I want to fight him on it some more, but I know I got more than he was willing to share already.
In the center of the room is a massive bed in upholstered tan leather with white linen bedding. He tosses me down, staring at me like he’s about to screw my brains out. Knowing him, I’m sure he is.
I scramble up the bed, leaning up on my elbows. “What do you want with me? You said, in every relationship, both parties want something from the other, like a business deal. What do you want?”
He lowers one knee to the bed, his eyes running all the way down my body. “Your brother is paying me to take care of you. We already established this, you got pissed at me, and that’s the end of it.”
“No, it’s not, because you don’t have to do all of this to look after me. You didn’t have to show up at the club and book me twice; you didn’t have to bring me here to your special place.” I stare back at him, my heart racing slightly because I don’t know what I want him to say, or expect him to say, but I need to hear it. “The truth.”
He cracks his neck. His lips twist at the sides as he removes his T-shirt. Then the jeans are gone. He drops a knee onto the bed, then climbs over me like a predator. Taking one of my hands then the other, he pins them above my head as he stares down at me. “I want to own you. Possess every fucking inch of you. Make you mine in every fucking way possible. Our paths were never supposed to cross, but now that they have, I’m never letting you go.”
My heart races because I don’t know what to do with that. He’s going to keep me? When Cruz says it, I’m mildly freaked out, but he’s kind of insane, so I expect it from him. But with Jagger, it feels like a promise that I will never escape.
“What do you want with me?” he asks, sounding more vulnerable than I expect.
“You can’t keep me, Jagger. I have three months in the States tops, then the government will force me to go home. I don’t have a green card or any way of staying once that time is up.”
He blinks back at me, his face showing a harshness I haven’t seen tonight. “Don’t go making excuses. There is always a workaround. I know people who can falsify anything you want.”
The way he looks at me makes my stomach sink because I know he’s going to do everything in his power to keep me. Those weren’t just some messed-up words. “My family will never let me stay. This is just an escape until I’m dragged home to marry whomever my papa chooses for me. I’m not so naïve as to believe I can keep thislife.” The words eat at my soul like acid as I say them, but it’s my reality, and he has to know the truth.
He pulls back from me so he can see my face. “Is this the life you want? With my brothers and me?” he asks more seriously.
Oh hell, what kind of a question is that? I have known them for less than two weeks. He has to know I can’t make any declaration about the rest of my life. I’m not emotionally equipped for that stuff. I sigh heavily, the weight now pressing down on me. “Jagger, I want to be free, to live the life I choose, not the one my papa wants for me. I can’t go back to being someone’s arm candy by day and punching bag at night, it will actually kill me this time.” I offer a half smile, a sad one, hoping he understands I can’t give him more than that. I won’t, because right now, not even I know what I want.
Anger pulses through him. I feel it in the tension in his whole body. “Your fucking piece-of-shit papa won’t get the chance to marry you off. I will personally make sure of it.” Then his lips are back on mine, kissing me so deeply I feel his promise. He’s really never going to let me go. Unfortunately for him, he’s not going to have a choice when the time comes. Neither of us will. So, for now, I kiss him back, letting him be my fucked-up escape from reality. Because why not.
Chapter 29
I’m Just a Girl
AfterJaggerscrewedmybrains out, we both fell into an exhausted sleep and didn’t wake up until my alarm for work started blaring. And that meant only one thing: I was going to be late, because not only did I have no fresh clothes with me, I also had to get back into the city. Jagger tried to talk me into staying here with him another day and skipping work, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I need the money. What I said to him last night was no lie. I know I will have to go back to Italy eventually, and I would like to be well and truly able to stand on my own two feet when I do. That means money, and a lot of it. While I was in the shower, Jagger made a quick call on my behalfto Sloane, telling her he would get me there as soon as he could. Apparently, anyway. The way he’s riding now, though, doesn’t seem like it. He’s going a different way from how we got here last night, and it feels like the scenic route. Long and winding, ducking into back streets rather than taking any main ones. Luckily for me, we are now just outside of Ravens Hollow.
“Hold on tighter,” he calls over his shoulder, the wind whipping past us as he picks up speed. “I need to lose the tail.”
What the hell? My heart kicks up a beat as I grip him tightly. I don’t dare look behind me to see who is following us. For him to be riding erratically the way he is, I know it’s bad. Abruptly he turns a corner, increasing his speed into the congested afternoon traffic in the center of Ravens Hollow, weaving through the chaos like a maniac. If the man following us isn’t about to kill us, Jagger just might. I close my eyes up tight, not able to stand the stress of it all anymore, letting his comforting scent and the soft fabric of his T-shirt I’m clinging to relax me, even as air whooshes past me, letting me know I was way too close to whatever building or car he just sped past.
“You okay, flower?” he calls over his shoulder, not sounding panicked at all.
“Yes,” I lie. Who would be okay right now? I can hear my pulse in my ears and feel the sweat trickling down my spine. I am not okay, but I need him to concentrate on the road and not me.
A few more sudden turns, and then the sound of metal scraping on concrete like a roller door opening and closing hits my ears.
The bike comes to a stop, and I pop my eyes open to find the inside of a parking garage, all concrete walls and cars lined up, while behind us a roller door slams shut, locking us in and whoever was chasing us out. We’re alive.
Jagger jumps off the bike and holds out a hand for me, his eyes shining with something that looks like excitement. The fucker probably gets off on the thrill of a chase like that. Shakily, I place my hand in his and let him help me off the bike. “You’re trembling,” he says, and I don’t miss the concern in his voice.
“Hello, near-death experience. Of course I’m shaking.”
His lips curl slightly in a subtle, almost unnoticeable grin. “You know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, flower.”
I stare back at him. Do I? “How do you know he was following us?”
“This isn’t my first rodeo, sweetheart.” He takes my helmet from me and hangs it on the bike.
“Who was it?” I ask, worried it’s someone my papa sent to track me down. I know my time here is limited. Eventually, reality will catch up with me.
“Not sure till I have Mal check the city’s security feeds.”
