CHAPTER SIX #2
But as much as I crave her beautiful laughter and wish she were more interested in knowing me, I’d rather have her hate me than let her be scared. And I don’t have any idea what we’re dealing with yet.
“Then let me reiterate my response.” I unfasten my seat belt and lean over the center console until our lips are merely inches apart as I grip her chin. “That’s not a fucking option. You’re stuck with me.”
Mine.
For now. Kind of.
“You will eat those words.” Her eyes squint in fury, but she doesn’t pull away.
Interesting. The more she hates me, the more she seethes, the more the molecules in the air crackle with a fuck-me taunt.
“Oh, is that it, Dollface?” I drag my thumb over her plush lower lip—painted the same maroon as her tank top today—while I study every subtle expression on her gorgeous face. “You hungry? Beg me nicely, and I’ll feed you what you’re really starving for.”
She licks that lip, the shimmer of her tongue piercing goading me, her full lashes fluttering.
A vision of temptation. “Okay, fine.” Her voice is a sensual whisper.
“I’ll bite. Is that what you’re after? You have a city full of women throwing themselves at you, but you can’t resist the conquest of the one who wants nothing to do with you.
So, Maddox, if I choke on your dick, will that send you packing? Will I finally be free?”
Fuck no. Never. Not after the way you just rasped my name.
What? No.
How the hell have our interactions turned so heated?
And so … confounding? I’ve been watching her with rapt intrigue for more than two years.
I’ve known her for eight, and sure, I’ve always been a bit enamored.
Infatuated. Maybe even obsessed the past few months.
But I assumed it was partly what she said, her disinterest roping me in.
Now it’s … I don’t even fucking know … more?
Vexing? An impending disaster? Not that I’ll be fessing up to any of that.
She started this the other day with her recreational use comment about the Karambit knife and her suggestive texts.
And now? She could’ve said she was starving for jambalaya or even a hoagie—that would have been fucking hilarious without being completely on the nose—but she went straight to choking on my dick.
It doesn’t matter that I’d implied it. She ran with it.
Sitting straighter, I tuck a silver tendril of her hair behind the shell of her absurdly cute ear, adorned with seven dainty piercings, before laying things out the way I should have a long time ago. “That’s a dangerous proposition you’re suggesting. You’re missing a key factor.”
The subtlest shiver washes over her before she reaches down to the floorboard, grabbing her bag and hoisting it over her shoulder—the beginning of her dismissal. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“We both know I’m the taste you crave, Tess.
Wrap those pouty lips around my cock, and I won’t need to hold you captive anymore.
You’ll be clinging to me, insatiable, desperate for more.
So, the way I see it, whether you squeeze those thighs tight or open them wide to reveal how wet you are for me, I’ll be the ache you can’t ignore, the fantasy you can’t forget, and the man who owns every part of you. ”
I said that with the intent of antagonizing her and throwing her off the scent of all I’m hiding.
But her pupils blow before her Caribbean blues turn icy, which has me entertaining far-fetched notions.
Like maybe she isn’t utterly opposed to that scenario.
Maybe she’s as baffled as I am by whatever the hell this is.
Otherwise, she’d laugh it off. The anger emanating from her has to be partly directed at herself because try as she might, she does want me.
“You’re delusional.” She sneers that with such conviction that I’m inclined to agree with her, and that’s before she goes in for the kill. “But even if that were true, you’d know you only achieved that by being a coward who’d blackmailed me into it.”
Well, now I’m fucking pissed.
“Blackmailed?” I grit out, so over this shit of her blaming me. “I did you a favor. I fucking showed up, Tessa. Took care of everything. No questions asked. You’d think that would earn me some goddamn respect.”
“It would have.” She opens the door, one leg out, one leg in, her face marred with hurt and disappointment. “But none of it was a favor because favors aren’t conditional. Favors aren’t lorded over someone. You masqueraded as my savior when all you are is a sleazy tyrant.”
If you want to cut a man off at the balls, tell him you have no respect for him. The person she just described me to be was my father. Not me. But I suppose in the aftermath of that fucked-up night, I haven’t proven otherwise. None of that was my intention.
She’s nearly out of the car, and I’m about to follow, but my phone vibrates with a call from Cash.
So, I play the cavalier asshole she believes me to be. “The more venom you spew, Dollface, the more I know you want me. See you tonight.”
The door slams with enough oomph that I’m suddenly terrified of her superhuman strength, but that has little to do with the pang in my chest. I’m not sure what the hell that’s about.
Ignoring it, I answer my phone with a clipped, “Yeah?”
“What the fuck is going on with you, Mad?” Cash’s tone is equal parts concern and frustration.
While I’m answering him, I watch Tessa in my rearview mirror, scurrying through the garage to the employee entrance our drivers use. “That’s a hell of a way to start a conversation. Hello to you too, little bro.”
He scoffs. “I tried to talk to you this morning, and you bolted when I was taking a piss.”
“It was a long-ass piss,” I counter. “Had an errand. What’s up?”
“Was your errand a girl, or are you freaking out about your call this afternoon? Something’s off.”
That fucking call. I almost forgot. It’s not my area of expertise, and I’m not eager for it to become one. But Ryker does carry a lot, so I’ll do what I can to let him have this time off.
The email Axel’s assistant sent me provided limited details, but that’s not surprising.
We’re not accustomed to spelling things out and creating a trail.
What I know is that one of our members, Vincent Lund, wants us to help him track down a million dollars that he claims was stolen a couple of years ago.
I don’t know anything beyond that. It’s not unusual for our members to believe we have all the answers.
Sometimes, we do. Volunteering that information can get dicey though.
But the topic of that call is a great diversion for this conversation since I’m not ready to explain why I’ve taken it upon myself to escort my little obsession everywhere. So, once Tessa is safely inside, I get out of the car and go with it.
Sticking my AirPods in my ears, I shove my phone in my pocket, toss my Americano cup in the trash, and stride toward our private penthouse elevator, flicking my butterfly knife around as I unload.
“I am a little stressed about the call. I poked around about the missing money, but I got nothing. I’m not sure what the expectation is.
Ryker and Axel appease situations like this with their own brands of finesse.
But I’m guessing, if I find anything, it will be that one of our other members is behind it.
All I can do is offer to dig around a little, but beyond that, what the fuck do I know? ”
“All he wants is for you to assure him you’re doing whatever you can to gain intel.” Cash’s smooth air filters through the phone. He never frets about anything. “It’s peace of mind and the illusion that we’re on his side first that he’s after, not a guarantee. I wouldn’t sweat it.”
Of course he wouldn’t.
“I’ll roll with it.” I let out a sigh that blends with the resonant click-clack-rattle of my balisong knife.
An anvil of stress is crushing my chest, most of it concerning the bratty vixen I can’t seem to stop thinking about.
“I just don’t need Axel riding my ass right now.
I much prefer dealing with employees and entertainment. ”
“I hear that,” he says, and the muffled din of chatter is in the background. “But he must not be too worried about it because he gave it to you.”
I step into the elevator and scan my retina so it takes me to the penthouse. “He also sent me three reminders that pretty much boil down to don’t-fuck-this-up messages.”
He barks a laugh. “Rena getting married really fucked us all. He was far less hyper-focused on the rest of us when our little hellion was here, wreaking havoc. But, on the bright side, Ryker is more distracted than ever with his family, so it should even out.”
“That’s true.” I chuckle because Axel’s extra attention on us aside, things are a bit calmer around here without our little sister causing trouble and with the addition of Mercy and Remy. “When you paint the comparison to Rena, it’s doubtful either of them will ever be that combustible with me.”
Primarily because I keep shit to myself. But what Axel doesn’t know can’t make him flip his lid.
“Not much can get them there, other than …” He trails off, and a smile blasts across my face as I step into our family room, noting that I’m the only one home.
“The incident—”
“That shall never be spoken of again,” he quickly breaks in.
“Right.” I stifle the amusement that is desperately trying to leak out of me.
A while back, Cash had a thing with one of our cabaret girls.
They messed around a few times here and there.
Finally, he took her to his private room in Magie Noire, where they indulged in some bondage play before she walked out, leaving him as naked as the day he’d been born, tied up, and gagged.
For a guy whose specialty was sleight of hand, that shit was mortifying.
Honestly, it could have been much worse.
She’d gotten her panties in a twist because he’d told her he didn’t believe in relationships or monogamy.
Assuming she was the exception since she was an employee and we’d always been pretty firm about not dipping into that pool, she’d entered stage-five-clinger mode.
I got wind that she was plotting revenge when he suggested that they call it quits.
So, unbeknownst to him, I let her have her fun and offer him one hell of a send-off.
I made sure it was Bernard who was called to find him.
It still got back to Ryker and Axel. They chewed his ass out good, turning ten shades of red while schooling him on how inappropriate his behavior had been, but I know they shut the door and lost it when they were done.
Cash has a smile that is like some sort of beacon to women.
And it makes him fucking cocky, so as his older brother, it’s my job to keep him humble.
I was also protecting him from the woman scorned doing something that we couldn’t control, but the humbling part was fun.
She wisely moved far away after that, never to be heard from again, per my suggestion.
After hanging my keys on the hook, I grab myself a cup of coffee to take down to my office. “Since I don’t plan to find myself entwined with a dancer while talking to Mr. Lund, I should be good then.”
“Yeah,” he grunts. “Keep the call short and sweet. And avoid relations with employees, like your life depends on it. Then get ready for our Independence celebration.”
Sage advice that I’ve never struggled to follow. So, why the hell is my stomach in knots about a certain snarky employee? She might despise me and blame me for shit she has no right pinning on me, but no matter how much I try, I can’t find it in me to stay pissed at her.
As much as I enjoy pushing limits, I’m certain breaking every damn rule with her would be beyond compare, the thrill of a lifetime. It wouldn’t be the first time I crossed a line for her. And something tells me, that was only the beginning.