Page 65 of Creole Kingpin
“Right this way, Ms. Maison. I’ll show you inside.” He doesn’t even wait before starting for the door.
“Where the hell is Moses?”
“He had other business to attend to. He’s unavailable at the moment. But I have your purse.”
My mouth drops open as I take it from him. “What? He was just here. Driving the car. He—” I cut off my words, because clearly Mosesleft me.“Never mind. I’ll walk my ass home.”
Jules turns and faces me again. “You’re staying here tonight, Ms. Maison.”
“Give me one good reason,” I tell him as my hands go to my hips. “You’ve got ten seconds.”
“Do you want to live to see tomorrow?” he asks, and the grave question takes me by surprise.
I fall back on my heels and stop in my tracks. “What?”
His hands rise as he explains. “You’re safe here. At home, you may not be. Plus, I hear you don’t have any furniture, and the beds here are damn comfy.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him to fuck off, but ... that wholedo you want to live to see tomorrowquestion has my sense of self-preservation kicking in.
“Fine. But only because I don’t have a bed yet.” Silently, I add,And because I really fucking like the idea of being safe.It’s not something I’ve had enough of in my life to take for granted.
He tilts his head and raises his brows. “And because you want to ream Moses?”
I glare at him. “That’s not part of the reason.”
With a shrug, he replies, “Whatever you say. Follow me.”
He takes me through a courtyard with a pool, and then a sliding glass door that leads into a wide-open living space. There’s a long table in the middle, and a young-looking guy with short brown hair and glasses sits in front of it, typing away.
He gives me a chin lift as I follow Jules. “Hi, Magnolia, heard a lot about you. Go easy on the boss. By the way, I’m Trey. Nice to meet you.”
My reputation precedes me, even here. “Hi.”
“You want something to eat?” Jules asks, pointing to the fridge. “We have food, or we can order in for you. Just say the word, and we’ll make it happen.”
I shake my head. “No. I’m good. Just ... show me to the dungeon, I guess.”
Trey chokes out a laugh. “Damn. Shit really must’ve gone wrong tonight. Between that comment and how Moses stomped through here and disappeared ...”
Jules shoots his friend a look that shuts him up.
“I don’t care what Moses is doing,” I tell both of them. “He can go fuck himself for all I care.” I turn to Jules. “You mentioned there’s a bed?”
“Through here.” He takes me down a hall and shows me to a bedroom. I shut the door in his face as soon as I’m inside, but I don’t do it out of spite. I do it because I realize where I’m sleeping as soon as he opened the door.
Moses’s room.
How did I know? There’s a chessboard set up on a small table near the window. I cross the room to look at it and immediately notice the missing pieces.
Pawn and knight.
I set my purse on the table and dig them out. I’ve been carrying them with me, feeling sentimental as hell every time I touch them.
Who has time for sentiment, anyway?
I place them in their respective spots and turn away from the board. But Ho-It-All rears her ugly head.
How would you feel if you walked into this room and saw Moses playing chess with another woman? Would you be okay with it? Or would you want to rip her goddamned eyes out of her head for knowing how sexy he looks across a chessboard? You know, admiring the way he rocks his jaw back and forth when he considers his next move. How he reaches up and grips the back of his neck when he’s watching you win—trying to hold back a grin all the while? Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t have a problem with that. No big deal. Right?
