Page 168 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

This was his peace, his heaven on earth, his greatest blessing. And he couldn’t believe it all started with a dangerous contract. Raz smiled as he closed his eyes. He slept soundly, not even dreaming while he slumbered. He had no reason to dream.

His dream girl was in the real world, waiting for him to wake up.

EPILOGUE

SNAPSHOTS INTO THE FUTURE

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MONIQUE

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Monique sat at her desk in the office ofCurve Couture, fingers flying across the keyboard as she tracked down the delayed shipment. Her eyes narrowed at the screen, irritation bubbling up as she skimmed through the vendor's vague response.

Opening day was right around the corner, and the last thing she needed was a late delivery. Outside, she could hear Toya giving instructions to the painters, her no-nonsense tone cutting through the quiet hum of the building.

“Remember,” Toya called out. “This wall will be accented with the rose gold glitter paint. The rest stays white! Glitter. Accent. This wall. Got it?”

Monique smiled to herself, grateful for her friend’s take-charge attitude. In the room next door, Meka was busy interviewing potential sales associates. Between the three of them, they were turning their vision into a reality, and despite the stress, Monique couldn’t help but feel proud of them.

Who would’ve thought that they would one day own a high-end boutique that specialized in plus-size clothing? Clothing that wasn’t drab and formless. Clothing that would make women feel comfortable and sexy.

They were even hiring a seamstress to take clothing in for shoppers who couldn’t find that perfect fit. And they were hiringsales associates who would respect all shoppers and treat them with the dignity they deserved.

And they had high-end vendors, like the excellent designer who’d created their gala dresses. Monique was just about to send an email to one of their vendors when a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

“Come in,” she called, not looking up immediately.

The door creaked open, and then came his voice, deep, smooth,hers. “Hey, beautiful.”

Her heart did a little jig in her chest as she looked up to see Raz standing in the doorway, carrying a tray of coffee in one hand and a bag in the other. That damned smile of his, it was going to be the death of her.

No matter how much time they spent together, lived together, ate together, he still made her stomach flip like a lovesick teenager falling in love for the very first time.

“Hey, you,” she said softly, her annoyance melting away.

He walked in, closing the door behind him, and crossed the room to her desk. Setting the coffee and bag down, he leaned in and kissed her forehead. She let out a small sigh at the familiar, comforting gesture. His presence always seemed to make everything better.

“Who has upset my heart?” he asked.

He could always tell when something was wrong. That was another thing she loved about her don. He noticed the changes in her moods. One look and he could tell if she was happy, sad, or needed to be dicked down.

“The vendor was late shipping the clothing Meka wanted to be displayed in the window. So, I’m trying to get that figured out,” she told him.

“Hmmm. Need me to kill anyone?”

Monique chuckled, then met his gaze.Oh, he wasn’t joking.

“No, Raz. This isn’t a kill them and bury the bodies type of situation.”

She fought the urge to bring up Trevor. Not that she cared about the bastard. Yet, part of her wanted to know how Raz had ended him. They’d yet to have that conversation. Part of her wanted to know the full story and another part of her didn’t want to know at all.

“This is most definitely a kill them and bury the bodies situation,” he told her.

“No, Raz. It’s not.”

“Whenever someone upsets you, it’s a kill them and bury the bodies type of situation for me.”

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