“These are…yours?” she asked in disbelief. “I admired them the first day I came here.”
“I know. It’s what made me think to give you the camera. No one notices the pictures. I knew you had an eye for it.”
“Thank you. Your images really are amazing.”
“I appreciate that.”
Beckham watched her closely as she examined the pictures again and tried to detect the hidden meaning. What was he thinking when he was shooting landscapes? Who was the woman in the café?
“Reyna, you know I agree with you, right?”
“About what?” She turned to look at him. He sounded so serious.
“Everything. This was what I wanted to talk to you about in the car. I agree with you about everything. How people deserve to be treated. The direction our world is headed. How we need to do more to correct the problem, and not rely on path dependence that is spiraling out of control.”
Reyna smiled. It was nice to finally hear someone agree with her. She knew she wasn’t crazy for thinking that ninety percent of people living in poverty was wrong. Or that the upper ten percent owned and controlled everything.
“Be careful,” she teased. “They might accuse you of being part of Elle.”
“I know. It’s why I’m very careful.”
Reyna paused. “Wait…what?”
He gave her a pointed look, and her mouth dropped open. What was Beckham trying to say here? Had he just said what she thought he’d said? No…no way. That couldn’t be right. It made no sense…but she had to ask it anyway.
“You’re a…rebel?”
“Yes.”
Reyna felt her world tilt upside down. Everything she thought she knew from her time living with Beckham was…a lie. He was part of Elle. He disagreed with everything he was doing working for Visage. How was that even possible? How could he keep up the double life? And at that, how was he so damn good at it?
She never in a million years would have guessed that Beckham had ties to the people who wanted to stop Visage’s infinite growth.
“How?” she stammered.
Beckham gestured for her to take a seat on the couch and started to tell his story. “I decided a year ago that I couldn’t sit back and let the world keep heading down this path. It was destructive for both humans and vampires. If Visage takes over the world, subjugates humans, and vampires revert back to animals…then what? There is nothing left? Humans will die, and thus vampires will die. Balance is possible in this world, and we need to find a way to achieve it.
So, I set out to find a way to help in secret.”
Reyna found it all hard to process. “But you just staked your entire reputation on me in Harrington’s office. What if they suspected?”
“No one suspects, and I did it because I knew it would work. Only a few Elle members even know that I work with them. And now you,” he said.
“Then why are you telling me?”
He smirked. “No more secrets, right?”
“Right.” She had already forgotten. “So…how did you get involved?”
“Penny actually.”
“Wait,” Reyna snapped, “Penelope is in Elle?”
Beckham cringed. “Yes, she is. She has been my cover this whole time.”
Reyna pitched forward in her seat. “You weren’t dating Penelope?”
“No,” he admitted sheepishly. “But I had to maintain appearances so that I had an excuse to go to meetings. I’m afraid they want me to continue to do just that.”
“Wait…back up. You aren’t with Penelope?”
Beckham reached out for her and planted a soft kiss on her lips in response. “No. Isn’t it obvious? I only want to be with you.”
Reyna felt her head spin at his declaration. She couldn’t comprehend all this new information at once. First, Beckham and Penelope were never even an item and now…now, he wanted her and only her. Reyna’s breath came out in soft sputters, and her eyes rounded.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to say anything back. I’ve lived longer than you. I know that I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”
“Oh Becks…I left my family to be with you,” she said with a sigh. “Of course I want to be with you.”
His smile was spectacular. It was a smile that could block out the sun with its radiance. He had doubted her feelings for him even though she had been the one to push him toward it all along. She hadn’t been sure of her own feelings until she had said the words to him. All this time he had been pushing her away and she had been denying her true affections. Now with it out in the open between them, it felt absolutely right.
Their lips crashed together, desperate to feel the other’s touch. None of the reluctance that she normally felt in his kiss was there. It was primal and addicting. This was all she wanted…all she had ever wanted. Beckham was hers, and she was damn sure going to make sure he knew it.
He seemed to have the same idea as he hoisted her into his arms and carried her across the room. A dim light at the back of her mind seemed to realize that he was taking her into his bedroom…a place where she had been expressly forbidden.
Her heart soared with the barriers that had been cleaved this evening. He had been true to his word about her seeing only the man from the rooftop. She had been hesitant about it before, but now she knew he truly trusted her with his deepest darkest secret. A secret that both shocked and thrilled her.
Beckham pushed open the door to his bedroom, and Reyna stared in awe. His room was more like a wing of a house. It was all glass everywhere, and it was clear that this side of the penthouse had been redesigned to his specifications. There was a separate room to the left for his home office and a sprawling bathroom next to a massive walk-in closet full of expensive designer suits and ties. His room faced the city and he had the most spectacular view, with a large open patio balcony. In the center of the room…where she couldn’t keep her eyes from being drawn…was a colossal all-white king-sized bed.
“Wow,” she breathed, taking it all in.
Beckham laid her body out on his bed and ran his hands down her sides. “Welcome to my sanctuary.”
“Why do you never let anyone in here?”
He lifted her shirt and kissed his way from her stomach upward, dragging her shirt over her head. “I like my privacy.”
“Says the man with an all-glass view.”
“Who lives on the top floor.”
“True. Well, I think it’s beautiful.”
He leaned down and claimed her lips. “It’s yours.”
Their kiss was explosive. So much pent-up energy from the month came crashing down all at once. And it took everything in her not to rush him. She was desperate to feel him and know that he was hers and no one else’s. It wasn’t enough to know it in her mind. She wanted to feel it with her body and connect their souls.
She had never known anyone like this. All-consuming. The very thought of leaving him had been horrible. The idea that he didn’t want her…even worse. Now she was here and their lips were pressed together and everything was right in the world.
Reyna forced his suit coat off of his broad shoulders, and it dropped heavily onto the floor below them. He sat up, wrenched the tie from around his neck, and tore his shirt open. Buttons wrenched from their places and pinged against the wall as his impatience won out. She reached forward and ran her nails down the front of his chest.
“I know. It’s what made me think to give you the camera. No one notices the pictures. I knew you had an eye for it.”
“Thank you. Your images really are amazing.”
“I appreciate that.”
Beckham watched her closely as she examined the pictures again and tried to detect the hidden meaning. What was he thinking when he was shooting landscapes? Who was the woman in the café?
“Reyna, you know I agree with you, right?”
“About what?” She turned to look at him. He sounded so serious.
“Everything. This was what I wanted to talk to you about in the car. I agree with you about everything. How people deserve to be treated. The direction our world is headed. How we need to do more to correct the problem, and not rely on path dependence that is spiraling out of control.”
Reyna smiled. It was nice to finally hear someone agree with her. She knew she wasn’t crazy for thinking that ninety percent of people living in poverty was wrong. Or that the upper ten percent owned and controlled everything.
“Be careful,” she teased. “They might accuse you of being part of Elle.”
“I know. It’s why I’m very careful.”
Reyna paused. “Wait…what?”
He gave her a pointed look, and her mouth dropped open. What was Beckham trying to say here? Had he just said what she thought he’d said? No…no way. That couldn’t be right. It made no sense…but she had to ask it anyway.
“You’re a…rebel?”
“Yes.”
Reyna felt her world tilt upside down. Everything she thought she knew from her time living with Beckham was…a lie. He was part of Elle. He disagreed with everything he was doing working for Visage. How was that even possible? How could he keep up the double life? And at that, how was he so damn good at it?
She never in a million years would have guessed that Beckham had ties to the people who wanted to stop Visage’s infinite growth.
“How?” she stammered.
Beckham gestured for her to take a seat on the couch and started to tell his story. “I decided a year ago that I couldn’t sit back and let the world keep heading down this path. It was destructive for both humans and vampires. If Visage takes over the world, subjugates humans, and vampires revert back to animals…then what? There is nothing left? Humans will die, and thus vampires will die. Balance is possible in this world, and we need to find a way to achieve it.
So, I set out to find a way to help in secret.”
Reyna found it all hard to process. “But you just staked your entire reputation on me in Harrington’s office. What if they suspected?”
“No one suspects, and I did it because I knew it would work. Only a few Elle members even know that I work with them. And now you,” he said.
“Then why are you telling me?”
He smirked. “No more secrets, right?”
“Right.” She had already forgotten. “So…how did you get involved?”
“Penny actually.”
“Wait,” Reyna snapped, “Penelope is in Elle?”
Beckham cringed. “Yes, she is. She has been my cover this whole time.”
Reyna pitched forward in her seat. “You weren’t dating Penelope?”
“No,” he admitted sheepishly. “But I had to maintain appearances so that I had an excuse to go to meetings. I’m afraid they want me to continue to do just that.”
“Wait…back up. You aren’t with Penelope?”
Beckham reached out for her and planted a soft kiss on her lips in response. “No. Isn’t it obvious? I only want to be with you.”
Reyna felt her head spin at his declaration. She couldn’t comprehend all this new information at once. First, Beckham and Penelope were never even an item and now…now, he wanted her and only her. Reyna’s breath came out in soft sputters, and her eyes rounded.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to say anything back. I’ve lived longer than you. I know that I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”
“Oh Becks…I left my family to be with you,” she said with a sigh. “Of course I want to be with you.”
His smile was spectacular. It was a smile that could block out the sun with its radiance. He had doubted her feelings for him even though she had been the one to push him toward it all along. She hadn’t been sure of her own feelings until she had said the words to him. All this time he had been pushing her away and she had been denying her true affections. Now with it out in the open between them, it felt absolutely right.
Their lips crashed together, desperate to feel the other’s touch. None of the reluctance that she normally felt in his kiss was there. It was primal and addicting. This was all she wanted…all she had ever wanted. Beckham was hers, and she was damn sure going to make sure he knew it.
He seemed to have the same idea as he hoisted her into his arms and carried her across the room. A dim light at the back of her mind seemed to realize that he was taking her into his bedroom…a place where she had been expressly forbidden.
Her heart soared with the barriers that had been cleaved this evening. He had been true to his word about her seeing only the man from the rooftop. She had been hesitant about it before, but now she knew he truly trusted her with his deepest darkest secret. A secret that both shocked and thrilled her.
Beckham pushed open the door to his bedroom, and Reyna stared in awe. His room was more like a wing of a house. It was all glass everywhere, and it was clear that this side of the penthouse had been redesigned to his specifications. There was a separate room to the left for his home office and a sprawling bathroom next to a massive walk-in closet full of expensive designer suits and ties. His room faced the city and he had the most spectacular view, with a large open patio balcony. In the center of the room…where she couldn’t keep her eyes from being drawn…was a colossal all-white king-sized bed.
“Wow,” she breathed, taking it all in.
Beckham laid her body out on his bed and ran his hands down her sides. “Welcome to my sanctuary.”
“Why do you never let anyone in here?”
He lifted her shirt and kissed his way from her stomach upward, dragging her shirt over her head. “I like my privacy.”
“Says the man with an all-glass view.”
“Who lives on the top floor.”
“True. Well, I think it’s beautiful.”
He leaned down and claimed her lips. “It’s yours.”
Their kiss was explosive. So much pent-up energy from the month came crashing down all at once. And it took everything in her not to rush him. She was desperate to feel him and know that he was hers and no one else’s. It wasn’t enough to know it in her mind. She wanted to feel it with her body and connect their souls.
She had never known anyone like this. All-consuming. The very thought of leaving him had been horrible. The idea that he didn’t want her…even worse. Now she was here and their lips were pressed together and everything was right in the world.
Reyna forced his suit coat off of his broad shoulders, and it dropped heavily onto the floor below them. He sat up, wrenched the tie from around his neck, and tore his shirt open. Buttons wrenched from their places and pinged against the wall as his impatience won out. She reached forward and ran her nails down the front of his chest.
