I still hesitated. Obi’s warning about not treating her like she was something to throw away echoed in my ears. My jaw clenched. Maybe I was getting in too deep.
I was thinking about naming my club after her? The club that was supposed to replace the one that blew up because of her? The one I was buying so my revenue streams would continue uninterrupted—the perfect backup plan if none of this worked out?
Damn.
I had no idea what to make of that.
“Are you going to buy it?” she asked, interrupting my thoughts. We slid back into the fortress of a car. He’d barely spoken all day, but at least Leona had cheered up a bit.
The G-Wagon roared to life with Obi driving us back to the hotel. We had a dinner reservation at a restaurant Obi recommended, but he said we needed to dress more appropriately.
I stared out the window even as my palm found Leona’s thigh. Was I going to buy it?
Owning another property that I was positive would have a tenfold return on investment, at least, was not abaddecision. Having another way to pad my bank account would be the smart choice.
But I didn’t have to buy it.
If everything went great in New York, if all our plans worked out, maybe I didn’t need it.
No. I didn’t let my dick make business decisions.
Call it whatever, a backup plan, or a future investment, but buying this club was the right choice. There were no downsides, and only upsides.
Finally, I turned to her, and nodded. “If I’m going to fuck you in it, I probably should own it, don’t you think?”
She gaped. “Ryuji. Do not buy that club just because you want to have sex there.”
I studied her. “Why not?”
She leaned across the seat, so close our noses almost touched. Her eyes flicked down to my lips with a twinkle of amusement. “Because you can fuck me anywhere.”
I instantly went hard as my mouth pulled into a grin. “Damn. Compelling point.”
She leaned back to her side of the car and eyed me. “Be serious, though. Are you going to buy it?”
I caught Obi’s eye in the rearview. It was like he could read all the insecurities of my deepest thoughts. Fuck him. He had his own problems, and he didn’t need to be getting into my head.
“Yeah. It’ll make a good addition to my portfolio.”
She nodded. “Guess it was a good idea to buy the car, Obi.”
He glanced in the rearview as he made a turn, opening his mouth to respond before his eyes went wide. “Get down!”
My body instantly went into fight mode. I grabbed the back of Leona’s neck and shoved her head down. I pulled my gun from where I’d tucked it into the back of my waistband.
Something slammed into the car. My brain took a second to register that we were spinning. The car hit the curb of the intersection, barely missing the traffic light pole, before screeching to a stop. I squeezed my eyes shut and blinkedrapidly, trying to ground myself, and get ready for a fucking fight. What the hell just happened? Accident? Or worse?
“Leona!” Obi said, twisting in his seat. “Ryu! Are you both all right?”
“I’m fine,” I replied, keeping my hand on her back. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary outside the car yet, just people stopping and staring. “Sweetheart, talk to us.”
“I’m okay,” she replied, voice shaky. She moved to straighten, but I kept her down, just in case. “Did we get in an accident?”
Obi scanned the area, pulling his gun, and checking the ammo. He popped open the center console and pulled out another. “Duffel in the back?”
I nodded. We’d packed our extra bag of weapons before we left the hotel. Looks like they’d come in handy.
“Listen to me, Leona. Stay down,” I said as I double-checked my knives were still secure and positioned correctly for me to pull them. “Ambush?”
