Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Rome burst out laughing and he threw his head back. “Oh, Beth, you are seriously deluded.”
****
“I do not appreciate being called that,” Beth said.
She looked even more sexy when she was insulted. Rome loved that wild look in her eyes, like she was trying to keep her anger at bay. He’d opened the door in time to see her attacking her brother in the car. He’d been impressed to see she had some fire.
The previous night, he didn’t know if he’d just agreed to bed a doormat. There was nothing sexy about a woman who allowed anyone to walk all over her.
There was a fire inside Beth. He intended to stoke it, and reap the rewards for himself.
“Do you think this is the first time your brother has messed up?” Rome asked.
She tensed up. He saw that she attempted to hide it by suddenly reaching for her water. It was subtle, almost undetectable, but he saw it.
“Your brother has built himself a reputation, Beth, for being a two-bit crook.”
“What?”
“While you’re out all day, scrubbing floors and getting everything sparkling clean, he is out there … destroying things. I hope you don’t tell him about any of the homes you’ve cleaned. It would just be too easy for you to be seen as an accessory to burglary.”
“What? No, Ben wouldn’t do that.”
He took a bite of his steak and watched her.
She looked sick and angry at the same time.
“Have you?” he asked.
“What?”
“Talked about the places you clean?”
“No, I wouldn’t do that. Ben has been different, and, well, he’s not interested in my lame cleaning job, so, no, he wouldn’t, you know, do anything like that.” She rubbed at her temple. “How do you know this?”
“This is not my first time meeting Ben Hunter. It isn’t even my second time. The first time, he was trying to rig a fight with his friend. I let that one slide, as I had already placed my bets. Another time, he’d been talking about hitting some kind of pawn shop which I happened to own, so I advised him against that. I was rather amused, and now, he attempted to steal from one of my casinos, while also trying to cheat. That is when I took offense.”
“A casino?” Beth’s hand slapped down on the table and he watched as she clenched it into a fist.
“Your brother, Beth, is an opportunist. He doesn’t want to work hard for a living. He wants everything handed to him on a plate.”
She shook her head. “He wasn’t like this back home. He was reliable, dependable, hardworking.”
He sat back and watched the conflict in her eyes. Rome hadn’t intended to cause a rift between brother and sister; however, he couldn’t help but tell her the truth. It was only a matter of time before Ben messed up and Beth was dealing with the consequences. That was what pissed him off more.
He was going to reap the benefits this time, and enjoy Beth’s beautiful body. He knew men like Ben, and he would consider it an out, using his sister. Rome didn’t like that. Even though he’d used this hand himself.
Ben was not going to hurt his sister again. Men like Ben eventually snapped, and it would get them both killed or thrown in jail.
“Or maybe your brother seemed like a peach compared to your parents?”
She took a deep breath. “Oh, wow,” she said. “You’re right.” She pressed her lips together. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You’ve been surviving without him. I suggest when this is over, you change the locks or move out.”
She rubbed her temple.
“However, I am more than finished with my dinner, and now I would like to move onto dessert.”
He pushed out his seat and reached for Beth’s hand.
She didn’t fight him as he pulled her to her feet and then drew her naked body flush against his. He didn’t know if she felt this way too. Like they had this connection that didn’t make a lot of sense and yet at the same time did.
He’d never felt this compelled by a woman, and he certainly wouldn’t bargain a man’s life for the pleasure of a woman. Rome made people suffer. He made them pay for their actions.
Beth didn’t deserve any of that.
Reaching out, he thrust his hand across the table and sent the contents flying across the room and to the floor. Pushing her toward the table, he ran his hands down her back and gripped her ass. He squeezed the tender flesh, and he heard her gasp.
He lifted her onto the table, and then sunk one hand into the back of her hair, with the other, he cupped her cheek. Tilting her head back, he did something else he wasn’t known for—he kissed her.
Rome had a rule. His lips never touched a woman’s. He would fuck them, lick their pussies, but he never kissed them. It was his one solid rule, one he refused to break, until now.