She doesn’t stop, though she whips her head back to snap, “I don’t need a babysitter, Iosif. Leave me the hell alone.”
It breaks her momentum enough for me to catch up to her. I seize her by the crook of her elbow, yanking her to a standstill. The touch sends an electric jolt shooting up my arm. “Hey, you came to my door, remember? Is something wrong?”
She refuses to look at me, glaring adamantly at my chest. “Nope.” Theppops. “You can go back to your conversation. It sounded captivating. All that talk about your—”
My eyes narrow. “My what?”
Janella swallows thickly. And then she raises her head, meeting my gaze head-on. My stomach lurches.
“Your conquests. Did you not factor those in when you decided to sign me under your protection?”
That’s one way to refer to a marriage certificate. It isn’t technically untrue, so I don’t argue it.
“Sorry about the state of your balls, I guess,” Janella says sourly.
I let out a derisive snort. “My balls are fine.”
To be honest, I haven’t been thinking about it. About fucking anyone. Not since…
“Why, because you’re so sure you’re going to…” she pauses, pretending to mull it over. “How did the man on the phone put it? Oh, yeah—seal the deal.You’re so sure you’re going to seal the deal with the latest conquest you bought for yourself? It’s a bit much for playing the long game, isn’t it? I know men like y—”
My patience has evaporated to nothing. “The men you know must be desperate. I’m not.”
“That’s bullshit,” she fires back. “You’re just waiting for the right time to take advantage. That’s what the other night was about, too. Wining and dining me? Spoiling me with stuff? Your playbook is full of the oldest tricks in the book.”
“Oh, doll, I fuckingwrotemy own playbook,” I scoff, stepping closer to her until her back is flat against the wall. “You heard me tell my brother that I don’t need a wingman. I don’t. I can have any woman I want. And I don’t need tricks to make them beg me to take them. Make no mistake, if I wanted you, I would have you begging, too.”
“You’re insane!” she gasps, shoving at my chest. It doesn’t move me an inch. “If you were all that, you wouldn’t have to buy your women, would you? I’ll bet I’m not even the first.”
My laughter tastes dark and sweet, fanning over her rosy face.
“You’re a betting woman, are you?”
“What, your research didn’t tell you that?” she asks sarcastically.
“No,” I say. “You surprise me.”
“Well,youdon’t surpriseme. It’s not even a bet. It’s a sure thing. You are exactly the kind of man I think you are.”
My palms splay on either side of her head. I don’t have to look down her body to know Janella is shaking. I can feel it against me. It stokes the fire she has sparked within me. The look on her face is gasoline.
It heats my every word. Every nerve-ending is set alight.
I am playing with fire. And I’ve never felt more alive.
“I’m a betting man, too,” I tell her like it’s a secret. “The thing about a bet… is that you have to be prepared to lose something. Are you, Janella? You offered that first night, didn’t you, to let me fuck you and throw you back to your father? I didn’t.Thatis the kind of man I am. Even now, I could have you on your knees, moaning, pleading for me. Right here, in this hallway. Do you honestly believe I’d have to trick you? Force you?”
Her breath hitches. Her mouth opens.
Thefuckingelevator chime interrupts whatever had been about to fall from those lips.
Chapter 8 - Janella
One minute, I am thinking,This must be how a zebra feels the moment before it’s caught between a lion’s teeth.
My heart pounds ferociously, my pulse roaring in my ears.
Next, I turn my head to find two men in the hallway, like two deer caught in headlights. I yelp, scamper. Just to collide face-first with the hot wall of Iosif’s chest. He grunts, his hand coming up to cradle the back of my head.
