Page 78 of Built for Mercy

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” I gushed.

“Thank you. Actually, I’m here to oversee a new addition that’s almost finished. Thought we could test out the new facilities.” His dark eyes held a promise of excitement and pleasure.

I bit my lip, curious but also slightly nervous. But I couldn’t deny that I was feeling good as new after eating and being pleasured twice on the plane.

It’s amazing how much better you feel when you take care of yourself,I thought to myself.

But later, when Maverick was gone, I could feel the old doubts and anxieties creeping back in. It seemed I still had a hard time trusting myself to be alone.

34

Maverick

Iwanted nothing more than to fuck Sophie into the middle of the night after seeing the awe all over her face as she took in every detail of my passion project, especially when her gaze swept across the views of Vegas from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedroom.

But unfortunately, I had bigger problems to deal with than keeping both of us in bed.

Newark wasn’t safe for me. Not right now. Some of my runners were in hot water with the Newark Police Division, and the Mercer name carried too much weight—too much risk. If I was seen crossing the Hudson, it would set off alarms. The wrong people would start asking questions. Was I there to oversee operations? Was I there to see Sophie? Was she taking back the cartel?

Even if my men hadn’t breathed a word, the whispers were already there.

I couldn’t afford to let Sophie get caught in the middle of them.

And I needed her to relax. She was spending too much time in her head these days and it showed—the weight loss, the exhaustion dulling her eyes, the way I wasn’t even sure she was eating when she wasn’t with me.

I wanted to spend every second of every day with her. But I couldn’t. Not when every move I made had the potential to pull her deeper into something I wasn’t sure I could get her back out of.

As it stood, I had already interrogated three other rebels in the last few weeks, and Chavez was on my shit list again, making it an opportune time for me to secure him for Sophie. Not to mention that I was finally fed some information earlier in the day that incriminated my father and brothers as being involved in human trafficking, and I knew that it would bring her closure.

Fuck.

My entire life’s plans were dependent on making this woman happy, yet I knew that she was struggling. She wanted me to visit Newark, but how was I supposed to explain to her why Icouldn’twithout her taking it personally?

“It’s so different,” Sophie said from her spot in front of the window.

I slowly sauntered toward her, footsteps quiet on the carpet. Our reflections stared back at us, me the portrait of calm confidence and her a starstruck onlooker.

“Sometimes change is necessary,” I murmured, brushing her hair over her shoulder to expose her neck.

She smirked. “How poetic. Are you going to start spewing Shakespeare next?”

I chuckled darkly and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Keep it up and you’ll be on your way to a punishment.”

She hummed and leaned back into me. “It has been a minute since you’ve spanked me.”

Great, now I’m hard and thinking of spanking her.

I stilled, glancing up at her again in the window. “It’s been, like, five days.”

“Feels like an eternity when all I do is work.” Sophie turned in my embrace and looped her arms around my neck. “I’ve missed you.”

My throat clogged with emotion. Why couldn’t I set my cowardice aside to be someone she deserved?

Scratch that. I would never be a man she deserved.

“I’ve missed you, too. And unfortunately I have a meeting to go to. Promise me you’ll eat while I’m gone?”

She nodded.