Chapter Three #4
On it was a provocative photo of Hunter posing in a thong bikini on the beach. Her long hair was wind-blown, and her round ass was in full view as she peered over her shoulder at the camera with an alluring smile.
It wasn’t even the most damning evidence that I’d lied.
It was that I’d saved her contact name as Mine.
Ocean stared at the screen for longer than was decent. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply to fight the jealousy that made me want to snatch my phone back, and when I opened them, I found him watching me curiously.
“How cute,” he remarked sarcastically. “But right now, I think it’s time we discussed my rules.
” Hunter hung up and immediately began calling again.
Ocean didn’t bother checking the screen this time.
We both knew it could only be her. “Rule number one—lie to me again and the deal is off. That means I find your bitch-ass brother and rid him of his existence. Now let’s try again. Who. Is. She?”
“My roommate,” I said honestly while still downplaying what she was to me. Hunter was so much more, but I’d be a fool to give him another pawn to use against me. “She has nothing to do with this.”
The Denali finished reversing out of the alley and slowly turned until we were on the main road facing the flow of traffic.
“That’s for me to decide. Is she going to be a problem?”
“No,” I lied again. My best friend was definitely going to be a problem because she wouldn’t stop looking until she found me, and while God might forgive Ocean, Hunter sure as fuck wouldn’t.
“Can she track this phone?”
This time, I didn’t lie. It was easy to ignore my one shot at being rescued when it meant protecting Hunter. “Yes.”
“Stop the truck.” Ocean rolled down his window before we were even stationary. I thought he would chuck my phone through it, but he didn’t.
Instead, he powered it off and then tucked it inside his pocket before leaning back until he was out of sight with his long arm stretched along the back of the seat, his fingers within grabbing distance of my throat in case I tried anything.
I realized too late the reason why.
The bastard was giving Hunter an unobstructed view of me.
And it took her no time at all to spot me. Hunter’s voice was full of alarm when she shouted my name and began sprinting toward the truck.
“Hunter!” I yelled, leaping toward the open window as if I might dive through it.
Ocean immediately seized my throat, his fingers a hot possessive collar around my neck as he pressed me back against the seat and kept me there.
Even now, I could hear the rapid click of Hunter’s heels as she sprinted for the truck.
God, she was fast, even in heels.
Hunter ran track in high school and for a semester in college to stay in shape before we both dropped out after freshman year.
She’d only gone because I wanted to give it a try, but when I realized it wasn’t for me, we dropped out and worked odd jobs to make ends meet, living our best broke bitch life.
It never mattered.
Since we lived together and had no plans to ever separate, we always felt like we had everything already. The only time I ever questioned if it was true was two years ago, the night I met Ocean.
He rolled up the window just as Hunter reached the SUV. She slammed her fist over and over against the glass while screaming at him to let me go, but Ocean paid her no mind as he waited for my reaction.
It was as if he already knew the truth I buried deep, but I told myself there was no way he could.
“Stop,” I begged as my eyes welled with fresh tears. “This is hurting her. It’s hurting me. Please just stop.” Tormenting us both like this, knowing we might never see each other again, was more than I could bear.
Ocean’s fingers immediately relaxed around my throat, and while it could be my imagination, I could have sworn there was remorse in his brown eyes. “Drive,” he ordered his goon.
The Denali sped from the curb, and I couldn’t help turning in my seat to get one last glimpse of Hunter. My sore eyes widened a moment later when I saw that crazy bitch reach inside her clutch.
Goddamn it, Hunter!
I threw myself onto the SUV’s floor and folded my body into a ball.
“The fuck are you—”
The muted sound of something hitting the rear windshield repeatedly interrupted Ocean before he could finish. To my horror, I realized Hunter was close to emptying the clip, but the glass remained intact.
Bulletproof.
The goddamn truck was bulletproof.
“Drive faster before she catches on and shoots out the fucking tires!” Ocean shouted.
The driver slammed on the gas.
My body was thrown into the door when he turned down another street on two wheels. Once the truck was righted, I carefully crawled back into my seat, buckled in, and then put my head in my hands.
“Why do I get the feeling that you lied to me again?”
Carefully packing away my rage, I sealed it in an air-tight box that I would only open again when it was useful. “What?” I croaked. My voice sounded tired even to my own ears.
“You said your friend wouldn’t be a problem, but that’s clearly not true.”
“Because she’s going to be a problem for you, not me.”
It was quiet for a long time before Ocean responded. “I sincerely hope you’re wrong, Coby. For her sake.”
My head shot up, and I glared at the underboss of the Fola like I had a death wish. “Did you just threaten my fucking friend?”
“Our deal doesn’t include Hunter.”
“Please just…tell me what you want from me? What is this job you want me to do?”
Ocean took his sweet fucking time answering, and I had just begun to give up thinking that he would when he said, “My father is ready to step down and let me take over as head of the family.”
“Congratulations,” I offered dryly.
Ignoring my sarcasm, he went on. “A standing tradition must be fulfilled before it can be made official.”
“What is this tradition?” I forced myself to ask. I didn’t give one solid fuck.
“I have to marry.” There was no emotion in his tone whatsoever, and all I could do was pray for that unlucky girl. Whoever she was. “And if I want to stay in power, children must follow.”
Stiffening, my heart beat a panicky drum. “I’m not sure how I can help you with that other than to recommend a good dating app.”
Ocean smiled and thought it was a gorgeous sight, but it was a little too sharp and devious for my liking. Still, I found my attention caught by the divots below his cheeks.
Dimples.
This murderous lunatic actually had dimples—deep, distracting ones that made all of his other arresting features fade into the background.
“That won’t be necessary, Coby. I’ve already found my wife.”
I had two opposing reactions to that news—warm relief because, for a second, I thought he was going to say he intended to marry me and bitter jealousy at the girl who robbed me of my fantasy.
“So who’s the blushing bride-to-be?” I asked when the silence became awkward enough. Maybe the bitch didn’t have friends, and he wanted me to be her maid-of-honor or something.
But there was no way that would pay off a three-million-dollar debt. It was more likely he’d ask me to be their nanny, surrogate, or something.
I almost begged him to just kill me now.
Ocean’s dark gaze held mine for so long that I felt myself falling into his trance again. It truly felt like I was floating higher and higher until his answer dropkicked me back down to Earth.
“I’m looking at her.”
1 My angel.
2 . We honor the blood.