Page 17 of Savage Temptation

How could I have forgotten I was Midas? Only I didn’t turn everything I touched into gold. I petrified it into fragile pillars of salt that crumbled under the pressure of an ill-fated man like me. I was cursed and couldn’t force that fate upon anyone else.

Lately, everything I touched turned to ashes, and I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing that goddess burn because of me.

Still, my thirst needed quenching, even if it only came from a distance.

“I’ll be there. Send me her location,” I insisted.

“Liam…” Jimmy’s voice revealed his reticence, but I couldn’t give a fuck about what he thought.

“Just pin the fucking location. I’ll be at Dea Tacita later.” I hung up the phone, holding it in an iron grip as I waited for her exact address.

I’d been fighting against the eagerness I felt for Monday to get here quickly. Admitting AD had just become all that more alluring with my father’s latest recruitment was almost like swallowing razor blades and acid. But now that I wouldn’t be there, it was clear as day that I had been looking forward to tomorrow.

I would be missing her first day at AD, and waiting until Tuesday to see her again was just too much.

I wanted to see what her reaction would be following the crazy shit that happened in that elevator.

“Oh, and Son, keep your hands off her.” My father’s words rang in my mind like a siren as I drove towards the address Jimmy had sent me. All it sounded like to me was a dare. But this thing I apparently had for her was more than the need to defy him.

There was more to her, and I needed to find out what and why I was being pulled in her direction.

I sat in my car in front of the worn-down apartment building, just waiting. It was a little three-story building, planted right next to a laundromat.

I didn’t like the idea of her living here. I knew this part of town and it just wasn’t suited for someone like her. She needed to move and she needed to do it fast.

I kept waiting, counting the brown bricks that made up the façade, inspecting every window for a sign of which was hers. There was little to no activity and time went by without Jamie showing her face.

As I counted down the minutes and hours, rationality slowly managed to kick my emotions into a corner. I was finally talking some sense into myself. How fucked up was it that I wanted to see her so badly that I drove across town just to get a glimpse?

She was nothing but a stranger. What was alluring was the idea of her. Something I had made her up to be in my mind. Nothing a good fuck with a hot piece of ass wouldn’t change.

Because I don’t run after women. She wouldn’t change that.

It was time to leave. Disappointment lined my gut for not seeing her, and damn me if it wasn’t the first time a woman made me feel that way.

I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one little bit.

Shit. I need to leave before I fuck up further.

I pulled away from the curb with tire-squealing force, distraught and uneasy about leaving her here alone. I needed to do something about it, so I texted Jimmy again.

Me: I need a shadow up in Tremont, twenty-four seven. Find out who her landlord is and change the lock on her door. I want a spare. We’ll find a way to get her out of this place, but before then, just get a guy here ASAP.

Jimmy: Are you sure this is a wise thing to do?

Me: You’re right. Buy the fucking building. Just get it done and make sure she doesn’t see him. I’m on my way to Dea Tacita now, he better be here within the hour.

Chapter 6

Jamie

I wasn’t ready to face the consequences of my hot-headed actions. That was the same as saying I wasn’t ready to face Liam. What version of him would I get today?

It was Monday morning, the day I’d been dreading to the point of feeling sick.

I looked at myself in the mirror again before leaving the house. I chose discretion for my outfit today. Maybe blending in and flying under the radar would help me survive the wrath of the Greek God I now worked for. Simple, light makeup and high heels gave me a professional glow, but other than that, I was covered in bland black and white. Camo wouldn’t work as well as what I had on. Right?

I’d just keep out of his way, try not to mess anything up and take the freaking stairs this time.

---