Page 14 of Memphis

“Everything? Ain’t enough room in this house,” I pointed out.

“I’ll buy a new one.”

Seated in his king-sized bed, I fell against the headboard. “Bo, if I wanted to escape, I could’ve done that while you were gone. I just need to go to my place. Alone.”

Moving from the door to my side of his bed, he gazed down at me, licking his lips. “I can’t let you do that. I can go with you, though.”

“Hell no!”

He reclined his neck, a frown on his face. “You got a nigga hidden in there or something?”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice deadpan. “What you gon’ do, bust in there and shoot him like you did Zaccai?”

“Nah, I only injured my brother. I’ll off any nigga who touches you. Hey, you miss me while I was gone?”

“Fuck no!”

Grinning, he grabbed my jaw, bending down to press a kiss to my lips. Then, he fucked the shit out of me…again.

8

Then…

“The job iswhat? I mean…huh?” I asked, my voice hushed. This was a mistake. Meeting this stranger whose ass I’d recently kicked at a nearly empty diner across town was a humongous mistake in and of itself, butnow that I’d heard his crazy business proposition, it was crystal clear just how young and dumb I really was. I mean, it’d been a couple of days since he approached me in that parking lot when I accepted his invitation, and to think, I’dactually shown upat this meeting. I was beyond stupid.

“You’re made for this work. I’ve been watching you in the self-defense class. You enjoy inflicting pain,” this nameless stranger said. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. It was late at night. I wondered if his eyes were still fucked up.

I truly hoped so.

“No, I don’t!” I hissed under my breath. “I just…I like being safe.”

He smiled while shaking his head, and I thought that was an odd sight, a true dichotomy. “You do and it shows. There’s a light in your eyes when you’re fighting,” he said.

“Wait a minute. How long have you been watching me? I’ve never seen you before.”

“The Agencysees all.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Look, this is a little too crazy for me.”

He removed the shades and stared at me for a few moments before saying, “I’m going to give you some time to think about it, Miss King. When you are ready to move forward, let Mr. Riley know. He’ll get in touch with me, and we’ll start your training.”

Of course, he knew my fucking real name.

He stood to leave, dropping money on the table for our sodas, the only thing we’d consumed during this meeting.

“Wait…what is your name, since you already know mine?”

“If you decide to move forward, I’ll give it to you.”

The way he said that made me wonder if he was referring to his name or his dick, and well, what the fuck?

He left, and as I sat there pondering the entire interaction, a realization hit me. Riley. He’d mentioned Mr. Riley as a contact.

Again…what the fuck?

I didn’t waitfor the next self-defense class to confront Mr. Riley. I didn’t even wait a full twenty-four hours. I headed over to the athletics building before my first class, hoping Mr. Riley would be in his office. He wasn’t, but after seeing the office hours posted on his door, I decided to wait. He’d be there in an hour.

He was late, so I ended up missing my first class. I hated that, but I’d make up for it. I had an A in that class anyway. Two hours later, I watched from my position standing beside his door as he approached with his head down, his stride purposeful. My fucking blood boiled.

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