Jesus. Does he even know what he does to me?
I lean closer, my breath ghosting over his lips. “Make me.”
The snarl that leaves his lips is feral, and my world blurs as he practically hurls me across the car, letting go of me like my touch burns him. I giggle like a maniac as he puts the car in gear and drives off, the tyres spinning and squealing on the tarmac.
He doesn’t say anything else to me as we drive home to my gilded cage; there’s just an occasional huff, a muttered swear word and the very audible grinding of his teeth.
We pull into the garage of my family home, and he hops out, moving around the car and opening the door for me. Even though this is my home, he’s still on high alert, and it reminds me that he’s only here to do a job. He’s not here because he wants to be.
The thought pisses me off more than it should, and it’s probably because deep down—somewhere I’ve refused to believe I have feelings—I actually care about the giant stick in the mud.
But that can be a tomorrow problem. Hell, it can be a next fucking century problem considering the current state of our relationship.
Or lack of one.
I refuse to take his hand as I step out of the car; it’s petty, I know, but fuck him. I’ll find my fun somewhere else.
He doesn’t say anything either. Always in control, and I can never seem to get him to lose it. I’ll probably have to dosomething drastic like get shot or get kidnapped to elicit an actual emotional response.
Even then, the odds are probably five to one that he’ll actually care. Most likely he’ll be more annoyed I got hurt on his watch.
“That’ll be all, Veon. You can go.” I throw him the most condescending look I can over my shoulder, but the guy doesn’t react. Hmm, I’ll have to try harder. “I’m going to invite Kai over.”
The muscle below his left eye twitches. It’s a minuscule response, but I see it. Kai and I used to be fuck buddies, but we haven’t had sex in a long time, preferring just to be friends, but Veon doesn’t know that. He still sees Kai as my go-to booty call, and yes, I know I’m being a manipulative asshole, but I love watching him squirm.
“Understood,” he says with a curt nod. “I’ll inform the gatehouse.”
Then he turns on his heel and disappears into the night.
Chapter Three
Veon
Fuck.
Shit.
Bollocks.
Echo Quinn is going to be the death of me.
That’s if I don’t wring her pretty little neck first.
Chapter Four
Echo
Kai and I have been friends since high school. He transferred when we were fourteen, and we just clicked. He was the new kid, and I was the daughter of the mob boss, but he didn’t seem to give a shit. Everyone else pandered to me, but not Kai. He’d happily tell me if I was being a bitch or if I was wearing something that didn’t suit, and I liked it. I’d been missing that brutal honesty, and I appreciated him more for it.
“Why am I here?” Kai asks, eyeballing me from beneath his blonde brows.
He is also perceptive and impossible to hoodwink.
“To piss Veon off.”
“Oh,” he replies as he waggles his eyebrows. “Do we need to make sex noises and slam the bed frame against the wall?”
As per my father’s protocol, Veon slept next door, so he was near if I ever needed him. “No, just the fact that you’re here should be enough to bug him.”
