Chapter 33

Chapter 33
KENAI.
A setup like this?
Adorable. Almost romantic — if you ignored the part where it made my cock hard.
George was walking straight into his own grave with a smile on his face, blissfully unaware that I’d already dug it, lined it, and was about to push him in.
One phone call—that was all it took this morning. Every charge against him vanished. Poof. Just like that. I even went for the extra flourish: booked him an early flight, picked him up from the airport like some fucking saint, and offered to cook him lunch as a gesture of “apology” for the misunderstanding between him and my company.
He bought every second of it.
George was a painfully easy prey. So easy it bored me. I enjoy challenges — prey that claws, bites, fights back. But George? He practically held the door open and begged me to step in. He didn’t make me strategize. He didn’t make me sweat. He guided me right into the softest parts of his life with his own hands.
Pathetic fool.
I saw the way he held my Shannon when she walked in. I saw the look in her eyes the moment she saw me being friends with 'her husband.' She shouldn't worry too much, though. I’ll take that title off George soon enough.
Soon, she won't have to think she was fucking two men. Well, not that I’d ever allow his useless dick anywhere near her again. That chapter is done.
She was barely breathing. She was sitting beside me like she was perched on a blade.
Gleeful, oblivious George didn’t notice a thing.
Because I kept him talking about his projects, his dreams, and his grand ambitions.
He had no idea that every word he spoke was just another shovel of dirt falling over his own future.
He kept talking — God, he never shut up — his voice bubbling with hope, excitement, and with all the foolish little plans he thought he still had.
I didn’t hear a word he was saying. My focus was on the woman sitting next to me.
Slowly, I let my hand slip beneath the crisp white tablecloth. My fingers slid along the underside of Shannon’s chair until they met warm skin. Her thigh tensed instantly.
Good.
I rested my palm there, and she jolted so violently the glass slipped from her hand. Water splashed over her chest, her lap, and her throat. She sputtered, coughing with her eyes wide with panic.
George shot to his feet. “Shan! Are you okay? Baby...”
I lifted a hand toward him calmly, almost amused. “Relax, George. Your wife is perfectly fine.”
I passed Shannon a towel like this was some casual domestic moment and not a silent war happening under the table.
She forced a tight smile, her voice trembling just a little too much.
“I’m fine, George. Really... I’m fine.”
Liar.
Brave little liar.
She dabbed at her dress with shaky hands while I let my fingers trace slow, excruciating circles higher up her thigh. She shifted, knees trying to press together, but I slid my hand between them, forcing her legs apart an inch.
Her breath hitched, barely audible, but I felt the shiver ripple through her.
George sat back down, still fussing. “Are you sure, sweetheart? You look pale.”
“She’s okay,” I answered for her, my thumb brushing the sensitive inside of her thigh, inching higher. “She just needs a minute.”
Shannon swallowed hard, nodding even though tears gathered in her lashes.
“Y-Yeah. Just embarrassed. Sorry.”
Embarrassed.
She had no idea the word she needed was terrified.
I dragged my fingers up, slow enough to make her body ice over. Her hand clenched the tablecloth so tightly. Her legs trembled. She was doing everything — everything — not to react, not to give herself away.
George kept talking, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing right under his nose.
"So, all I've been looking for is a start-up capital of twenty-eight million dollars, and my multi-million-dollar company will be up and running. Imagine partnering with companies like yours to make your transactions seamless and stress-free," He rounded up his boring speech.
All the while, my eyes were on him, but my attention was solely on how to fuck this woman right on this dining table while he watched.
I could imagine the look in his eyes if that ever happened.
My hand slid higher. Shannon sucked in a sharp breath and choked on air again.
She was seconds from falling apart.
I leaned back in my chair, watching her shake, watching her knees inch wider while she did her best to keep them closed, because she had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, not with her husband sitting right before us, trusting me.
The thrill of it crawled through my veins like wildfire.
I let my fingers trail closer to where she was softest and tenderest, where she would break the moment I touched her properly. She whimpered so quietly I doubted even she heard it. But I did. And it made my cock throb.
She was drowning in tension.
George was drowning in ignorance.
And I was now drowning in pure, untamed lust.
I slowly pulled my hand off her thighs. Now I needed the perfect opportunity to get George out of the house.
I needed a good fuck.
George reached for her when she sucked in a deep breath. “Baby?”
"I'll give you the start-up capital you need, George," I said, and instantly, his attention shifted from Shannon back to me.
George’s eyes blew wide, like someone had just handed him the keys to heaven.
“What?” he breathed, “What did you say?”
I steepled my fingers on the table, calm, collected, and still high on the taste of Shannon’s panic.
“I said I’ll give you the start-up capital,” I repeated, slow enough for the words to sink all the way into his skull. “All twenty-eight million. But…”
I tilted my head, watching him cling to hope like a drowning man grabbing driftwood.
“It comes with interest.”
He didn’t even hesitate. Didn’t ask how much. Didn’t ask why. Didn’t blink.
He dropped to his knees right in front of me.
Right there. On the goddamn floor.
“Thank you, sir! Thank you!” His voice shook. “Oh my God… Shannon, baby... thank him!”
Shannon froze.
Her wide, terrified eyes snapped to me. She looked at me like I was some monstrous puzzle she suddenly realized she’d never solve. She was finally seeing how deep this went — how deep I went.
I raised one eyebrow, savoring every inch of her horror.
George kept babbling, half-crying his gratitude.
I didn’t hear any of it.
I was busy watching her.
Then, right on cue, I coughed.
Just a little at first.
Then harder.
And louder.
And more dramatic than any dying actor on stage.
George’s head snapped toward me so fast you’d think he heard a bomb ticking.
“Sir? Mr. Greyson, what’s wrong?”
I let the cough shake my shoulders.
I blinked hard, like my vision was going blurry, pressing a hand to my chest.
“My inhaler,” I ground out. “Asthma. I left the damn thing at home this morning.”
It was a perfect lie — not dramatic enough to call 911, but urgent enough to demand immediate action.
A believable, controllable crisis.
George panicked exactly on cue.
“Oh my God... did you use anything today? Did you wheeze earlier? Sir, do you need help sitting up? Shannon, get him water... no, shit, he can’t... should he?”
He was spiraling beautifully.
“Stop,” I wheezed, holding up one hand. “I don’t need water. I need my medication.”
Another cough tore out of me, sharp, violent, and entirely manufactured.
“There’s a pharmacy twenty minutes down the road. They carry the brand I use. Go. Now.”
George scrambled so fast he tripped over his chair.
“Twenty minutes? Sir, will you be okay for that long? Should I call someone? Should—Shannon, maybe we should take him to urgent care—”
“I said I’ll manage,” I snapped breathlessly, still playing the part of a man swallowing panic. “Just go. Before it gets worse.”
He froze, torn between fear and obedience. “Oh! Of course!”
Shannon shot to her feet.
“I’ll go with you. George, let me just...”
“What? No, sweetheart. If you leave, who stays with him?” He gestured helplessly toward me. “He’s literally struggling to breathe. You’re better at calming people than I am. Please. Stay with him.”
Shannon’s face fell in slow motion.
Panic flashed across her face so raw it punched straight through her composure.
George didn’t notice a damn thing.
He grabbed his phone, his whole body buzzing with frantic purpose.
“I’ll be back quick,” he promised breathlessly. “Sir, don’t move until I return. Shan, keep an eye on him, please. Okay? Please.”
He rushed out before she could protest again, and the front door slammed shut.
Silence swallowed the room whole.
The cough stopped immediately, and I straightened.
I turned my head, looked directly at her, and smirked. “Well,” I said, sitting up perfectly straight, no sign of weakness left in me, “looks like fate cleared the room for us.”
She took a step back but bumped into the dining chair behind her. But I caught her before she stumbled and pulled her into me.
She trembled so beautifully.
"Kenai..." Her voice shook.
"Yes, baby..." I held her chin up so she could see the lust burning in my eyes. "Bend over. My cock needs some attention."