Page 2 of Proposition 2

2. Leo

Istill wasn’t sure how to feel about Cadence’s denial. She didn’t even try to come up with an excuse. Just a single “No.”

Nobody told me no.

I’d bided my time, waiting for her to settle back into the same routine. My tech guy kept tabs on her account, so I knew the extra money from the auction disappeared within the first week, and she was still in debt.

A lot of it.

I waited until I knew she’d be feeling the pinch again before contacting her. The plan I’d created would give us what we both wanted, but I hadn’t expected her to refuse to even hear it.

She wasn’t going to like it, but I’d been sure she would cave to reason once she heard me out. Having all her debt wiped clean should be worth just about anything I asked her to do.

I put my phone down as the club manager came into my office. No matter how long I stared at her message, it wasn’t going to change. Cadence hadn’t shown up at the time I told her to the night before, and her phone had gone straight to voicemail when I called. I was going to have to come up with a better idea to get her attention.

I went over the usual business details with my manager before he left to return to the floor. It was a typical busy Friday night, and he was the one that had to deal with the headache if any issues cropped up.

If my father had taught me one thing, it was delegation. Hire people to do what you want done, then stay out of the way while they do it. Saved me a lot of pointless irritations, but left me with little to keep my mind occupied when I was trying to ignore the one irritant I couldn’t handle that way.

She told me no!

Looking at the clock, I let out a huff. It was ten and the club was barely getting into the swing of things, but Cadence would be cleaning up and getting ready to go home. I was tempted to call her again and demand she come to the club, but I had a feeling that call would be ignored as well.

Making a decision, I pushed back from the desk and stood. I wasn’t going to give her the chance to turn off her phone so I couldn’t reach her.

No, I was going to see if she could deny me in person. It was one thing to type a message and turn off your phone, but it was much different when you had to look a person in their face and deny them.

That was another thing I’d learned from my father. Serious business was always done in person where you could read the person’s body language. It was easy to tell who was hiding something when you stared them in the eye.

If she didn’t feel the pull between us, it would be better for me to leave things as they were, but I wasn’t going to accept that until I’d seen it for myself.

Buttoning my jacket, I strode from the office, telling my assistant to call me only for an emergency. It rarely happened, but there were times when issues popped up that I had to handle myself. My men knew what to watch for.

Climbing into my car, I peeled out toward the crusty diner Cadence worked at. It was across the city from me, and I’d have to hurry to catch her before she left for home.

Unfortunately, Friday night in the city was busier than you’d think. People driving into the livelier districts looking for a distraction, along with the pedestrians bar hopping, slowed traffic. The route I could typically cover in twenty minutes took closer to forty. My stomach was already sinking before I drove within sight of the diner.

Empty.

The lights were out and not a single car waited in the parking lot. I’d already missed her.

My hand hit the steering wheel in frustration, and my cock echoed the throb of pain. Just the thought of seeing her had me hard, and I clenched my teeth to stop the string of curses I wanted to let loose at not making it in time.

Turning the wheel, I headed in the direction of her house. There was no way I’d go up to her door and disturb her, but I couldn’t help the impulse to see if I could at least catch a glimpse of her.

It wouldn’t be the first time I drove by to be sure all was well. I usually had one of my people keeping tabs on her, but I’d go by one of her workplaces or her house a few times a week to assure myself.

I realized I was slightly obsessed and technically stalking her, and I accepted it. Cadence wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met, and something about her lured me in and left me with no choice.

I rationalized it by telling myself I was making sure she was safe. Her brother had been jumped by the Walkers after all, they could have traced him back to her house. If they thought he had access to more product, they might come looking for him and run into her.

Highly unlikely, but still a possibility.

They were more likely to come after Cadence if they realized I had an interest in her, but it was too hard to stay away. I’d told her we weren’t through, and I meant it.

Every sweet, innocent, hardworking aspect of her made me want to break her down and corrupt her. To make her as filthy as I was.

I tried to fight it, but it was hard to resist the temptation. The only thing holding me back was that if I succeeded, she’d be no different than the rest of the women I knew.

Tarnished.

Her glow was what attracted me, and it was the part of her I had to protect. Especially from myself.

Turning onto the long stretch of backroad that led to her neighborhood, my headlights flashed over a car pulled to the side of the road. The lights were off, and the interior was dark, but movement caught my eye. My lips stretched into a feral grin as I pulled to a stop behind it.

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