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Swallowing the lump of colorful words collecting on the back of his tongue, Toth lowered his hand to the desk. “I’m sorry. Really. Our company can’t get involved.”
A beat passed. “You and I will do this privately then. Nothing on the books.”
Cold sweat trickled between Toth’s shoulder blades. Goosebumps sprung up under the hair on his body.
One word screamed like a siren in his head:Run!
“Look, Mr. Holmes. I don’t blame you for wanting distance from Sinners Cartel. You’re not the first business to turn me away.” Danny’s voice grew soft. The man suddenly seemed to have aged, as if he’d lived a thousand years of pain. “Savannah’s all I care about. If you heard the threats—” His voice broke. The older man cleared his throat.
“You do me this favor and I promise you’ll never owe any debt to a Sinner. After this week is over, you won’t hear from me again. Just give me seven days to make sure no one can touch her.” Emotion was thick in his words, tugging at Toth’s resolve.
He tapped his fingers on his desk like a woodpecker on speed. He lifted his gaze to his closed office door and his gut clenched. He had no reason to trust Danny. No reason to believe he’d keep his word and Toth would escape this job without the expectation of more contracts. It could be a ploy. Just a way to acquire another business and crush everything Toth had ever worked for. He could even end up in prison, or killed.
But if Danny was telling the truth...
If someone threatened Savannah and succeeded in harming her...
Christ.
Savannah’s delicious ass aside, he couldn’t live with that guilt. Even if it were someone else, another woman, he’d have to do whatever he could to protect them.
“Fine. One week.”
“Good,” Danny said, with delight. “And Toth? Don’t tell her. Let me handle Savannah.”
“All right.” He disconnected.
Balling his hand around the phone, he rested his fist on his chin. All he had to do was survive one week with the hottest woman alive and keep his hands to himself. He could do it.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“C’min.”
The wood opened and Savannah cocked her hip in the doorway, a sly smile on her plump lips. “Well?”
Toth clenched his jaw and held out the phone. “Done.”
She sashayed the distance between them and accepted the device. Her dainty fingers brushed over his knuckles. Just the touch of her cool skin made his cock twitch.
With her other hand, she toyed with the phone’s stubby antenna. “Did you say no?” There was a twinkle in her green eyes, but some of the smugness had vanished.
“I accepted. It’s a short gig. One week of hell. I’ve endured worse.” He kept his face neutral. Wait until she found out that his idea of hell was babysitting her.
Amusement lit her face. “Well, I hope it’s not too painful for you. See you around.” She paused at the door and looked back over her shoulder, giving him a tantalizing view of both her pretty face and her mouth-watering ass. “Smart move, Holmes.” She exited his office, closing the door behind her.
She was wrong.
He’d just made the biggest mistake of his life.
CHAPTER 2
“Lachlan.” The namerolled off her tongue with a hiss as Savannah shoved her way around her brother, who was blocking the bedroom door in her apartment.
He had no right to be here and his presence was a glaring warning of what her father had sent him for. She entered the cream-colored space—her space—but its usual peaceful ambience was tainted.
Two suitcases lay open on the bed.
Her stomach dropped, but she kept her gaze off Dominic, her father’s manager and favorite henchman, standing with his arms crossed in the center of her room.