Page 29 of Undisputed Player
I imagined what it would be like if she actually trusted me. If she looked at me not as a threat, but as someone she could rely on. If she smiled at me the way she smiled when talking about Leo, with genuine warmth instead of polite distance.
If she let me close enough to take care of her the way she clearly took care of everyone else.
The possessiveness was still there, stronger than ever, but it had evolved into something deeper. I wanted to earn her. I wanted to prove that all my money, fame, and charm could be used for something better than collecting conquests.
I wanted to be the man she'd been waiting for, even if she didn't know she was waiting.
Halfway to Jovie’s, I was already formulating plans. Not schemes or manipulations, but genuine strategies for becoming someone Estelle Moore might actually want to know.
Someone she might actually trust.
For the first time in my life, I had a goal that couldn't be achieved through money or fame or raw strength. I had to actually become worthy of what I wanted.
And what I wanted was Estelle Moore's trust, her comfort, her genuine smile instead of the polite mask she wore for the world.
I wanted to be her choice.
Someone who actually deserved a woman like Estelle Moore.
CHAPTER FIVE
Jax
The Bentley's engine purred as I pulled away from Jovie's mansion, having dropped the little menace home safely. My hands gripped the leather steering wheel harder than necessary as I replayed the evening.
Avery's infectious laughter, Jovie's suspicious glance when I'd volunteered for pickup dutyagaintomorrow, and most importantly, the way Estelle had avoided my eyes at dismissal.
She'd looked exhausted. Overworked. Running herself into the ground while the world took and took and took from her without giving anything back.
Mine.
The word pulsed through me like a heartbeat, fierce and undeniable. She didn't know it yet, but every breath she took, every step she made through that goddamn obstacle course she called a life, she was walking toward me.
Toward the safety I could provide, the protection she desperately needed, the love she'd never have to fight for.
Adrian was waiting outside his own colossal home, leaning against a black, beat-up SUV, specifically kept for undercover work with windows tinted to oblivion and plates swapped weekly. He tossed me the keys as I stepped out, his grin sharp beneath the blue LED lights of his yard.
“Going incognito, Lion?" He nodded at the Bentley, its chrome gleaming under the blue lights. "She's really got you slumming it, huh?"
I ignored the jab, shrugging off my tailored Armani jacket and tossing it into the Bentley's backseat like it wasn't worth more than the shitty SUV I was about to spend my night in.
The night air cut through my shirt, warm, and I welcomed the chance to dull the restless heat burning under my skin, the desperate need to see her, to make sure she was safe.
"Just being discreet," I grumbled.
Adrian snorted, kicking the SUV's battered tire with his designer sneaker. "Discreet. Right." His green eyes glittered with mischief as he studied my face, reading the tension there like an open book. "Want me to tag along? Bring some rope and duct tape for your girl?”
The thought of Adrian anywhere near Estelle's neighborhood, much lesskidnappingher, made something violent and possessive roar to life in my chest.
"No." The word came out harsh, sharp. Adrian's grin widened, green eyes dancing with amusement, but he didn't push. He knew better than to test me when it came to her already.
The SUV smelled like bleach and gun oil, the ghost of our previous adventures clinging to the interior like guilty secrets. The floor mats were stained with things I’d rather not identify, and the dashboard was scratched from years of hauling equipment.
But it was anonymous and forgettable, perfect for what I needed tonight.
As Estelle's neighborhood came into view, my jaw clenched hard. It was worse than the background check had indicated, worse than what her security cameras made it look like.
I'd studied those images until I could navigate her streets blindfolded.
