I snarled at her. “Watch what you say.” Whether she accepted it or not, there were still lines she shouldn’t cross.
She just grinned. “You didn’t deny there was something there.”
“I’m not interested in the boy. He’s a brat.” One that needs to be taught a lesson.
Sam snorted. “Like you aren’t into that.”
I was annoyed by how right she was. The thought of bending Corbin over the hood of his brother’s car and taking him hard and fast until he begged for mercy turned me on so much I was glad there was plenty of room in my coveralls. That didn’t mean I was going to follow through on it. Sam was right, or she would have been if I hadn’t committed to acting with better sense. I’d had a thing for brats in the past, but I didn’t need that kind of trouble now. My stint in prison had taught me not to trust anyone and to stay focused on what I wanted. The only kind of man that would fit into my life right now was a compliant one who’d give me exactly what I wanted in bed, then leave without any fuss.
Not only did Corbin need taming, he was part of a mafia family. I was not going to sleep with one of the Theriots. I’d made a deal with Corbin’s brother Remington, but I’d paid the debt I’d owed him for getting me out of prison. Remington was scary as fuck. Even though I wasn’t afraid of him—after what I’d been through over the last several years, I wasn’t afraid of anything anymore—but he wasn’t someone a person messed with if they wanted to do business in his town, and I did.
There was no point making trouble for myself. And despite what I’d told Corbin, I liked the way his brother did business. He had lines he wouldn’t cross. I respected a man who had a code of honor.
The Theriots had their hands in a lot of pies, and they didn’t like other people interfering. I doubted Remington ever did his own errands, but if he was going to send his brother, then Corbin needed to learn how to act. You don’t come into another man’s place of business and act like you own it, and you sure as hell don’t act like you own him. Remington made plenty of demands, but he knew how to be gracious about it, unlike his brother.
Against my will, my mind wandered again to all the things I could do to teach Corbin some manners.
I needed to forget all about that. He would have to be some other man’s problem. I’d sworn off brats, and no matter how fucking beautiful Corbin Theriot was, I had no intention of breaking my rules for him.
Joey came into the office again. I shouldn’t have snapped at him like I had earlier, but I’d needed to give the Corbin problem my whole attention.
“You free now, boss?”
“Yeah, what the hell is it?”
He held up his hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
I didn’t have a lot of patience on a good day, and Corbin’s attitude and my body’s reaction to him had me ready to explode. “Out with it.”
“I was checking out the Mustang we got in, and I found this on the seat.”
I grabbed the envelope from him. The only thing written on it was my name. I frowned. This was a car I’d gotten from Marley, a guy who sent cars our way because he knew I wouldn’t ask questions about where he got them, and I could fix them up and make a nice profit. Why would he leave me a note, though? He’d just text or call if he needed to tell me something.
I tore open the envelope and pulled out the single piece of paper inside. Like my name on the envelope, the note was handwritten. All it said was, Leave town now or you’ll regret it.
What the fuck? I was one of Marley’s best customers. Surely he hadn’t written this, but he would have noticed if it was on the seat when he’d had the car delivered. I needed to find out who had driven it here and consider the possibility that someone not connected with Marley had left it for me.
The car had been delivered the evening before. I had security cameras all around the property, which contained the office and a small garage as well as the larger garage and a sizable parking area, which was surrounded by an eight-foot fence topped with razor wire. We had a high security padlock on the back gate, and there’d been no sign of anyone coming in through the front or tampering with the doors. I lived above the office, and I was a light sleeper. If anyone had set off an alarm or broken in, I would have heard it.