He worked his belt and button, unzipping, freeing himself. He wiggled, holding his shaft firm in his right hand, his left hand freeing his tight, way-too-sensitive balls. Jeezus, that feels good. The ache was like he hadn’t come in years.

His fingers shifted, collecting his sac and sending a jolt of pleasure through him so fast a bead of white cream peeked at the head of his cock. He smoothed his hand up the solid trunk, his thumb darting over the head, wiping away the wetness. He gasped when his fingers caressed over the ridge of its head and moaned out loud when he stroked over it again.

“Fuck…me.”

Another long stroke and then another, the velvet skin warmed against his palm, a building need dizzying his head. His right hand worked on instinct, fondling his sac, feeling his balls rolling over his fingers, squeezing, tugging gently and then not so gently.

He couldn’t help it, images of Maizie flashed through his mind. Her long fiery hair brushing his belly while those sweet lips wrapped around his cock, sucked him dry. He could almost feel her tits squeezed between his thighs, bouncing against his balls.

“Maizie…yeah…fuc-”

“Sir?”

“Shit…” Gray let go of his balls to punch the intercom overhead to his driver.

“What?” He barely sounded human, but then again he barely felt human at the moment.

“We’ve arrived at the Cadwick building, sir.”

“Fine.” Gray’s right hand kept a steady stroke, his hips rocking with the rhythm. “Give me…a minute.”

He poked the intercom button and returned his left hand to its previous duties.

His mind zeroed in on thoughts of the fiery woman again. “Maizie…mmm.” Her sexy curves, those daring green eyes.

Gray stroked his cock faster, squeezed his balls. He pictured Maizie sprawled between his legs, her pink tongue teasing the tip of his penis before she took the full length of him between those luscious lips.

Hot and tight, wet and slick, he could almost feel his cock ramming hard into that sexy mouth, her tongue firm against his shaft…

The cell phone buzzed.

“Fuck!” Gray yanked the phone from his breast pocket. “Speak.”

A moment of silence passed, just enough for Gray to regret his harsh tone with his dear Annette. He’d known it was her. The phone only buzzed like that when the call came from the office.

“Mr. Lupo, I have some of the information you requested. I…I thought you’d want it as quickly as-”

“Yes. I’m sorry, Annette. You assumed correctly as usual. What’ve you got?”

Annette cleared her throat, banishing the previously timid tone. “Ms. Maizie Hood has a C+ credit rating while maintaining minimum monthly payments on a sizeable business loan and mounting fees to a Green Acres Nursing Home in Glide, Pennsylvania. She recently applied for a personal loan.”

“Approved?”

“No official word yet, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Hmm… Go on,” Gray said.

“Yes, sir. She has a small one-bedroom apartment forty-five minutes away from the nursing home on the South Side of Pittsburgh for which she pays four-hundred-fifty dollars per month.”

“Extortion.” Gray’s cock softened in his hand.

“Yes, sir. She’s received three traffic citations and two speeding tickets in the last six months. She has a regular gynecologist but not a general doctor. She has fillings in both her lower molars and a prescription for birth-control pills. Her credit-card statements show a good deal of grocery purchases.”

“Interesting.”

“I thought you’d say that. The, ah, business loan is for a small bakery, also on the South Side. Ms. Maizie Hood is listed as sole proprietor. She has two employees. A young woman named Cherri Pi fresh out of the culinary institute and a high school dropout with a commercial driver’s license named-”

“Chocolate Cake?”

“No. Bob.”

“Bob. No last name?”

“Smith, sir. Bob Smith.”

“Perfect. Anything else?”

“No, sir. I’m still waiting to hear back from my sources on her personal affairs. This is all I could find on public record.”

“You said minimum monthly payments on the loan? Is she making the nursing-home payments on time?”

“Yes, sir. But she’s cut it close a few times. Same with the business loan.”

“The business turning a profit?”

“If she doesn’t list her salary, just barely.”

Damn, it was worse than he’d thought. Cadwick wouldn’t even break a sweat buying her. Hell, maybe he’d already charmed her out of hearth and home.

“Call Chuck Woodsmen.”

“Judge Woodsmen?” she asked.

“Yes. Tell him I’m going to need that information we discussed. It looks like we may have to use our last resort after all.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get back to me.”

“Of course, sir.”

The phone went dead before Gray pushed the disconnect button and shoved it into his jacket pocket. His hard-on completely evaporated, Gray tucked all his precious bits back in place and fastened his slacks. Maizie Hood had officially become business and Gray Lupo didn’t fuck around with his business.

He’d known Anthony Cadwick for twenty-four years. He was a competitive, backstabbing, envious prick who thought he was a lot smarter, a lot better looking, and a lot more deserving than he ever was. Which basically meant that outside of himself, Gray didn’t know anyone more dangerous.

If Gray wanted a chance in hell of protecting everything that he cared about, he’d have to play this on the sly. Find out how far Cadwick had already weaseled his way into the Hoods’ good graces, which meant Gray would have to do a little competitive weaseling of his own.

He punched the intercom button to his driver. “I’m getting out.”

Chapter Two

“Mr. Cadwick, please.”

The too-thin model-esque secretary pursed her lips, her gaze taking him in as though he was the main course at an all-you-can-eat buffet. “And you are?”

“Gray Lupo.”

She straightened, doe-brown eyes widened. “Oh. I’ll let him know right away, Mr. Lupo.”

Her skinny brows wrinkled when she glanced at the appointment book in front of her. “Oh, shoot. He’s, uhmm, in a meeting. It might take a few minutes, maybe-”

“I’ll wait.” Gray ended the exchange with a curt bow of his chin and turned to the plush leather seating arrangement filling the far side of the outer office.

Cadwick’s personal office was located on the top floor of the Cadwick Enterprises building. The lower floors were filled with various divisions of his company, several thousand employees all owing their daily bread to Anthony Cadwick. Astonishing.

Gray was not without a bit of clout himself. He had no problem gaining admittance to the exclusive floor with the simple mention of his name.

If you didn’t know who Gray Lupo was, you were in over your head. He settled into one of the high-back leather chairs. The room was like any office waiting room, the obligatory ficus plants and ferns-all fake-providing a splash of color.

He snagged the Forbes magazine from the dark wood coffee table in front of him. There were two other magazines on the table, both the same issue as the one he held. He glanced at the magazine’s thick front cover and Anthony Cadwick’s middle-aged face grinned back at him. Red block letters stamped across his forehead.

“Top twenty companies to watch.” Gray snorted and wondered if by watch they meant, keep a suspicious eye. He flipped through the pages to find the lead story. Cadwick had scored a two-page spread. Nice chunk of free advertisement. The prick was doing pretty well for himself.

“Mr. Lupo, Mr. Cadwick can see you now.”

Gray angled his gaze up to the tall secretary standing next to the coffee table. Her endless legs were hidden to the knee by a filmy brown and blue dress that revealed too much of her nonexistent cleavage and long pale arms. Her nut-brown hair hung in waves to an inch past her shoulders. He watched her face, the stillness of it. Not at all unappealing.