Page 61

OPHELIA

“ A lessandro, I believe you met my newest employee.” James is at my right, looking down at me from a respectable distance. “Ophelia Louise Monroe.”

My full name. How Topher referred to me on that auction stage a million years ago.

The head of the Cosa Nostra’s brown eyes are huge as the realization sets in. It takes him a couple of minutes to pick his jaw up off the floor.

So much so that the bodyguards who sit on either side of him reach for their weapons, sensing danger. Their stares are trained on James and me, along with the two security men the firm has for these types of occasions.

I’m far less surprised to find the older man in one of Hawthorne Morgan’s—soon-to-be just Hawthorne—conference rooms. James prepared me for this last night, right before we went to bed.

Being railed against his desk earlier didn’t wipe out my memory. Nor did getting pampered by a hairstylist and a makeup artist an hour later.

I remember everything he tells me. He scheduled this meeting on purpose, my sneaky man. So that I’d be here. So that the man who’d been invested in buying me would get the message that I was off-limits.

I’m James’s.

Forever.

Click-clack.

His bodyguards load their guns.

The firm’s security does the same.

Alessandro huffs a laugh, patting their shoulders. “Stand down. I’m okay. Confused, but otherwise okay.”

He’s amused.

I’m less so. Memories of that terrifying night have bile rising in my throat. The hopelessness. Worrying about Baylor. About my chances of survival once James disappeared. The humiliation.

Nothing amusing about any of it.

“So.” Alessandro pushes his chair back so he can stand up, smoothing over his dark suit.

James senses my unease. Has to. That’s why he takes a half-step forward. Nothing major. Definitely not noticeable. Just enough to shield me from the world without being overbearing.

After all, he’s been training me for a reason. To be able to stand on my own two feet. With him, though, I’ll never be alone. Ever.

“Miss Monroe.” The mobster outstretches his hand. James gives me the briefest nod, telling me not to worry. So I don’t. I shake Alessandro’s hand. “Nice to meet you again.”

“Thank you.” I push out the bad thoughts, concentrating on James’s cum dripping out of my pussy, soaking my tights. “James tells me you weren’t disappointed for long.”

“Indeed.” His satisfied smirk widens before Alessandro lets go of my hand.

James did him a favor. It’s another lesson my man has taught me. Threatening people will only get us so far. If they hate us, they will find a way to retaliate against us.

We all take our seats at the table. I don’t miss how hot James is when he undoes the two buttons of his suit jacket with his big, strong hands.

“It’s usually Oliver handling the girls’ side of your business. While I’m pleasantly surprised to learn it was you who was the anonymous buyer who sent me my consolation prize, I can’t help but wonder.” His eyes go to James. “Where is he? His assistant said he was out for the day.”

“He took a day off.” James looks almost bored. Like Alessandro isn’t asking about the man we killed last night.

He’s mastered the art of keeping a straight face.

Just like he’s perfected the art of being a cruel, calculating bastard.

When he was done fucking me in his office this morning, he put his mouth to my ear and told me about his plans for baiting Topher. Tonight, he’ll be leaving the doors to his home unlocked, counting on his son’s short temper to try to break into our home.

Giving us the perfect excuse to kill him and hopefully Camden, if he joins him.

It’s an open-and-shut case of self-defense; that’s what this trap is.

And just in case things go haywire, I have a backup plan of my own. A secret.

“Good for him.” Alessandro nods, his gaze no longer creepy. I won’t ever trust this man, but at least he keeps his pervy eyes to himself. “He’s been working himself to the bone. A week off wasn’t enough for him.”

“About that.” Watching James at work is thrilling.

The power he exudes when it’s just the two of us is different from what I’m seeing now.

This aura surrounding him. How he commands a room. Even one of the strongest criminals in New York listens to him with rapt attention. With respect.

“Yes?”

“As of today, our other business is officially closed.”

A decision James and I reached this afternoon. We haven’t thought about what to do with the law firm yet. The auction house will no longer exist, though. Neither James nor I are interested in running it.

Too many bad memories.

Plus, we won’t miss the money. We’re inheriting Oliver and Camden’s estate by default, since their lineage will come to an end soon. As per the contract between the two families, of course. We’re already set for life. Their wealth will ensure that our entire bloodline is taken care of.

And as for the leverage the auction house has provided him? We still have plenty of secrets in James’s safe.

“Oh? We’re talking about that?” Eyebrows scrunched, Alessandro leans his elbows on the conference table. “And here I thought you called me here to discuss our retainer fees.”

The ones they renegotiate every five years.

“Those won’t change for another five years. We, at Hawthorne Morgan, want to keep you satisfied.” That is if we stay here that long.

Alessandro cuts his gaze to me.

James clears his throat, leaning forward and demanding his attention. Sending him a don’t even think about it look. “ The retainer fees , Alessandro. Consider it compensation for the inconvenience caused by shutting down our other business.”

“You could raise your fees, no problem there.” His eyes are calculating. He licks his lips. “Keep me satisfied by selling me the auction house.”

“No.”

That was another aspect we discussed. We trust no one to keep the women safe like James and Oliver have. We went as far as to promise the employees that they’ll stay on our payroll as long as they don’t cross over to a competing business.

This way, they won’t try to convince the women that the other place is safe when it isn’t.

There aren’t too many employees there anyway. Paying them a salary for basically doing nothing is sustainable.

“You haven’t heard my offer.”

“No, and that’s final.” James’s firm refusal sends chills up my spine. His authoritative, low, and husky voice. It’s addictive. “We won’t be selling it to anyone else. Consider it off the table.”

“What about your son? And Oliver? Don’t they have a say in this?”

“Oliver and I have come to this decision together.”

I press my lips together. Otherwise, I’d burst out laughing.

“Can’t blame a man for trying.” Alessandro lifts his hands in surrender. His laugh is short and polite.

“Good.”

With that out of the way, he asks, “So, our new contract, where do I sign?”

James pushes the folder Andrea placed here earlier toward him.

Alessandro takes out an expensive pen from his jacket and signs, and James reaches for me under the table. He squeezes my thigh once.

I know what that squeeze means.

Good girl.

I’m his good girl.

A hand on my mouth startles me awake. My eyes snap open into the dark room. Our bedroom.

The coldest blue eyes stare at me.

James. He’s lying on top of me. His free hand is cupping my cheek. He’s leaning on his forearm, a human shield around my body.

Shh , he mouths. This isn’t his regular shh before he shoves his cock into me. He doesn’t add take it like a good girl .

We have company.

The longer the silence stretches between us, the more aware I become of it. Of the sounds in our home.

Soft rain patters against the windows.

And heavy footsteps echo from the main floor.

I curl my fingers around James’s wrist, communicating to him that I’m aware of our situation. That I won’t scream.

Good thing I have everything set under the bed to help him.

If it comes to that.

He releases my mouth, crashing his lips to mine. It’s a desperate kiss. Rough and ravenous. Teeth, lips, tongues. He sucks and tugs. My whole soul reaches for him.

He’s hard, straining the sweatpants he put on after he fucked me in the shower.

“I’m going down there.” One last grind, one last time that he lets me feel every ridge of his cock. “Stay here until I call you.”

James is out of bed, going for the gun he left on his bedside table.

“Let me come with you.” I’m up, swinging my feet to the floor. Yes, I have a plan. But it crushes me to think of him being down there alone. “Please.”

“No.” James loads his gun, his expression determined.

“Seeing you will only trigger him further, and he’s pretty untethered right now.

He has to be if he has the nerve to show up here.

I need to have the upper hand, and I can’t do that if I’m worrying about you.

If he’s an unexpected loose cannon. I’ll call you, I swear I will. ”

The twisting in my chest hurts. The thought of letting him out of my sight is devastating. I don’t want to have to resort to plan B. I want to be there every step of the way.

“Are you sure?”

“Am I sure?” James grips my chin, lowering his face to mine until we’re eye to eye.

“Am I fucking sure? About what? About how I’ll never let anyone hurt you?

How I need to kill him for all the shit he’s said and done to you?

The answer is yes. It’ll always be yes. I’ll do whatever it takes so we can spend the rest of our lives together. Our very, very long lives. Understood?”

Is it sick that I’m wet? That my nipples are poking through the thin material of my night T-shirt?

Probably.

I lean in to kiss him. Have to have another taste. Not the last one.

We’ll have more.

So. Many. More.

“Understood.”

“He didn’t come here by himself,” James whispers again as he checks his phone. I get up to see Topher and Camden on his screen, searching for us in every room.

“You said you didn’t have cameras here.” I frown at the screen, then at him.

“Temporary cameras. I put them up when you fell asleep. When I went downstairs to leave the front door unlocked.”

“Okay. Go.” My hands are all over him. His lean biceps, his taut chest beneath his black shirt. His neck. Hair. “Come back to me.”

“Sonnet.” His eyes pierce mine. “Always.”

He means it. He really does.

It doesn’t comfort me. I’ve already lost the two people I loved the most. They left me one day and never returned.

Death stole my parents away.

I’ll be damned if I let it put its filthy hands on the love of my life.