She’d never looked more like mine than she did right now.
As for the reason I haven’t fucked her yet, I had to be sure that when she fucked me back, it was because she wanted to and not because she thought she had to for her survival. She was vulnerable right now and afraid of the unknown. I was a patient man and didn’t want to ruin what could be thinking with my dick.
“As much as I’d love to stay in that bed with you andnotfuck, I need to work,” I answered as I stopped by the dresser to grab my phone, gun, and key card.
“Oh. Can I come?”
“No,” I denied while holding in my laugh. I’ve been doing a lot of that since I stole her for myself. I expected tears, but she’s funnier than I expected. Easily adapted. A survivor. “You cannot come. I’ll see you for dinner, baby.”
I glanced over my shoulder when she didn’t respond and saw her sitting on my bed now with her knees pulled to her chest and her kissable mouth in a pretty pout. It all felt pretty calculated, and I had to dig my feet in and stand my ground. It killedme sometimes how easily she’d gotten me wrapped around her finger.
It’s even crazier how quickly her little ass went from demanding I take her home every five minutes to wanting to be under me all the time. I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t like it. If I could wave a magic wand and create a bubble for just the two of us, I would. But I had to get to the money, so I could blow it all spoiling her rotten.
“Don’t look so sad, pretty girl. I’m going to go get Hunter. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Wait…what?” Coby scrambled to leave the bed while I made a beeline for the door. “Don’t you think I should be there?”
“No.”
“Hunter isn’t just going to come with you. You need me there. I’m the only one who can convince her!”
“Yes, she will, just like you’ll do what the fuck I said and sit yo’ ass still until I come back.”
“But Hunter doesn’tdowhat she’s told. She’d sooner shoot you in the face.”
I swung around so quickly she almost crashed into my chest. “Even if it means never seeing you again?”
Coby fell silent, and I could see uncertainty and fear flicker across her face—the uncertainty that Hunter couldn’t be reasoned with and the fear of never seeing her friend again if she can’t. I took advantage of her doubt and tossed her on my shoulder before marching her back to the bed. She didn’t fight me because she was still worrying about her friend, who was already becoming annoying as fuck. “Don’t trip, baby girl. I promise I won’t take no for an answer.”
It was the wrong thing to say. My vow only gave her fear a new direction, and I glimpsed the panic in her eyes before I turned and damn near sprinted for the door.
“Ocean! I swear to God you better not hurt her! Ocean!” she screamed at my back.
I heard her running after me just as I slipped from the room. My bedroom door slammed behind me, and I quickly swiped my card over the pad just as Coby collided with the door. The beep and flashing red light confirmed it was locked. Knowing she’d eventually end up in my bed (I didn’t think it would happen this soon), I’d had the same lock installed on mine because while I might be gone for this girl, I couldn’t turn off the part of me that always thought three steps ahead. I hadn’t intended to lock her into today, but it only took one mention ofHunterto bring us back to square one.
Even now, Coby’s fists banged on the other side as she cursed me out. “Let me out, you psycho bastard, so I can fucking kill you!”
“I’ll miss you too, sweetheart.”
“Fuck you!”
Already eager to return to Coby, I was grinning as I walked away, but Abel wasn’t when I reached the end of the hall and saw him waiting outside the wing’s double doors. His phone was plastered to his ear, but he quickly hung up with a curse and fell in step beside me.
“What’s up?” I asked as I steered us toward the housekeeper’s office. If Hunter was going to stay with us for an undetermined time, she’d need somewhere comfortable to stay.
“We got a problem. Your pops called a meeting, but he wouldn’t say why.”
And just like that, my smile and excitement fled as I recalled the warning my cousins had brought under the guise of petty gossip. “I know why.”
Pulling out my phone, I quickly sent Priscilla a message before leaving the apartment.
Hunter Parrish would just have to wait.
“The fuck yo ass do now?” my cousin Keefe leaned over to whisper as only theFola’s leadership—thecapteans, my uncle Tyrone, and I sat around the conference table in my father’s study at Glamis. We were all waiting for my fucking pops to finish taking a shit. The only sound was the hammering and drilling in one of the rooms my mother was having redecorated.
A bridal suite, I was told.
For Niamh.
