Chapter 6
six
. . .
Cross
M y feet slapped hard on the treadmill as I sprinted at top speed during my final high-intensity interval. I wasn’t afforded the luxury of time outside like the rest of the guys who worked on this ranch. Now that my dad was gone, it was meetings, phone calls, and more meetings—and none of them were relaxed or fucking fun. And that was just the up and up side of the family business.
The other, seedier side was more hands-on, but took place under cover of darkness. Those meetings had the potential to get more physical, but Walker handled them more often than not. I only got involved when a message needed to be sent. I had to keep my hands clean until it was absolutely necessary to get them dirty.
The music blaring in my ears cut off as a phone call came through my earbuds. Speaking of my relentless schedule...
Hitting the quick stop on the machine, I got off and answered, barking a curt, “Cross,” as I worked to catch my breath.
“Fucking or fighting?” McCreedy asked, half-serious.
“Neither.”
He made a soft non-committal sound that could have been a laugh. Bastard knew if he tried that shit in front of me, he’d be eating my fist.
“What do you want?” I snapped, a headache already building at the base of my skull.
“Your little heiress has started digging already. She’s asking for keys and passwords.”
My teeth clenched hard enough that the headache burst to vibrant life behind my eye. “So give her the ones she can have.”
“Did you know she’s a corporate accountant? I’ve been looking into her background since she got here. She’s dangerous.”
“You don’t fucking say.”
I hadn’t known she was a number-cruncher. How would I? We weren’t exactly bosom buddies. But that girl had had danger written all over her from day one. Well, from the day I noticed her anyway.
“Something tells me she’s not going to stop at passwords, Cross. She’ll keep digging. And one day, she’ll find something.”
If she hadn’t already.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Better you than me. If I have to get involved...”
I didn’t need him to finish that sentence. Once McCreedy was involved, things best left in the dark would come to light. I couldn’t let that happen. He might’ve helped keep our dirty little secrets hidden, but River was too close to this. She was smart, and she’d figure him—and, by association, us—out.
Just the thought alone was enough to send my pulse skyrocketing. Everything would be ruined. We’d lose, and this couldn’t all have been for nothing. The shit I’d done. The blood on my hands. The things we’d covered up. She’d never see us as anything other than villains if she found out. But what was worse, if she learned the truth, that would mean I gave her up for no fucking reason.
“Dammit, sparrow, why couldn’t you just stay gone,” I grumbled as I snagged a towel and wiped the sweat from my neck.
I needed a goddamned shower before I did anything else, but the knot of apprehension in my gut wouldn’t let me divert my attention away from the problem at hand. River.
Normally I liked to appear put together, confident and collected. Cold. The best way to make people fear you was to look untouchable. Like there wasn’t a weakness they could exploit because you knew and accepted all facets of yourself beyond the shadow of a doubt. I couldn’t do that sweaty and in gym shorts.
“Cross?” McCreedy said, reminding me he was still on the phone.
“I said I’ll handle her.”
“She wants everything by the end of the day. I can’t put her off long.”
“I’m on it.” I hung up and shoved my phone in my pocket, frustration coiling the muscles in my shoulders as I left the gym and made my way to the central foyer connecting all three wings of the U-shaped lodge.
“River Adams, get your pretty ass down here!”
As soon as I opened my mouth and hollered her name, I knew it was the wrong approach, but I was too pissed off to care. I also hadn’t really expected an answer, but it only made my temper swell. I was not a man used to being ignored.
I prowled down the hallway leading to my father’s office. Given the demands she’d made of McCreedy, it was the most logical place she could be.
“Sparrow!” I was not a fan of the silent treatment, especially not from her.
Sure, I’d earned it, but . . .
“Jesus Christ, what? Is the lodge on fire? Why are you screaming for me?” She skidded out of the office and met me in the hall, nearly crashing into my bare chest.
For a second, I’d forgotten why I was so angry. All I could focus on was how she perfectly lined up with me. She’d always been tall, but she’d filled out in the years since I’d last seen her up close and biblically. Now was not the time to remember what her tight little cunt felt like, but my mind went there anyway. I was damn near mute as I recalled with precise clarity the way it felt to be sheathed inside her while she milked my cock for every last drop.
“Well? Are you going to stand there sweating all over me, or is there a reason you hollered loud enough to shake the windows?” She crossed her arms over her chest, only adding to the ache in my balls.
Fuck, I was wearing gym shorts, and if I didn’t stop thinking about all the ways I’d touched her that night, there’d be no hiding what she did to me. As it was, I was already breathing like an enraged bull.
Fuck or fight, isn’t that what McCreedy asked? Since option one was off the table, I guess we were stuck with door number two.
“You’ll get your damn passwords and keys when I’m good and ready,” I growled.
She blew out a breath, grumbling something that sounded like “I should have known he’d run and tattle. Same little weasel he’s always been.” But when she looked back at me, she was every inch the collected businessperson that I pretended to be. “Not your call to make.”
“You might have the shares, sparrow, but it’s my name on the letterhead. What I say goes. Ask anyone here and they’ll tell you the same.”
She stepped closer to me, her eyes flashing with challenge. “Legally, I could toss you out on your ass right now. You’re only here because I’m not a complete bitch. Test me and see how long that lasts.”
“Legally, you can’t. It was one of the terms, remember? Or do you need me to point to the fine print, your royal highness? We stay. End of story.”
“Not if I let everything go to the trust. I could leave right now, and you lose it all. Face it, Cross. You. Need. Me.” She poked my chest on the last word, and I instinctively caught her by the wrist.
“Don’t push me. I might not look it, but I’ve got a mean streak a mile long.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So do I.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Sparrow looked about as mean as her namesake. She was all long legs, supple curves, and flushed cheeks. A guy like me could chew her up and spit her out without breaking a sweat. The girl who gave me her virginity and told me she loved me was too sweet for this life.
Time to call her bluff.
“Do you? You sure didn’t look mean when you stared into my eyes and said you loved me.”
“Biggest mistake I ever made.” She jerked out of my hold and stepped back. “It should have been Walker.”
I saw red. Before I made the conscious decision to do it, my hand was wrapped around her throat, and I shoved her up against the wall, my body crowding hers.
“You wanna say that again, sparrow?”
Dragging in a shuddering breath, she glanced down at my mouth briefly before dragging her gaze to my eyes.
“Do I need to spell it out for you?”
“I think so.” My hips pressed against hers, the obvious erection I couldn’t hide grinding into her belly. “Draw it out, nice and slow. Tell me exactly how much you hate me for what I did to you. Tell me how you didn’t beg me to fuck you. How you didn’t cry out my name and scratch up my back while you clung to me, coming so hard you nearly blacked out. Tell me it was all a lie.”
“You’re the liar. Not me.”
I leaned close, running my nose along the side of her face, letting my lips drag across her cheek. “I never lied. You just couldn’t see the truth.”
“Cross . . .”
“You still want me, sparrow? Do you touch yourself at night and remember what you let me do?”
Instead of giving me what I wanted, she swallowed, her pulse fluttering beneath my hold. “Do you?”
“Every. Fucking. Night,” I growled, stealing her lips and branding her with my kiss.
She melted against me for one beautiful moment before pain blossomed across my lower lip as her teeth sank into my flesh.
“Fuck!” I cursed, pulling back and wiping my hand across my now bleeding lip.
“Touch me again and I’ll make sure you don’t have anything to stroke at night.”
My lips curled up in a wicked grin. She might be threatening me with her words, but she was fucking me with her eyes. “Might be fun to see you try. But you get your hands anywhere near my cock, sparrow, and we’re gonna be playing a whole different game. You’re not a virgin anymore. I don’t have to be sweet or gentle.”
“Get me the damn keys, Cross. I’m done playing anything with you.”
I backed away, releasing her throat and adjusting myself just as Bishop’s tall frame appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Everything okay out here, boss?” he asked, brow furrowed, gaze locked on the woman I’d pinned to the wall.
“Fine. I was just reminding Junior here who his new boss is.” She patted me on the shoulder. “You really need to shower. You’re a mess, and you should do something about your chapped lips. They’re bleeding.”
She pushed past me without another look. Bishop waited until she reached him, tossing me one last unreadable look before heading off after her.
I blew out a breath, realizing that while I’d been the one to call her bluff, she walked away with the upper hand. I came out of this encounter looking like the asshole I wanted her to see me as, but I also wanted her even more now that she’d shown me that spark. This was a lose-lose situation.
“Sonofabitch!” Fist clenched, I punched the wall so hard the drywall caved in and pain radiated through my knuckles.
And now I had another mess to deal with.
Fucking perfect.