Chapter Fourteen: In Which She Is The Victim Of a “B & E”

Glory laid in her bed staring up at the ceiling with Duke cozied up by her face, purring with contentment in her ear. She honestly didn't want to leave her apartment this century or at least until she could be sure Arden Fox was decaying in a crypt somewhere far away from her. However, she was certain that more she put off her new reality the more satisfaction the handsome devil would get out of torturing her—and that was the last thing she wanted to give him at the moment.

She rose from her bed with a groan, shuffling her way toward the kitchen to get her morning cup of coffee. A surprised scream tore from her throat when she found Arden sitting on her couch, playing on his phone. He lifted his face to look at her looking completely apathetic. Glory pushed her lips together in a grimace as calmed her rabbit heart, "What the hell Arden? Did you break into my apartment?"

He rose up from her couch like a lazy cat, "Do I look like a man who needs to break into your apartment? Honestly Miss Novacek...Your landlord let me in for a little compensation. Remember I'm just a man with a lot of money—and people are surprisingly easy to buy..."

Glory rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest to realize she was only in a sports bra and a pair of shorts. Her face blossomed with heat, "Excuse me for one second—" She spun quickly on her heels, stomping back into her room and slamming her door shut behind her. She opened her mouth and let out a silent scream toward the heavens. She was going to have to move, there was no other solution—move and change her name. How hard is it to get into witness protection? She wondered as she stripped down and put on actual clothes.

When she returned Arden was leaning against the bar, holding a steaming mug in one hand. Glory eyed the sight with suspicion, "I thought you said you didn't like coffee..."

"I don't—" He held the mug out towards her, "but you seem particularly fond of it." She walked towards him hesitantly, eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what kind of game he was playing with her now. She reached out for it but he pulled it back slightly, "Let's not make this a familiar morning routine." He had obviously come to her apartment to make sure she was going to show up for work.

Glory snorted before she snatched the coffee from his hand, "If I was going to choose to have a hot guy bring me coffee every morning I think I would choose one with a better personality." She happily took a sip of the warm coffee, satisfied that he knew at least how to use the machine to make a decent cup of Joe.

Arden frowned at her, "Always the most clever person in the room aren't you?"

"I certainly like to think so Mr. Fox." She batted her eyelashes mockingly at him. He shook his head at her antics, "We have things to do and I have a car waiting for us down stairs. So hurry up—time is money." She eyed his perfect ensemble for the day, nothing on him out of place. It was hard not to look at him and think of the ken doll she used to own when she was a young girl. Glory quickly drank the rest of her coffee, placing her mug down on the table covered in overdue bills, "Shall we?"

As he had said Henry was waiting for them with black car that looked very out of place in the parking lot of her apartment, but at least is wasn't a fucking limo. Glory found herself seated next to Arden doing her best to not stare at his peripheral. No matter how much of a devil he was—he was damn attractive, someone who was meant to be admired by others.

"So what am I in for today? What arduous tasks do you have planned for me?" She asked after a couple of minutes of him messing around on his phone, unable to handle to the sexual tension within herself. He waited a moment before paying her any mind, "Well I have several meeting I have to attend to. I thought you might look over some of the applications and then this evening we have a party to attend that my mother is hosting."

If she had been drinking at the moment he had said that to her, it would have been the perfect spit take. Glory choked on a breath, "I'm sorry did you just say that I was your plus one to a dinner party that your mother was hosting? What clause was that covered in the contract I signed?"

Arden clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth as he readjusted himself in his seat, "Consider it a way to repent for the trouble you've caused me..." She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, the desire to strangle him with his seat belt building in her mind every passing second.

"Is your mother anything like you?" Glory questioned. He turned his gaze back to his phone as if to show he was bored with the conversation, "I suppose we have certain similarities being that she is my mother." Her answered with a slight indifferent shrug of his shoulders. That was not a comforting thought to her in the slightest. If anything it made her more troubled, spending the evening with female version of Arden did not sit well with her stomach. In fact she was certain she would have no appetite at all for food—maybe for alcohol, very strong alcohol.

"It would probably be best if your avoided my mother all together..." He commented after a moment of silence. Glory cast a look in his direction as she crossed her arm over her chest, "Why?"

Arden leaned back into the seat, before locking his phone and shoving it into his suit pocket, "Because she thinks you're trying to purposefully keep Isobel and I from fixing our broken engagement. She's a silly woman—not unlike yourself..." He mumbled the last part but she had heard him loud and clear.

"Then why the hell would you bring me? Isn't that going to send the wrong message?" Glory questioned with barely contained rage, twisting herself in the seat so that she was facing him completely. He tilted his head in her direction with a heavy sigh, "Because she invited Isobel and I need you to keep both of them away from me. You seemed like the perfect person for the job. You're obnoxious and stubborn—plus you enjoy pissing people off...so naturally you are the perfect distraction."

She couldn't believe the idiocy of the man sitting next to her. He clearly had no survival instincts or he would not tempt her so often with the desire to murder him. Glory closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, hoping to calm herself down enough to respond to him. After a couple of deep soothing breaths she opened her eyes and focused her attention on Mr. Fox. He sat with elegantly with his face turned toward the window, watching the building blur together.

Glory reached out and smacked him hard against the back of his head, causing some of his hair to fall loose from how he had stationed it. He snapped his attention to her with a nasty glare in his eyes as he lifted a hand to rub the spot I had hit, "What the hell was that for? I've never met any woman so prone to violence..."

"That's a shocker because you seem to have a particular talent for pissing them off." She snapped back at him. He continued to glare at her silently as he tried to compose his pristine image again. She watched him struggle for a couple of moments before she smacked his hands away, "Jesus--let me do it..." She began to fix the stray hairs that rested against his forehead. Glory could feel his eyes raking over her, making the tension between them grow more intense. When it looked good enough she pulled back, meeting his stare for a moment.

This was why lucifer was gods favorite angel—he was beyond beautiful despite his wicked soul. Perhaps he had simply changed his name to Arden Fox after his fall from grace--it would explain a lot. Cursing herself mentally she turned her face away before she gave into the desire he stoked in her, "Arden I swear to God—this better be the first and last time you ever make me play interception for you."

When he responded with only silence she cast a look back in his direction to find His lips curved upward into a devilish smirk as if he had won some small victory. Glory scowled at him, "Wipe that stupid look off your face..." She grumbled as they pulled up in the front of the Morgan and Beck Tower. This was certainly going to be a long day but how did that saying go? When you're walking through hell—hurry the fuck up and get out of there or some shit like that.

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The night had definitely not gone according to plan, Glory thought to herself as she rolled over in her bed the next morning. Arden Fox's sleeping face stared back at her like a beautiful phantom contrived of her own mind, except he was very real from the soft breathes passing through his parted lips. One of his muscular arms was stuffed under the pillow while the other was thrown haphazardly out towards her—reaching and almost touching.

Why had she allowed the monster into her sacred space? Perhaps it was a momentary lapse in judgement but if she was going to be honest with herself it was because she lost herself in a moment of compassion. Last night she had seen that even the devil had demons and those demons where not so different from the ones that mocked her. As much as she hated it, Arden Fox and Gloriana Novacek were tainted by the same darkness—pride was there defense against the world that had made them.

Duke was mewling at her bedroom door not understanding why she had locked him out. Glory cast one last lingering look at the sleeping Arden before slipping out of the bed doing her best not to wake him. She didn't want to deal with that particular situation just yet, not until she had at least one cup of coffee in her. She padded her way to the door on tip toes, escaping her room like a cat burglar. Glory scooped up the whining Duke before he could bolt into her room, "We really need to get you on a diet buddy. Jenny Craig for felines..." She wheezed as she carried him toward the kitchen to feed him. Memories of last night bouncing around the halls of her mind.

A very drunk Arden Fox—naked in her shower.

She repressed the thoughts as she dropped Duke onto the counter before fishing out a can of food, popping the seal and pealing back the top—to lazy to put it in a dish she let him eat his meal straight from the can.

Naked Arden Fox—pumping his cock in a tight fist.

Glory swallowed hard as the memories battled against her will to ignore them. The images of what had transpired between them had her blood heating and her body aching, which only made her more antsy and uncomfortable—the object of her desire was laying fifty feet from her asleep in her bed. She was definitely going to have to throw out her sheets, the scent of him alone would be enough to drive her to madness on lonely nights.

Arden Fox was pleasuring himself while she watched.

She liked it--She was completely mesmerized.

She groaned loudly as she threaded her fingers through her bed head. She should have called him a cab after they got back to her apartment but he had been a hot mess. He had been slightly emotional and extremely horny. At least that's what Glory had learned quickly when she had to help him strip out of his clothes and put him into a shower in hopes of sobering him up. He had put on quite the show for her—a show her mind seemed to be delighting in currently.

Letting her hands fall back to her sides she spun to her coffee maker in an irritated and sexually frustrated huff. It wasn't long before she was sitting in her special spot sipping on her liquid addiction. After last night Glory felt she could see Arden through different eyes. It didn't make him any less of a devil he had only become a more understandable devil.

"I seriously don't understand why you must treat me like your own personal barbie—is this what your fiancé had to put up with? cause her leaving you is making more sense by the second...fuck I can't breathe in this damn thing...if I eat one thing I'm going to bust a seam..." Glory complained as she walked behind Arden, adjusting and re-adjusting the cocktail dress he'd forced her to shimmy her body into. She wasn't a model thin female—she had some curves to her and at the moment she felt a little bit like a sausage link stuffed into a dress.

Arden cast a look over his shoulder at her, "You look like the perfect distraction..." His eyes raked over her, lingering on her cleavage and then on her legs a little longer then necessary.

She frowned at him, "You mean I look like your painted whore." She mumbled under her breathe as they reached the front door of what was easily a million dollar home. It wasn't as though Glory was starstruck by the glamour. She had spent her life touring the inside of these homes, attending the afternoon teas and playing the part of the blessed one percenter like all the rest. At that time she might have even tried to win the attention of someone like Arden Fox. Now she lived in self-imposed exile and couldn't be happier, but thanks to her new friend she was about to return to the lost kingdom.

The door opened to reveal an older man in penguin suit, he gave Arden a smile, "It good to see you again Mr. Fox It's been a while since you've joined us." His eyes moved to Glory, taking her in. He stepped to the side without another word and Arden held out his arm to her in mock civility. She took it as years of ingrained behaviors resurfaced, making her cringe internally. Apparently she hadn't broken herself of the offending habits as she'd thought.

They had barely entered the main room when Arden decided to pull his Houdini moment, "I'm going to get myself something to drink. Why don't you socialize? I'll be back. Oh and try not to embarrass me or yourself." He whispered into her ear, leaving her alone with the wolves. She cast a glare at his retreating form, flipping him the mental bird.

After about two hours Glory's feet were hurting and she was done faking smiles. She couldn't seem to find Arden anywhere—Why was people with money had to have such large houses with more rooms then they needed? She was pretty sure even the big guys house in the clouds didn't have this many rooms. Of course thats probably because most of humanity was heading straight to the fiery pit—though Glory couldn't even be sure she hadn't already descended into a special type of hell made specifically for her.

To her utter horror and slight amusement Glory walked into a room to find the incorruptible Isobel sucking face with someone who certainly wasn't the fiancé she was supposedly trying to patch things up with. "Oops—sorry about that...I didn't see anything...Wrong room" She mumbled as she tried to back out slowly.

The man that was with her did hold a familiar presence. The more she inspected him the more she had the sinking suspicion that this might be a more fucked up situation then she had originally thought. Isobel was looking at Glory with an equally horrified expression, "Oh my god—Your Arden's assistant aren't you? I remember you from the other day...I can explain..." She began to fumble over her words as she put a distance between her and Mr. suck face who was eyeing Glory with a smug smirk.

She was one hundred percent certain now that he was a relation of Arden, and a complete horn dog. If the situation couldn't have become more hellish Arden Fox decided to make an appearance as if her speaking his name aloud had summoned the devil. "I've been looking everywhere for you Gloriana—" He stumbled over his words, not even noticing they had company in the room.

Glory turned toward him with surprise, "Are you drunk?" His eyes were glassy and a seductive grin broke over his lips. Her body lit up like the forth of july at the sight of it—oh brother! Fortunately for her but unfortunately for everyone else he realized they were not alone in the room. There was a moment of unbearable silence in which Glory knew that Arden went from randy bull to raging bull.

"Arden I can explain—" Isobel began lifting her hands up in surrender.

"What the fuck are you doing here Charles?" He completely ignored Isobel. His focus was on Mr. Suck face—A.K.A Charles. Normally Glory was all for live drama but she had a horrible feeling this wasn't going to end well for anyone.

Charles held his smirk, "Its good to see you too baby brother..." Arden looked between his ex-fiance and his brother for a moment as if finally putting two and two together. That was all he needed before he charged across the room and began swinging like he was Cassius Clay, "You fucking bastard!"

They crashed into things, tipping over a chair and sending a glass figurine shattering across the floor. Isobel was watching with her stupid horrified expression like a princess in a tower, as two ogres fought over her. Glory rolled her eyes, deciding she was over pretending. She charged toward the two brawling males, jumping onto Charles back and locking her arms around his neck. He stumbled back into the wall with the added weight, smashing her into it.

"What the bloody hell is going on in here?" A voice boomed through the room, bringing everything to a stand still. Glory looked over Charles shoulder to see a stern looking woman who she immediately knew was Arden's mother. Her piercing gaze roamed over the group of offenders before landing on Glory. She could see the anger intensify and she flashed smile at the woman, "You've got a beautiful home Mrs. Fox."

Yeah, last night had not gone according to plan at all, She thought as she glanced toward her bedroom door envisioning the man in her bed.