Page 4 of Forbidden Pawn

“Such a lovely girl,” he purrs, as he lets his finger trail along the side of my arm—and I shiver. His touch feels electric, weirdly energizing and sizzling hot, as if the tip of his finger was a taser.

“It would be such a pity if anything bad happened to her, just because her brothers can’t abide by an agreement,” he says in a low voice. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

He is directing his question at me this time, and when he looks up at me through those terrifyingly dark eyes, it feels like he is reaching right into my soul, as if he could see everything I’m hiding. I can’t stop myself from sucking in a sharp breath of air, the hissing sound resonating through the room, while I notice a look of surprise on his face. His eyes widen for a split second, and he pulls his hand back so fast that it almost seems like he burned himself touching me.

“Stop playing around, Ryker,” Jack demands. “We get it, you’re serious. But you won’t hurt that girl.”

“Our sister,” Carter jumps in. “You won’t hurt our sister.”

Damn, that was close. Maybe it’s best if Carter really keeps his mouth shut, like his brothers suggested when we prepared for this meeting. Apparently, he has always been a liability, because he’s a terrible liar.

“I won’t, if you guys pay me in due time.”

“We understand,” Tyler hisses, his eyes turned to narrow slits. He looks like he wants to strangle Ryker on the spot.

“So, ground rules,” Ryker goes on. “Like I said, I’ll give you one week—”

“A month,” Jack says. “We should have it by then.”

“Should?” Ryker probes, his eyebrows furrowed.

“We will,” Carter corrects—and the brothers exchange a quick look before Jack nods and turns back to Ryker.

“We will have it by then,” he says.

I won’t be staying with this monster for an entire month. If everything goes according to plan, he will be behind bars long before that.

Ryker leans back in his chair and lets out a heavy sigh. He’s clearly not happy about this. I wonder if he was hoping to receivehis money today instead of me. He almost looked surprised when I walked into the room. And I can’t help but think that all this ridiculous taunting about hurting me was meant to increase pressure on the Reids. It was nothing more than taunting. He will not hurt me.

I hope.

Chapter 3

Ryker

What the fuck am I going to do with her?

I still don’t know by the time I’m leading her out of the building. The girl is walking next to me with her head low and her fingers intertwined in front of her body, fiddling nervously when she feels my eyes on her.

She barely looked at her brothers when the meeting concluded. There was no hugging, not even some heartfelt last words exchanged. They merely shared a quick look and the hint of a nod as she got ready to leave with me. I’m not sure whether to feel sorry for her or whether I should be worried about myself.

What did they tell her before they sent her off to me? What does she even know about our deal? As far as I know, her brothers have always kept her out of their business in order to protect her. That’s why I suggested her as a pawn, because I thought it would get them to pay their dues.

I never expected to find myself in this situation.

“You and your brothers don’t seem to be very close,” I observe, as we make our way to my car.

She casts me a cautious look from the side. “What makes you think that?”

Her voice is soft and feeble, close to a whisper that gets lost in the late summer breeze.

“Other than them being so willing to hand you over to me?” I ask back. “Maybe the fact that they didn’t even send you off with a hug, or some encouraging last words.”

She doesn’t look at me, but keeps her gaze down on the gravel.

“You shouldn’t judge my family by normal standards,” she says. “We’re not like other families.”

“I’ll say.” I retort. She averts her eyes when I look at her.

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