Chapter One – Over Dinner

Edward

The annoying sound of ice cubes clinking against glass started to grate on my nerves in the last several minutes. My dinner companion sipped on her third drink since arriving, seemed nervous. She usually overindulged time and time again when she wanted something.

Perhaps, she needed a little liquid courage.

The charade made me question my judgment of her intelligence. I'd said yes to every request she'd ever asked of me, mostly to avoid the ensuing argument and her endless prattle. The tactic of forcing me to ask her what was wrong annoyed me.

I didn't bother to look up at her and decided it was best to move things along. "I'm not sure what the problem is, Annalisa." I paused to take a sip of water and ensure I had her attention. Drinking alcohol in someone else's presence was something I usually avoided, hating the possible loss of control of a situation. Control was of the essence, because without it, people could trample all over you. I had reached my lip, so a drink it was necessary. "Whatever it is spit it out."

She picked up her napkin and dabbed at the corners of her exquisite mouth. "I met someone."

Finally. She was about to tell me the truth of her whereabouts the weekend before last. My security team had notified me of her sudden interest in surfing in California and I had been waiting for her to tell me herself. I hadn't slept with her since I found out the truth.

My gaze remained on her, but she averted hers. "I hadn't meant for it to…you know."

I cocked an eyebrow in question, playing my steak knife on the table. "No, Anna, I don't know." With my fingers steepled beneath my chin, I looked at her as I would any adversary. "Enlighten me."

Four months earlier, when I first met Annalisa, I thought she was beautiful and extraordinarily exotic. Sharp Brazilian features, glowing mocha skin, and a sizzling attitude that matched her equally deviant tongue. However, it was a mask for what laid beneath

Annalisa wanted nothing more than to sink her claws into my exceedingly expanding bank accounts and my back. I had played along at first, mainly because the sex had been good. The lackluster performance of late had been partly due to time constraints and excuses on her end, some due to my increasing annoyance with her. I'd been bored with the routine for over a month and had known for quite some time that she would no longer be of use to me. The sex had been a means to an end for some time and the moment to let her go had arrived.

Had she come to me with the truth, I'd have set her free with little fanfare and no regrets. However, she had chosen to continue to lie to me when she indicated she had a meeting downtown or some other trivial excuse.

"He's been good to me," she replied hotly, though the look in her eyes gave away her wariness. She feared me.

Good.

"Have I given you any reason to stray, Anna?" Her dark, pin-straight hair shook along with her head. "Have I not been an attentive lover?" She always got off any time she rode my dick, mouth or fingers. "A caring one?"

Her voice trembled as she replied, "Yes."

"Then please tell me why you would take on another lover, who you allowed to fuck you in a bathroom stall, an airport hangar, and on the beach, if I'd been nothing but good to you?"

It was remarkable to see the color blanch from her lovely oval face. The lips I'd seen around my cock countless times dropped into the same shape whenever she succumbed to an orgasm, only it was not from pleasure but horror. Did she think I wouldn't know? I knew everything about a person associated with me.

Everything.

"I'd been waiting for you to tell me the truth on your own," I said in reply to the question in her widened eyes. "If you had told me sooner, I wouldn't have stopped the payment on your tuition and the rent for your apartment for at least another three months. I would've understood that it wasn't working between us. However, you have taken three weeks to tell me you've been fucking someone else behind my back."

"You can't!"

I leveled a look at her that made most people run in the other direction, or at the very least, cower back. It had done the latter with Anna. Her chest rising and falling rapidly, sweat already collecting on her brow. "I, my dear, already have."

Coldly, I looked away with little interest, exceedingly bored with the situation. Not even a heated exchange from her—how predictable. I had hoped for a chance to tease the bitch with a chance to fuck one last time. She had hardly risen her voice. I snapped my fingers and Jason, one of the men on my security team, entered the dining room immediately.

"Jason, I would very much appreciate it if you'd escort Anna off the premises."

"Yes, sir."

When my eyes flickered for a mere moment to the expression on Anna's face, I knew what would happen next. I barely managed to keep from rolling my eyes when Anna proved me right.

"Edward," Anna cried out as Jason took hold of her elbow to lift from her chair. "I love you, please. It was a mistake, I swear."

It never failed to amaze me what people would say or do when faced with financial ruin. Anna never loved me, only the money. I allowed my features to soften, before I replied. "Oh, Anna," I whispered gravely, and then smirked. "Your credit cards have been canceled, too."

With a nod toward Jason, Annalisa was out of my life with nothing more than a pathetic attempt at sorrow and tears. Good fucking riddance.

AN: This story is being edited and reposted, new chapters will start soon. Thank you for your continued patience with me.