Oh fuck, me and my big mouth.
I remembered. “I’m safe with you.”
He smiled sexily. “You are.”
His mouth was on mine and the kiss had my body weak before he pulled away, dropping his forehead to mine. He did this a lot. “Get dressed.”
I granted his request, dressing in jeans and a light sweater. I’d packed for Christmas in Aspen with my family but ended up in Vegas so I had to make do with what I had. Downstairs, outside the hotel, a car waited, but this time Nex settled into the driver’s seat with me in the passenger. He navigated through the city to a section of town that didn’t look very appealing. We were in Old Vegas. I had been here years ago with a couple of college friends ,but even then I hadn’t seen what I was currently witnessing.
Nex pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned building. It could have been a restaurant in another lifetime. We drove to the back where a black sedan was waiting. The windows were deeply tinted and I couldn’t see inside. All of which had my heart rate increasing to a dangerous degree. My husband was a killer and this moment felt like killer-ishbehavior.
“Why are we here and who is that?”
“You’ll see in a minute. Let’s go.”
“Absolutely not. I refuse to get out of this car until you tell me why we’re here.”
Nex grinned but there was nothing pleasant about it. “Get out the fucking car, Cia,now.”
My eyes widened but I didn’t move. However, Nex did. He lifted from the driver's seat and rounded the front of the car. I quickly hit the locks but so did he, using the fob to gain access seconds before he yanked the door open and pulled me from the vehicle. That was when I noticed the door to the sedan open and Warren appeared from the passenger seat. He was dressed impeccably in a tailored suit but even at our current distance I could see the anger and hard lines shaping his expression.
“You lied to me. You said I could trust you.” I struggled against Nex who tightened his grip on me. “You’re working withhim. This entire time you planned on handing me over to Warren. My brother is…”
Nex jerked me in front of him, bringing his face to mine so our noses touched.
“Merrick isn’t going to do a gotdamn thing, Little Flame. I’m not working with Warren and I’m not handing you over to anyone. I’m here to give him the chance to accept that you’remywife and not his. If he doesn’t, then I’m going to kill him.”
My mouth dropped open and Nex turned my back to his chest, tightening an arm around my waist and addressing Warren who approached us. His eyes narrowed on where Nex’s arm held me in place and at the same time he growled his demand. “Give her to me.”
“No.”
Warren’s head tilted to the side. “No?”
“You heard me. I said no.”
“We had a deal. I’m not paying you more money than we already agreed to.”
Deal.
More money.
My body went rigid and Nex brushed his fingers over my hip before he quietly whispered, “Relax.”
Relax.
Is he fucking kidding me?
“I don’t want your money, Harte. I never did but I needed you to believe I was following through so you would show up.”
I watched unmistakable rage settle onto his face. “Then what do you want?”
“Her. And before you tell me that’s not a possibility, please understand, I already had her in every way possible.” The smugness in his tone caused me to grind my teeth in annoyance.
“Is that what you think? That you’re keeping what belongs to me.”
Listening to these two men haggle over me like I was property pushed all my buttons.
“Okay, I’m done with this shit. Fuck you both. I don’t belong to Nex but I most certainly do not belong to you either,asshole.”
