10. Matti
Matti
I keep my arm firmly around Siena’s waist as we weave through the throng toward the front doors of One Pearl Park Plaza. Her body feels impossibly good against mine, her warmth seeping into my skin.
She’s trembling, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to let my hands wander lower, to claim more of her. My cock stiffens at the thought. I like the idea of turning her into a trembling, shaky mess and then putting her back together again. And I don’t fucking know why.
Vin glares at her, and a primal instinct stirs inside me, as certain as gravity: it’s my job to protect her. From everyone. From everything. Starting with Vin.
Vin shadows us until we reach the door, then he steps in front of us to hold it open so I can keep my hand on her.
As we walk through, a man filing past us into the building checks her out, his eyes raking across her full tits. My lip curls into a snarl and an animalistic urge to knock him flat causes all my muscles to tense. It takes everything I have to rein myself in .
Vin falls back into step behind us as we head outside, and I guide her into an alley flanking the building. The narrow passage leads to a series of alcoves. Some are bustling, others empty. One is too crowded.
Another, tucked deeper into the shadows, promises privacy. There’s a cutout surrounded by stone walls, heavy steel doors, and dumpsters full of cardboard shoved to the sides of the walkway, providing us with shelter from view of passersby.
Perfect.
I loosen my grip on Siena’s waist to guide her between the dumpsters and into the protected area. She stumbles, and it hits me that I’ve been holding her up this whole time. I grab her elbow to steady her, leading her back into the secluded space.
The instant we clear the narrow path, Vin grabs her shoulder and hurls her against the building before I can react. The force rattles through her frame as her bag slides off her shoulder, and she bounces off the stone wall.
Just as I’m about to tackle Vin, her fist connects with his jaw, the sharp crack echoing off the stone walls.
Vin’s face darkens, his temper flaring, but I step between them and push him back before he can retaliate, choking back a laugh.
“Fuck that bitch,” Vin growls, lunging for her again, but I shove my shoulder into his chest and push him back.
“Not here,” I murmur, so only he can hear. “I said I’d handle this.”
I turn back to Siena, and she’s furious, her face red, her nostrils flaring. When she locks eyes with me, I think I see her soften slightly, but only for a second.
Then her fist slams into my jaw. The sting sends a rush of heat through me as I push my tongue between my teeth and my cheek, tasting blood. Vin laughs behind me. I’m irritated and turned on at the same time.
“Calm down, kitten,” I say, rubbing my jaw and smirking in spite of myself. “We’re not here to hurt you. We just want the flash drive.”
Surprise registers on her face, but she quickly covers with feigned confusion. “What are you talking about? What flash drive?”
Vin growls under his breath and steps in front of me. “We don’t have time for bullshit. Give us the fucking flash drive, or we’ll leave your body in one of these dumpsters here and take it ourselves.”
He means it. I know he does. But if she doesn’t have it on her, we’ll need her alive to find it.
Not to mention, the crash hasn’t hit the news yet, but if Siena’s body shows up in a dumpster in New York less than 48 hours after her sister’s plane went down, it’s only a matter of time before the authorities link it to Franco and back to us.
Siena opens her mouth to speak, and I stand silently behind Vin and raise a finger to my lips, signaling her to stay quiet. She closes her mouth.
Good girl.
I shift gears, stepping forward, my softened tone a signal to Vin that I’m taking it in a different direction.
“It’s not us who wants it, kitten. We represent a concerned third party. If you don’t give it to us, he’s not going to stop sending people until he gets the drive. And the next crew won’t be as nice as we are.”
“Because you guys are fucking sweethearts, right?” She winces as she stands tall in front of me. Fuck, Vin must have hurt her.
Vin snorts and steps back, pulling out his phone and opening his texts, his way of letting me take the lead. “Do what the man says, princess, and we’ll be out of your life for good. If not….”
His voice trails off, and he takes a couple of steps back toward the space between the dumpsters. Shoving in an earbud, he glances between his phone and out toward the street to make sure that no one comes this way.
Siena’s eyes blaze with defiance, her hatred almost palpable.
I take another step closer to her, and she straightens even more, trembling but unyielding.
Her bravery is in fiery contrast to her shaking body, and I can’t help but admire her.
Even in heels, she’s diminutive compared to me, but despite how terrified she is, I can see the badass that’s dying to come out.
Her defiance makes me want to slam her up against the wall and channel that energy to better use, but at the same time, there’s something else I’m feeling, too, something unfamiliar.
Guilt that she’s scared of me? No. She should be scared of me, but for some reason that I can’t quite name, I don’t want her to fear me the way other people do.
Instead of acting on my baser instincts, I maintain awareness of where Vin is and what he’s doing as I move in closer to her.
“I’m going to search you,” I say, my voice low and steady. “This doesn’t have to be unpleasant. Unless you make it difficult, and then hurt won’t even begin to describe what I do to you.”
“Search me all you fucking want, asshole. I told you I don’t have it!” she spits out.
Placing my hands firmly on her shoulders, I spin her so that she’s facing the stone wall. I run my hands down the backs of her arms, stretching them out above her head and pressing her palms into the stone with one hand.
My cock grows harder, pressed against the small of her back, and I imagine what it would be like to peel her jeans down just enough to push inside her ass.
She bucks against me, as if she can hear my thoughts and wants to throw me off her, but the movement only serves to grind her ass into my cock like a dare.
Fuck .
I dip my head down close to her, my lips brushing her ear, as I breathe in the faint scent of cucumber and basil and growl, “Don’t test me, kitten. I’m in charge here.”
Turning her face slightly toward me, she closes her eyes. Her body is visibly shaking, but when I run my hands firmly and slowly down her arms, to her back, over her ass, and down the back of her legs, her trembling begins to subside.
Squatting down, I run the palms of my hands up the outside of her legs, searching for any lumps that could be the flash drive. When I slide my hands slowly up the inside of her thighs, her shaking comes to a stop completely and her breath hitches.
She widens her stance without having to be asked, and I can feel the heat emanating off of her body.
“Good girl,” I murmur under my breath, and she visibly relaxes. A sigh escapes her, and she drops her chin to her chest, leaning her forehead against the stone wall and willingly keeping her arms stretched out above her head.
Interesting. My girl has a praise kink.
When I get to the thick seam of her jeans between her legs, I pause an extra second.
Though this is a great place to hide a flash drive, it’s her almost pulsating warmth that makes me press in as hard as I can with two fingers, probing her soft flesh, hard and slow, until the denim begins to dampen.
Still squatting, my mouth right next to her warm pussy, I want so badly to bury my face between her legs. She sucks in her breath and arches her back the tiniest bit, grinding her pussy against my hand.
Fuck me. This woman is going to kill me.