Page 43 of Obsessive Cravings

Disconnecting, I sat back in my chair. I’d done something I’d never done, but Riley was more important to me than my pride. And with two bosses hunting him, Randall didn’t stand a chance.

I spent the next hour digging back into numbers, leaving my office door open so I could listen for Riley. I had every one of my men but the two watching the house hunting for Randall. My instinct told me I should have put one or two on the road that led to Treemont, but I had invited Mason in and I knew he’d honor my demand to come with only Tyson. I would if I were in his place because the stakes were too high to take any chances. He wanted his sister, and he wanted Clint Randall dead, and I’d delivered both to him. If Mason didn’t put him in a body bag, I would. Riley was an issue I’d have to deal with. With Mason hunting Randall, he’d find her and the truth would come out. I needed to tell her everything, to confess my sins and hope she forgave me. But I needed the man who threatened her safety dead first.

“I saw someone.” Riley’s voice drew my focus, and I saw her standing in the doorway. Strands of hair fell lazily against her face, bringing out the emerald of her eyes. The blouse she wore had loosened and the swell of her breast lay exposed, the sleeves falling past her wrists. There was a wounded look to her I wanted to fix.

I gave her the silence, hoping she would open up to me even as I saw the hypocrisy in that hope.

Rubbing her arm, she said, “Someone who hurt me.” She dropped her eyes, staring at the floor as she spoke. “It happened almost a year ago. He…I thought I was in love. He lured me in, I fell for it, and he used me as revenge against my brother.” Her eyes raised and the pain in them crushed me. I saw then the damage we all wreaked, running our territories with violence and revenge, using and hurting people for our own gain. It was something we overlooked, the uncomfortableness of it, the guilt buried away after years of dulling our emotions to it. But for someone like Riley, the reality of it was shattering.

She walked over to the window and looked out as she continued. “My brother fed me lies my entire life, never telling me who he was.” Shit, that’s why she’d left. She’d mentioned lies, but I hadn’t realized it was to that extent. He’d left her in the dark and, in turn, hurt her when he’d only wanted to keep her protected. “This man used that, gaining my trust until he turned on me. He kidnapped me, beat me, and…tried to kill me when my brother found me.”

I’d left my trail of bodies and damage over my years, but never had I wanted to kill someone like I wanted to kill Clint Randall. To make him suffer the way he’d made Riley suffer. I would let her watch as I shredded every ounce of life from him until I handed the knife to her and let her plunge it through what remained.

“As painful as his hands were when he hit me, as hurtful as his words were when he broke my heart, the thing that hurt the most while I laid in that hospital bed for days was how my brother had lied to me for so many years. Never trusting me enough to let me in, building a life for me and acting like I was building it on my own, letting me believe I was getting into the college of my dreams, that I was getting the dream job, that I was making something of myself.” She turned, tears in her eyes, ones that gutted me. “When all that time I was doing none of it. It was all him protecting me. I never asked for his protection and look where it got me in the end.”

Rising, I walked to her, taking her in my arms and holding her. I didn’t know what to say, because everything Mason did was exactly what I would have done. It was what I was doing now—protecting her, setting her up with everything she needed to be happy because that’s what I knew. That’s what Mason knew.

I held her until the tension slipped from her body. “I won’t let that man hurt you again, Riley. If he’s in my city, I’ll find him, and I promise you, I’ll make him pay.”

She snuggled deeper into my hold.

“I want you to stay with me until I find him.”

“But I don’t have clothes here?—”

“I’ll buy you clothes.”

She pushed from me, the fire returning to her eyes. “You’re not buying me more. You buy me too much. I’ll stay, but I need some things from my apartment, and don’t think this is me moving in with you.”

“Stubborn woman,” I grumbled. I needed her with me so I could protect her and moving in with me ensured she would always be in my grasp.

I took Riley to her apartment and stood guard as she packed her things. This wasn’t the way I’d intended to have her move in with me, but this was how it would be. We were a few days from Christmas. I was hoping we’d have the asshole before then so she could have a relaxing day with me.

When we returned, I waited for her to unpack her clothes. Fingering the small box that held her final Christmas gift, I tucked it away to a more discreet spot so she wouldn’t discover it until I was ready. I wasn’t sure how she’d take the gift, but it felt right. Riley was mine, and I wouldn’t let her go now that I had her. If it meant I’d have to deal with her brother, then so be it.

“You really have a lot of suits,” she muttered, coming out of my closet. I glanced over at her. She’d changed into a pair of snug jeans that emphasized her pert ass and a low-cut t-shirt that made her neck almost too appealing not to kiss. I wanted to run my tongue along it, but I knew she was still nervous, and satisfying my desire for her wasn’t the right thing to do.

“What?” she asked, pushing a strand of hair from her eyes.

“Nothing, just thinking of how perfect you are.”

She beamed, her cheeks flushing. I held my hand out to her, intending to lead her downstairs and fix us some dinner while she sat by the fire. I couldn’t help but give her a scolding look when she yanked me over to her.

She tipped her neck up to me, saying, “You look like you want to devour me, Mr. Tides.”

Humor shone in her eyes, causing me to chuckle, and I dropped my lips to her neck just as I’d imagined doing. I pulled her against me, letting my hands trail her body. I could touch her every day for the rest of my life and never tire of it.

“Is this appropriate, Miss Brinks?” I asked, nibbling on her earlobe.

“I think it could be,” she breathed.

My phone buzzed, and I tensed.

“Can’t you ignore it this time, Grey?” she asked. And how I wanted to because making love to her was so much more tempting. But I wasn’t about to take a chance of letting my guard down with her in danger.

“Not this time. Be a good girl and get in the bed and wait for me while I take this.”

She giggled and ran to the bed, jumping on it as I looked at my phone. It was Den, so I knew it had to do with Randall. I’d sent every one of my men but a handful out to search the city for him.

---