“What can I do for you?” I ask with amusement. I can think of several things I could do for her, all of which would require her being naked and bent over my desk. I rub my hands on my thighs as I feel my cock start to harden at the thought of her, open-mouthed, moaning in pleasure.
“My brother told me that he owes you.” She gets right to the point.
My face hardens at that statement. My amusement is replaced with anger. What else did he tell her? “I don’t see where what business I have with your brother is any of yours,” I say flatly.
She crosses her arms over her chest and lets out a huff. The motion blows the dark strands around her face. “That is where you are wrong. I don’t know what he owes you, but I’m willing to pay it.”
I refrain from chuckling at that. I lean forward and place my forearms on my desk. She quickly scans the tattoos on my arms and then looks back at me. “Taylor…”
“Call me Miss Williams,” she informs me lifting her chin.
“Miss Williams, I assure you that you cannot pay what he owes me.”
I watch as her tough act starts to unravel. “I don’t have a lot of money, that’s true. But maybe I can make payments,” she offers, her voice sounding more desperate than demanding.
I shake my head. “This isn’t about money.”
She stomps her foot, and I chuckle. Her beautiful blue eyes narrow on me as she uncrosses her arms and points an angry finger at me. “Name your price!” she demands. “Everyone has a price.”
If she only knew how right she is, but I say, “There is no price.”
She throws her arms out to her side. “I came here …” She pauses as she looks around the room as if it can give her some sort of an answer. Then she mutters a curse in frustration. When she looks back up at me, she looks desperate. Her eyes have softened, making them look lighter than they are. Her lips part as she breathes in a sigh, and her shoulders slump in defeat. And I hate that I like the way it looks. That it makes me feel like she needs me. That I hold all the answers. Too bad she’s not gonna get them. “I came here to demand you let him go. That you forgive him for what he has done to you. Hell, I’m even willing to pay you for what he’s done wrong. But don’t make me beg you. Don’t make me look like some stupid bitch who cries over something she has no control over. Blane is all I have. I can’t lose him.”
“Miss Williams …”
“I don’t understand why he is even involved in drugs in the first place,” she goes on. “Our father was into drugs. Is … he is still into drugs,” she corrects herself. “And drinking. He’s been in and out of prison for years. He’s locked up now. I can’t lose Blane to that same fate.” She whispers the last part.
I sit back in my seat and sigh heavily, running a hand down my unshaven face. I can’t do what she asks of me. Even if I wanted to, which I don’t. Her brother made his bed, and now he must lie in it. “I understand what you’re trying to do. And your brother should be proud to know that you’re trying to help him, but this is out of my hands.”
“I was told that you are a businessman, so let’s do business. Let me help my brother,” she continues.
She heard I was a businessman? Has she been asking around about me? If so, that’s not good. “I can’t do that.” I shake my head.
She fists her hands down by her side and her face hardens. “Who do you think you are?” she shouts. “You’re ruining my brother’s life. You’re going to get him killed. I’m going to lose all that I have left.”
I watch as tears start to run down her face, and it takes all I have to remain seated. I want to wipe them away. I hate to see a woman cry. But I can’t help but think that she looks just as beautiful with a tear-streaked face as she does when she’s angry. The way the tears make her dark blue eyes shine. She pulls her trembling lip between her teeth and nibbles on it, and it makes my hard cock twitch. I wonder what it would feel like to be inside those lips. So hot and tight … But I quickly squash that idea as she reaches up and brushes the tears from her face. I know what it’s like to have nothing. No one! I know what it’s like to lose loved ones. But I can’t help her. Not with this.
I stand from my chair, and she takes a quick step back from my desk as alarm flashes across her face.
“I’m sorry. I can’t help you. But I can promise you nothing will happen to him. I need him just as much as you do.” Blane is what I call a secret weapon. I would be stupid to hurt him.
She wipes her tears angrily from her face again and speaks. “You’ll regret this.” She spins around and takes the few steps that separate her from the door.
I quickly make my way around my desk and slap my hand on the door, shutting it as she goes to open it. I spin her around with my free hand and shove her back to the door. She gasps as she looks up at me. Blue eyes wide with fear. Lips parted and body trembling against mine.
My hard cock is a reminder of what I wish I could do to her in this position and why I have her in it in the first place. She just threatened me. Now is not the time to think about sex. I grind my teeth in frustration. “Listen. I’ve tried to be nice, and I’ve tried to be understanding. But I don’t take kindly to threats. Especially from some bitch who is on a power trip.” She gasps. “You want your brother to be safe? Then I suggest you stay out of his and my way.” I lower my face down to hers. I’m so close I can smell her perfume. I can’t help but take a deep breath and the scent of vanilla hits me like a rock to the groin. It takes everything I have not to remove my hand from the door and dig it into her hair while I press my lips to hers.You can’t have her. “So tell me exactly what you’re going to do,” I demand, tightening my hand on her arm.
She looks up at me through long, dark watery lashes. Her eyes roam my face, and she sucks in a shaky breath as she spots the scar above my right eye. Yeah, I have plenty of those. Scars on the outside to match the scars on the inside.
I have her scared to death, and I’m hard as a rock. A fresh set of tears slowly runs down her redden cheeks, and my lips beg to taste the saltiness from them …
“I’m going to stay out of your way,” she whimpers, and it makes my cock jerk. Fuck, I’d love to hear that sound while she was naked and I was buried deep inside of her.
I have to threaten her. I have to make it believable. “If you don’t, there will be consequences. Do you understand that?” I could never hurt this woman; well, not in the way she thinks I would. However, in the bedroom, all bets are off. But physically, that’s not what I’m about, but to her—my tattoos, my scars, and my threats make me a monster to her. How right she is.
She nods her head. “Yes, sir.”
Fuck, those words sound as sweet as candy on her trembling lips. I remove my hand from her arm and the other from the door. I take a few steps back, needing the space between us. Needing fresh air. All I can smell is vanilla as if I have rolled around in it and it’s getting me high. “It’s time for you to leave,” I say flatly.
