Page 19 of Ruthless Mr. Ricco
“I don’t think Ms.Simons could waste space if she tried,” he mumbles.
My hackles rise at the appreciation in his tone even as his features twist in dislike.
“I’m sorry for questioning your judgment, Mr.Ricco, and thank you for clarifying.I have both items you requested yesterday, if you’d like to look them over now,” he says, referencing the background check on Brook and the security footage from the restaurant.
“Put them in my briefcase and I’ll review them tonight,” I reply.
He accepts the instructions with his normal stoicism, so I nod and stalk back down the hall to the meeting room.Brook halts me at the door.
“Your coffee, Mr.Ricco,” she says.
I take the disposable travel mug, hiss, and set it down before it scalds my hand.Despite the insulated sleeve, my fingers sting from the heat.
I grab Brook’s wrist and yank her hand toward my face to check her digits.A ring of bright pink flesh circles her palm where she held the bottom of the cup.
She tugs at her arm, but I tighten my grip and lift my glare to her face.
“You’re no use to me if you’re hurt.Plus, we can’t have you running and crying to Daddy, can we?Come with me for ointment,” I demand.
When I pull her after me, she digs in her heels and yanks her wrist out of my grasp with a surprising twist.I nearly clip the doorframe with my shoulder as I turn to glare at her.
“I don’t need ointment.I’m fine,” she says.
Itskand reach for her hand.She pivots and steps away.The rapid beat of her heart pulses in the slender column of her throat and fury shines in her eyes.
“I’m not a child or a doll you can pull around as you please.I am an adult and a woman, so—”
“I amveryaware of what you are, Ms.Simons,” I interrupt in a voice rough with lust and frustration.
Her pupils shrink.She lifts her chin.
“I am your employee,” she says.
I lift a brow.She squints.
“You should treat me the same way you do Mr.Brunswick,” she demands.
I scoff and stalk toward her.She takes a step backward for each step I take forward.
“Mr.Brunswick hasn’t climbed into my lap and taken advantage of me.”She bumps her hip against the table but angles her body and continues to match my strides.“He’ll never sink his sharp little teeth into my flesh or drag his claws down my chest.Never lick my throat.Never whimper and writhe against me.”
Her heel catches on the edge of a bean bag.She loses her balance and tips backward.I lunge forward and catch her.She fits so perfectly in my arms as I rise and plaster her front against mine.
“You’ll never be just an employee, Brook.You’re mine.All mine.”
I don’t know where the words come from, but I refuse to rescind them once they pass my lips.Her reaction is too enticing.She gasps and blinks up at me in mute shock.The need pulsing in my cock echoes in her eyes.I wrap my long fingers around her nape.She shivers.A needy flush colors her cheeks.Her parted lips are too much of a temptation.I dip my head.
She turns her face away and pushes against my sides.
“Stop.Let me go,” she hisses.
I tighten my hand on her nape before setting her on her feet and shifting away.I wait until she has her balance before I release her hip.She steps back and fixes her shirt before lifting frigid brown eyes to mine.
“I am not yours, and I never will be, Mr.Ricco,” she says.
“Whatever you say,Ms.Simons,” I say, emphasizing her new legal name while reminding her of her last words before she signed her life away to me.
Delight arrows down my spine as anger clouds her expression.
