Page 9 of His to Love
My eyes flew open, my head snapped to his. “You’re not staying here.”
That flutter in my stomach intensified as Tyson slowly turned his head, dipped his chin, and raked his eyes over every inch of my body. I didn’t know what he saw through my wide-legged black dress pants or my teal silk top, which allowed for just a hint of cleavage, but whatever he saw, when he met my gaze again, everything inside me flipped and flopped.
I was unbalanced. Turned on with just a look. I couldn’t shake it off and I stood in front of him, my lips parted, completely dumbfounded, when he thanked the clerk and turned to me. His lips curved into a grin that had me wanting to melt into a puddle of mush at his feet.
“Don’t sound so disappointed.”
“I…I’m not,” I stammered and snapped my lips closed.
His grin widened when he leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear. “I just didn’t want to say goodbye yet. Give me a drink tonight, or dinner.”
My head nodded slowly, moving of its own volition. Surely I was not agreeing to this, but as Tyson reached out and squeezed my hand, zaps of electricity flew to my heart, making it beat faster and pound loudly against my chest. He tugged my hand and pulled me toward the elevator bank after leaving his bag with the front desk and taking a claim ticket. The doors slid open and he let go of my hand to help me with my luggage. Then he stepped back and slid his hands into his pockets.
Something unpleasant darkened his eyes and I frowned. “You’re not coming up?”
Why was I asking this? I didn’t even want him upstairs with me! I didn’t want to see Tyson at all, but with the conflicting emotions I saw in his eyes, I found myself wanting to help him. Damn it. I was so screwed.
My shoulders slumped when he shook his head. He reached out and pressed his palm against the elevator door when it started to close. “I’ll give you thirty minutes to freshen up, but then I want to see you down here for dinner.”
I swallowed thickly. “You’re awfully bossy and presumptuous.”
I got a flash of a smile before he leaned forward and whispered, “I think you like it.”
Shivers danced down my body and his smirk told me he noticed. Although, he couldn’t have missed it. I’d just convulsed like a seizure patient right in front of him.
I should have hated it. I should have hated him. But as I opened my mouth to tell him I did, the words lodged deep in my throat.
The warning bell signaling that the door had been open too long chimed, and Tyson’s hand fell away.
“Okay.” I finally nodded and stepped back.
Because I knew…I was going to give him whatever he wanted from me.
I had never been able to stay away from Tyson. And as stupid as it was, I didn’t want to do it now, either. I hadn’t felt like this in years. So…alive. And the only reason I agreed to move back home was to truly start living again, but this time with complete freedom.
The doors slid shut and Tyson disappeared.
I was left alone in the elevator, trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened in the past few hours of my life, and how I could feel it changing so drastically with every second I spent in the small, enclosed space.
I headed to my room on legs that felt heavy and weighted, walking as if I was pushing myself through a heavy fog. It was how I had felt ever since I got knocked over on the plane. Drugged, foggy, and like I was living a dream.
—
Thirty minutes flew by when you were on the verge of having a heart attack alone in your hotel room. It was a beautiful room, with cream furnishings and rich mahogany wood. The Apollonio Hotel spared no expense, and was one of the most luxurious hotels in Detroit. My small one–bedroom suite was elegant, and had just enough space for me until I could find a place of my own.
It was the one concession my father allowed when I agreed to move back to Detroit. I refused to move back home, to be under guard twenty-four hours a day, and treated like a teenager instead of an adult.
Being the daughter of the Detroit crime family’s boss, I could understand why he’d want to keep me guarded, but I refused to allow him to put a man on me at all times like he’d originally wanted. After many arguments, he’d reluctantly acquiesced.
I was not blind to the fact that he was the king and ruler of various illegal activities, but until I was a teenager, I had been pretty ignorant of most of the work my father and his partners did.
I was only raised with everything I wanted…everything except my freedom.
Now that I had spent ten years living with full freedom, I still planned to live that same way, regardless of how much my father hated the idea.
If I was honest with myself, part of that freedom involved Tyson. I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t follow his football career at Central U after I was shipped away, in a very black-ops action movie sort of way, complete with bulletproof-windowed black SUVs in the middle of the night. I even watched Central U play on television whenever I could, and cried for Tyson when I saw his career-ending injury during his senior year. I knew how much football meant to him, how much he wanted to join the NFL. I had read reports saying he was one of the top five drafts picks. Everything ended in one missed tackle that left him unguarded and then sacked right before his team could win their last game of the year.
It was shortly after that my aunt refused to allow me to search for any mention of him online. After four years of wallowing, four years of missing him, wondering if he missed me, wondering if he really only dated me because his father wanted him close to my family…it was time to finally give him up.
