Coby had no idea who the fuck she was dealing with. I’ve never been a slouch—not in school, business, life, and now in love. Whenever I brought someone onto my team, I vetted them thoroughly to ensure my grass remained free of snakes. It meant I knew all of her secrets—even the ones she hoped to forget.
“No,” Coby stunned me by admitting proudly. “Hunter’s my best friend, which means when she kills you, I’ll help her bury the body. For you we’ll dig a shallow grave so stray dogs can gnaw on what’s left of you.”
“Oh, I see,” I mused out loud. “You draw strength from Hunter.”
Coby was visibly perturbed. Was it because I’d seen through her so easily or that I didn’t give a fuck about her empty threats? “We both do,” she admitted. “Which is why you need to let me go. Hunter needs me.”
I moved in closer, drawing a gasp from her lips when she felt the long length of my body pressed against her much slighter one. “And what if I need you?”
“You don’t even know me.”
“You’re right,” I agreed without missing a beat. I skimmed my lips over her throat, feeling her struggling to swallow as I smiled against her perfumed skin. “Let’s fix that.”
“I-I can’t love you,” she blurted. “It’s not possible. What you did to my brother—”
The wood underneath my palms groaned from my tightening grip, so I forced myself to take a breath. I knew this would happen. I knew Roshaun would be a setback as well as a catalyst for my carefully laid plans. Still, hearing Coby say she couldn’t love me made me want to find whatever hospital he’s laid up in and put a bullet in him.
“I’m okay with that,” I lied. “I don’t need your heart. The rest of you will do for now.” Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her into my body. Coby’s hands flew to my chest, but she didn’t push me away as she stared up at me. “We could be friends,” I told her. “Really good friends.”
Her gaze immediately narrowed. “Friends?” Coby practically growled the word with a curl of her lip, and it took everything in me not to smile. “You asked me to marry you. Actually, you didn’t ask. You pretty much ordered me to marry you, and now you want to be friends. Boy, bye.”
“Coby—”
“Stop saying my name,” she snapped before shoving me. “You don’t know me like that.”
“What would you like me to call you,mo aingeal?” Coby swayed toward me until her fingers were curling in my shirt, and the smile I’d been holding back suddenly broke free. “Oh, I see.”
Panic flared in her brown eyes, but it was too late to hide her reaction. “No! No. I mean…no. C-Coby’s fine.”
“Let’s go.” Stepping away and taking her hand, I pulled her with me toward the door. She stumbled on the first few steps as she tried to match my hurried strides, so I slowed down.
“Where are we going?” she asked once we left the library.
“To bed. I have a proposal for you, but we can discuss that in the morning. I’m tired as fuck.”
Coby immediately tried to snatch her hand away, but I gripped her harder. “I’m not fucking you.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” I was too fucking exhausted from torturing her brother to fuck anyway. Peeking down at my bride-to-be, I bit back a laugh when I saw her roll her eyes at her failed attempt to get a rise out of me.
Coby had always struck me as quiet and sweet, and while I suspected those qualities were still true, I was thoroughly enjoying this hidden side of her. I didn’t want a meek wife who’d roll over and play dead when I told her to.
Finding the stairs to the third floor, I led her up them before she spoke again.
“You really live here?” Her wide brown eyes openly took in the opulence with unbridled awe. I’m sure the shitty apartment building she lived in left much to be desired.
“Last I checked,” I responded as I led her down another hall with my hand on her elbow to steer and keep her standing. Every other step, she was tripping over her feet in order to drink in every detail. I almost said fuck it and considered carrying her,but I didn’t want the taste slapped out of my mouth again, so I wisely reconsidered.
Finally, we stopped in front of closed double doors, and I peeked over my shoulder at Coby waiting patiently, if not a little anxiously. “I’ll give you a tour in the morning,” I offered as I scanned my key card and prayed she didn’t ask about it as I held open one of the doors.
Coby immediately lifted her chin as she passed by me. “Don’t bother. I’m going home in the morning,” she replied stubbornly.
Glancing at the ceiling for patience, I shook my head and stepped inside, letting the door close behind me with a beep of the locking mechanism. “If you say so, sweetheart.”
She tossed a glare at me over her shoulder while walking ahead. I took the moment to admire the way her small hips swayed in those tight ass shorts she was wearing. Even if I hadn’t planned to snatch her tonight, I would have once the tail who’s been following her sent me the surveillance photo. My hoodie that she still wore drowned her, but it was the way she walked so confidently in those heels that had me rethinking my promise not to touch her tonight.
Mesmerized by her, it took me a little longer than I liked to realize she’d stopped walking in the center of the room and had gone quiet. She was looking around the bedroom, taking in the decor and furnishings.
Paneled windows dressed with pink chenille drapes. Baroque moldings along the ceilings and carved into the walls that were painted a pink so light it appeared white at first glance. An arched, gold antique mirror above the lit fireplace. A cozy reading lounge tucked into the corner next to it with two pink upholstered chaises—one curved and the other round—with a plush rug underneath them for her soft feet to curl into. There was a white vanity desk with gold trim and curved legs. A rare tea set I had imported from France sat on the small dining tableby the windows so Coby could enjoy the sunrise in the mornings, since her suite faced east. There was even a small Juliet balcony with Pembroke balusters above the doors to her two-story closet. And then there was the bed with a high tufted headboard and a curved footboard, piled high with pink and champagne-colored bedding. The fringed rug beneath was woven with gold, silver, and pearls and cost more than I ever cared to admit. When Coby spotted it, her brown eyes glittering under the three-tiered chandelier directly above her, I decided the obscene seven-figure price tag was worth it.
