Page 40 of Driven by Desire

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Fury and pride ripped through Soloman as he stalked out of the mess that had once been Merchant's beautifully furnished lobby entrance. Now, instead of dealing with this shit, as the boss should, he would have to go find his own personal Houdini woman and explain to her exactly what he meant by stay in the fucking bedroom. Goddamn was she ever a handful. And she'd stolen another fucking vehicle.

He threw his cigarillo into the gutter and flung open the door to Roman's '69 Mustang. Soloman was starting to to run out of his own cars. Without being asked, Roman drove like a demon, running lights to get them to Riley’s garage. Their guy had spotted her pulling his bike into the lot thirty minutes earlier. Soloman already had three men sitting on the shop ensuring her safety. And making sure she didn’t pull another disappearing act on him before he could get his hands on her.

“Gonna mess her up?” Roman grunted from the driver’s seat.

Soloman turned his face slowly to look at his right-hand man. Roman’s jaw was knotted with tension, the old gang tattoos rippling down the cords of his throat. He knew he was overstepping with the boss, but he chose to ask the question anyway. Roman had a pretty fucked up moral compass when it came to everyone in the world except one particular blond. And now, apparently, the woman that was fiercely loyal to Katie Pullman had wormed her way into his affections.

Soloman studied him for a moment, wondering if this was going to be a problem. He couldn’t have a man unwilling to pull the trigger, no matter who the gun was pointed at. Then again, that gun would never turn on Riley and he knew it would tear her heart out if he ever gave the order to take out her friends. So, he didn’t think there would be a problem.

“That woman has disobeyed me at every turn, stolen at least two of my vehicles and I’m guessing is instrumental in turning my Audi to ash,” he responded quietly. “Have I harmed her yet?”

Roman’s eyes met his for a second before turning back to the road. A flicker of relief had passed through them. “I’m fucking pissed that I have to chase this woman all over a city we both know I own, but I’m not going to mess up my future wife. I want her the way she is,” he growled, tapping his fingers impatiently against the windowsill as they pulled up to Riley’s garage. He reached for the door. “Maybe just a little less goddamned headstrong.”

An uneasy hush fell over the garage when Roman and Soloman stepped through the shadows of the doorway. Something metal hit the concrete floor and an engine being quickly shut off were the only sounds that could be heard throughout the large area. Soloman’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the space. He didn’t see her. She was either in her office or she was hiding out in the bowels of the building where they kept the stolen vehicles. It wasn’t like her to hide.

“Close the doors and get out,” he barked.

The harsh words had every man dropping their work and moving for the exit. As loyal as they were to Riley Bancroft, they valued life too much to cross Soloman Hart for the sake of a job. Within seconds, there was no one left but the two tall, sinister men waiting on the owner to show herself. Silence reigned.

Without turning to face his man, Soloman said, “Go and keep an eye on things outside. They won’t leave her for long. She inspires loyalty in dickless idiots.”

Roman grunted, turned on his heel and slammed out the door. Seconds later, Riley emerged from the depths of the building with a frown on her face. Wendell Pullman was only a few steps behind her. He was scowling in an attempt to cover his fear.

She crossed her arms over breasts chilled by the shadowy interior of the garage. He watched her every movement with a predatory glint. “I thought it might be you causing havoc in my shop,” she said, her voice a husky shiver of apprehension.

“And yet you still chose to run from me,” he gritted out, anger sizzling through his veins. His dick pressed hard against the front of his suit pants. He did nothing to hide his sizeable erection. He’d discarded his suit jacket and tie in the back of Roman’s car already, knowing exactly how he would want Riley once he found her.

She shrugged lightly. “Lock me up like an animal and you better believe I’ll find a way to escape my cage.”

The negligent way she spoke to him, as though his words, his fucking orders, meant nothing to her, made him see red. Worse, she spoke back to him in front of someone. An outsider. That someone was taking a protective step closer to Soloman’s woman.

“Next time I use chains, little girl,” he snarled, stabbing his middle finger at her. “Let’s see if you can turn yourself loose if you're chained to me or my goddamned bed at all times.”

“You’re a fucking lunatic!” she yelled back at him, finally losing her cool and lunging toward him. Wendell caught her arm as if to remind her of exactly who she was freaking out at.

Soloman’s dark gaze zeroed in on Wendell who must have sensed the imminent danger. He dropped his hand as though it were about to be ripped off.

“Get the fuck out. Now.” Soloman’s deep voice held such quiet menace that only the incredibly brave would’ve disobeyed.

Wendell’s feet immediately shuffled toward the exit, but he glanced desperately at Riley as though he wanted to grab hold of her and drag her out with him. He wouldn’t have made it two steps before he died an incredibly quick and gruesome death. She put a soft hand on his arm and gave him a quick, negative shake of her head, urging him to leave quickly.

“Take. Your. Fucking. Hand. Off. Now.” Soloman gritted out with incredible patience that he was not known for. He was navigating new territory with this woman and he didn't enjoy it. A small, dark part of him questioned if he would have been better off just killing her all those weeks ago as he’d originally planned. Of course, he now knew it would have be like cutting out his own heart.

Riley dropped her hand and watched with undisguised longing as her last champion left her alone and unprotected with the most evil man in the city. A man determined to own her until she bowed down and broke beneath him. When the door closed behind Wendell, she turned and faced Soloman, glaring at him with flashing velvet eyes. Her hands were fisted angrily at her sides.

“Come here,” Soloman commanded quietly.

She ignored him, standing her ground.

He raised an eyebrow. “If I have to come over there, I promise little girl, I will put you on your knees and break that mouth in. And I won't be gentle.”

“Fuck you,” she spat, “since when have you been gentle?”

He didn’t give her any more chances. Stalking toward her, he reached out and took her arm in a brutal hold as she tried to stumble away from him. She cried out when he shook her and snarled into her face, “I have been more lenient with you than any other. No more, Riley.”

She brought her hands up, but he shoved them down, heedless of the delicate bones he might be bruising. He took her tank top and bra in one hand and ruthlessly yanked them down below her breasts, stretching the material to accommodate her cleavage. He let go and allowed the underwire and elasticized top to push the gorgeous globes up. She gasped and squirmed in his hold.

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