Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
“Shit.” I fake panic. “I forgot I promised to meet my sister this morning. I’m sorry. This all looks great, but she’ll murder me if I don’t show.”
“I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“You don’t know my sister. She can be a mama bear. I really am sorry. Thanks for everything.” I motion to the clothes.
“All right.” He comes over to me. His hand sinks into my hair to tilt my head back to claim a kiss. The second his mouth touches mine, I forget that I should be running. That is until he lifts his lips from mine, and I meet his dark, intense gaze.
“I have to go.” I try to step back, but he doesn’t release his hold on me. “Bo?”
“Until later.” He lets go.
I have to fight not to run when I head toward the elevator. When I get on, I pull my phone out and google the casino. Bo’s picture comes up. As do a handful of articles about him and his dark past. I recall the scars on his knuckles I’d seen.
Until later.
Those had been his last words to me, but he doesn’t have my number. He doesn’t even have my name. I try not to freak out as I exit the casino, glancing all around to see if anyone is following me. Powerful men have a far reach. By the looks of it, Bo is every bit one of those men. So I don’t grab one of the cars out front. I head for the strip knowing I can blend in and get lost in the crowd.
At least I pray I can. Mel will not be happy if we have to get a whole other identity.
7
BOWEN
I knew the second the words left her lips she was lying. She was spooked. My best guess was that she overheard Noah and me talking. My thoughts are only confirmed when I check my phone to see what she’s doing on hers.
Was it morally fucked up that I cloned her phone? Yes, but I never claimed to be a moral man. Not when it comes to something I want. And I’ve never wanted anything more than I want her. I have to keep reminding myself that I need to take it slow. I’m trying not to scare her. It’s why I let her walk out of here. Also, because I know she’s never going to be out of my reach again.
An alert comes in letting me know that one of my people have eyes on her. I run my hand down my face. I need a cold fucking shower. It was both heaven and pure fucking torture lying next to her last night. It was surely a test of my self-control that almost drove me to insanity.
It doesn’t matter how long I stand under the water or if I jack myself off to thoughts of Ace’s lips. Knowing how soft they are. Imagining what they’d feel wrapped around my cock does nothing to help my current situation.
When I do get myself to come, it only pisses me off to watch it wash down the drain in the shower. A fucking waste. It should be deep inside her. An image of her round with my child comes to mind.
Noah might be right. I’m losing it. Not that it's going to stop me. Ace isn’t just under my skin. She dug herself deep inside of me without ever trying. I’m here for every bit of it.
Her smart mouth with a sweet, naïve shyness will be my undoing. I don’t care. I’m not stopping. Not until I get what I want. That’s Ace in my bed and at my side. For the first time in longer than I can remember, I feel alive. The thrill of everything else died long ago. All of it gets old, real quick.
I get dressed feeling restless about what I should do next. When I make it to my desk, I find a folder Noah left me on where Ace got her fake ID. I flip through a couple of pages and then the photos. It’s not a name I’m unfamiliar with. Still, it pisses me off. Why is Ace so close to this crowd? Why would she even be running in the same circles as them? Something is off.
It only solidifies in my mind that she needs me. I’ll be the devil she knows instead of the one she doesn’t. I have to protect her before she gets hooked up with the wrong people and acquires debts she’ll never be able to pay back. She is likely on a few other people's radars already. Like me, they’re probably allowing her to steal from their casinos so they can get their hooks into her. I won’t let that shit happen. Over my dead body.
“Come in,” I call when a knock sounds on my office door. Noah walks in. “I want to figure out who is on to Ace and pay whatever debts she’s racked up without even knowing it yet.”