Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Okay…maybe I wasn’t totally done.
She crossed her legs and sat with her arms on the table, the curve of her shoulders subtly pushing her tits together and making them more prominent. “Hey.” She tucked her hand under her chin, her red-painted nails contrasting against her fair skin. “How are you?”
My conversation with my father had been over just thirty minutes ago, so I felt like hell. “Never better.” I smirked and made it look natural because I could lie better than I could tell the truth. The last few years had been the roughest of my life, and they had given me skills I never thought I would have. “How about you?”
She gave a shrug. “A lot better than I was this weekend.”
“You look better.” Confident. Sexy.
“I wanted to thank you…for being a gentleman.”
I gave a chuckle. “I’m a lot of things, but a gentleman isn’t one of them.”
“You were to me.”
“It was all ego, sweetheart.” I deflected a fair amount of bullshit with my award-winning smile, but deep down, I had a lot of pride. More pride than most men. That was probably why I’d alienated myself from everyone I’d ever cared about.
Her green eyes studied me, subtly shifting back and forth. “Something on your mind?”
“No.” I hardened my stare, forced the gates to close. “Why?”
“You just…look different. It’s your eyes.”
“I’m tired. Up late last night.”
“Doing what?” she asked, trying to catch me in a lie.
“Drinking.” I grinned. “My favorite pastime.”
She sat back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest. The umbrella was positioned to put me in the shade, but she was in the full sun—and that seemed intentional. Anytime I saw her, she was always directly in the sun, like the heat didn’t bother her one bit.
I waited for her to leave, but she lingered.
I knew she hadn’t ratted me out to her father. She’d had the chance when we first met, but she kept it to herself. And the reason was obvious—because she liked my attention. The attraction I felt the moment I saw her…she felt it too.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Your father and I have business to discuss—as usual.”
“I feel like that’s all you ever do,” she said. “Discuss…”
“I do a lot of shit behind the scenes,” I said. “In the middle of the night when you’re dead asleep.”
“My father never partnered with anyone before, so I was surprised when he agreed to this.”
“If you want to stay in the game for the long haul, you’ve got to adapt. Your father knows this.”
“And how long have you been in the game?”
I crossed my arms over my chest, surprised by her question. She never asked me anything. Never struck up a conversation with me. I was the one who did all the talking most of the time. But now, the tables had seemed to turn. “About five years.”
“That’s not very long.”
“Feels like an eternity.”
“What other businesses do you have?”
“I have another client who’s an arms dealer. Getting his product through regulations is a lot harder than drugs, not as easy to hide. But I know all the right people to make that happen.” It pissed off my parents to no end, but there wasn’t a damn thing they could do about it. They could rat me out, but I already paid off the police. And if they incriminated me, they would publicly eviscerate their reputation…and their legacy.
“So, you’re more like…a concierge.”
“I prefer liaison,” I said. “I know all the big players and how to get shit done. And I know how to connect their partnerships—confidentially.”
“That sounds complicated.”
“I have the eloquence to maintain relationships with the elites, and I have the roughness to roll with the dogs.”
“Interesting.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?” she asked, her tanned skin glowing in the sunlight.
“What made you decide this is what you wanted?”
She stared at me, like she didn’t quite understand the question.
“To be a part of this life. To embrace the underworld rather than run from it.” It divided friends and families. Made people terrified to associate with you. And since it was a dangerous line of work, that was a legitimate concern.
“I respect my father for what he’s built. I want to be part of it.”
“You’ve never considered doing something above the table?” I asked. “Running a flower shop…working in a restaurant…doing something legal?”
Her eyebrow cocked. “Sounds like you’re trying to dissuade me.”
“You don’t strike me as the kind of woman that can be dissuaded.” When she set her mind to something, she didn’t change it. In my limited time with her, I’d realized she was stubborn like a man.
“And you’d be right.”
“I just worry about you.”
“Why?” she asked. “My father is a very powerful man.”
“But when you’re rich and powerful, everyone knows it—and everyone wants to take you down. You’ve got a target on your back. You have to look over your shoulder, even when you sleep. Your father makes it look easy, but I know he’s got to stay several steps ahead of his enemies, book an event he has no intention of attending just to throw guys off the scent. I do the same thing. Own several properties all over the place, so no one knows where you’re staying. Tell some men you’re going to one location then go somewhere else…just to flush out a rat.”