He’s definitely the golden, rich boy type, but there’s a darkness in his eyes and I can’t work out if it’s there because he’s trouble or because he’s dangerous. Either way, I’m down for a little fun.
My eyes travel down his arms that are toned with the most delicious muscle but it’s not quite doing it for me, not in the way that looking at Slade’s does. His gets me hot and bothered while Roman’s is just something nice to look at.
Damn it. I don’t want to be attracted to Slade like that. I want to hate him. I need to hate him.
“Like what you see, baby?”
I glance up to his eyes to find them on my body. “I know you do.”
He looks back up at me and grins. “You’re not wrong,” he says with a sly grin. “I caught what you did to Cruz at the game. That was a risky move.”
I shrug my shoulders as I take a sip of my coffee and enjoy the heat on my tongue. “It was nothing he didn’t deserve.”
“You’ve got balls,” he commends. “Have you got beef with him or something like that?”
“Or something like that,” I tell him, not willing to go into the details with this complete stranger. “What about you? I saw the way you were going against him on the court. The both of you made it pretty damn clear. What’s your beef with him?”
“The guy’s a fucking prick is all.”
Yeah, right. It’s so much more than that. “Is that all?”
“He may have also fucked over my sister.”
“Really? I heard your sister has no issue fucking things over. She’s pretty close with her dean, isn’t she?”
His eyes narrow as he looks across at me. “Wow. I’ve been asking about you and the people at your school told me you had a nasty bite, but I wasn’t quite expecting that.”
“Oh, yeah?” I ask, starting to work out his game plan and not liking it one bit. “What else did they tell you about me?”
“That you’re Cruz’s little project.”
“Really, now?”
“Mmhmm. I can take you away from that, you know? Just say the word and I’ll handle it.”
I bark out a sharp laugh before telling him to take a right. “And what’s in it for you?”
“You get me the information on Slade that I need and you’ll have my protection.”
It’s just as I thought. “Pull up over here,” I ask, pointing toward the big tree outside Shay and Ben’s place, pissed off realizing that he’s trying to play me. His only goal is to destroy Slade and this prick wants to use me to do it. Well, that ain’t going to happen. I fight my own wars and this guy has done nothing to earn my loyalty. Besides, I want to take Slade down, no one else. He’s mine…or at least, I think so anyway.
Why does the idea of someone else trying to destroy Cruz make me want to stand in front of him and protect him from whatever’s coming his way? Fuck, I’m so screwed up.
“What?” Roman asks, his brows dipping low as he looks out toward the tree. “Why?”
“Just do it.”
I wait patiently as he pulls up outside Shay and Ben’s home and I turn in my seat to face him straight on. “First of all,” I start. “I’m not some pawn you get to use in your war against Cruz. If you want to take him down, then that’s on you, but when I do it, he’ll know it was me. All me. Nobody takes my credit. I fight my own wars and besides, I’ve got my own shit going down. I don’t have the fucking energy to listen to your bullshit issues. You’re a snake, Roman and secondly, I don’t need anyone’s protection. I protect myself. Always have, always will.” I push the door open and grab my bag. “Next time you go asking about me, make sure you hear them correctly because I’m the fucking boss bitch around here and the next time you come sniffing around, looking for handouts, you better be ready because I won’t be holding back.”
With that, I step out of his car and bend down to see through the window. I give him a sickeningly sweet smile. “Thanks for the ride, Roman. I really appreciate it.”
Chapter 11
Four Weeks Ago
I lay in bed, struggling to sleep. That’s been happening a lot lately. Whenever Lucien is home, my fear cripples me. Things have been different ever since that day three years ago when he walked in to find Marcus Mahony’s hand down my pants. He’s watched me with hunger and it’s only gotten worse.
Marcus has been here at least ten times since that night and every time, it gets worse and every time, Lucien sits back to watch. His last visit was only two months ago. He claimed he needed to see how my body was developing.