Chapter 3

<Gavin Forrester>

She walks into the party and looks back towards me, waiting by the door.

"Are you going to come in?" Victoria smiles and holds out her hand.

"Before you do this think about how it would look to your friends if you walked into your engagement party on the arm of a man who's not your fiancée, even if he's more attractive...?" I grin arrogantly and wait for her answer.

"Fine, but when you come in, you work at my office and your name is Hunter. Am I clear?" She smirks and turns back to go into her party.

I watch her walk away and I rub my nose nonchalantly. Talon's voice crosses my mind.

Make her suffer.

Those are the words that keep ringing in my head but I don't think I'll be able to make good on that promise. I look into the party and catch Victoria's eye. She winks and gestures for me to come in.

Gosh, she's beautiful; why does she have to go, Talon? I'd be happy to get rid of Carter for you but not her.

I roll my eyes and walk into the room where at least fifty people are already socializing and sipping on champagne. I pick up a fluke and walk over to her. A man with blonde hair and a broad frame drapes his arm over Victoria as I approach. She gives me a smile and pulls me closer into her group. I take a sip of champagne and direct my gaze at all of the people now surrounding me.

I'm supposed to kill her, not meet her friends.

"Mom, dad, this is my co-worker, Hunter. He helped me on this big project at work and now he's joined my team." She guides my arm and makes me shake hands with her parents.

"I'm Hunter." I say as I shake her dad's hand.

His grip is firm and almost suspicious.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." I say with my most charming smile.

I take her mom's hand and place a small kiss on the top of it. She blushes pink as I release it.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you too." Her mom places a hand on her shoulder and smiles at me. "I need another drink; Edward will you come with me?"

Her husband, Edward, trails after her, still giving me a suspicious glance before turning around.

"I'm Carter, Victoria's fiancée." The man holds out his hand and I shake it firmly.

I know who you are, she spoke so highly of you at the bar when she was downing tequila like a freshmen college student.

"Hunter, her coworker." I smile but my eyes still hold an air of suspicion.

"It's very nice of you to attend, Hunter. Please excuse me." Carter glares as his phone begins ringing.

"He's a very dynamic human being." I smirk as Victoria releases a breath.

"I'm so lucky, aren't I?" She rolls her eyes and takes another sip of her champagne.

"Luck is for gambling, love, not marriage." I smirk again and set my empty fluke down.

"I've never been gambling..." She states thoughtfully.

"It's no fun...I lost almost $50,000 dollars in one game." I let out a huff at the memory.

"How'd you keep it?" Her eyes widen in curiosity as she meets my gaze.

"You want truth or lies?" I hold out two fists and make her pick one.

"Truth," She narrows her eyes but the smile never leaves her face as she points at my right fist.

"I beat him up until even his own mother wouldn't recognize him...People usually give me what I want after that." I wink and take a fluke of champagne from the nearest waiter.

"Maybe I should've gone with lies." She grins and looks down at the ring on her finger.

"He seems like a perfectly nice person." I say in a failed attempt to make her feel better.

"You don't believe that...You've been around him for less than five minutes and you already don't like him." Victoria shakes her head and a gleam flickers in her eye.

"You're right, I was just trying to make you feel better..." I shrug and take another sip of my drink.

"Thanks, I mean he is nice but he's just..."

"Not what you want to spend the rest of your life with." I give her a knowing look and wait for her to challenge me.

"Kind of, I mean I should feel lucky that a man this rich and successful wants me but I can't help feeling like this whole thing is fake." She traces the stone on her ring and looks up at me.

"No, he should feel lucky to have you...Love should not be based on money, he should want you as more than a trophy to add to his collection and you should not feel like you have to be good enough for him." I scoff and set down my fluke.

Carter should be the one I put a bullet through, not Victoria.

"I guess in a few months, that's all I'll be."

"No, you'll always be more." I set my hand on her shoulder and tilt my head.

"You just met me, why are you making all of these sudden judgments?" She asks and brushes my hand off in the process.

"I just get that vibe off of you." I mutter and look around the room disgustedly. "Is there any other alcohol in this party besides this fairy juice?"

"You mean the 1940s Champagne?" She asks skeptically.

"It was made in the 1940s? You know this kind of stuff has an expiration date, right?" I shake my head and look down at the fluke.

Victoria starts chuckling and then it turns into a full-on laugh. I smile as a gleam enters her brown eyes.

"You should keep laughing, you look beautiful when you do..." I respond smoothly and she blushes.

Victoria tucks a piece of hair behind her ear as Carter walks back over. He looks at me suspiciously but then turns back to Victoria.

"Hey, baby, something came up at work and I need to go handle it." He rubs her back in an attempt to comfort her but nothing can hide the disappointment in her face.

"But this is our engagement party...I can't do it solo." She states in a small voice.

She should not have to be scared of him.

"I'm sorry but I need to go; I'll be back as soon as I can." Carter kisses her forehead and then grabs his coat as he leaves.

"No, you won't..." She whispers after him. "He leaves like this and doesn't come back until 3 in the morning."

"If he wanted you as more than a trophy then he would've told his boss no and stayed here by your side." I mutter and begin to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Victoria cries out in an almost hurt voice.

"I need some bourbon, no more fairy juice...You coming or what?" I call and she sighs.

"I can't, this party is for me; what will they do if I leave?" Victoria crosses her arms and waits for my explanation.

"Your fiancée already left, you shouldn't be tied here if he isn't." I blink a few times and narrow my eyes at her.

"Fine," Her face breaks out into a grin as she grabs her purse.

I offer her my arm and she grabs it as we exit the Versailles Suite.

~~~~~

We walk back into the bar and take a seat at the counter. The bartender smirks and walks towards us.

"More tequila for the lady?" He pulls out two shot glasses but I stop him before he can get any farther.

"I don't need her passing out on me...We'll both take a Kentucky Straight." I say with a light laugh.

He nods and goes to pour our drinks.

"It'll make you feel better, love." I wink and turn to face her.

"I hope, it sucks when he leaves like this. I mean if he truly loves me I think he'd make some sacrifices for me, right?" She runs a finger through her hair and takes her drink from the bartender.

"He would, I think you should seriously consider what you are getting yourself into." I mutter and take a sip of my bourbon.

"I can't back out...My parents won't let me and if I do, Carter will spend the rest of his life making me miserable. Everywhere I go I'll be known as the girl that dumped Carter Jacobson and everyone will judge me for it. They only see him as the perfect, all American, success story, not the unloving creep he really is." She looks angrily at the wall as she finishes her bourbon.

Thank God for bourbon, otherwise I never would've gotten this out of her.

"Maybe you should expose him..." I chuckle and take another sip.

"No one would believe me because I'm one little girl against his daddy's secret army of media minions. They'd have America back on his side before I'd even be able to finish my story about him." Victoria rolls her eyes and turns to face me.

"Tell me a story about him." I grab her hand and lead her out of the bar so no one can listen in.

We step into the stairwell and I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

"You really want to know?" She smirks, obviously enthralled with the power she now has over me.

"Yes," I roll my eyes and take a seat on the bottom stair.

"When we were first dating I invited him over to my house. I must've gotten really drunk because he installed cameras in my room without me realizing. He called them 'cheat cams' and said he was making sure I didn't bring any other men home with me. I found out he was actually keeping the footage on his computer and watching it back. I pressed charges but of course they got thrown out thanks to Daddy Jacobson and his endless list of friends. My mom told me that it was probably better if I didn't press charges because that would become national news and she didn't want the world to put our family under even more of a microscope."

"If you don't mind me asking, what does your dad do? I mean it must be important since your family is under a microscope and all..." I turn towards her with a curious look.

"He's the police chief for the NYPD." She smirks at my surprise.

Of course he is...Let's add one more thing to the list of reasons I won't kill her.

"That's interesting." I say and turn towards the door with shock still evident on my face.

"Ha ha, it's okay...That's exactly how every other guy reacted when I told them who my dad is." She places her hand on my shoulder and doesn't move it when I look back. "Let's just say, I did most of the dumping in my past relationships."

"Cute," I smirk. "Why did you agree to marry him after what he did to you?"

"That was all my mother...She forced me to give him another chance and then forced me to say yes because she knew what his family would do to ours if I didn't." She looks down at her feet and bites her lip.

"It'll look worse I guess if you leave him at the altar." I grab her hand and rub circles on the back of it.

"That's why I'm stuck with him." She shrugs and stands up.

Victoria pulls her buzzing phone out of her purse and frowns.

"Damn it, the devil is back and he's fuming that his little chew toy didn't stick around." She rolls her eyes and walks towards the door.

"You want me to walk you back?" I ask politely.

"In all fairness, Gavin, I think it'd make the situation worse if I showed up on your arm, as much as I'd like to." She runs her hand through her hair and shakes her head.

"Of course, stupid question." I mutter and hold the door open for her.

"No, it was sweet...Here take this," Victoria hands me a piece of paper and I look down at the ten digits in front of me. "Call me tomorrow, I want to go somewhere."

"In public with someone who is not your fiancée?" I give her a questioning glance as she walks out.

"Some would call it backstabbing, I call it sweet revenge." She crosses her arms and walks down to the elevator.

"I like the sound of that." I smirk and follow her to the elevator, placing a small kiss on her cheek. "Remember me tonight when you're stuck with the devil."

"How could I forget?" With that she gets on the elevator and the doors close, taking her away from me.

Now I'm in for it. I was supposed to kill her, not date her.