Page 13 of The Price of Power

“Because they don’t have you on the menu here,” I said. “It’s true, though. You’re not my usual type, just like I’m willing to bet I’m not yours either.”

Even though her blush deepened at my words, she didn’t look away this time. She also didn’t disagree. “What is your usual type?”

“Tall, thin, with long, straight hair.” The kind of woman who filled the exclusive dance clubs of Manhattan and relished the idea of fawning all over a powerful man in the VIP section all night.

“Right…so, basically the opposite of me,” she said, pushing a stray auburn curl behind her ear. “That’s kind of what I figured. So, again—what exactly am I doing here?”

That was a question I didn’t have an answer for. At least, not right away.

I’d gone out tonight with every intention of it ending the same way it always did—with one of those tall blondes. But business had got in the way.

I’d been checking in on some coglione who was overdue on a loan he’d taken out with my uncle last year. One of our guys at the hotel texted me that he would be checking in that night. While I was scheduled to meet with the mook the following day, I figured I would save us both the time and effort of a formal meeting.

Because, in the end, either the asshole had the money he owed my family, or he didn’t.

And if he didn’t…well, then we had nothing to talk about, and he’d be returning home in a body bag.

At first, I’d been disappointed when the staff told me someone else had checked into his room. I wasn’t surprised the punk had turned chicken shit, just aggravated that I’d have to send a man all the way to Chicago just to take care of the job. But as I was walking through the bar, I saw that fate had lined up something better for me.

Something with shoulder-length russet hair and sparkling green eyes. Someone who didn’t fawn all over me like the club girls did. Someone who wasn’t scared to speak the truth straight to my face.

That kind of honesty was a rare thing in my world.

Sure, there were people I trusted. I could always count on my brothers to tell it like it was, but they were family. Liv was different. She spoke from an outsider’s perspective. And when she talked, I didn’t just find her opinions intriguing; I found them dead sexy.

So sexy that I gave that I had no trouble delivering that same honesty right back to her.

“I like the way you talk to me,” I said.

“You like my voice?” She shot me a look, narrowing her eyes as if she didn’t believe that for a second.

“Yes,” I admitted. There was a softness in her tone, a quietness that practically begged me to move in closer. “But more than that, I like that you’re not afraid to tell me what you’re really thinking.”

“Should I be?” she asked.

I surprised myself by shaking my head. “No. Everyone else should worry, but not you.”

There was no way she could know how deep of a compliment that was from me, but something in my tone must have given her a clue since she started nervously shifting her weight back and forth.

“So…” she finally said after a few seconds of silence. “I still don’t get what’s so great about this club. I mean, it’s nice, but so was my room back at the Ritz, and we didn’t need to drive through evening traffic to get there.”

A smile lifted the corners of my mouth. “Now you want to know why I brought you here?”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Then let me show you.”

Stretching out my arm, I flicked the switch on the wall by the door, causing the lights in the room to dim…and the lights behind the mirrored glass to come up.

One more time, I watched Liv’s mouth fall open in amazement as she turned and stared. She didn’t even blink as I pushed away from the wall and came right up behind her. Tracing my fingertips up the back of her neck before tangling them in her curls, I brought my lips down, even with her ear.

“Do you understand now?” I whispered.

I felt her whole body tremble as she gave a shaky nod, her eyes transfixed on the scene behind the glass.

“Y-Yeah…Now I get it.”

Chapter Four

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