Page 62 of Dirty Little Secrets
But his stare lingers and it runs down my insides like acid.
Wrong move.
“This the new one?” Tomasz asks in Polish, cocking his head. “She looks soft. I thought you liked your women with claws.”
I keep my expression tight not moving an inch. “She doesn’t speak Polish,” I reply in his native tongue, flat and clipped.
His cousin steps in then. Sporting a buzz cut, a thick gold chain, and a gold ring on every finger like he’s trying to convince the world he’s not second-rate muscle.
He walks straight to her and I step in front but Tomasz raises his hand to ward him off. His cousin stops but he’s too close. His cologne is cheap and choking and then his hand brushes her arm. Casual. Possessive. Testing.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” His English is butchered and slow, the way you'd talk to a stripper you didn’t plan on tipping.
Nori shifts away. The tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers curl around her clutch like she’s deciding if it could double as a weapon.
“Becareful,” I warn.
He gives me a cocky smile that causes the animal inside me to rattle in its cage. And then he touches her again. Fingers skating her bare skin.
I’m already moving. I grab his wrist and slam it into the edge of the glass coffee table with a sound like a bat meeting bone. A wet, sharpcrackflies through the air.
He howls. I pull the Glock from my jacket and fire. The bullet punches through his skull, clean and fast. Blood explodes like a burst of ink against the white marble. Nori doesn’t scream. She flinches but her eyes stay locked on mine like she’s anchoring herself to me.
Good girl.
Tomasz is frozen, mouth parted, his cigar sagging of his thick bottom lip.
“You lost ten million in product,” I say, stepping past the body. “You touched what wasn’t yours to touch and now you’ve lost your cousin.”
Three men approach from the back room but I have my gin aimed right at his head. No one breathes.
“I want payment in seventy-two hours,” I continue. “If you’re late, I’ll collect interest in every single person you care about.”
Tomasz nods once. He knows. We both know what happens if he doesn’t pay. I don’t give a shit if someone infiltrated my security program and stole his shipment. I turn, extend a hand to Nori. She doesn’t hesitate and slides her sweaty palm in mine.
In the elevator, her perfume is subtle and warm, but I can still smell that bastard’s cologne on her skin. She doesn’t speak until the gold-plated doors seal behind us.
“You didn’t even flinch,” she murmurs, watching the numbers count down.
“I don’t flinch.”
Her voice is quieter now. “Was it because of me? Or was that the plan?”
I turn my head and meet her brown eyes. They are dark, steady, and wide with something between fear and need.
Her breath catches when I say it.
“Yes. It was because of you.”
I should’ve said it weeks ago. Maybe when she walked into my office in that skirt and called mesirlike she didn’t know I already knew how her voice sounded when she moaned. But I kept my mouth shut. Because if I was wrong... it meant I wanted her too much.
The truth hangs between us like a heavy ball and chain. A truth I wasn’t sure I could say aloud again. But it’s out now, bleeding into the quiet hum of the descending elevator, pulsing louder than the city below.
She swallows hard. I see her throat move, her lips part, but nothing comes out. Her fingers twist the strap of her clutch until her knuckles pale, but she doesn't look away.
She should back away. Run. But she doesn’t.
And neither do I.
