Chapter 29 #2
“There were syringes and pills stockpiled in the desk. Whatever went on in there, it wasn’t legal.
I don’t trust those men. They wouldn’t lay a hand on you while I’m with you, I’d make damn sure of that, but in the future?
When I’m not around? What if they’re like Drake?
And what about their connections? More idiots like the ones who found you in the woods?
” I shake my head. “I don’t like it, Mira.
I won’t risk it. This might make me sound insane, but I’m beginning to agree with Drake.
I think whoever is in charge used him as a scapegoat to cover up illegal things at the casino.
Drake is guilty for the assaults, but he’s not running the Fifty Shades suite. Someone else is.”
“You’re right. They talked about moving the suite, not removing it.”
“And the rings. Remember Drake shouting his nonsense about the rings?” She nods. “Both of those men wore them. I think”—my suspicions are stacking, and they’re out there, but—“I think they might be covering their tracks now that Drake’s in custody.”
I scrub my face and press my ear to the door. The sound of another door opening and closing echoes down the hall. Voices drift, growing more distant, as if whoever it was is moving farther away.
“The rings,” I say, and turn to her. “What do you know about them?”
“They’re for good performance. I overheard people in the break room talking about it one day.”
“That’s what I’ve heard too, but do you think they could represent more? Like, if certain people were involved in something illegal at the casino, those rings might be their secret handshake? ‘Wear a ring and you’re on the inside’ sort of thing?”
“Tyler, you’re scaring me.”
And Mira doesn’t scare easily. I grab her hand and pull her into my arms. “Sorry. It’ll be okay.” I run my palm over her silky hair. “We just have to lie low for a bit.”
She looks up, her beautiful eyes searching my face. “What about tonight? The event? I can’t let Hayden down.”
“We’ll only stay in here for a bit. An hour, maybe two. We could exit and pretend we snuck off in here to…” I quirk my brows a couple of times.
“Oh sure, so someone can see us and fire me?”
“Do you really want to work at Blue after what we just witnessed?”
She closes her eyes. “I don’t know. I love working with Hayden. I feel needed, valued.”
I stare at her lips. “I value you.” I run my hands up her neck, cradling her face. “I need you.”
“Tyler, we can’t—”
I bring my mouth down and kiss her, because this place is more dangerous than I imagined when Mira started working here.
And because I don’t want to tell her what to do, but I’m afraid of her getting hurt.
She’s so small, fragile in a way she doesn’t show most people. I want to protect her. Care for her.
Whatever protest she was about to give disappears. She runs her hands up my neck and grabs my hair, parting her mouth for me. “Don’t do that,” she mumbles against my lips.
It takes me a minute to figure out what she’s referring to, the hand that’s slipping down her top, my tongue teasing her mouth…“What? Kiss you?” I stare into eyes that reflect the beautiful soul I see. “Why not? I love you, Mira.”
A wary look crosses her face. “That’s what you said the other night.”
“You don’t believe me?”
Her eyes close tightly.
“Mira, look at me.” I lift her chin, and her eyelids flicker open. “Do you love me the way I love you?”
She visibly swallows. “I’ve always loved you. There’s never been anyone else. I’ve never—I’ve never been with anyone else.” Her shoulders tense as if preparing for a blow.
Does she really believe that’s going to push me away? Those words are music to a guy’s ears, and only solidify what I’ve always known.
“I think you’re the only woman I’m going to love in this lifetime, and you might as well stop fighting this, because I’m the only man for you.
I’m going to kiss you and keep kissing you until you realize how much I care, and that I’m never leaving.
You can kick me to the curb because you’re scared, but whether we’re together or not, you’ll be inside my heart and head, plaguing me until I’m an old dude who can’t get it up anymore.
Give in now so we can at least enjoy the constant state of wood you have me in. ”
“Always classy,” she says, but she’s smiling. Mira presses her soft chest into my hand that’s still resting there, her mouth slamming into my lips in a deep kiss that stops my breath and gets my heart racing.
I grab her waist, guiding her back against the shelves of toilet paper rolls. I reluctantly remove my hand from her beautiful breast, but only to reach down and slide my palms up her thighs, pushing her skirt out of the way so I can lift her and wrap her legs around my waist.
She kisses my cheekbone, nibbles my earlobe. “We can’t do this here.”
That little nibble shoots straight to my groin. “I beg to differ. I think we can manage.”
Some place far off in my mind, there’s a distant voice saying that this is the worst timing. But my immediate thoughts are that it’s perfect. Never been a better moment.
“This is unprofessional.” She rains kisses over my face, her fingers fiddling with the buttons of my collar. “What if those men find us?”
I grab her ass and rock against her. A breathy exhale escapes her lips. “Are you sure you want to stop? If those men haven’t found us yet, they’re not going to.”
Her eyes are dazed for a moment, and then she kisses me hard, her hands working faster at my shirt. Stealthy fingers, pulling the hem from my waistband.
I growl against her mouth. My hands are busy holding her up, and I’m mentally configuring how to get Mira naked without the use of them, or at least partially naked, when the sound of the door opening has me freezing in place.
Shit.
We pull apart slowly, and I gently lower Mira to the ground, helping her tug her skirt in place while blocking the view with my back.
I look over my shoulder to find my boss standing in the doorway, a frown on his face.
“Not cool, man. You’ve done it now.” He points to the small black half-orb—a surveillance camera.
In the closet? Why the hell would they—
“Mandatory. After recent events that involved an employee and a manager in a storage room on the ground floor. Brother, you’re in it now.”
Mira moves to my side, her head held high.
“Sorry, girly,” my boss says, his gaze landing on anything but her. “Think you might need to look for another job too. Tyler, wish I could keep you, man, but this isn’t something they’ll let me brush under the rug. Come on down to the executive floor. You’ve both got people who want to see you.”