House of Payne: Ice Read online

  “She did, indeed.” And for what it was worth, Sunny wasn’t lying. She might loathe the never-ending phoniness of Mimi Vance, but she had to give the older woman props for her taste in clothes. In a floor-length gold damask skirt and tailored jacket, the older woman looked the epitome of pampered, elegant wealth. “I, on the other hand, am wearing someone I’ve never heard of, because I was honored to let the man in my life choose my dress for the evening. Mimi Vance, may I present Atticus Eisen—though to his friends he’s better known as Ice.”

  “Ice? Really.” To Sunny’s shock and horror, Mimi Vance swept Ice from head to toe with a decidedly cougarish interest, sizing him up like a slab of meat she couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into. “Why do they call you Ice? You don’t look cold.”

  “Depends on who I’m with.” Apparently as amused as Sunny was mortified, Ice looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, all the while keeping his gaze steady on their hostess. “With some people I’m cold as ice, but I get hot for Sunny like you wouldn’t believe. In fact, I can’t wait to get out of here so she and I can go back to my place and fuck each other’s brains out. Where’s your husband, by the way? Sunny’s told me we need to do a meet-and-greet with him and a few others before we can get the hell out of here.”

  Jesus, she would absolutely kill him.

  Mimi’s perpetual, half-surprised expression deepened with the widening of her eyes, and she did an honest-to-God pearl-clutch that made Sunny want to look around for a daytime soap opera camera crew. Then to her amazement, Mimi threw back her head and laughed in a way that she’d never heard from the other woman before.

  A genuine belly laugh from Mimi Vance had to be a sign of the apocalypse.

  “Well, aren’t you a breath of fresh air,” Mimi managed through her laughter, reaching out a manicured hand to teasingly swat his arm. “I don’t suppose you’re from the world of politics? Not too many politicos have the guts to say something like that in public, even in jest.”

  “I’m a tattooist and artist, which is just about as far from the world of politics as you can get.”

  “Tattooist? Sunny, didn’t you have something to do with a tattoo shop or gallery, or whatever they’re called? I remember now,” Mimi went on with a snap of her fingers before Sunny could answer. “You’re the TV star that owned that little beachfront shop Sunny managed, am I right? Damien Eisen’s son?”

  At the mention of his father, Sunny watched Ice’s humor drain away. “Guilty as charged. Do you know him?”

  “Oh, of course, dear. In fact—”

  “Then you have my most sincere condolences,” Ice said, and it was all Sunny could do to not face-palm. “That man’s the reason I say whatever the hell’s on my mind. Can’t stand the thought of anyone controlling me with secrets, so I do my damnedest not to have any. You probably can’t say the same, along with everyone else in this room, so the best I can do is wish you luck when it comes to the old man. Whether you know it or not, you’re probably going to need it.”

  “Uh, we’ll go ahead and find Delano so we can say hello.” Latching her arm hard around Ice’s waist, Sunny moved determinedly away. “Great to see you, Mimi. I’ll be sure to give my parents your regards. Happy holidays.”

  “That lady seriously needs to stop whatever the hell she’s doing to herself,” Ice said as soon as they were out of earshot. “Swear to Christ, I thought she was wearing a fucking mask when we first came up on her. Is that her actual face? Why doesn’t it move? And why the hell isn’t everyone creeped the fuck out about it like I am?”

  “Ice, forget Mimi Vance’s face.”

  “Babe, I’d love to, but I think I’m going to have nightmares tonight.”

  Good grief. “Let’s just try to get through our time here without mentioning how we’re going to go back to your place and fuck like weasels, all right? Keeping those kinds of thoughts to yourself isn’t keeping a secret. It’s being discreet.”

  “I get you in my bed, I don’t have it in me to be discreet.” Guiding her through a side door that led to a wide, empty corridor, he took both hands in hers and held them to his chest. “I see you, and every thought of control vanishes. You look into my eyes and there’s nothing I won’t do to get inside you. When I’m touching any part of you, even something as simple as holding your hands the way I am now, it’s a wonder the world doesn’t catch fire from the friction that exists between us. Discreet,” he muttered with a shake of his head. “I didn’t toss you onto a table and fuck you in front of all those people while they’re sitting around pretending to enjoy their rubber chicken. How’s that for discreet?”

  “You get a gold star.” With a shaking breath, she leaned in until her mouth was next to his ear. “And I get wet panties. Keep talking like that and I won’t give a damn if you throw me on a table while the whole world watches.”

  “Fuck.” With her hands still in his, he brought them around to the small of her back, arching her into him. As he did, the unmistakable thrust of his hardening dick pressed against her pelvis, and it was so distracting she could barely remember where they were. “Fuck, Sunny. There are no words in the English language—in any goddamn language—to describe what you do to me. Everything I’ve ever felt in my life—the good, the bad, the downright insane—none of it compares to what you do to me without even trying. If I don’t get you out of here in—”

  “Well, isn’t this a pleasant surprise?” came a vaguely familiar masculine voice. Alarm shot through her when Ice stiffened so hard he jolted before he abruptly let her go. “Sunny Fairfax in the arms of my one and only son. Don’t you two kids make the cutest couple?”

  Turning her head, Sunny found herself looking straight into the eyes of Damien Eisen.

  Uh-oh.

  “You sonofabitch,” Ice snarled so violently Sunny’s alarm ratcheted up another notch. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Here?” A couple inches shorter than Ice and about a hundred pounds heavier, Damien Eisen looked at his son with almost comically widened eyes. “I think that should be obvious. I’m attending the party, same as you.”

  “Cut the bullshit, old man. You being here is no coincidence. The last time I saw you, I tried to get it through that fat head of yours that I would end your fucking world if you were ever stupid enough to cross my path again. Guess I’m left with no choice but to conclude you’re the stupidest man on earth to be here in Chicago, rather than avoiding me and mine.”

  “Chicago isn’t yours, Atticus, and is my head really that fat?” Damien offered a jovial chuckle, but Sunny wasn’t fooled. Damien’s eyes, so unlike his son’s, were as flat and dead as a shark’s. “I may have put on a few pounds, but let’s not get personal.”

  “I’m not getting personal, or anything else with you, because we’re getting the hell out of here. The air’s suddenly too damn toxic for my taste.”

  “But I haven’t even had a chance to say hello to Sunny.” For an overweight man, Damien moved surprisingly fast, blocking their path when Ice made a move toward the nearest exit. “Sunny Fairfax, haven’t you grown into a lovely young woman. You know, the first time I saw you was at a Christmas fundraiser just like this one for your father’s political party. How is your dad, by the way? I haven’t seen Archie tonight, or your mother, come to think of it. I seem to recall Claire was the kind of woman who never missed an opportunity to network.”

  Sunny’s game face was locked on tight. “Thank you for ask—”

  “You don’t get to talk to her.” Like a man stepping in front of an armed madman to take all the bullets, Ice literally came between them, arms out to bar the way. “You don’t get to even look at her. Sunny doesn’t fucking exist for you. You get this one warning, for old times’ sake. There won’t be a second.”

  Sunny laid a calming hand on his back. “Ice—”

  “Is it all right if I at least talk about her parents, because they’re such genuinely nice people? Claire, especially. I mean, she must have the most loving a
nd loyal heart in the world to stay in a marriage with a gay man whose lover died of AIDS-related pneumonia last year. Tell me, is that why they’re not here tonight, Sunny? He’s not sick himself, is he? Why, news like that would be just terrible.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Oh my God.

  The words echoed all the way to Sunny’s soul.

  She couldn’t breathe.

  Oh my God.

  This was a nightmare. The nightmare she’d had her whole life—the discovery of her family’s deepest secret—was unfolding before her eyes.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  No one can know, Sunny.

  She knew that.

  No one can know.

  She’d been taught that from her first breath of life. In order to keep that secret, she’d learned to keep everything a secret.

  Why was it no one had taught her what to do if the secret got out?

  “You sick fuck.” The growl that emanated from Ice was so terrifying it managed to cut through the panic blanketing her brain. The hand she had on his back tensed, and she pulled air into her lungs in the hope of not fainting dead away. “I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to accomplish talking shit like that, but as of now all bets are off, asshole. You come in here trying to stir up trouble, but it’s not going to get you what you want. Remember, I’ve got no problem releasing the shit-ton of dirt I’ve got on you.”

  Damien did a slow-blink. “Dirt? Me? Like what?”

  “Fuck,” Ice gritted out, sounding so violent Sunny wouldn’t have been surprised if he hauled off and punched his own father. “You know exactly what I’ve got on you, because I told you all about it before I left California. You think I’m going to be some sentimental sap and not throw you to the wolves? You think I’m too scared to move because you threatened my mother?”

  “Your mother?” Sunny gasped, appalled. “What—”

  “You come at Sunny and her family,” Ice went on fiercely, “and I promise you that nothing will stop me from fucking obliterating you.”

  “Ah, yes. Sunny. I knew you had a hard-on for that sweet little cunt from the moment you met her all those years ago.” Without warning, the slime that had always been hinted at in Damien Eisen gushed out in all its distasteful glory, and he slid her a lascivious glance that was downright obscene. “I know you don’t like me knowing how serious you are about her. Thing is, son, you suck at hiding it, especially from me. I know you.”

  “You don’t know shit, old man. If you did, you wouldn’t be here.”

  “What’s really been funny all this time is how you think you’ve been clever in trying to fool me, Atticus. Everything you’ve done, everything you’ve sacrificed, it’s all been so obvious, and so obviously for Sunny,” Damien said, talking as though Ice hadn’t opened his mouth. “Or did you think I was going to be fooled by how you blew up your life just to keep her out of harm’s way? You might have thought you were being subtle, but honestly, kid, you’re about as subtle as a sledgehammer when you’re trying to be devious. You don’t have the knack for it.”

  Though Sunny wasn’t thoroughly clear on what they were talking about, she couldn’t help but agree. From pretending to care about cat toys to finding excuses to wind up at her house, Ice was about as smooth as a three-legged tap-dancer.

  “And even if I hadn’t figured out you’d punted on Skull and Bones Ink, what about Dan Harper?” Damien continued, making Sunny gasp silently in shock. What in the world…? “Did you think I wouldn’t hunt him down and get the whole story out of him after you fucked up that putz so bad he had to have surgery to put his face back together?”

  “Dan?” Sunny heard the name drop from her numb lips as if someone else had spoken. “What does he have to do with anything?”

  “Oh, I hired him, hon,” Damien told her jovially, yanking yet another rug out from under her. “Pretty Dan was supposed to sweep you off your feet, get in your pants and spark some sort of response from Atticus. But before anything spicy could happen, you turfed that dumbass out almost as soon as you met him. My fault, I suppose. I underestimated you. Under all that bleached blonde hair you had going on back then, you actually proved yourself to be a smart cookie.”

  “Go to hell,” she returned without batting an eye, and hated him all the more for chuckling, as if her defiance amused him. “Why bother playing such stupid games? What was the point?”

  “Not you,” came the blunt response. “No offense, kiddo, but you were never the point. Atticus was. It had been a while since I’d seen you two together, and from all the reports I was getting, you were merely coworkers. Not even friends, really. I needed to see how he’d react to you having a man in your life.”

  “Why?” Of all things for this sick and twisted bastard to do…

  He pursed his lips, as if thinking about it. “I wasn’t entirely sure how invested Atticus was in you, so I needed proof before I could proceed with getting him back on the leash.”

  “Pressure points,” Ice muttered, and his tone was so dangerous it gave her chills. “You’re always on the prowl for those goddamn pressure points.”

  Damien shrugged, not denying it. “At first I thought my plan had failed after you hit the eject button on Dan, but then I got lucky. Dan Harper, fucking male bimbo that he is, went to you,” he said, swinging his attention back to Ice. “And, oh my goodness, that didn’t go well for poor old Dan, did it? When you beat the shit out of that idiot, you passed my test with flying colors. Jealousy can make a good man as violent as any devil, can’t it?”

  “I knew you’d unleashed Dan Harper on Sunny because that fool fucking told me all about it,” Ice growled, devastating her all the more. “Dumb fuck actually thought I was in on it.”

  “Jesus.” Damien made an exasperated sound and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Why are all the pretty ones so stupid?”

  “I also figured out you were pulling the strings on the producer who wanted me to fire Sunny,” Ice went on, shocking her all the more. “You wanted to see what I’d do, didn’t you? Another test to see how attached I was to Sunny?”

  Damien offered a mocking little clap. “Give the boy a prize.”

  “Fuck you and your shitty games,” he gritted furiously. “What’d you do, get some kind of dirt on Harper and that stupid bitch of a producer to pressure them into doing whatever it was you told them to do?”

  “And a makeup artist and one of your directors,” Damien nodded. “I basically had you surrounded.”

  “Yeah, I figured. That’s why I blew it all up.”

  “Is that so? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” he muttered, his smugness vanishing into a look of pure sour grapes. “You certainly moved fast after you dismantled Harper, I’ll give you that. I was still trying to figure out how to salvage the situation when you up and fired Sunny and all but kicked her out of California.”

  What?

  In silence, her hand dropped from his back.

  I’ll set fire to my own world and walk away from its ashes without a backward glance if I find out there’s something in it that could hurt her.

  Oh.

  So that was what Ice had meant.

  He’d known about Dan Harper. He’d known how Dan had targeted her. Not because Dan had wanted to be a TV star, but because Damien had forced Dan to do it.

  And Ice hadn’t told her about it.

  No, he hadn’t told her a thing, instead going to extremes to protect her from the harsh realities surrounding them. Surrounding her. He’d blown up his whole life just so he could remove her from a danger she hadn’t even known was there.

  As much as she wanted to kill him for leaving her in the dark, she couldn’t stop the swell of overwhelming awe at what this man was willing to do for her.

  Had she ever thought Ice was a villain?

  He was her hero.

  Her hero offered a vicious snarl. “What the fuck did you expect me to do, just take whatever shit you decided to dish out? It was obvious you were targeti
ng Sunny to get to me.”

  “Guilty, though putting it that way makes it sound so dramatic,” came the eye-rolling response. “From the time Skull and Bones Ink was actually something to write home about, you’ve been trying to shut me out. All you really did was manage to amuse me. Why were you bothering in the first place?”

  “Because one way or another, old man, I’m going to be free of you,” Ice gritted out, and the darkness in his tone chilled her to the bone. “Thanks to you, anyone I get close to is going to wind up like Ethan sooner or later. You’ll jack up their lives just so you can force me to dance to your fucking tune.”

  “But that tune can be so nice, if you’d just give in to it. Your mother does it all the time, and you don’t see her complaining.”

  “Ice, don’t.” Sunny wrapped her arms around him and held on tight when he tried lunging at Damien. “You lay a finger on him, and he’ll have you dancing so hard you’ll never be allowed to stop.”

  “See? Like I said, you’re a smart cookie.” The look he sent her was anything but admiring. “Gotta say, hon, that’s starting to get on my fucking nerves.”

  “Two years,” Ice seethed, his breath coming hard as he held himself in check by what Sunny sensed was the very last thread of his control. “Two fucking years I had to play it like I didn’t give a shit about Sunny while trying to find a weak spot on you.”

  “As if you ever could.” Damien chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re just not good at being devious, Atticus. Seriously, you have no talent for it.”

  “I had enough talent to get some dirt on you, but I knew it wasn’t enough. So I kept Sunny close so I didn’t lose her entirely, but still at arm’s length just in case you were watching. And you were watching, weren’t you, you sick fuck?”

  “I had to keep an eye on my investment. I can’t be blamed for that.”

  “When that Harper asshole opened his mouth and admitted being your spy, that was…fucking…it. It’s like you were begging me to take the damn gloves off, so I did. Best feeling ever. I blew up everything around me and sent Sunny away just long enough to find the insurance I needed to make sure you’d never go after her again. And I did find that insurance,” Ice added, sounding so vengeful it made her shiver. “But arrogant ass that you are, you seem to think I don’t have the spine to use it.”