Page 87 of Ruthless Ambition
Chapter 21: Onyx
After I fucked her, I stepped outside to check on Cooper and found him leaning against the wall on his phone, waiting.
“She still good?” he asked me casually.
With a sigh, I took up position beside him. “She’s still fucking infuriating,” I told him honestly as I rubbed my jaw and admitted to myself, yes, she was still good. More than good.
“That ain’t ever going to change,” he grunted as he showed me the camera. It was tiny, so small you would walk past it and never notice it. Which was the point. “Sticker,” he said as he showed me. “No cut, simple fucking vandalism.”
“But he knew it was there,” I said as I looked at the wall where it had been. “So he was expecting something. Or he already knew where it was?”
“Either? Both? Fuck knows at this point,” he grunted. “How long she going to be?” he asked as he jerked his head to the door. “You were quick at least,” he added with a grin.
“I know how much you hate waiting.”
Cooper laughed at me, and we both turned as Charlie stepped out of the elevator. “What’s with the welcome committee? She kick you out?” he asked us as he approached, holding his key card up. “You need in?”
“No, we don’t need in, you dick,” Cooper chuckled as he stopped beside us. “He fucked her again.”
“I thought she’d been threatened?” Charlie asked as he looked between us.
“She was, woke up to a knife to her throat,” Cooper said soberly. “She’s a tough bitch though.”
Charlie huffed his agreement. “How did it go from ‘wake up with knife to throat’ to ‘being fucked by Onyx’?” he asked after a moment. “Where were you?” he asked Cooper.
“Out here, checking this.” He held up the camera and the black tape that had covered it. “Heard them screwing and thought it best to stay outside.” Cooper looked at me as I remained silent, and then, with a wink to Charlie, he added, “Hewasquick though.”
That I did smile at. “You’re both assholes,” I said as I snatched the key card from Charlie and let myself into the suite. I heard the shower and let the other two in. “Strip it.”
“Hey,” Charlie said as he handed me an envelope. “One letter and pictures. The guy’s not fucking around.”
Taking it from him, I felt my anger burn. No, he wasn’t fucking around; he was playing a dangerous game, and if he knew what was good for him, he’d quit.
Pulling the papers out, I read the short note and looked at the pictures. They were three different nights, did she know? Had she studied them? Looked at them and realized that she was wearing different PJs? He had been in her house three times when she was sleeping.
When she was vulnerable.
Which is why I walked in on her shower. She was in danger, and she was also pissing me off. I really shouldn’t have fucked her again, but she pushed me, and I pushed back. Telling me to my face she hadn’t tucked tail pissed me off.
When she turned her back to me in the shower to rinse her hair, I left before I paddled her ass so hard she would walk with a limp.
When she eventually came out of the shower, she had started to dry her hair. That’s when my temper snapped, and I physically picked her up and took her out of the suite, past Cooper and Charlie, who called a greeting to her as we passed them.
Driving to my house, she never said a word to me. Her head was turned to look out at Nashville as I drove. Although the drivewasn’t long, I expectedsomethingfrom her, but when I parked in the drive and looked at her, she turned to me, and I saw her cheeks wet with tears.
“What do I do?” she asked me as we sat in the car.
“Come inside, go to bed, sleep.” I opened the car door. “You’ve had a long night.”
She followed me inside and headed for the stairs as I set the alarm for the lower levels. I followed her up the stairs and was pleased when she headed to the room she’d been in before. I hadn’t been sure if she thought she would be sleeping with me, but Angel was practical, always had been. Her levelheadedness was one of the reasons she was a good sports agent.
Dropping her luggage in the closet, Angel pushed her sweats down, and in panties and a T-shirt, she climbed under the covers.
“Hey,” she called as I turned to leave her.
“Mm-hmm?”
“Might be late to work tomorrow,” she told me tiredly.
