“Please behave, Saranna. You know how dangerous it is right now, and I sure wouldn’t trust anyone with your life but my best friend. Now just be good.”
“For how long?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. I tried hard not to glance at her chest, but in her power suit, with nothing on underneath her jacket, it was hard to avoid. I quickly averted my gaze, looking at her face, although that was just as dangerous to me, because she was such a beautiful woman.
“I don’t know, Saranna. Until I can subdue this threat? Look, you know the deals I’m trying to make, the control I’m trying to gain. With you out of the way, those deals could easily be out of my hands. People aren’t stupid. They know your business and how good you are at it.”
“It’s why I’m an asset, I knowcugino.”
“You’re more than just an asset, Saranna. You’re family and you’re my favoritecugina.”
Cousins, all the more reason she’s off limits.
“You two can leave,” Marcell said, kissing her cheek before shaking my hand. “Every second.”
“Promise, boss,” I told him, placing my hand lightly on her back to lead her down the rest of the hallway to the elevator.
“This is going to be difficult for the both of us,” she muttered, glancing at me from the corner of her eye.
I stepped into the elevator after she did and pushed the button for the basement. She was going home and I was taking her, no question about it.
“Only if you let it be, Saranna. I’m not here to make your life difficult, I’m here to make sure you stay alive,” I told her.
“What’s your game plan, then? Follow my every move?”
“I’m staying with you, or you’re welcome to stay with me. But I won’t be following your every move, I’ll be right there with you every step of the way.”
I grinned as she rolled her eyes. She might want to seem pissed, but the heavy breaths she kept taking told me that she wasn’t annoyed I’d be around. She was annoyed because of her body’s reaction.
If only I could grab her hand and put it on my rock-hard dick, she’d realize she’s not alone. But I can’t do that, because she’s not mine to touch.
No doubt that would be my mantra for the duration of this assignment.
“Logically, it would be better to stay at your place,” she announced, tilting her head as she thought it over. “If someone is after me, they wouldn’t know your place like they might know mine.”
The doors pinged and she stepped out but I grabbed her arm, hauling her back into the little space.
“There is no ‘if’, Saranna. Someone is out to get you. Someone from a rival family, a gang, hell, some politician. We don’t know who yet, but believe me, the threat is real. You saw it yourself. So don’t toss out that ‘if’ as if you think this isn’t a big deal, or some shit.”
She opened her mouth to say something else, and I pressed my finger against it, wishing I could place my lips there instead.
“Don’t say anything,” I warned, escorting her to my car. She nodded in response and I clicked the lock, helping in before taking a breath.
Saranna staying at my place was the best idea, of course. I could control the situations far better that way. But her in my space was going to kill me. That I had no doubt about.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and backed out of the spot and out of the building, heading to her house.
“I suggest you’d pack what you need for a couple of weeks. I don’t think it will be that long, but it’s better to be safe. Tomorrow, I’m getting cameras set up inside your place so I can keep an eye out while you’re gone.”
“How do you know I don’t already have them?”
I glanced at her, smirking far too much at the clear annoyance on her face again.
“How much spying do you do on me, Roman?”
I shifted the car into fourth gear and revved the engine, enjoying the power under my hands while I figured out the best way to answer that question.
I could be honest, or I could joke, or I could ignore it all together.
If I was honest, I’d be lying far too much information on the line for her, and she was smart enough to pick up on what I wasn’t saying.
