Langford didn’t. That man was acting on pain now. And grief in a man like him, with his money, his power, and his obsession, was starting to look a lot more dangerous than a federal agent.
AVA REYNOLDS
Two days later, Reek was trying to convince me to move in with him.
He was standing near the windows with his coat on I was on the couch with one leg tucked under me and the other stretched out because Cairo was sitting low that day and making me uncomfortable.
“I’m not moving,” I said again.
Reek dragged a hand over his beard. “You’re being hardheaded.”
“No, I’m being grown.”
He cut his eyes at me. “Ava.”
I sat up straighter. “Ijustgot this place.”
“And I’m telling you this place is too hard to secure.”
I folded my arms. “You keep saying that like I’m living in a cardboard box with no locks.”
“If somebody gets past the receptionist desk, it will take too long to get here. I can’t have a man standing in your hallway twenty-four hours a day because that’s going to start attracting attention. Cameras help, but they don’t stop a determined nigga from trying some shit. We are at war right now. I need you safe.”
The way he said “need” with such passion nearly made me swoon, but I made myself focus. “I am safe.”
He let out a wry laugh. “Ava, we got shot at in broad daylight at your own event.”
“And I still don’t want to move in with you.”
That offended him. I could tell because his whole body got stiffer. “So then I’ll move in here.”
“No.”
Now his brows pulled together. “Why the fuck not?”
“Because I like my independence.”
He looked at me like I had just told him he was useless. “So being with me means you lose your independence?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s exactly what you said.”
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Reek, I literally just started feeling like my own person. First my father, then Saint and Zahra. I like being able to get up and move around on my own. I like knowing this ismyspace.”
“So what, I’m supposed to just keep letting you sit over here by yourself when I know this setup ain’t the safest?”
“You don’t have to let me do anything,” I snapped. “That’s part of my point.”
He exhaled hard through his nose and looked up at the ceiling for patience. “Ava, I’m trying to think like a man responsible for you and my son.”
“And I’m trying to tell you that responsibility doesn’t mean coming in and rearranging my whole life.”
He stared at me for a second, and this time the silence between us felt less like anger and more like both of us trying not to say anything that would hurt the other person.
Then there was a knock at the door.
I glanced toward the entryway. “That’s Zahra.”
