18
The looks on their faces were priceless, and I snorted a small laugh. “What a shame, you could use a friend, Don.”“I have better taste than that.” He grimaced and side eyed Mal, who had slumped into one of the chairs, and looked completely unphased by his insulting words.“Hmm.” I pushed the urge to defend her to one side. “Well I expect the rest of the Vipers will be enraged by how many men they lost tonight. Seven dead, four injured. Honestly, I’m surprised that they’d have that many men in one location, especially our venue, but then again, they are bottom of the food chain for a reason.” I thought out loud. “Not really living up to their name. Anyway, nothing to worry about, you’ve shown them what happens if they cross us.” I smiled, my gaze darting between my stepson and the girl who had become my new prize. Pride bubbled up inside me.“If there’s nothing else to discuss I’m going to go clean up and…” Adonis didn’t bother to finish his sentence, just raised an almost empty whiskey bottle, and shook it before wandering out of my office. I supposed he deserved to celebrate however he wanted. And I intended on doing the same. They may have made a mess, but they had been enchanting to watch.I turned my attention to Mal. “You look breath-taking in that dress, il mio tesoro. Watching you tonight was exciting to say the least.”She pushed her hair over her shoulder and sighed. “Thank you, boss.”Boss. Ex-fucking-scuse me?“What is it you want to say? Spit it out,” I snapped, my tone sharp, the polar opposite of the seductive purr I had used mere heartbeats before, making no attempt to hide that I was not happy about how she had addressed me.Her mouth fell open in shock. And I realised what I had done in my moment of frustration. I had never given her a chance to voice her thoughts before. Sometimes she pushed it and told me anyway, but this was different. It was something that I was offering freely, and from the look on her face, it may have just been the one thing that I had needed to do to sway her into considering me as more than just her boss.
But I was giving her a level of power, and it felt wrong.“Maybe…” She chewed her lower lip. “Maybe we should stop all of this.” She dropped her gaze to her lap and twisted her fingers together.No.“Is that what you want?” I asked, banishing all emotion from my voice. This was not what I had expected. This was not what I had wanted.
I had been wrong, so fucking wrong. She was trying to walk away from me, not move in closer.
I composed myself, I didn’t want to give her a chance to hurt me. The idea of no longer being more than her ‘boss’ was something I didn’t want to think about, but it was clearly something that had crossed her mind.“I don’t know, I don’t know what I want.” She kept her eyes locked on her fingers. She was telling the truth though; she wouldn’t look as uncomfortable as she did if she was completely certain of her words.“Is that why you’ve been out chasing other men?” I spat, instantly regretting the words leaving my mouth. I shouldn’t be pushing her away with outbursts like that, but the revelation that I wasn’t the only man who had her attention had been bothering me all day. I knew that I was getting close to losing what I wanted.“I wouldn’t put it quite like that.” She looked up at me then, the feisty glint returning to her eyes. I loved that look, most of the time. “But sure, I’ve kept my options open.”Her honesty was weirdly refreshing, even if her confession bothered me. Only now, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering how many men she had taken a liking to.“How many men, amore, who else? Cooper? Adonis?” I snarled my stepsons name, despising the idea that maybe their hatred towards each other could just be an act. The same way that me and her pretended that we weren’t fucking like rabbits.“You’re insane if you think that,” she snapped. “Cooper is my friend, and I’d rather fuck Grey than let Adonis anywhere near my pussy.” She crossed her arms and shook her head in disbelief. “I’m not some whore, no matter what some people might think, and that is exactly why I think we need to stop.”“So one person calls you a whore, a person that you claim you don’t even like, and you’re suddenly willing to walk away from this?” I raised a brow at her.“It’s just sex,” she said with a sigh.She was lying. She had to be lying. I’d show her, she would see that she was lying to herself. I couldn’t lose her. Because if I lost her, it would be for good. I took a long breath as I quickly worked out the best phrasing to stop this stupid conversation from going any further south.“You’re unsure about this, you don’t know what you want. So don’t make any hasty decisions. Stay, for now.” She shifted in the chair. “And I’ll protect you. No one else will find out.” I gave her a stern look, silently reassuring her that Adonis would not ruin this.“I can’t,” she eventually said, and I tensed. “I mean, I can’t stay right now. I need space, I’ll be back next week?” She gave me a small smile.“Fine, until next week.”It wasn’t fine, but it wasn’t her walking away. For now, it would have to do. I’d have to make peace with waiting for her. Like I hadn’t been doing that for too long already. We both rose from our chairs, and I rounded the desk towards her.“I’m still confused though, Lorenzo,” she breathed as she ran her fingers down the centre of my shirt.“For now.” I tipped her chin up with a finger and lowered my lips to hers in a gentle kiss. I pulled away far too quickly, desperate for more, but aware that I’d leave her wanting too. I scanned over her blood splattered face and smiled. She was my dark soul’s wet dream.I dropped her chin and left my office. I needed a drink, and she needed to leave before I did something stupid, like beg her to stay. I could wait for her. I’d have to wait for her. But I would never beg.Although something would have to be done about that little obstacle. The guy she went on that date with. I poured myself a large drink and pondered.
Who the fuck was he?