Page 15 of Merciless Sinner

He nodded, already picking up the investigative file his people had sent over. When he heard the door snick closed, he sliced open the envelope with the sharp opener he kept on his desk and pulled out the manila folder contained within.

He’d already been informed of the pertinent items that the file contained, but he wanted to read through them again. There wasn’t a detail about Harper Allison he didn’t want to know.

What had started out as a distraction had morphed into something else. Something that felt like potential trouble. Everything about her had fit the profile he’d expected, except for two things. First, it appeared that Harper Allison had not existed, at least not in any records his people could find, until she started culinary school here in the city.

It seemed that in order for them to dig deeper they’d need a fingerprint or something to aid in their search. It was no wonder Ronin had been unable to find her after his birthday party. That hadn’t stopped his stepbrother from searching with nothing other than a cell phone selfie from that night to go on.

He picked up the first picture of her and stared into what he’d believed were innocent eyes. While she was beautiful in the picture, it didn’t do justice to the woman in the flesh. Which led to the second thing that had puzzled him about her profile. Until he’d seen her that first time at the Glass Kat he hadn’t understood why Ronin had been so obsessed with finding her.

One look. That’s all it had taken for him to become just as obsessed. He shook his head. No, that wasn’t right. That first night he’d been interested. And definitely aroused. He could have walked away then and let it go, but he hadn’t. Like Ronin, he’d wanted more.

He’d definitely gotten that. Probably more than he’d bargained for. He had planned that one night with the intention of one and done. Of course, the night had ended long before he’d had his fill.

He’d underestimated her allure when he’d formulated his brilliant threesome plan. Alex rolled his eyes and scrubbed his hand over his face. Yeah, what agreatidea that had been. Not.

The wave of possessiveness that had swept over him during that scene had nearly driven him to madness. He’d had to cut the night short just to keep from murdering his best friend. He owed Jeremy an apology for the shit he’d given him afterward. His friend had been right. He needed an attitude adjustment.

He shoved the photo back into the folder and closed its contents. He didn’t have time for this. There were some tense business deals he had to get through. Some of the properties he wanted to buy for his latest project were still refusing to sell. He was going to have to get creative if he wanted to get this done. Which meant he needed to keep his head in the game and off the curvy woman whose hips molded to his in perfect alignment.

He didn’t really need to hear the gasps that would fall from her mouth the first time he pushed inside her. That’s what he would keep telling himself anyways. Except his pulse was already racing just thinking about it.

The memory of her naked and chained to a wall for his pleasure kept invading his mind. In his life there had never been a shortage of women willing to do anything he wanted. No matter how devious his demands grew, no one ever said no. His last name and accompanying bank account made sure of that.

Harper Allison on the other hand knew none of that. She didn’t even know his first name. Nor did she seem to care. She was so damned brave in her submission and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to punish her for recklessness or reward her for perfection.

She shouldn’t trust him.

She especially shouldn’t have trusted his cruel stepbrother. Ronin may be younger than him, but he’d taken after his father at a very young age. Stepping into his family’s business at the ripe young age of fourteen had given him more than a decade to learn from his father and from everything he’d seen and heard the son surpassed the father when it came to his thirst for violence.

Is that what she had seen in him? Was his kitten some sort of masochist?

His.

In any other instance that word would simply refer to her body as his. But he’d felt that twist in his gut both times he’d seen her in person. And even now when the memory of their mouths fused together filled his head, he knew it meant more.

Dammit.

He pushed to his feet and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office that overlooked the city. His city. Between the money attached to his name and the fear associated with his stepfather’s, anything in this city was his for the taking. No one dared to say no for long.

Which reminded him again that he had a business deal he had to get done this week.

“Looks like you’re going to wear a path in the carpet by nightfall.”

He stiffened up at the sound of Jeremy’s voice behind him. He needed to talk to his friend, but he hadn’t expected it would be this soon.

“It’s possible,” he said without turning away from the window. The sun was already setting and soon the city of millions would light up like a jewel in the middle of the sea. He preferred the nighttime. The energy of an already frenetic city ratcheted to an even higher level and all kinds of people came out to play.

“I figured we should talk,” Jeremy said as he took a seat on the couch at the far end of the room. His boots clunked on the glass coffee table as he propped them up. He didn’t need to see to know exactly what his friend looked like. How many times over the years had he stopped in after his shift for some reason or another?

The cop and the stepson of a mob enforcer. They were the most unlikely of friends and yet they’d been practically joined at the hip for too many years for him to count. Their friendship and navigated more than one shit storm and eventually prevailed without the loss of too much skin from either of them.

Now they had a woman between them and Alex wasn’t exactly comfortable with that. Especially since the responsibility of it fell squarely on his shoulders.

“I didn’t expect you so soon.”

Jeremy barked a laugh. “You thought I was going to let you stew in that angry shit of yours for a while? I guess I could have. You squirming out of your skin might have been an interesting sight. But what the hell, truth be told I’m curious. Curious about what’s going on with you. I’ve never seen you get jealous during a scene.”

He clenched his jaw. That’s because he didn’t get jealous. Ever.

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