Page 30 of Dex

I need to talk to Rio first.

Chapter 9

DEX

When I turn up at Rio’s place, he offers me a beer, but I wave it off, needing to have a clear head.I haven’t been able to work, haven’t been able to think since my meeting with the old man.

Now I need to give Rio the news that the woman he wants doesn’t want him.

She wants me.

I still can’t wrap my head around it.Couldn’t she tell I hated her?That she’s the last woman I’d pick even if we were the only two people left on earth?

“You look agitated.”Rio comments, “Missing Lexi that much?”

“I wish it were that simple.”

He looks concerned.“What’s going on, dude?”

“Are you going to make a move on the heiress?”

He looks confused.His dark brown eyes widening, and the corners of his lips turning up into a curious smirk.“She’s gorgeous.Beautiful.Hard to resist.”

“She’s all of those things,” I agree, “but something doesn’t add up.”

“Like what?”

I hesitate.“I don’t know… I just can’t put my finger on it.”

“You don’t think she’s gorgeous?But I get it.She’s not exactly your type.”

“Anyone going into a marriage of convenience for financial reasons, needs to have their head examined.”

“Dude, she has her reasons, I’m sure.And she’s gorgeous.”

“As you keep saying.”I rub a hand over my jaw.

“That woman ishot,” Rio cries.

I shake my head, disagreeing.“She came to the soiree knowing exactly what it was.She was willing to be paraded in front of us like a prize at an auction.”

“The old man told us it was a soiree.Dropped her on us like a surprise.”Rio leans back, studying me.

“A bomb more like.He knew if he’d told us the truth, most of us wouldn’t have turned up.He tricked us.”

“It’s obvious that she’s here to make a match,” Rio muses.“It didn’t work out with Jett.Now it’s one of us.”

“Yeah.And you like her, so why don’t you make a claim?”

Rio shrugs.“I like a bit of fire in my women.She doesn’t have any.”

I stare at him in stunned silence, then, “You just said she was hot!”

“I’m not denying that, but I like the chase.The thrill.And there’s no chase or thrill if she’s already agreed to get married.You know how I like my women, Dex.Feisty and furious.It’s what makes bedtime so much fun.”

“There is a chase and a thrill,” I counter, frustrated.My mind races with the impression of the heiress last night, talking lovingly to her parents, and then later, when I turned up at her hotel room, of her trying to hide with the dress pressed against her.While it’s true that she’s not my type, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to see what she was like behind that dress.

I shake my head.I can’t go there.

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