Chapter 31
After watching the opening ceremony at Harley and the Moretti boys’ new health and wellness center, I join Harley and Ricky for a tour with her adorable dog, Lola.
With eyes constantly scanning the room, Onyx trails close behind us, his ears looking like they’re twitching at every sound.
He’s even more on edge than usual, and it’s starting to freak me out, not that I would admit it to him.
I hear my phone ring, and Onyx takes it from his pocket, his eyes meeting mine as he answers the call, no remorse.
He leaves the room before I have a chance to snatch it back from him.
Not wanting to cause a scene in front of our friends, I let him go.
“Everything okay?” Harley asks, a curious brow raised.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” I reply, but it’s my fucking phone he’s on, so either he’s talking to one of the boys or it’s one of the girls from the club and this is his way of punishing me for disobeying him this morning.
Now he’s screening my calls as well, fucking great.
I return my attention to Harley and Ricky, trying to be a good friend, even if I’m distracted.
I can’t help chewing at my bottom lip, wondering who the hell is on the phone.
Onyx pops his head back inside the door, his eyes meeting mine.
“Sloane, a minute,” he mutters dryly .
A heavy sigh escapes me.
“Be back in a sec,” I throw over my shoulder as I head toward him and out of Harley’s office, desperate to know who was calling me.
Following him farther down the hall, the fresh scent of paint lingers in the air as we approach an open doorway.
Inside we find Alex leaning against a large desk, a self-satisfied smile plastered on his face.
“I hear you need to see me. What can I do for you, Sloane, need another favor?”
“Not this time.” I grin back at him.
He did me a solid without even knowing I was using him this time.
His eyes, sharp and calculating, roam over me, assessing every detail.
“How close have you and my cousin gotten since becoming business partners?” he asks.
I fold one arm over the other, puffing out my chest, hoping for a surge of confidence.
“What’s it to you, Moretti?”
He pushes off his desk and moves in closer to me.
“A little birdy tells me he’s moved out of my place and is shacking up with you.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear, Alex.” I huff out a laugh, not needing the whole world to know about the situation I have found myself in.
He chuckles darkly, and I already know he knows it’s the truth.
Damn it. “I have something for you.” He reaches into his suit pocket and hands me a folded piece of paper.
“Just to make sure you know what you’re getting into.”
Onyx is standing so close I can feel the heat radiating from his body and the sudden tension that stiffens his frame.
I take the piece of paper and unfold it, curious to see what else he has uncovered about his cousin for me.
“You didn’t get this from me,” I hear him mutter, but I’m already distracted reading over the contract .
My hands start to shake as the words make more sense than I want them to.
It’s a contract between Sydney Stryker and Emilio Moretti signing me over to his eldest son, Orlando Moretti, as his wife.
My eyes rise to meet the two men now standing watching me.
“Who is Orlando Moretti?” I ask the both of them.
One of them better have an answer for me because this shit is fucked up.
“Romeo’s twin brother,” Alex says, his voice low, eyes narrowed as he watches Onyx for his response.
Irritation crawls down my spine.
“Where is he now?” I demand, wondering what fresh hell I have waiting for me when this guy comes for what he’s owed.
“I killed him when he tried to attack you,” Onyx admits.
A sickness washes over me as I spin back toward him.
“That night, that’s who broke into Syd’s club and killed my mother? Those assholes were after me because of this bullshit contract.” I shake it at him like it’s all his fault, even though I know it isn’t.
I thought they wanted me dead, but somehow this is worse.
“I wasn’t even fucking sixteen, and he was going to sign me over to marry him,” I spit out, so much anger radiating through me I don’t know what to do with it.
His eyes meet mine, cold and empty, devoid of any remorse.
“Why do you think I got you the hell out of there that night?”
Onyx knew all along.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, he keeps my fucking secrets locked up tight, even from me.
“You killed him. Why doesn’t Romeo hate you for it?”
With a determined stride, Alex approaches the door, his hand already reaching for the knob.
“Romeo and his brother might have been twins, but they were vastly different.”
I fix my glare on him.
He’s just going to drop this shit in my lap then take off to enjoy the party out there?
“Is this why Romeo thinks he owns me?” I snap back .
Alex runs a hand through his hair, thinking it over.
“My guess is he wants to protect you because he knows how dangerous his family is, and if information like this got into the hands of the wrong person, you could be in big trouble. I don’t think Romeo is the bad guy you want him to be, Sloane.”
“Alex is right, Sloane, this is why you need to start listening to us. The guy stalking you could be anyone, but our guess is he has ties to Romeo’s family. You know they were the ones who killed your parents. They’re after you because of who you are, and they think you owe them something.”
They’re both on Romeo’s side now, they want me to trust him.
“One of the men who signed this contract is dead and so is the man I was promised to, so how could this affect me in any way now?”
“Mafia family ties. While Romeo’s papa is still alive, he could be following up on old debts, you know how this shit works.” Alex huffs like he hates this world just as much as I do right now, but that couldn’t be true.
He gets off on the drama of it all, it sells him papers.
“What about Romeo, why do you two trust him all of a sudden? He could be the one after me for his family, out for some revenge for his brother.”
Onyx moves closer to me.
“If you got to know him properly, you would know there is no way that could be true. He hates his family and everything they stand for,” Onyx says with a bitterness to his tone I don’t appreciate.
Alex nods, agreeing with him.
And I remember what they told me last night, about knowing each other from the group home.
Him ending up in one of those places in America implies he was orphaned or abandoned.
I suddenly feel desperate to understand him and how he ended up here without his family .
“Thanks for your help, Alex.” Onyx gives him a nod, then the two of them share a look, and I know the only reason Alex even gave me this today is because Onyx told him to so I would believe him about how real the threat is.
They set this up.
My muscles coil, a furious energy surging through my veins, making my body so tight I’m not sure what to do.
“I’ll leave you two to it then. Use my office as long as you need to, just lock up when you’re done.” The way Alex looks between the two of us irritates me even more.
Fuck, I hate the men of this world.
It’s all control and secrets, anything to keep their women in line and under their thumb.
Not fucking me. I have to work out how to make this all work for me.
As soon as the door is closed behind Alex, silence hangs heavy in the room, and I pin my stare on Onyx.
“Give my phone back now and take me to my club,” I demand, my voice filled with venom that tells him not to mess with me.
He crosses one arm over the other, his muscles bulging.
“Did you learn nothing this morning, trouble?”
With a grin filled with malice, I glare back at him.
“Oh, I learned plenty, like how manipulative you can be when you want to get your way. Well, that shit won’t work on me. I’m not going to crumble to the floor and beg you to take me back to Jagger’s apartment on the docks and protect me from the big bad Morettis. I’ve been dealing with these assholes my whole life, Onyx. You should know better than to think this piece of paper will scare me.” As our eyes lock, the silence is thick with tension, a palpable energy building between us.
Heart pounding, I inch closer, my hand outstretched for my phone.
“So fucking stubborn.” He places his hand in mine, his thick fingers wrapping around my wrist, and he tugs me in closer to his body.
So close I’m flush against his solid chest, my breath hitching as the scent of his aftershave fills my nostrils, overwhelming me.
“You lost your phone privileges this morning when you tried to play me for a fool. You can have it back when you start to comply with my new rules.”
My death glare increases.
“I already told you to go fuck your rules. I’m not bowing down to you just so I can fuck you,” I snap back, but already my voice has lost its harsh edge.
The way he’s holding me has me distracted and my body is lighting up with desperate need for him to really touch me.
He takes another step, caging me in as my ass hits the desk behind me.
I’m not the only one whose body is reacting to our close proximity, I feel how hard his cock is.
His eyes flash with something dark and sinister, but also something erotic as hell.
He’s getting off on this, on the control he already knows he has over me, and fuck, I don’t know why, but so am I.
I’m a strong woman, the strongest, but when it comes to Onyx, I want to give in and let him have me however he wants.
“Maybe that’s exactly what I should have you do next.” He reaches out and runs a finger over my bottom lip as if he’s imagining me on my knees before him, his cock in my mouth.
He forces my chin upwards so I’m staring directly into his eyes.
“Take me to my club or I will find my own way there,” I bite back, trying to keep a small slither of control over this situation, even though I’m falling under his fucking spell more and more by the second.
His face drops to mine, his lips just an inch away, and he inhales deeply.
“The only way you’re going to your club today is if you agree to my rules.”
My heart kicks up a beat, and I try to swallow down the lump in my throat.
“What are your rules? Be specific.”
His expression changes, thinking he’s already won, and he scoops me up in his arms. My legs wrap around him on instinct, and I know I’m fucked.
He presses me into the wall, gazing down at me as he pulls a list from his pocket and hands it to me.
“You came prepared?”
“I know how much you like structure, Sloane. This way we all know where we stand.”
I read over the paper in front of me.
I’m in charge of you and everything you do.
What you eat, what you drink, every last damn thing you put in your body.
You will not argue with me.
If I give you an instruction, it’s to keep you safe.
You will comply.
You will not put yourself in danger.
No reckless behavior, sneaking out, or ignoring my safety measures.
“This is for your safety, Sloane.” He presses my back into the wall, his eyes not leaving mine for a second, and I know he’s waiting for me to challenge him on this, but I think I’m in some sort of shock and I can’t.
4. You are expected to listen and not challenge my authority at any time.
No lying or keeping secrets.
I huff out a laugh. “I don’t keep secrets, unlike some,” I sass back, finally finding my voice, because after the shit I have found out he’s kept from me over the years, is he kidding?
His eyes narrow in on me.
“I only keep things from you when it’s to protect you.”
I move my hands to his chest, trying to force some space between us.
“Bullshit!”
“Watch your mouth,” he warns, his muscles tightening, and I see the seriousness in his expression.
He’s on the verge of losing his temper with me, and after his hulk-like door extraction this morning, I know I shouldn’t push him.
But fuck, this is ridiculous.
“‘Five, your body is mine to please,’” I read out loud, not sure how I feel about that.
“What about Reef and Romeo?”
He subtly rocks his hips into me, just enough that I’m reminded of how fucking hard he is right now and how badly he wants me, as desperately as I want him.
My panties are drenched at the thought.
“Your pussy is mine. Don’t touch yourself without permission. If you want to have a relationship with Reef and Romeo as well, I’m okay with it. I trust them both with your life.”
I don’t know why but that makes my heart race even faster.
Why does he trust them so much?
6. If you break any of my rules, you must accept my punishments.
I can feel him watching me as I read the last one.
“If you can’t follow my rules at all, I won’t touch you again, and whatever we have started will be done. Is that what you want?”
My eyes rise to meet his.
We both know it’s not.
I have waited so long to have him, I can’t walk away now just when it’s heating up between us.
But I don’t want him to have all the damn control here either.
“Are you done with your damn list?” I roll my eyes, trying to give myself time and space to work this out.
“Don’t test my limits unless you really want to see the real me, Sloane,” he warns, a darkness flashing in his eyes that should scare me.
My lips twitch up at the sides because maybe this is what I want.
All this time he’s been hiding himself away from me.
Lurking in the shadows, only showing me glimpses of who he really is, but I’m desperate to have something real with him, I don’t care how bad it gets.
“I want to see the real you, Onyx,” I throw back at him, just waiting to see what he makes of it .
A growl escapes his lips, and I think he’s going to stop what he’s doing and put me down, but instead, he shoves me into the wall, his lips crashing with mine in a brutal kiss, his tongue forcing its way inside my mouth.
His hand moves between my legs, and his fingers shoving aside my panties, he enters me in one quick move.
“I’ll take that as you agreeing.”
He moves his face back from me just slightly so he can see my reaction.
Leisurely he pumps his fingers in and out of me while he waits for me to catch up with him.
“If I get this side of you, then yes. But I have one condition. You tell my brothers; I’m not sneaking around.”
“Done,” he says way faster than I was expecting him to.
I thought that might be the deal breaker.
“I have one more condition of my own. Don’t fall in love with me.”
I burst out laughing.
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly.”
“I have no intention of falling in love with anyone, big dude. God, you should know me better than that,” I huff out, laughter still punctuating my words.
“Good.”
But as his eyes lock with mine hungrily, my heart does a stupid little backflip, and I know it’s already too late.
I’m so screwed when it comes to him.