CHAPTER 7
Kian
The previous day
Before anything else, I had to make sure I took action on this.
My business has taken me in more lucrative directions, but there’s always a part of me that’s still a petty little fucker. A vindictive one at that.
I want the guy who hurt Samia to pay for his crime. To rot in a jail cell for as long as possible. But that isn’t enough for me.
He has to pay with every inch of his being. I want to take away anything he values, leaving him vulnerable and destitute.
On Long Island, I cruise around the suburbs, parking on the corner of the street, waiting long enough to see him returning home from his tedious desk job. Seeing the weasel in preppy attire makes me clench my fists on the steering wheel, barely restraining myself from causing him harm.
Lachlan’s dossier was thorough. The places he frequents and how he spends his limited funds. Without children or any extended family, not even a pet rat. His absence would go unnoticed if I took his life.
For hurting Samia, death is too quick.
He’ll suffer for years instead.
I never go into any new undertaking without looking at every eventuality backward and forward. It’s overly cautious, sure, but when you straddle the criminal line, it’s something that needs to be considered if I want to keep my ass out of jail. Ethan, a long-time lawyer friend, already gets paid enough of a retainer to keep my feet on the other side of the bars. I don’t want to pay for his holiday home in southern France just because I’ve been incompetent.
Never get caught,is the family motto.
While I stare at the asshole’s house, hoping it will spontaneously burst into flames, I send a few confirmation texts.
It’s fortunate to have friends in low places.
For a price, the unlawfully inclined will do anything.
Those sneaky bastards can digitally get in anywhere. They can cancel payments, shut off power, and repossess items on finance with a few strokes of a keyboard.
And that’s what I’ve set in motion.
There’s more than one way to destroy a man. Take his things and see how quickly he descends to nothing.
I’m still parked as the power suddenly goes out in his house, descending into darkness, giving me a little chuckle. He appears at the window, probably checking that the street still has electricity. Because I’ve paid for it, I know his phone and internet have been shut off, too. For the right price, tow trucks will come out within the hour, and I’m there with dark amusement as the SUV is repossessed, the rage-fueled man shouting down the block to the tow truck guy it’s a mistake. Even the neighbors come out of their houses to watch his life crumbling.
If only I could have seen his face when he discovered his now empty checking account. With a balance of less than a thousand dollars, I ensured it was donated to something worthwhile. His boss will receive an anonymous email tomorrow morning, exposing all the questionable activities of his top employee.
Is it cruel to ruin a man’s entire life just because I have the means to? When that man attempted to hurt my girl, it sure as fuck is justified.
As I electronically drop payments into offshore accounts, Samia isn’t far from my mind.
She’s my star motivation.
Maybe one day I can try to be a better man for her sake. She probably won’t want her baby daddy to be delving into the murky underworld as much as I do.
Ah, Jesus. Just the idea of being the lucky bastard to fill my Samia with our baby is evocative enough to make my dick throb.
Kids wouldn’t have been a part of my future until she entered my field of vision, and it’s all I can do not to rut her like an animal and bond her to me forever in the most rudimental way of all. It’s a kink I never knew I had until her.
Until hercovers a lot of things.
But before I can get to the baby-making homework, I have to make my girl fall for my charms.
She’s a stubborn little thing.
Why won’t she fall in love with me already?
My revenge is sealed with a nice bow by nightfall. The hours spent in my car have left me feeling cramped, with stiff bones and muscles and a voracious appetite. It was truly a sweet victory to have a front-row seat to witness two cop cars arriving to arrest the asshole, all thanks to Lachlan’s passing on the assault information to his cop friend.
Good riddance to trash.
The drive into Manhattan seemed to pass quickly, especially since I knew who I would see. Being apart from Samia all day has been torture, especially since she wasn’t home this morning when I delivered her breakfast.
The townhouse is dark when I let myself in. I don’t even stop in the kitchen for a drink of water. My body practically vibrates as I stalk up the stairs, finding her bedroom door without switching on a light. She’s left a nightstand lamp on, and I notice she’s clutching her phone when I walk around the bed.
Something in my chest splinters apart, hoping my cranky girl was waiting for me. Slipping the phone out of her fingers, I place it face down on the nightstand before undressing and tossing the pile of clothes on an armchair.
The plan was to get my eyes on her gorgeous face and head home, but the allure of a sleeping Samia was too much for me to resist.
Blame insanity.
Blame my obsession, but I climb into the soft bed in only my boxer briefs. My cock pulses to bury inside her, but there’s something more I want as I curl around her slim frame, fitting her back to my chest. A hand around her middle, palming Samia’s belly. Then I exhale, and peace warms every inch of my skin.
This is what I’ve ached for all day. All week. Every second for months, to hold my Samia in my arms. It’s the reward that keeps on giving when she mumbles in her sleep but doesn’t come awake. What she does is nestle her soft ass into my hardening cock, tormenting me until I taste blood in my mouth from biting the inside of my cheek.
Calming my breath, I nuzzle my face into her hair, inhaling the delicate fragrance from her bath. I’m the biggest creep because I can recognize every brand Samia uses.
Holding my obsession, I press a kiss to her neck. “Dream of us, baby,” I murmur and fall asleep like a contented man, high from his drug of choice, for the first time in weeks.
I can’t say I’ve ever been abruptly awakened by the feeling of hands tightening around my throat.
It was a new experience that jolted me awake after a deep sleep. The sunlight is pouring into Samia’s room, and my girl is sitting on me, hands wrapped around my neck.
She’s absolutely breathtaking, like an enraged angel, with her sexy honey-colored hair framing around her heart-shaped face.
The fantasy of her straddling my body isn’t a new one.
I hadn’t ever factored in the choking, though. That’s brand new.
But I’m a twisted bastard to love her hands on me, even as she tries to force me into a premature death.
“How dare you be in my bed!” she hisses like a cute, menacing demon, attempting to wrestle the air out of my body. That my neck is thicker and her hands are smaller means that she is exerting a great deal of effort with no discernible outcome.
I wonder if I should let her know what her wriggling is doing to my lower body. Maybe she should know I’m hoping for an orgasm before she sends me to hell.
Ah, fuck. Talk about an epic way to kick the bucket.
I grab Samia’s ass, flash a grin at her, and listen as she growls, looking like she wants to kill me.