She cast him a suspicious look before sliding inside the car. Knox joined her. He had a meeting with several of his business associates. They were supposed to discuss the new gang that had settled on the outskirts on one of his territories and an upcoming shipment of mini Uzis.
Knox decided he had a better use for his time.
“Where to, sir?” Craig asked.
“My apartment,” he answered.
Then Knox pushed a button that raised the divider between Craig and his passengers. He snuck a look at Leah, amused she curled her fists on her lap.
“Relax, I won’t do anything to you. Yet,” Knox said.
“Relax?” she repeated. “How can you expect me to relax when I’m stuck in a car with the city’s most notorious mob boss?”
“I saved you from a fate worse than death. You should be grateful,” Knox reminded her.
She stared at him, seeming flabbergasted. Leah chewed on her bottom lip, but her narrowed eyes told Knox she wanted to murder him. Knox didn’t know why but that turned him on even more. Most women he came across acted like skittish prey animals around him.
“I don’t even know if I’m better off with Shane and Guy or with you.”
She couldn’t possibly mean that. Guy and Shane would use her up, then toss her aside. Knox wouldn’t do that.
He was called a lot of awful names. Knox created a mountain of corpses of his enemies so he and his organization could stay at the top, but Knox drew a line when it came to women and children.
Then again, Knox could forgive Leah. She didn’t know him, but she was about to. There was no way out of this arrangement. Fate landed an angel on his lap and Knox had every intention of keeping her.
“I scare you. I get it,” Knox said.
“You don’t. You intimidate me a little but now that we’re talking, I’ve changed my mind.”
“Oh?”
“Knox Carter. You’re supposed to be this big bad monster. The entire city lives in fear of you, but you couldn’t even hold on to a woman unless it’s against her will.”
Knox moved without thinking. Anger spiked through him as he gripped her chin. Genuine fear flashed across her pretty blue eyes.
Good. Leah needed to be reminded of the fact that she wasn’t dealing with any normal man. Knox breathed hard, regretting his actions immediately. He couldn’t afford to lose Leah right after acquiring her.
Hurting her for real was the last thing on his mind. Knox traced her bottom lip with his thumb. She trembled. Knox released her.
“You’ve seen me acting nice, Leah. Trust me when I say you don’t want to see my nasty side,” Knox said.
It was an empty threat. Knox couldn’t bear harming a single hair on her beautiful head, but she didn’t know that.
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. This is all just too much for me.”
Leah hung her head and stared at her hands. She looked cowed and defeated. That expression looked wrong on her. Knox realized he was going about this all wrong.
Damn. This was new to him as well. Knox had fucked plenty of women but none of them made him act this way. He’d never wanted any other woman the way he wanted Leah. Where was the fun in taking her against her will, when he’d rather have her submit to him of her own violation?
Knox bet she’d yield beautifully to him. He could imagine those plump and luscious lips of hers wrapped around his cock. Her gorgeous form, kneeling before him, anticipating his needs. His pleasure.
Knox vanquished that erotic image from his head and focused on the present.
He tried to picture himself in her shoes. Her brother’s betrayal must’ve still stung. She’d been plucked out of the life she once knew and was suddenly thrust into Knox’s world.
“Talk to me,” Knox urged.
Maybe that would get her to loosen up. To warm up to Knox somehow.