Page 3 of Hayes
“I’ll be your second,” I sigh.
Titus’s face lights up as he holds his hand out to me, and I shake his hand, sealing my fate.
Hunter walks over before we can discuss anything further. “It’s time for your speech.”
Titus nods and turns toward the stage.
I follow after, already knowing where my place is.
Titus glances to me with a knowing smile, thrilled to have me in the job.
My chest seizes. I hope I can be loyal to him, but I’ll always be loyal to my friends above everything else. He knows that, but he thinks my friendship extends to him.
We walk to the stage, and I follow like a shadow. Even though Gage is now head of security, in charge of keeping the crowd safe, I’m in charge of keeping Titus safe.
Titus begins speaking, and the crowd listens. The room hangs onto his every word. He’s wrong to think he needs a man like me to help him. But now that I’ve accepted the job, I’m not going to argue.
I stare out into the crowd, holding the gaze of each person individually. I try to put them all at ease, working my charm from a distance. But I’m also working on my own mission—to find one woman in particular who holds the secrets to getting my friends our own retribution. I search, not really sure what I’m looking for as I have no idea what she looks like. I only know her name.
My heart stops as my gaze falls on a pair of glistening green eyes. My breath is swept away from the pull of those eyes. Eyes I try to move on from, but her stare yanks me to her like a summons I can’t escape.
I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut and hit over the head with the impact of her look.
I stumble back a step, almost falling off balance, before regaining my composure. I’m sure those watching me think I’ve lost it if I can’t even stand behind Titus without almost falling over.
Smiling for the crowd, I try to keep the facade up.
But my gaze is locked on the woman with the green eyes that penetrate through me like a knife through butter. I notice more about her now—fiery red curls, thick lips, and a glittering dress that matches the shade of her green eyes. I’ve never seen her before. I don’t know who she is. Is she a Retribution King? Married to one? An outsider?
Titus finishes his speech, and I force myself to follow him off the stage, losing my direct line of vision to her.
“What’s wrong? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost,” Titus says.
“Who is that woman?” I ask, pointing to her in the crowd.
“That’s Ruby West.”
My head snaps to him. It can’t be. My lips curl up in a wicked smile. Finally, fate is on my side.
Titus chuckles. “Enjoy your night. Tomorrow your duties start. But tonight is yours to enjoy as you please.”
I nod, snapping my eyes back to Ruby. I know exactly how I plan on enjoying my night.
Chapter 2
Hayes
Ruby turns and walks away, her emerald dress swishing with every step she takes. My eyes fall on the elegant lines of her subtle back muscles and then down to the curve of her hips that sway back and forth. I have to remind myself that I need to study all of her to take my eyes off her ass. I force my gaze to the bounce of her red ringlets of hair that she sweeps to one side as I get flashes of her delicate neck.
Everything about her draws me to her. The way she looks and walks, sure, but her pull on me is so much more than that. It’s the like there’s a glow around her I can’t look away from—I have to follow. Even if she wasn’t my mission, I’d follow her.
I don’t understand this draw to her. I’m a playboy, a womanizer. I’ve bedded more women than I can count. I’m known for bringing women pleasure and not worrying about my own. I’ve never felt like this before with any woman, especially one I haven’t even touched or talked to.
I’m only drawn to her because my instincts are screaming at me that she’s the one who can solve the mystery that took everything from us. And once I get her to talk to me, she’ll go back to being just a woman. At least, that’s what I tell myself as I follow her like she’s cast a spell on me.
She walks through the crowd, talking to no one. Maybe she knows I’m following her, so she’s leading me somewhere private.
But that can’t be. She doesn’t know who I am.
