Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 35676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
“Be your Alonzo pain in the ass self,” Demetri said. “Don’t give her time to say no. Just do.”
He couldn’t believe he was taking advice from his friends. Cole and Demetri had awful taste in women, mainly because they only ever fucked whores.
“Fine, fine.”
Tessa left the bathroom, taking a seat.
“Have you called Jessica?” she asked.
“Why would I call her? She’s not my keeper.”
“To see how Caesar’s doing. It’s his lunchtime, and he doesn’t like the sweet potato that Louise does for him.”
“Does he like anything Louise cooks for him?” Alonzo asked.
“Not really, but he’s going through that phase where he likes something and then doesn’t. It’s a thing.”
“He’s not even a teenager, and he has a thing.”
She shrugged.
“Get lost,” he said to his men.
Cole and Demetri grabbed their food and walked three tables down, dropping down into the chairs.
“You can’t just do that.”
“Do what?”
“Order them to leave. That was so rude.”
“First of all, they’re here to keep me safe. Second, I’m here with you, and you keep looking at their guns.”
“Do they really need them in public? It could scare the kids.” She didn’t ask in a judgmental tone.
He noticed that. She never told or asked or gossiped. She just seemed to exist.
Since he’d told her about her parents, something had broken inside her, and he was determined to fix it, to make her find that fire and passion again.
“I could be killed at any second.”
Tessa looked around. “We should have stayed home. You didn’t have to put your life in danger for me. Believe me, it’s not worth it.”
That just pissed him off. As far as he was concerned, she was worth it without a doubt.
“My life has been threatened since I was a young boy. That’s not going to change.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?” she asked. “That people want to kill you?”
“No. I can deal with everything they have to throw at me.”
“I don’t think I could handle that. People wanting to kill me. I struggle when they yell at me.” She rolled her eyes.
“You don’t like people yelling at you?”
“I don’t even know why I told you that, but yes, I don’t like it when it happens. Teachers were the worst about it, and it was so embarrassing.”
“You know any teachers that were mean to you I can deal with.”
She burst out laughing. “I don’t want anyone’s blood on my hands.” She winced. “I don’t mean to insult what you do or anything. I’m just, I don’t like violence of any kind, and I’m really not good with all of this. I’m so sorry.”
“You’ve got nothing to apologize for.” He didn’t find her insulting.
It was a simple fact. He was dangerous, and she wasn’t.
They finished up their lunch, and he took her hand.
Cole and Demetri kept their distance, and he was always vigilant. This was a stupid thing for him to do, but he hoped by not planning it there was no risk of his whereabouts getting out.
Besides, he was in a very public place, and any shootout would bring media attention. None of them wanted that as it brought heat to all of them, and anyone who was willing to risk that kind of exposure wouldn’t last very long.
He walked into one of the shops. Tessa went off in her own direction, and instead of following her around, he started to look at the clothes himself.
Seeing a few items he wanted her to try on, he walked up to Tessa. “Don’t mind me.” He tugged on her jeans as she let out a little cry. “You don’t want to draw attention to us. If I was you, I’d stay perfectly quiet.”
“What are you doing?”
He saw her size and moved to her shirt, finding the tag at the bottom. “Excellent, follow me.” He took her hand, taking charge of their shopping experience. Even as she protested, he found some dresses and skirts. He was tired of seeing her in jeans and large shirts.
Once he had several items picked out, he pulled her toward the changing room.
“You can’t do this.”
“Guess again, Tessa. I can do whatever I want. Today was about bringing you out and seeing you try on some new clothes. Now I get to see every single item.”
“You’re kidding?” she asked.
He took a seat in the plush chair. “Not at all. If I don’t see everything I’ve given you, I’m coming in there to take over. If you want to test me, go ahead. I’ll gladly get you naked.”
“I don’t know what this is,” she said. “You’re my boss. I’m confused.”
“Technically, my sister is your boss.”
She frowned. “But you pay my wages.”
“Stop thinking. Enjoy and go and put the damn clothes on. I want to see everything.”
He leaned back in his chair, watching her ass for the few seconds he saw it sway. She didn’t linger and pulled the curtain back into place. He saw a couple of women checking him out, but he had no use for them.