Page 32 of Collide

She raised an eyebrow in question. “Go on.”

“If you agree, you and Angel will live here with me. She will be caredfor by my staff and you will get to see her only when I permit.” I didn’t want to stop Riley from spending time with her sister, but I was a selfish cunt and I wanted her attention on me as often as possible.

Her nostrils flared in anger, and once again, before she had theopportunity to speak, I silenced her with a raised hand.

“As I’ve already said, you will do whatever it is I ask of you, wheneverI ask of you without any question or hesitation. You will give up your job in that godforsaken club and you will not leave this place without my permission or without one of my men assigned to you. If you agree, you and Angel will have everything taken care of. You will never need to worry about money or where your next meal is coming from again.”

She didn’t blink once during my speech, but I caught the tick in herjaw that told me she was struggling to keep her anger in check. Anger, I suspected at the fact she wanted to accept the deal butwas not happy with the terms.

“And how long will I have to work for you?” she gritted outthrough clenched teeth. I wanted to say indefinitely but if my plan worked, by the time her ‘contract’ with me was up, she’d be firmly by my side, and in my bed, and she wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“Six months.”

Six measly months to make her mine. I was certain I would need lessthan a month before I had her falling for my charms.

Did that make me a cocky prick?

Absolutely.

Did I give a shit?

Not in the slightest.

The cogs continued turning in her mind, weighing up the pros andcons of my offer. She knew it was a life changing opportunity but there was something holding her back, something stopping her from jumping in head first like I’d hoped she would.

“What’s stopping you, Riley? What’s stopping you from giving yoursister the world?” It was a cheap shot, and we both knew it.

Her gaze hardened as she stared at me. “I don’t trust you. You wantme to do whatever you ask of me, whenever you ask of me? I can’t agree with that. For all I know, you could order me to put a bullet through some unsuspecting person’s head. I’m not like you, Kai, I’m not a murderer.”

It would have been foolish of me to expect her trust straight away,trust always took time to build and if I was honest, I had only ever trusted Theo implicitly.

The rest of my men, nope.

Don’t get me wrong, I trusted Danny, Miles, and Hendrix but evenwith them, I didn’t keep them in the knowledge of every element of my business.

Could I learn to trust Riley to the same degree I had trusted Theo? Only time would tell.

“Riley, you will come to learn I am a man of my word. No matterthe consequences. I give you my word, I won’t order you to kill anyone,” I said reassuringly because if that was all it took for her to agree to the deal, it was an easy win for me.

Her eyes narrowed at me and silence encased us for severalseconds while I waited for her to tell me the next thing she wouldn’t do.

But it never came.

“Can you promise me Angel will be safe here?” she askedquietly.

“You have my word.”

She looked over her shoulder once more at the sleeping form of hersister and as she stared, she let out a resigned sigh, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

Turning back to face me, she bravely held my eyes as she softlyspoke her next words, resignation heavy in her tone.

“In that case, I agree to your terms.”

It occurred to me then that Riley had ample opportunity to tell me Icouldn’t put my hands on her if I demanded to. That I couldn’t order her to her knees in the middle of Hollows Bay and tell her to suck my dick until I came down her throat.

But she hadn’t.

A mistake on her part?

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