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“Get lost, Conner.” I pushed to my feet but I didn’t get too far before a sweaty hand clamped down on my arm.
I turned, teeth bared. “If you even think of touching her, my boss will kill you.” I spoke each clipped word through gritted teeth. Every fiber of my body wanted to grab Lila and call for help. Lila was farther from me than Conner, though. Causing a scene and scaring the kids wouldn’t help anyone so I ripped my arm out of his clutch and turned to leave.
I got five paces before a wall of leather and greed blocked me.
“Relax, baby. I don’t deal with snot-nosed bratty celeb kids. You know my true love is all about the good stuff.”
True. Conner only dealt with cash and precious minerals. If it could be stolen or scammed, he wanted in for a cut.
“I’m not your girlfriend and I sure as shit don’t work for you anymore, Conner. Get lost or I swear to God Himself I’ll scream.” I hated that my voice quivered at the end.
“Don’t be like that.” Conner ran the back of his hand down my bare arm.
Despite the sun’s warmth, I shivered as though we stood in the middle of the Arctic.
“You were the best runner I had. I didn’t know how good I had it with you until you ran off.”
I opened my mouth, but Conner cut in and raised a hand. “It must be because you look so sweet. That mouth of yours doesn’t look like it would melt butter. But we both know that’s not true, right? And I do miss that mouth of yours. But enough of old times—I’m a man who values free enterprise. Though it would be a shame for your fuckwad of a boss to know what you did before you started taking care of his precious daughter. I’m a reasonable man. If you do this one little job for me, I’ll keep my mouth shut.” He turned and threw a look at Lila. “Or, I just might switch up the type of product I move.”
Rage poured through me. “I wouldn’t steal an empty gum wrapper for you.” I folded my arms across my breasts and though I never tried to intimidate another soul in my life, I straightened to my full five three height and glowered at Conner. “And like I said, try touching the girl and you’ll have your balls handed to you.”
He had a way of making me feel like I stepped in a puddle of sewage.
“I have new partners who don’t have such a deep-rooted moral compass. You’d best change that attitude, bitch. Or the kid might be the new target.”
I swallowed sharply.
Conner took my silence for compliance.
“See now, that’s not the right attitude to take, baby. This is one little job, and you’re already going to be there anyway.”
“What?” I can feel the control I wrestled back from Conner the day I walked out on him slip right back into his filthy hands.
“Smuggler’s Bay in the Bahamas. Your boss has a house there, and that’s where the job is. Simple as pie, I promise.”
“How do you even know this?”
“You’re not the only one with ties to the rich and powerful.” I slapped him when he tried to tap the end of my nose. “Remember, baby, the underground world has big ears, too.”
I left the park that day feeling contaminated to the core. After I helped Lila get ready for bed, I scrubbed my skin until it was tender under a hot shower that night, but it didn’t help.
Blackness tarnished every cell in my body. Slime is all I can think of when I recall Conner’s words. Tears stung the back of my eyes thinking about innocent Lila sleeping in her bed. If any harm were to come to her...
...fucking bastard.
But worse than that, he is ruthless. And I don’t doubt he’d love telling Mr. Hawkins all about my less than ideal past or following through on his other threat.
One might think all this is bad enough, but the truth of the matter is besides being blackmailed by Conner, I have another equally serious problem.
I am in love with my boss.
It didn’t happen overnight, and I sure the hell didn’t plan on it happening. Talk about a recipe for disaster.
But it’s easy to love Jude Hawkins. Bless the California heat and the rocker’s love for swimming. Thanks to both I can firmly say I’ve never seen a better set of chiseled abs. I especially love the way his enormous body looks gliding through water. I’ve dreamed about raking my fingers through all that dark, wavy hair. Looking into his eyes and telling him to sink into me deeper as he claims my body with his.
But what gets my panties embarrassingly wet is his brooding. He never smiles except with Lila. There’s just something intense about being around him that makes me excited like when he’s channeling all this power on stage.
Now it’s just the two of us alone in this house. No little one, no Conner.
