28. Diego
CHAPTER 28
DIEGO
The tires scream over the asphalt as I take a turn much too fast. Maeve holds the dashboard as if I’m a madman and she’s scared for her life. She’s right to be. Everyone in this fucking town should be scared of me right now. I’m ready to level this place so I no longer need to deal with the pressure. Running this business, getting revenge for my mother, and the maddening effect she has on me. I press the brake so I don’t have to fall in love with a woman I planned to destroy.
The fucking menace beside me gives me one look, and I almost lose it again. I want to choke her with my cock. I want to spank her peachy ass. I want her too close and too far, and the conflicting feelings are impossible to contain. I’m not in my right mind, needing desperately to prove a point, and before I know it, we’ve arrived. I slam on the brakes when we’re outside my building. I don’t give her a chance to move. I circle the car to the passenger door and open it.
“Diego...” she warns.
A warning? I missed the warning that night when I tasted her pussy for the first time. I thought I was in control, but she poisoned me. She’s under my skin, growing like a vine, spreading and taking over, and the more I try to remove her, the more I realize it’s too fucking late. Leaning inside, I click her belt to release the buckle. She struggles to get away from me. Bad plan after what she just pulled.
Grabbing her by the hips, I yank her out of the car, then toss her straight over my shoulder, letting her soft midsection land with a huff and knocking the wind out of her. She’s so light, carrying her is nothing.
“Let me go, you asshole!”
I slap her ass. “Don’t make me fuck you right here, Maeve. I’ll do it.”
It’s getting later than I realized; it’s already dark out, and the streetlights illuminate our path as I drag her inside. The security camera in front of the elevators moves when I approach, but it goes dead quickly after. People here know better than to watch me, especially when I have her over my shoulder.
She kicks and flails, not making any progress. Finally, she pinches me like we’re still kids and she can make me squeal and give up. I almost chuckle at her frustration when the hard muscle doesn’t give.
“I’m tired of your bullshit, Diego. Carrying me over your shoulder, barking orders. You’re goddamn Cygnus!” The elevator pings open, and I go in. Maeve slaps my back once again. “Let me go! You’re my enemy. ”
“We’re on the same page for once.”
Her answering scream tears up the small space.
“You’re going to pop my eardrum.”
“More than that if you don’t put me down.”
She can’t escape now, but I’m reluctant to let her go again, even if it’s just to punish her. She ran once before, and nothing changed, but I let her come this time. That gave her an added level of power in our dynamic that I didn’t want to relinquish. Another mistake because I can’t think of anything else but her pussy squeezing me. It was hard to walk away from her before, but now it’s nearly impossible.
Maeve wiggles in my arms, and with a sigh, I let her down. “Behave.”
She rolls her eyes and turns away from me, watching the numbers go up on the panel rather than face me. That’s fine. I don’t have time to babysit her right now.
My plan is rapidly approaching its conclusion. The Sinclair ball is tomorrow, and the final nail in Cornelius’s coffin will be driven home with Maeve as his witness. I can’t believe she ran from me right when I thought it was time to change our dynamic. To let her be a pet I spoiled rather than a bitch I despised.
I drag her through the apartment and back to her room. I look at her for just a moment before I close the door, waiting for an apology that doesn’t come. I’m angry for a second, but when the padlock clicks into place, a weight lifts off my chest. I can’t deal with her right now, not when tomorrow’s events still require some planning to go off without a hitch.
It bothers me that she doesn’t cry or complain anymore. Shouldn’t she have been harder to break? No slamming the door with her fist, no cursing my name. Her silence deafens me.
I pull out the app for the security cameras and watch as she just lies on the bed and quickly falls asleep. How can she rest so easily when I’m wired and nearly shaking in my anger?
I pace in front of her bedroom, debating waking her up and forcing her to pay attention to me and the turmoil and indecision she’s caused. I don’t know what I want from her. Maybe just to shout in her face that she’s fucked everything up. I can’t wait to figure out whether I should act on these feelings.
Instead, I go to my office to take care of my business. When I’m done, my anger hasn’t faded at all. For once, getting closer to Cornelius’s ruin doesn’t do it for me. I need something else, another point to prove, something to take the edge off this insanity.
I pick up my phone and dial a number that doesn’t require a lot of explanation but always gets results.
“Tucker is a loose end.” It’s all I say before I hang up. Maybe I should feel guilty for what I’m about to do, but what’s the point? It’s already done. They’ll call me back when they have him.
Tucker knows best about my plans and involvement with Maeve. I paid him to watch her every move. He was also the fucker who blabbed and put this whole thing in jeopardy. His biggest offense of them all is seeing her naked, printing those pictures, and plastering them around the theater. I know I was the one who sent them to him and even told him what to do. But I need to punish someone, and I don’t feel like being reasonable right now.
They don’t call me back as quickly as I expect, and I find myself so keyed up I’m nearly climbing the walls as the hours pass, and Maeve just fucking sleeps. I plan for tomorrow, triple-checking that everything is in place. Every part of me is tense as I wait for the call I really want.
Nothing holds my attention. I stare at the bedroom and the lock keeping her away. Everything I’ve worked for my entire life is finally coming to fruition, and instead of enjoying my success, I’m here thinking about pussy. It drives me crazy. I want to fight her so badly. I want to make her angry.
She’s ruining a good moment.
But I don’t fucking wake her up. I stomp away from the door and sit on the couch in my office.
Three o’clock comes with a phone call. I jolt awake, not realizing I fell asleep at all. My enforcers have Tucker, and they let me know they are keeping him in the usual place. It can wait until morning if I want. They’re happy to keep him busy, but there’s no way in hell that’s happening.
With the news, I allow my last strands of sanity to snap. There’s a reason I made it to the top so fast, and my reputation for violent retribution is part of that. It’s time to grab my girl and let her see Cygnus, the side of me she’s so angry I’ve been hiding.
I unlock her room and toss the key down the hallway. I won’t need that anymore. She can’t run if she’s bouncing on my cock 24/7. She lies on the bed, her beautiful hair fanning over the pillow. Sleepy blinks greet me as I flip on the light, but I don’t give her a chance to even rub her eyes. Hands on her lush hips, zero fucks given, and one hard toss, she’s back over my shoulder. I dip to grab her sneakers, she’ll need them where we’re going.
“What the hell? I was sleeping, you asshole!” she screams.
Her words are a balm to my soul. Her shouts immediately take the edge off, but this is only an appetizer. The real deal is waiting for us.
She doesn’t stop screaming as I drag her down the hall, out of the apartment, and to the street. The few people around shoot concerned glances our direction, but no one would dare to stop me. I’m Cygnus after all. She can scream for the whole world, and no one will stop me.
I want her to keep going, maybe beg me to let her go, just for an excuse to tell her to fuck off. Maeve doesn’t give me the chance, she’s back to being quiet by the time we reach the car. Does she know how much I fucking hate it?
“What the hell are you doing to me, you nutjob?” she asks in a normal voice as I put her down on the ground. She’s wearing nothing but her pajamas—a T-shirt and a thin pair of shorts.
“Whatever I goddamn want, Maeve. Now get in the car.”
She stomps her foot into the ground like the petulant brat she is and curves a brow. I toss her shoes at her.
“Put them on if you’re going to stomp your feet.”
“I’m going inside and going back to bed, Diego. It’s the middle of the night, and you’ve clearly lost your fucking mind.”
She tries to walk back toward the building, which warms my heart that she’s not trying to escape. She’s just trying to go inside, but she won’t get what she wants tonight. Tonight, we’re making me feel better about things for once. I throw her shoes in the car first, then her flailing body, climb in the driver’s seat, and we are back on the road.