Chapter Twenty-Six
Zane
It was exactly seven in the morning when I walked into my office. The nights had been long and restless ever since I’d brought Chloe here. The sooner I got up from bed, the sooner I could bury my head in things to distract me from, well, burying my head in her.
Andy and Ivar were already inside the office, waiting for me.
The meeting dragged on longer than I’d anticipated. I leaned back in my chair, fingers drumming on the wood as I listened to Ivar’s report on the latest developments on the Red Scorpions, which wasn’t much.
Beside him, Andy shifted in his seat, his eyes darting around the surveillance photos from Bruce’s club scattered on the desk between us, waiting for Ivar to finish.
“Is there any indication at all about their next move?” I asked Ivar, impatiently cutting him off, sensing this conversation was going nowhere.
Ivar shook his head. “Not yet, but we have eyes everywhere. If they move again, we will know.”
Not good enough. I was tired of waiting, needed something solid.
My eyes shifted to Andy, giving him the word, and he handed me a folder.
“Carter didn’t find much more on Chloe,” he started, as I flipped it open.
“She’s been working for Bruce since she was seventeen, after her father racked up a debt big enough for two lifetimes.
No boyfriend. No friends outside that world.
No contact with her parents. She’s never had anything in her name, not even a bank account we could trace.
There’s a sister, but she’s out in Cali.
Looks clean, no sign of direct involvement with anything really. ”
I scanned the file. Thin. Too thin.
“She’s clean, boss,” Andy added. “Simple life. No priors. Which is impressive, considering her line of work... Maybe she really was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
My jaw clenched as I raked a hand through my hair, staring harder at the papers in front of me, trying to find a damn pattern.
“The attack couldn’t have been random,” I muttered. “It has to mean something.”
Andy didn’t argue, but the silence told me we didn’t have any better theories.
I dropped the folder onto the desk.
“Arianna said the word on the street is they’re recruiting faster than ever,” I continued, leaning forward. “Desperate junkies. Homeless kids. Anyone stupid enough to sell themselves off as cannon fodder. They’re preparing for something.”
“Something is definitely changing,” Andy added in agreement, and Ivar nodded.
For once, something we could all fucking agree on.
“And if they’re recruiting, there has to be a way people can reach them. Or the other way around. But it’s the perfect moment to put out bait.” Ivar suggested, waiting for my approval.
I gave it with a simple nod.
“Then I’ll check who we’ve got on the ground,” Andy replied, already pushing to his feet.
“I also want Chloe under protection. She’s our biggest leverage right now,”
I added, and didn’t miss the subtle roll of Ivar’s green eyes.
“We also need to discuss the mayor’s daughter’s party tomorrow,” Ivar continued, shifting the focus. “What time should I tell Arianna to be here?”
“Andy, coordinate with Mike the security detail for that,” I instructed, handing him the building blueprints and all the relevant intel on the event and the guests expected to attend.
He took the folder and walked out.
Because of who I was, and the enemies my family had collected over generations, attending an event without a certain level of security wasn’t just reckless, it was suicidal.
Every move I made had to be carefully calculated.
It wasn’t just about protecting myself, but also ensuring the safety of those who could get caught in a crossfire.
“I’m not going to bring Arianna with me this time,” I answered Ivar once we were alone, leaving no room for discussion.
“Then who? And don’t say—”
“Chloe,” I finished for him, and the room fell silent. Though I could swear I heard Ivar grinding his teeth.
I knew what his reaction would be.
He pushed up from his chair. “She can’t be an option! She’s afraid and unstable; she could end up doing something really fucking stupid. Not to mention she clearly has no idea how to behave around you or any of these high profiles at the party.”
He was right. Chloe wasn’t obedient, wasn’t loyal, wasn’t trained, and we didn’t have time to change any of that. But this was the perfect opportunity to use her for what I’d brought her here to do, and I wasn’t about to miss out on that opportunity.
“It’s a social event, Ivar, not a fucking drug deal,” I retorted. “She just has to look pretty and hold onto my damn arm if I ask her to.”
He laughed in a mocking tone. “She’s more likely to bite you than obey you.”
I scoffed, unable to contain the smug curve forming on my lips imagining that scene.
“You said it yourself, it’s the perfect opportunity to throw out some bait. If they were so desperate to reach her at the club, this might be enough to lure them out again.”
His brow raised.
“You want to use her as bait?” he asked, unable to hide the satisfaction in his voice.
Of course, he’d like the idea. Yet his eagerness to throw her into danger made my teeth grind, even if it was my own damn plan.
“Why didn’t you run it by the others?”
“I wanted to run it by you first.”
Rare were the moments in which I took a decision before passing it through Ivar. Even if we didn’t always see eye to eye—especially lately when it came to Chloe—he was still my underboss. I trusted him to set aside personal opinions and remain objective.
“Well, we’ve tried to lure them countless times,” Ivar shook his head, reminding me of our past failures.
“This time, we have something different,” I countered. “We have Chloe, and if they want Chloe, then let’s find out why.”
Ivar gave me a long look before nodding slightly, then walked out, leaving me finally alone with my thoughts.
I slumped back in my chair again, pushing myself away from the papers in front of me.
With her in my house and under my command, I’d expected to be returning to my usual state of apathy by now, to the cold, calculated mindset that had kept me on top for so long.
But instead, I found myself more distracted than ever before.
I leaned back in my leather chair, turning to face the window behind me. My fingers dug into my temples as I tried to figure out what the hell it was about her that was driving me insane.
But it was useless. She was a storm that had blown into my life, disrupting everything in her path. And damn me if I didn’t want to dive headlong into it.
Her sweet scent lingered in every damn room I entered.
My fingers were still urging me to explore more of the softness of her skin.
Ever since I’d made the mistake of kissing her after she’d tried to shoot me, I’d been trying to resist the flavor of her lips on mine again, knowing exactly what they’d done to me the first time. But the battle was leaving me completely drained and in a constant state of agitation and arousal.
All I could think about was her.
I wanted to see her, to look into those amber, glittering eyes that seemed able to pierce through my soul like no one before. I wanted to taste her again, to make her soaked cunt mine, and to turn myself into her favorite flavor.
But she’d turned me down and I didn’t know what to do with myself after that.
What I did know was I wasn’t going to wait another week for her to decide to leave her room and face me because of what had happened between us.
I was tired of having her locked in her room like a child, and I was tired of our cat-and-mouse games that had made me nothing but angry.
I could live with the fact that I couldn’t fuck her in the way I wanted just yet, but what I couldn’t endure was the control she seemed to be stripping from me.
Enough games.
I needed to prepare her for what was coming next.
There was a price I’d paid—one I’d paid well—and she still had her side of the deal to fulfill. She needed to be reminded that her stay here wasn’t without its conditions.
I made my way to the stairs, and once inside her bedroom, I closed the door.
The sound of running water from the bathroom told me she was in the shower.
Walking further in, I glanced out of the window, distracting myself with the view until she finally emerged.
She stepped out of the bathroom with a towel loosely wrapped around her body. Her dark hair still soaked and sliding down on her shoulders, and I wanted to lick every droplet of water that was still glistening on every inch of her sweet skin.
My mouth watered, wanting another taste desperately.
She made her way to the closet, completely unaware of me watching her, and I took a moment to enjoy this natural sight of her.
The simple image of her so relaxed and comfortable with herself in my house, made my cock hard.
Unable to restrain myself, I followed behind her.
“Chloe,” her name came out in a rough whisper.
She jumped, turning, already pulling the towel tighter around her. Her eyes widened with a mix of surprise and embarrassment.
“Zane, I… I didn’t see you there.”
It was the first time I’d seen her blush. It was unlike her but so fucking adorable and I found myself wishing to see her soft side more.
“I want to… invite you to join me for dinner downstairs,” I managed, having to force out the word invite when what I really wanted was to scream at her to do the fuck as I said.
But I knew better. I wouldn’t be getting a damn thing from her if I let my temper take over.
She studied my face carefully, her brows slightly furrowed, trying to read me, biting her lower lip nervously, tempting my own. My eyes never left hers, trying not to get distracted by how easy it would be to rip the towel from her naked body and expose her completely to me.
Then she nodded. “Okay, give me a minute to get dressed.”
I didn’t move, still wanting to rip that fucking towel from her.
The temptation was nearly unbearable, but instead, I turned and walked downstairs, giving her the privacy she wanted.