“I, uh… I was meeting Jesse for dinner,” she answered nervously and began to fidget in her seat. I slammed on the brakes and jerked the car onto the side of road haphazardly.
“Come again? And before you answer, I want you to think real hard about the words you are about to let come out of your mouth.”
“What’s your problem? I don’t answer to you.”
My fist was in her hair, and the other followed suit, snapping open her seatbelt and yanking her by the waist of her jeans across the console. I ignored her yelp of pain and anchored her in my lap. Here I could get a good look in her eyes.
“Hear me now, Monroe. You will always answer to me.” I quickly kissed her lips and then bit down on her cheek to stifle the smart remark that was sure to come out of her mouth. God, I needed to keep her mouth shut. It did things to my dick that not even the world’s best blowjob could do.
“What world are you living in, Masters? I’m my own woman now. Your intimidation tactics don’t work anymore. It’s… old… news.” She smirked as if she’d won some great argument.
“No? Well, maybe I can just fuck you harder than I’ve ever taken you right here until you see things my way.” I returned her smirk when the pulse at her neck quickened.
“I would have to let you touch me, and we both know that isn’t about to happen again.”
“But you want it to.”
“Don’t be so sure about that. Your ego needs to take a nosedive.”
I let out a deep yet ironic laugh and tossed her into the passenger seat none too gently. If I didn’t take my hands off her fast, I would show her just how much she wanted me right against the steering wheel. “I kind of missed the fuck out of you, you know that?”
“It’s only been two weeks,” she snapped. Her eyes widened the exact moment she realized her slip. She had been counting. I could have taken it as an opportunity to humiliate her, but decided to show a little mercy.
Once she was settled back into her seat, I dialed Mario and headed back to Six Forks. “I need you to double security,” I said by way of greeting. He didn’t miss a beat or bother with the nuisance of conversational courtesy bullshit.
“What’s up?”
“I just saw Arthur. He touched my girl.” I heard the intake of breath from the passenger seat but chose to ignore my slip-up. I was still reeling from the reality that I’d just come face to face with the man who thought he could own me.
“Shit. Is she all right?”
“Yes. I want to know how he could possibly know about her?”
“What do you expect, man? You haven’t exactly been laying low when it comes to the girl.” I gripped the steering wheel tighter, realizing he was right. Monroe drew me like a moth to a flame, and even when we were practically enemies, I still found reasons to be near her.
“He was going to grab her as payment for not delivering you. We need to move faster.”
“We can’t move faster. I don’t have everything in place.”
“You don’t have what in place?” I barked. I could see Monroe jump from the corner of my eye. She turned her wide eyes on me while her hand fluttered near her chest where her heart lay. I wondered what she saw when she looked at me.
“I need to make sure I have concrete evidence in place to put him away forever. I’ve already lost my career to this motherfucker. I want him to get a lethal dose of what it’s like to fuck with me.”
“If you want him dead, you should have just said so. I can end this now.” I was tempted to turn the car around and do just that. I had to protect Monroe. She was part of the stakes now.
What about your brother?
I forced myself to shake off the thoughts. Arthur had successfully planted a seed in my head that was spreading faster than a deadly disease. I had no reason to betray the man who’d given me a shot at life. It was Mario who had brought me home, and it was Mario who was there when I was released from juvie, ready to do anything I needed to exact my revenge against the bright-haired, blue-eyed drug sitting next to me.
There was no way I could double cross him.