Page 46 of Dangerous Contract: Part 1

His eyes widened briefly as if he was surprised that she’d agreed so suddenly.

“After you, Rosa.”

“Stop calling me Rosa. The man I spent a magical night with called me that. You’re not him. You don’t get to call me that.”

He flinched but said nothing. She was just happy her barb had struck him. Now, she needed to find something physical to strike him with. She didn’t want to actually kill him. She just needed him distracted long enough for her to find another way out of this room.

Surely, the elevator wasn’t the only way in. That would be stupid. How did he leave when there was a fire or when the elevator was down? There was another way out. And she was going to find it.

First, she needed to find a way to knock his ass unconscious or wound him enough so he couldn’t follow her. Head held high, she strode back to the kitchen with him following behind her – this time, with a little more distance between them.

Once she reached the kitchen, she scanned the area. No knives or forks were in sight. Even a spoon would suffice. But one wasn’t around. She did, however, notice a door and wondered if it would lead her out of this suite. If she raced to it now, he’d catch her.

She wasn’t the fastest woman alive. Once she was free, she would add morning runs to her list of things to do. You never knew when your ex would sell you to a maniac and you’d end up having to run for your life. Left with no other choice, Monique sat back down and stared at the document she’d ripped to shreds.

He lifted the briefcase from the floor next to his chair and opened it. Seconds later, a new document was before her. Sighing, she resumed reading it. There was that sinking feeling again, and like before, it grew deeper the more she read.

“This document has multiple pages.” She turned to the next page. “The previous one wasn’t like this.”

“I figured you’d rip that one up.”

You know me so well, huh? Do you know I’m thinking of using this pen next to me to stab you in the neck?Keeping hermurderous thoughts to herself, she read the next page. Between Orazio and Trevor, she didn’t know who to hate more.

This document’s requirements for her were so detailed that the two of them had to sit down and discuss them for it to be this way. Her gaze jerked to Orazio. How could his handsome ass sit there looking calm and collected when he’d partnered with her ex to bring her down?

“I got divorced to be free of an asshole,” she told him.

“Congratulations.”

“Yet, I find myself in the clutches of another one.”

“I’m nothing like your bastard of an ex.”

Monique chuckled before lowering her gaze and mumbling, “No, you’re worse.”

“What did you say?” he asked, tone tense.

“Nothing. Just reading.”

“Rosa...”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Rose...”

“That either. Only my closest friends call me that. And even they stopped after the divorce since hearing it reminds me of my bastard ex.”

Except for when you say it. When you say it, it reminds me of the man I was with last night. The man who’d stared at me like I was the most beautiful girl in the world. The man who’d made my body feel things it had never felt before.But that man wasn’t real. He was a sham, a facade. The real Orazio was the one she was faced with now. And he was a jerk.

“I didn’t just decide this at the spur of the moment, Ro... Monique. I’ve wanted you for a long time. There’s something I want to show you,” he told her as he stared down at his briefcase.

Her gaze darted to the door at the back of the room. Her eyes returned to him when he spoke again.

“I want to show you something, and maybe it’ll remind you of the first night we saw each other.”

“Wasn’t it last night?” She asked, grabbing the pen and gripping it tightly.

“No.”

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