CHAPTER SEVEN
Ruby
I jerk my pants back up. Confusion is wreaking havoc on my nervous system.
I’m turned on and pissed off. “Arrangement? I did what you asked. I’m not here to gather more information on you.
” I don’t know if I want to slap Theo or kiss him.
I should be running out the door screaming, but my feet stay rooted in place as he pours himself a drink.
“This has to be transactional and benefit us both. We have to be on equal footing. I know where you work. Now you know where I do. You know something I’ve done, and now I need you to do something the equivalent of that to make this fair.”
I gulp. “What do you mean, something equal?” He can’t mean what I think he means. There’s no way.
“You’ve inserted yourself into my business. That means you’re going to become part of my family. That’s the only way this works.”
“I didn’t come looking for you. You sought me ought, bud.”
“Bud?”
“What do you want from me?”
“I haven’t decided, but trust goes both ways.”
A knock sounds at the door, and another attractive guy enters the office.
“We’ve got a problem. There’s some dickhead at the door claiming he’s a cop.”
Oh God.
“Tell him to come back with a warrant.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
His goon, or whatever, glances between us. “What’s going on?”
“Shaw, meet Ruby. Ruby, meet Shaw.”
“If I don’t talk to him, he will make both of our lives hell. And trust me, you don’t want him poking around.”
“Fuck. She’s the chick from the alley,” his friend says, rubbing a palm over his face.
“You told him about me?”
“I’m his right hand it’s my job to know everything and to remove threats.”
“Hey dude, I’m not a threat. I’m not anything. Let me deal with Alex. And you.” I point at Theo. “Stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours, got it?”
He grins at me. “Sweetheart, it’s real cute you think you have a say. Get rid of him, Shaw.”
“No one is getting rid of anyone. That’s why we are in this mess.”
“Fucking hell,” Shaw grumbles, leaving us alone once more.
“I should get back to my friends.”
“You mean the bitches we established aren’t your friends.”
“You’re not any better.”
“I’m not a cheater and I’m not a liar.”
“But you are a killer.” I challenge.
“Yes.”
His honesty hits me square in the chest like a bullet.
“You’re exactly who you say you are, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, Ruby. You can trust me to lay it out straight. What you see is what you get.”
I offer him a weak smile as my legs turn to jelly.
“I think I need to sit down.” How is it that Theo, a criminal, has been more honest with me in a day than Alex, a police officer, was the entirety of our relationship?
I drop onto his couch, and he grabs me a bottle of water from his mini-fridge behind his desk.
“Drink this. You’re looking a little pale.”
I stare at this gorgeous yet deadly man. Dark swirls of ink cover his hands, arms, and neck. He’s devastatingly beautiful with those steely eyes that pierce straight through me. He’s not going to let me go. Not unless I give him something.
I twist the cap off the bottle and take a drink. The cool liquid soothes my dry throat.
“Tell me what you want me to do.”
“That’s to be determined. Until then, I want to get to know you.”
“I can’t walk around waiting for you to decide. Let’s just get this over with.”
“You know this is going to tie us together forever. There’s no reason to get in a hurry. Being in a rush results in sloppiness.”
“Is that why you made a mistake last night?”
“Who said I made a mistake? Maybe I knew you were there.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You’re right. I didn’t. You know you haven’t asked me why.”
“Why what?”
He smirks at me, and we both know what that unspoken question is. And it’s a damn good question. Why hasn’t it crossed my mind?
“Honestly, I don’t know. What’s that say about me?”
“Do you believe in an eye for an eye?”
“In some cases, yes.”
“What if I told you that he beat and raped a woman and she wasn’t the first?”
“But you made certain she’d be the last?”
He nods.
“So you’re a vigilante?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
“The world is down one evil man. I can live with that.”
He smiles. “Me too.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know what I want from you.”
“Okay,” I hedge.
“I need a wife.”
I nearly choke on my own spit. “Like you need help finding one or…”
“I’ve got a pain in my ass in form of a cunt named Cassie. I can’t be forced to honor the agreement my father made to hers if I’m already married.”
“And a wife can’t be made to testify against her husband,” I piece together aloud.
“Exactly.”
I shake my head. “I can’t marry you.”
“I’m not asking.”
“You know it’s illegal to force someone into marriage under duress.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Isn’t my word enough?”
“No. I tell you what. You give me ten years and at the end I’ll give you a million dollars.”
“For my silence?”
“Yes. There will be a contract. It will all be official. You’ll sign an NDA, of course.”
“You’re serious.”
“I don’t joke about money.”
“When would this marriage take place?”
He glances at a calendar hanging on the wall. “Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s tomorrow.”
My cell buzzes once more, and I realize he hasn’t given it back to me. “I need to tell my friends something before they think I’ve been kidnapped.”
“Fine. Introduce me.”
“And tell them what exactly?”
“That we’re madly in love.”
I balk at that. No one in their right mind is going to believe it.
“I’ll adopt that dog. Hell, I’ll adopt them all.”
“Deal.”
“I should have led with the animals, huh?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“You ready to do this?”
“Nope.”
“Oh my god. Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick.” Brookie shrieks. “I panicked and called Alex…”
“She’s been with me,” Theo says, curling an arm around my waist.
“And how do the two of you know each other?” her cheeks blush at the sight of him.
“I’m her fiancé.”
Brookie’s mouth hits the floor. “I’m being punked, right? You’re fucking with me.”
“I guess you’re not the only one good at keeping secrets,” I tell her, watching all that color drain from her face.
“What do you mean? I tell you everything.”
“I heard you. Don’t try to deny it.”
“How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know that you were never my friend.” I don’t know what comes over me when I grab a nearby drink and throw it in her face.
“What the fuck?” she shrieks as Kelsey laughs at her.
I pick up another and toss the contents in her face as well.
“Get them out of here,” Theo tells one of his bouncers. “By the way, you’re both banned. I don’t allow ugly cunts in my club.”
I watch as Brookie and Kelsey are dragged out of the club.
My hands are shaking. I’m fueled by adrenaline.
“I’ve never done anything like that before,” I confess.
“Not going to lie. Watching you just now was sexy.”
“That felt pretty damn good.”
“Let’s get out of here. We’ve got a lot to discuss.”
“Okay.” I think I have absolutely lost my mind, but all my life I’ve always played it safe.
I’ve always done the right thing. Got good grades in school.
Never raised my voice at my parents. I didn’t drink until I turned twenty-one.
I never smoked. Haven’t done drugs. Never had sex.
Saving myself for the perfect man who would cherish me, but the truth is he doesn’t exist.
None of it matters. I did everything I was told to, and everyone in my life has used my obedience to walk all over me.
No more.
I’m done being everyone’s fool.
Of course he drives a Mercedes G Wagon. “Nice ride.”
“Glad you approve,” he murmurs before closing the passenger door.
His gaze stays on me as he rounds the front to the driver’s side. He is truly terrifyingly beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a handsome man.
Down the street I spot Brookie and Kelsey talking to Alex. The three of them should be in a throuple. They deserve each other.
“You’re not like taking me somewhere to kill me, are you?”
“No, but it’s a little late to be asking me that.” He clicks the locks and I gulp.
Mac Miller plays through his sound system. I bet the watch on his wrist costs more than my rent for a year.
I study his profile as he pulls onto the road. We’re from two different worlds. He comes from money and power. I grew up lower-middle class and haven’t climbed much further up the ladder. I’m no one special.
I’m not na?ve enough to think Theo is attracted to me. I know this is all about saving his ass and keeping me as close as possible.
One million dollars is a lot of money. The amount of good I could do with it outweighs any cons.
Sure, he could be lying to me.
“I just blew up my life,” I whisper to myself.
Alex will be forced to leave me alone, but what if it makes him come at Theo and he investigates him? What if I become an accessory to the murder? I was there. I didn’t report it. But according to Theo, that guy was a rapist.
Theo pulls into a parking garage and parks.
I’ve watched enough true crime to know I’m kind of being an idiot. I’m alone with a man who has every reason to want to end my life, and yet for some reason I trust that he won’t hurt me.
“Come on.”
I exit the vehicle and look around for cameras. I don’t see any, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
“You can relax. I’m not going to lure you to my apartment and drug you so I can hack you up and stuff your parts in a suitcase. That would be too much to clean up. If I wanted to kill you, I’d just take you out on my boat and toss you overboard.”
“Sounds like you’ve thought about different ways to off me,” I tease.
“Told you. I need a wife, and this way I can keep tabs easier.”
One intense and silent elevator ride later, we arrive at his apartment.
“This whole floor is mine. Well, it and the one above it. I own the building.”
“You own the building?”
“It’s not a big deal.
“I don’t even own a car,” I comment as he leads me down the hall to his door.
He grins at me.
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-two. You?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Well, I’ve got an age advantage, and I inherited most of it from my old man.”
“You’re only eight years older than me.”
He opens the door and holds an arm out for me to enter first.
“Wow.” I walk into his place and it’s huge. I could fit like four of my apartment in his living room and kitchen.
“Make yourself at home.”
“Right.” I kick my shoes off, feeling extremely out of place.
He has a pool table instead of a dining table.
Art hangs on his walls. I think I have a picture of a cat I bought secondhand at a thrift store.
One wall of his living room area is covered in shelves holding what must be thousands upon thousands of records.
He removes his shoes and unbuttons his shirt to reveal his chest is as inked as the rest of him. “Do you mind if I smoke?”
“It’s your home.”
“I want you to be comfortable.”
“I think we’re kind of past comfort.”
He lights up his cigarette and offers me something to drink, but I decline. He goes over to his wall of records and pulls out an album.
“That’s an impressive collection,” I tell him as something softer than what was playing in his Benz filters into the room.
I walk around the open space, making note of the pictures lining the table behind his sectional sofa.
There’s so many of him with whom I am assuming are his parents and siblings.
There’s some of him and that Shaw guy, but the one that captures my attention is the one of him and a dark-haired girl that shares his eyes.
“My sister. We’re twins.”
“There’s two of you.”
“She lives upstairs.”
“That’s…”
“Weird?”
“I was going to say sweet. My family wasn’t ever really close.”
“Any siblings?”
“Only child.”
“And your parents?”
“Divorced but living. My father drives a commercial hauler across the country and is rarely in touch. My mother lives with her latest fling. Yours?”
“My father is deceased. My mother and younger sister live upstate.”
He puts out his cigarette and washes his hands.
“I guess we should get all the questions out of the way.”
“I’ll give my lawyer a call to get the prenup and divorce agreement written up along with the NDA.”
“Okay.” I move to the floor to ceiling windows that overlook the street below and part of the park. “Beautiful view.”
“I’ll have a room made up for you.”
“I kind of thought I’d keep my place.”
“The second you say I do, a target will be on your back. And no offense, but you live in a shit neighborhood.”
“I like my apartment.”
“Listen, this isn’t as simple as saying some vows then going our separate ways for the next ten years.
For this to work, you’ve got to commit to the role.
To the world, they need to see us as a united front.
There will be rules. Places you can’t go.
You’ll have one to two of my men with you anywhere you go. ”
“I’ll be your prisoner.”
“No.” he shakes his head. “I can understand why you’d see it that way, but you don’t understand the danger that comes with being connected to me.” He grabs a laptop off the kitchen counter and flips the top up. “Come here. Read this and look at these.”
I scan the news article. His sister, his twin, was abducted.
Several men beat, raped and tortured her.
His father went to prison for killing every single one of them.
The images turn my stomach. They’re of his sister.
Badly beaten, looking nearly dead. I know the story, but it coming from him makes it sink in more.
“There’s a reason for every choice I make when it comes to the safety of the women in my life.”
“I see.”
He grabs my face. “Tell me you understand and that you won’t fight me on this.” He holds my gaze and as he looks into my eyes with such intensity I feel him in my bones. “I’d burn this city to the ground if someone hurt you because of me.”
The world seems to disappear, and he’s all I see.
This stranger.
This killer.
The man I’m going to marry.
He looks at me like he’s seeing the sun for the first time. “Tell me you understand,” he demands, and in this moment with him looking at me like he loves me, I’ll tell him anything and everything he wants to hear.
“I understand.”