Page 104 of Diamond In The Rough

Shitttttt. I sigh out loud.

“That kinda means you have feelings for me, too.” His lips curl high, smugness radiating through his expression until I simply want to melt into my desk and disappear. “So I’m here, Tiia. I came, because you asked me to. And in a couple of hours,” he checks his watch and silently counts, “In three hours, I’m gonna pick you up. I’ll take you to my house and we’ll have dinner. Because I’m not ready to spend my downtime without you yet.”

Oh god, I silently groan. Oh god, oh god, oh god.

He pinches my chin and draws my eyes up when I’d rather study my feet and die.

“I swore to never, ever bring a woman to my home, Grá. To never bring her into my world and put her life in danger. But here we are anyway. And I can’t give you up just yet.”

“Boss?”

The shop door opens and a man I recognize as one of Micah’s guards, Stovic, stops on the threshold. He raises a brow when Micah glances over his shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt, but we have an issue in Harlem.” The man looks at me for a beat, a curious once-over as though unsure whether he can speak in front of me. “The club…” He clears his throat. “There was a drive-by.”

Tears prickle the backs of my eyes again. A sob, desperate to claw its way along my throat.

“Jasper got hit, Boss.”

Micah’s stance turns stoney. Hard. “Dead?”

“No. But he’s heading in for surgery.”

“Alright.” He checks his watch again. “We were gonna be at that club. Lix was the target.” Dropping his hand, he tells his man, “Get the car and inform Felix if he doesn’t already know.” Then he turns back to me. Our moment of emotion is gone. Our friendliness. Our peace. He cups my face in tight hands and pulls me up, stretching my neck until I can’t elongate any more. Then he smacks a kiss to my lips. “Don’t worry so much. Don’t leave the shop. I’ll keep Stovic posted outside for the rest of today to make sure you’re okay. I doubt next door’s gunman is coming back, though.”

“Do you have to go?” My stomach aches. My hands hurt. My heart and soul shrivel. “Can’t you stay here?”

“Jasper is my friend, Grá. I have to make sure he’s okay.” He presses a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll pick you up in three hours.”

Then he turns on his heels and starts away, his absence almost as profound as if his body leaving the room also takes the oxygen with it.

He swings the door wide and steps through, bringing Stovic with him. But they stop on the other side, leaving the door open, while Micah’s hand drops on his soldier’s shoulder and he murmurs, “Stay on Tiia. No exceptions. Get her home once she’s done. I’ll be there by six to relieve you.”

“Yes, Boss.”

Micah peers over his shoulder and meets my eyes, letting the door close slowly, the blinds on my side of the glass just enough to encumber our view.

He remains for a long beat. His stance, statue-like until I find myself not breathing. People and cars move outside. Policemen wander from shop to shop. Pedestrians stick around in hopes to see something, completely clueless to the fact New York’s deadliest man stands amongst them.

Finally, Micah’s phone rings and his eyes peel from mine, releasing me from our stare-off and reminding me to inhale once more.

He nods for Stovic, placing him as my guard, then he turns on his heels and slides into a sleek black car when it comes to stop at the sidewalk.

“Holy shit.” Roscoe emerges from the back room of Jakeline’s shop, his eyes dancing with arrogance and his chest bouncing with laughter. Like he thinks my worst day ever is something to celebrate. “He went and fell in love with you, Ipo! What a fuckin’ idiot.”

“Shut up, Roscoe.” My eyes itch again, stinging and irritating as I step away from my desk and cross to the shop door to flip the open sign to closed. Jakeline will be pissed. But I have nothing to give anyone else right now. I have no mental strength left to fake my life. “Mind your business.”

“This is my business. Literally!” He plops his ass on my desk where I sat moments ago, his feet on the stool, then his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. “What’s it like inside his house? Do they slit throats in the hallways? Bricks of cash on the kitchen table?”

“Stop talking to me.” Crossing the store, I snatch up my empty coffee mug and stalk into the back room. I need space. Solitude. I need caffeine, and maybe a Prozac. “I did what you wanted me to. Now I’m done discussing it.”

22

MICAH

AND THEY ALL CAME CRASHING DOWN

“You look like you’re going to be sick, Grá.” I reach across and take Tiia’s hand, while Smith drives and Stovic occupies the front passenger seat. Though they tremble, I twine our fingers together and bring our joined hands to rest in my lap. “You still messed up about the robbery today?”

“How is your friend?” Ignoring my question, she turns to me, lifting her leg to the seat so her knee almost lies across my thigh. Her eyes are desperate. Pleading. And though she darts her tongue forward to wet her bottom lip, it’s still dry. Still quivering. “Will he be okay?”

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