The moment Duke walked in, he smiled as he looked around. I had always known it wasn't the biggest place — it was one of the reasons I loved it. But with him standing in the middle of it, it felt like a small closet.
"Allow me to give you a tour of the space," I said.
He smiled, showing all thirty-two, then placed his bag down by his feet and crossed his arms.
I walked over to the two-seater table by the window and waved my arm like Vanna White onWheel of Fortune.
"This is the two-seater eatery. All thoughts and plans are handled here. Oh, and a little bit of eating."
He chuckled as I continued to point out other areas within the space. I walked over and went to pick up his bag so I could lead him to my room, but he placed his hand over mine.
"I got it. Lead the way, love."
I released my hold on his bag and turned to lead him to my bedroom, which I prayed wasn't a mess. I couldn't remember if I had left clothes on the bed when I came to grab a few things earlier.
I pointed to the chest at the end of my bed, so Duke placed his bag on it. I ran my hands across the bed.
"This is where?—"
“The magic happens?" Duke supplied.
My brow rose and I gripped my hips.
"Of course not. This is where rest happens — but now that you're here, I'm going to assume you're in the business of providing a little magic to the space. Am I right to assume that?" I asked with a smirk.
Duke bit his bottom lip and his cheeks reddened for the first time. He looked away, rubbing his hands together, then turned back to face me.
"Let me find out I got you blushing," I teased as I strolled over to him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, his mouth claimed mine, and his hands made their way down my spine to grip my ass. I pulled back and took a seat on the edge of the bed, then lifted my leg so he could unzip me.
Duke ran his tongue across his lower lip as his hands traveled from the heel of my foot, past my ankle, and up my thigh.
"Damn. I've been waiting all night to grip these."
I giggled as he dragged the zipper down slowly, then tossed my boot to the side and did the same with the next one. He stood to his full height and pulled his jacket from his shoulders. I tucked my feet underneath me and got on my hands and knees to crawl backward across the bed.
Duke laid his jacket over his bag, then pulled his shirt over his head. His brow lifted when he noticed I was no longer on the bed but peeling my clothes off in front of the bathroom door.
"It's a good thing you don't have neighbors," he said.
I giggled. "And why is that?"
Duke's gaze dropped, slow and deliberate.
"Because I'm about to give you a bit of that magic you were talking about."
My laugh broke loose as I turned to head into the bathroom. Before I could get any further inside, I was lifted off the floor and Duke was nuzzling my neck.
"Duke!"
ONE WEEKS LATER…
I leanedagainst the concrete wall in the warehouse. Juelz, Rico, and Money stood alongside me. We kept Benny out of this part of the plan — he was filling in at the bar for me. I tried my best to keep him as far away from this side of the thorns as possible. Shit, I tried to keep this side in the shadows altogether.
Rafe and his boys had to be the ones to test the system. Now we had to shed blood in our city's streets. That was the only thing that pissed me off. I wanted to chill, but they had to puff their chests out.
A few of them had been involved, and we'd picked them off one by one. Rafe was the last man standing, but we made sure he watched us dismantle every man he'd involved in his scheme. His screams and tears did nothing but fuel me. Rafe should havehad this much emotion when we tried to get him involved with his community.
