Page 9 of Unhinged Cravings
“I don’t joke,” he grumbled.
“Maybe that’s your problem.” I dug my elbow into his back and rested my chin on my hand, watching the hall go by and the smirk on the guard’s face. I stuck my tongue out at him, which only made the smirk grow.
“I didn’t know I had a problem.”
I snorted. “I don’t even know you and I can already name five.”
We passed through a wide, open living room with floor to ceiling windows that looked out at the ocean. I couldn't stop my inhale nor my stunned, “Where are we?”
“Seagate,” he replied, not stopping.
Seagate. My elbow slipped, and my chin crashed into his back. Oh God. If we were in Seagate… I swallowed down the terror that I had just been smart mouthing a man deadlier than Greyson Tides. My uncle had explained the territories to me over dinner with Riley and Greyson. I’d had an abbreviated version of it but the one thing they stressed was the reason they were bringing me into the know and placing a guard with me twenty-four seven. I was Riley’s friend, and that made me a target. No one had known Den was my uncle. He rarely visited, only called and ensured I had everything I needed. But Riley and I spent time together, and that made me a target.
With my introduction to the territories came the reason extra security was necessary, the reason Riley had run back to Treemont months before and why they had moved the wedding up. The BadOmen. A family worse than any other. One who infiltrated other families and took them down until they owned the entire province of Seagate. And their leader was a man who showed no mercy. Drugs, human trafficking, extortion, the list went on. I knew Greyson and my uncle weren’t clean, that Riley’s brother wasn’t clean. I understood enough to know criminal activities funded their lives, but somehow this man’s rap sheet made their doings look like charity work. It was the human trafficking that struck me the hardest and from Greyson’s clenched hands that night, it was one of his deal breakers. Riley had explained to me that he and her brother had a no harm to women or children policy. A line they would never cross.
The man now carrying me through his mansion had no such line.
He dropped me into a chair, and I scrambled to get away. Catching me, he slammed me back into it.
“As mouthy as you were earlier, I expected you to give me your list of my problems,” he said, walking to the other side of the table.
I went to rise, and he threw me a look that scalded me with the command to stay seated. The terror I had tried to hide the night before was now twofold, and I kept my hands in my lap to hide their shake.
“Awfully quiet now, Ava.” My name fell from his mouth with a seduction that slinked under my skin.
Taking a moment to look at him, I found barely any similarities to Greyson. They had the same striking blue eyes, but this man had ebony hair with thick waves, and his features were different, sharper in the jawline with a squarer chin. His body was larger, with muscles that didn’t like the fit of his shirt. I couldn't help but admit that I liked it because it left nothing to the imagination. This man was like a walking god.
One who kills people and kidnaps and sells innocent women, Ireminded myself, pushing away the nervous thought that he could do the same to me.
“You’re the head of the Bad Omen.” My voice came out as a squeak, but at least it worked.
He picked up a knife and buttered a piece of wheat toast.
“Just figured that out?”
“What’s your name?” This time my voice was steadier.
He sat back and took a bite of his toast. The thought that I’d never seen a man take a sexier bite of bread flitted through my mind and I frowned, wishing we were back in the dark foyer where I couldn’t see how good looking he was.
Killer, Ava.
A terse, simple answer. “Cade.”
“Cade Tides?” I tipped my head, trying to understand why that didn’t sound right.
His laugh was a deep baritone. “I don’t use that surname, and Cade is my middle name. My parents liked posh things and my name was one of them.”
“And what was that?”
“Emerson.” As quick as he said it, his expression turned like he hadn’t expected to be so honest.
“Emerson Tides? Now that has a ring to it.” I picked my fork up and took a bite of the scrambled eggs on my plate, trying not to roll my eyes back in my head and moan. They were so much better than the ones I made.
“Don’t call me that or I’ll cut your tongue out.”
I chomped down and bit my lip so hard it drew blood. His brow arched when I jerked back at the flare of pain.
“Would you really?” I asked, dabbing my mouth with a napkin and hiding the blood. “Aren’t I too valuable for you to kill?”
