Page 28 of Power

I was the opposite. I was always prompt to meetings, if not early. I hated waiting on him, and with how much rage was bubbling in me right now, I wasn’t too shy to kick his ass to teach him a lesson.

“Relax. I’m here now,” he shot back. He took the seat across from me, facing my desk.

“Our business is up in smoke and you’re waltzing in here like it’s no big deal.” I was annoyed and ready to strike at anyone in my line of fire. It was probably a good thing we were here instead of at the office, where I’d probably have lashed out at innocent employees.

“Shut the fuck up. You know I care. Why else would I be here now?” he said in an attempt to placate me in his immature, brotherly way. “I was with your girlfriend at the office.”

I knew who he was talking about. My curiosity was piqued; I felt a pang of desire whenever I heard anyone refer to her at the office. However, when my brother mentioned her, it was usually to get a rise out of me, and I never let him down. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

His eyebrow raised with skepticism. “You sure about that? You seem to be overly sensitive when it comes to her.”

“She’s vital to locating Tarun. That’s all. It’s not like I can depend on you to do it on your own.” I knew it was a low blow, but he had pushed a button, and I was not in the mood to be harassed.

“I don’t know why you won’t just admit that you care about her. You damn near ripped apart her office when you saw me talking to her on her first day.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, brushing him off.

“I get it, man,” he continued. “She’s beautiful, smart, and has a sweet personality.”

“Sweet? Since when do you use the word ‘sweet’?” I mocked.

“You know what I mean. She’s innocent. I get the appeal. Hell, if you weren’t with her, I’d try to hit it.” He leaned back in his chair, flashing his cheesiest lover-boy smile.

I growled at his statement. I didn’tdogirlfriends, but she was mine to be whatever I wanted her to be until I was done. “Drop it,” I snarled.

“Fine. But it speaks volumes, how worked up you are right now. I’ve never seen you this way over a woman. Not even Salena.”

I knew he’d bring Salena up. She was the daughter of a former distributor. Our fathers had made the arrangement for our marriage. I never wanted to get married, but I didn’t have a say in the matter, until my father passed away. Breaking the contract that our fathers had set in place had angered Salena’s father and caused him to place his loyalties with Tarun. We fell out of contact after I broke things off.

I sighed in resignation. “Look, we need her if we want to take Tarun down before he destroys our business any further.”

“You don’t love her, do you?” he pressed, disregarding my denial.

“What?!” I nearly fell out of my chair. He had to be joking. I didn’t dolove.I had always admired my parents’ marriage. They had had an arranged marriage but had developed feelings for each other as the years had carried on. The fact that they had loved each other so much, right up to their dying days, had shaped my view of marriage as something that was to be taken seriously.

I didn’t love Salena when we were engaged, but I thought it would come with time. I soon found out I wasn’t made for that type of commitment. I was the biggest criminal in North America and liked to fuck whenever and wherever I wanted. I had too much respect for the sanctity of marriage to tarnish it with my lifestyle. If I were ever to settle down, I would respect my significant other too much to put her through what my mother had endured while she was married to my father. His lifestyle had killed her. She hadn’t deserved the death she had received.

I lusted after Amelia. She had a way of disarming me. It was why I had shared my past with her, and for her to understand why I needed her help with tracking Tarun. I had never told another woman about how my parents had died and my need for revenge, but I had felt that it was necessary to share my past to get her invested in our cause.

I had thought that if I fucked her once, I’d have my fill and get my need out of my system. But instead, I wanted more. I had never tasted pussy like hers before. So sweet and smooth. Thoughts of her coming around my dick and screaming my name distracted me at the office. I was hard anytime I thought of her. I couldn’t resist her lips when I saw her during the day.

But I refused to ever be that man who settled down with one woman. I had had that arrangement once before, and I had sworn I would never do it again. I planned to continue my life in the underworld until the day I left this Earth. I would fuck around as much as I wanted. I would never do that behind a girlfriend or wife’s back. I wasn’t a cheater, and I refused to sneak around behind my woman’s back to get pussy.

So, no, I would neverloveAmelia.

Seeing my shock, Jai replied, “Okay, okay. I see from your reaction that I’ve hit a nerve. You should probably let her know that you don’t love her, if it’s really true.”

“Why?” I was confused.

“When I was with her, I mentioned that stripper you were cozying up to last week and she freaked out. She thought I didn’t see, but she was about to cry when I told her.”

“What the fuck, Jai?” This was worse than I had anticipated. I hadn’t fucked Tara, but Amelia probably assumed I had because of my brother’s big mouth. We had never discussed seeing each other exclusively. I had thought it was understood that this was just a casual thing, but I must have misled her by treating her tenderly and letting her sleep over after our first night together. Now, I felt like I had to explain myself to Amelia. This was exactly why I didn’t want a monogamous relationship. The frustration was giving me a migraine.

“How would I know she’d react that way? I didn’t think she was in love with you or anything.”

“Do me a favor. Stay out of it from now on. And stop running your mouth with her. Her only role that concerns you is ‘employee,’ nothing else.”

“Yes,bhaiya.”Big brother. He used to call me that when we were younger out of respect. Now, he used it whenever he felt like I was lecturing him too much.

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