Page 9 of Forbidden Daddy
Roman’s thumb swept across my lower lip, and I had to bite back a whimper.
"Fix your hair," he said, stepping back. "And next time you have something to say to me, Ms. James, I suggest you say it to my face."
He returned to his desk as if nothing had happened, leaving me standing and trying to piece together what was left of my composure. But I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands weren’t quite steady as he reached for his coffee.
This had affected him just as much as it had affected me.
I used the reflection in the dark window to fix my appearance as best I could, my mind racing. Everything had changed in the span of twenty minutes. The careful professional distance we’d maintained was gone, replaced by something raw and hungry and completely terrifying.
"Will that be all, Mr. Creed?" I asked, proud of how steady my voice sounded.
He didn’t look up from the papers on his desk, but I saw the corner of his mouth curve upward.
"For now," he said. "But Cassie? Next time, don’t make me wait so long for an answer."
I slipped out of his office on unsteady legs, my body still humming with the aftermath of what we’d done. The hallway felt too bright, too normal after the dark intensity of Roman’s office.
As I walked back to my desk, one thought echoed in my mind: I was completely and utterly screwed.
And God help me, I couldn’t wait to do it again.
4
ROMAN
Isat behind my desk, jaw clenched, every muscle in my body wound tight as a fucking wire. The taste of Cassie still lingered on my lips, her scent still clinging to my clothes. My cock was still hard, pressed uncomfortably against my zipper, demanding more of what we’d just shared on this very desk.
Fuck.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, trying to clear my head. What the hell had I just done? I’d taken my assistant—my employee—and claimed her like some kind of goddamn animal. And the worst part? I wanted to do it again. I wanted to march out there right now, drag her back in here, and fuck her all over again.
The rational part of my brain knew this was a mistake. A massive, career-ending, lawsuit-waiting-to-happen mistake. But the primal part—the part that had been circling her like a predator for months—was satisfied in a way I hadn’t felt in years.
She was mine now. I’d marked her, claimed her, and made her understand exactly who was in control. The way she’d moanedmy name, the way her body had responded to mine—there was no going back from that.
I stood and walked to the bar cart in the corner of my office, pouring myself three fingers of Jameson. The whiskey burned going down, but it did nothing to cool the fire still raging in my veins. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city sprawled out below me—my city, my territory, my fucking kingdom.
But kingdoms required loyalty. And loyalty was something I was running dangerously short of these days.
My father’s voice echoed in my memory, as clear as if he were standing in the room with me."Loyalty is leverage, son. Marriage is control. Never forget that the right woman can secure an empire, but the wrong one can destroy it."
He’d been talking about my mother when he said that. The woman who’d tried to have him killed when I was twelve. The woman who’d sold out our family to a rival faction for the promise of a new life and a bank account in the Caymans. She’d failed, obviously. My father hadn’t built his empire by being careless, but the betrayal had shaped everything that came after.
It had shaped me.
Trust was a luxury I couldn’t afford. Not when wolves were circling, waiting for any sign of weakness. And lately, there had been too many signs. Shipments going missing. Deals falling through at the last minute. Information leaking to law enforcement and rival families. Someone inside my organization was feeding intelligence to my enemies, and I had no fucking idea who.
My phone buzzed on the desk. Declan’s name flashed on the screen.
I answered on the second ring. "What is it?"
"We need to talk." Declan’s voice was tight, controlled. My consigliere wasn’t a man who spooked easily, which meant whatever news he had was bad.
"I’m listening."
"Not over the phone. Can you meet me at the warehouse in an hour?"
I glanced at the security monitor showing Cassie at her desk outside my office. She was smoothing down her skirt, her cheeks still flushed from our encounter. The sight of her sent another bolt of heat straight to my cock.
