Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
He turned around and faced me.
Looked at me like he hated me.
I’d never been the type to cower, but that look on his face made me suddenly shy.
“What are you doing here?”
Both of my eyebrows rose, because that was a question I should ask instead of being asked. “To see my sister. What are you doing here?”
He never answered the question—no surprise there.
“Why did you bring me here?”
Silence.
“You haven’t taken my calls. Responded to my texts…” I tried to disguise the hurt in my voice with anger, but I wasn’t angry at all, just sad.
“Because I didn’t want to. I still don’t want to, but you forced my hand.”
“You didn’t have to pick me up from the airport. You didn’t have to bring my stuff here. You didn’t have to do anything—”
“I’m going to talk now—and you’re going to listen.”
If I didn’t miss him so much, I’d push back. But we stood on fragile ground, and if there was any chance I could get him back, I didn’t want to screw it up.
“Loyalty. I demand it from my men. I demand it from my allies. And I demand it from my lovers. If you can’t give that to me, then we’re done.”
“I am loyal to you—”
“I talk. You listen.” He took a step toward me, his hard face slightly red in anger. “Was I unclear?”
I wasn’t sure if it was a trick question. I chose to stay quiet—and that seemed to be the right answer.
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine before he continued. “If you want to be my woman, then you follow my rules and meet my expectations. If a woman asked me to be her date as a favor, you bet your ass the answer would be no. While you sleep at night, I get offers left and right, and I tell them to piss off. You think I let them down easily? You think I protect their egos? No. I say I have a woman. Simple as that.”
“I—”
His eyes flashed.
Shit.
He stared me down to make sure that my mouth was closed. “You get one pass. That’s it. The only language I understand is loyalty. Show me loyalty—or I walk away. Understood?”
“Can I explain myself—”
“No. Now answer my question.”
“Is this how you talk to your other lovers?”
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “I don’t know. There’s never been anyone else.”
My eyes mirrored his. “Then…who were they?”
“Whores. One-night stands. Women whose names I don’t remember.”
So this was just as new for him as it was for me. “Can I say something—”
“The conversation is over, Laura.”
“Goddammit, let me talk!”
Despite my loud outburst, he remained still. Only his eyes moved.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted you to know that…”
His eyes finally dropped their hostility. He was still guarded, but he wasn’t an angry bull anymore.
“You were right. It was disrespectful to you. I wouldn’t like it if some woman asked you to be her date to get back at her ex…or just wanted your company…or whatever the reason may be.”
Now he didn’t interrupt me.
“At the end of the night, he tried to kiss me. I felt so stupid.”
Instead of exploding in a blind rage, his expression hadn’t changed.
“I think he was just drunk and depressed and didn’t mean it…but still.”
He remained quiet.
“I doubt he even remembered it the next day.”
“Is he still your client?”
“I haven’t let him go yet. If he contacts me, I’ll tell him. But I’m hoping he’s too embarrassed to say anything.”
He was closed off and quiet, regarding me from the distance he’d put between us.
“I really missed you…” The hurt escaped my voice this time because there was no anger to mask it. “When you ghosted me…I was devastated.” I felt like I’d lost a piece of myself. Something substantial. Like my heart or my soul.
“I wish I could say the same—but I was too angry.”
“Are you…still angry?” There were only a few steps between us, but it felt like miles. A yearning burned in my chest, a need I’d never felt before in my life. I could have counted my blessings that this drug lord was finally out of my life—but I didn’t feel that way in the least.
After a stretch of silence, he moved toward me, his heat and scent coming closer, close enough for me to feel and smell. When his hand cupped my face and directed my lips toward him, I felt my legs turn to jelly. The gnawing started in my stomach, the tightness that formed before my body released in a swell of pleasure.
He kissed me.
It started off slow, an introduction between our mouths, but that didn’t last long. Soon, his fingers were deep in my hair and his kiss turned ravenous. His arm secured itself around my back, and he pulled me flush against his body, wanting me to feel how unangry he was.