Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
His grin fell away. “Blake—”
I began to step around him, reaching for the door, but paused at my name.
He didn’t say anything more. The slight flash of the little boy I used to share chips with was gone, and he had a stark expression over his face now.
I didn’t know what that meant, seeing that starkness on him. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but I shook my head. “I know.”
He quieted.
I touched his arm, feeling how rigid he was. “He puts his office in the same location no matter where he is. I know where I’m going. You can stay here. Those are my new roommates and friends over there. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
I heard his swift intake of breath.
If Creighton wanted one of them hurt, Levi would be the one he’d send. I just put Levi on notice. He’d have to choose whose orders to follow. Creighton’s or mine. Most of the time he would adhere to Creighton, but there had been moments when he chose me. The real secret was that Creighton secretly loved when Levi chose me over him, though he never let anyone know.
Levi dipped his head down in an acknowledgment, stepping back and letting the door shut between us.
I headed upstairs, not needing to focus on finding his office.
If Creighton was within the same vicinity, I always knew where he was. I could feel him. And like those times, I let my body follow the internal beacon inside of me.
It led me straight to him.
Chapter Ten
Blake
It wasn’t fair.
That was the first thought that crossed my mind as soon as I opened the door. There were no guards outside. None in the hallway, but I knew. I just knew he’d be behind this door. I hated and loved this beacon I had for him. Like the man himself, who still looked like a pretty boy.
He was still hot. I’d had a brief stint away from him, and seeing him again, having that time away, he washed over me. I hadn’t been ready for this, how my body wanted to go to him, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
His face was sharper, if that was possible, but it was sharper in a more chiseled cheekbone sort of way.
Fuck. He could be in one of those elite magazines. His jawline was more pronounced somehow. His black hair was short on the sides with a little extra on top for him to run a hand through. And those gray eyes of his. They were usually bland, looking dead, but not today. Today they were pinned on me, and I could see the intense satisfaction in them.
It wasn’t fair that he could look like that, like a preppy college student, like a fraternity brother, like an Instagram model, and yet have the mind that was rivaling two other Mafia heads in this city. He was a fucking chameleon, and he shouldn’t have been graced with those blessings. Not him. Of everyone, not him.
I stepped inside, a bolt of electricity going through me because being this close to Creighton always made me feel everything. Good or bad. Everything was intensified to the umpteenth. That was part of him too. Creighton was a magnifier for those around him. He brought out whatever was hidden underneath. If someone was trying to shove something below the surface, it would always rise to the top. I’d watched so many people not understand why they were having the feelings they were having. I didn’t understand it, but I’d seen it enough to know it happened.
And Creighton would watch it all and be amused by it.
It pissed me off.
Lassiter made a choking sound from the side. I swung my gaze over, taking him in too. It had been him downstairs. His head swung between Creighton and me, but I didn’t have time for him. My eyes returned to Creighton as Lassiter half-laughed, “Hey, Blak—”
“Out,” I growled.
Creighton moved to lean on the edge of his desk. He raised his eyebrows as Lassiter left the room without protest. I followed to lock the door behind him. As soon as it was just him and me, the tension ramped up. The anger was there, swimming in me in waves. It doubled. There were other emotions underneath, ones I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.
I didn’t take a step toward him. It felt safer to stay across the room, and I adopted a similar stance to his, except I leaned back against the wall beside the door. “What are you doing here, Creight?”
His eyes dimmed a little. He cocked his head to the side. “Prefer the other name you have for me.”
Fuck. I felt that disappointment in me.
I bristled.
I gritted my teeth, ignoring the warring emotions in me. “Yeah, well, I don’t give a fuck right now.” I wanted to push off from the wall, stalk toward him, but I held myself in place. As far away from him as possible right now. “We made a deal—”