Were his hands shaking a little? He put his hand on the telephone but didn’t lift the receiver. Then he looked up at her. “Maybe I should have.”

  And here she was starting to feel sorry for him. She knew he loved her, but he was way too overprotective. “What do you mean?”

  He threw up his hands. “You’re acting like a spoiled child.”

  “I’m acting like a grown woman who deserves her privacy.”

  “When you get into a temper like this, you don’t pay attention to what’s going on around you. We’ve talked about this time and time again. There are people out there who could use you to get to me.”

  She’d grown up with nightmares of men snatching her from her bed and she was sick and tired of it. “I’m not a little child you can scare into doing what you want. Nothing’s ever happened. No one’s going to kidnap me and hold me for ransom.”

  She could almost believe the dark desperation in his eyes. Was he never going to lighten up? “I’m going to send for Louis to drive you.”

  “You are not. I don’t need someone to drive me home like I’m five years old.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face and suddenly he looked like an old man instead of the powerful CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation. “You’re staying with your mother and me for a few days. She’s been missing you.”

  Gaby would like to see her mother too, but not like this. “No, Dad…”

  “Get your things together.” He picked up his phone and turned away from her. Dismissing her and her concerns as he always did.

  Not for the first time, she thought about leaving Winslow Enterprises and finding a job outside the family business. She stormed out of her father’s office, knowing she’d lost yet another fight with him. She’d never be anything but his little girl, even if she was VP of marketing and a damn good one at that.

  When she approached her office, she noticed a huge vase of flowers on her assistant’s desk. The sight of the blood red roses took her memories back where she didn’t want to go. Back to the time when she learned that love was nothing but an illusion.

  Her chubby blonde assistant was bent over the flowers, her face buried in the petals. Gaby cleared her throat and Claire jumped as if she’d been burned. Her face turned nearly as red as the flowers.

  She smiled a little too brightly. “Ms. Winslow, these just came for you. They smell really good.”

  “So I see.” Gaby grabbed the card and scanned the few words printed there.

  “I’m sending a limo for you at eight. A.”

  She sighed. She really didn’t want to see Aaron tonight, but it gave her a good excuse to get away from her father. “Claire, call my father and tell him Mr. Barnes and I have plans for the weekend, so I’ll have to decline his generous invitation.”

  Chapter Two

  Even though she’d been expecting it, when the black stretch limo appeared at the end of her long driveway, Gaby was still surprised. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Aaron would really do something romantic like this. It’s just that he never had. Never. He must really want to get back in her good graces.

  As always, she had to wonder if it was the Winslow fortune that was the attraction. The long car pulled up in front of her door. What should she do? Send the car away or see what Aaron had in mind?

  What the hell. Maybe Aaron had some surprises up his sleeve after all.

  No, Alexander had always been the one with the tricks up his sleeve. She caught her breath and stumbled in her four-inch heels as she rushed down the marble-tiled hallway. Why was she thinking about Alex after all these years? Maybe because Aaron had chosen the exact shade of roses Alex had always given her. And signed off with that single initial just as Alex always had.

  Gaby glanced at her reflection in the floor-length mirror next to the front door and took a deep breath. She smoothed down her sleek auburn hair and straightened the hem on the short black dress that hugged her curves. She wasn’t going to think about Alex anymore, about the magic they made or the illusions that tore them apart. That part of her life was over.

  She met the driver at the door, a short, thin man with graying hair and laugh lines around his warm brown eyes. After grabbing her evening bag, she stepped out into the cool evening air. When they reached the shiny limo, the driver cleared his throat. She turned to him.

  “My name is Foster. Please forgive me, Ms. Winslow, but my employer insisted you wear this.” He looked around as if concerned someone was watching, but she lived alone and the acre of landscaped grounds around her house ensured her privacy. She grinned as she wondered what gift Aaron had for her.

  Foster opened the rear passenger door and pulled out a padded black leather blindfold.

  She gasped. Excited tickles ran through her stomach. She’d expected a corsage or maybe a necklace if he was feeling extra guilty. But this was much more stimulating than flowers or jewelry. Erotic images flashed through her mind, strong ropes and flickering candles. Wet lips and sweaty skin and moans of passion. Memories she didn’t want to have, but were strong enough to moisten her panties.

  Aaron was full of surprises tonight. Why the blindfold? Maybe he just wanted to surprise her with their destination. He certainly would have no way of knowing the things that used to turn her on.

  In her heels, she was taller than Foster, so she simply nodded and bent her head. The driver gently slipped the blindfold over her head. The weight was substantial. The darkness total. A tiny click let her know it was locked on. And her pussy clenched with remembered joy.

  “And one more thing, Ms. Winslow.” The poor man’s voice was wavering in its apologetic tone. He took her evening bag out of her hand, then grasped her wrist and wrapped a thick cuff, probably padded leather also, around it. He cuffed her other wrist and gently drew her arms behind her and locked the cuffs together. Another click. She should have wondered what Aaron had in mind, but right now she didn’t give a damn. She felt more alive than she had in years.

  Her heart raced. How could Aaron know? She’d never indicated to him that she liked anything more than plain, everyday sex. They’d never even talked about bondage in any way. She’d convinced herself that that magical time with Alexander had been nothing but an aberration.

  Alex again. Why did he keep popping into her mind tonight? The answer to that was simple. Alex was the only one who had ever tied her up. Who had ever made her feel this way.

  “I’ll help you to your seat, miss.” Foster led her to the limo and settled her into the seat. “Are you comfortable? It will be quite a ride.”

  Gaby found if she bent her elbows and t
ucked her bound hands into the small of her back, she could sit quite comfortably. She kept flexible with yoga classes. She nodded. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

  The door slammed shut and Gaby was alone in her darkness. Alone with her bound hands and covered eyes. Alone with her thoughts and memories and questions about her past and her future.

  Or was she alone? A faint scent, strangely familiar, drifted by. Was Aaron sitting somewhere in the deep expanse of the long limo? Did he get off by watching her being bound by someone else? The limo started and loud, heavy music throbbed through the speakers near her head.

  “Hey!” she called out. “Are you in here? What are you up to? Where are we going?”

  When there was no answer, she felt rather foolish. What was she thinking? It didn’t make any sense. Surely if he’d been here, he would have met her at the door. He would have placed the blindfold and cuffs on her himself. There was no reason he’d pretend not to be here.

  She was alone as the limo glided through the streets of Los Angeles.

  The heavy beat of the music matched the pounding of her heart, throbbing in her ears, traveling through her body. Tingles of anticipation, curiosity, longing, danced along her skin. Where was he taking her? What would they do when she got there?

  She hadn’t worn a bra tonight and when her nipples beaded, they rubbed against the dress’ stretchy fabric. Need prickled the sensitive nubs and she rocked her shoulders, trying to relieve the itch. It didn’t help. If her hands hadn’t been cuffed, she would have tugged on them herself. But that was one of the reasons for the bondage, wasn’t it?

  Longing. Need. Frustration. Anticipation.

  She and Alex used to do that all the time. Tease each other to the point of desperation. She shifted in her seat as her pussy throbbed, trying to relieve some of the tension there as well. But of course it did no good.