Page 4 of Obey

I flinch away from him, but I can almost feel the heat of his body against mine, the memory of him shoving me against the wall to fuck me hard in the forefront of my mind.

I wish we hadn’t already fucked. I wish we could do it now and get some of these thoughts out of my brain.

“Sorry,” I mutter, letting him go ahead of me. I close the door behind me, and when he goes to walk off, I start to reach out, then I catch myself. “Hey. We need to work on this,” I remind him.

Knives stops to glare at me. “We’ll work on it. I’m not going to fail the boss. But that doesn’t mean I need to be in the same room as you.”

“Be professional,” I hiss. “We need to come up with a strategy. You heard him. We have to work together.”

I know you hate me, I want to say. But just give me a chance, Nayeem. I’m not just a piece of ass to hate-fuck. I’m not just a failure.

“Professional,” Knives says derisively. “If I could trust you not to stab me in the back, sure.” He makes a disgusted noise. “Whatever. Do your thing. I’ll research on my own. We’ll discuss this in a few days.”

“You trust me enough to fuck me inside the supply closet,” I hiss at him.

“Yeah, with your back to me,” he retorts.

“I am not a backstabber!” I say, wounded by the words even though I know he isn’t entirely wrong.

I keep wanting him to forgive me, but I know better. If I’d been in jail for a decade because of someone, I probably wouldn’t be too quick to forgive them either.

Knives looks like he’s going to say something, but he cuts himself off as Cristiano Fiore and “Fox” round the corner.

I’m still not sure I know who Fox really is, or what he does here, other than occasionally shoot people.

“Don’t stop whisper-fighting on our account,” Fox says cheerfully. “I’m dying to know who’s backstabbing whom.”

“No one is backstabbing anyone,” I say, but my tone is subdued as I look between him and Cristiano. Shame washes over me. I can’t believe Knives and I got caught fighting in the hallway like third-graders. “Sorry. I’m going.”

Cristiano looks between the two of us, shaking his head. “Get this shit sorted out,” he says. “Before Silvano makes you.”

I let out a choked little laugh. “Yeah.”

“There’s nothing to sort,” Knives interrupts coldly. “I’m going to do my job now.” He shoulder-checks me as he walks off.

We all watch his retreating form. Once he’s gone, Fox says, “Geez. And I thought I was immature.”

“You are,” Cristiano says calmly. He opens the door to Silvano’s office, grabbing Fox by the back of the neck and shoving him into the office with as much grace as Knives had shown me earlier.

Fuck.

I have no idea how I’m going to put things right with Silvano if Knives won’t even work with me at all.

I am so screwed.

TWO

KNIVES

This has to be some sick joke on the boss’s part.

It’s bad enough that I have to see Maddox every so often, our paths crossing because we both have meetings with Silvano or there’s other business in the mansion. Being forced to do an entire “mission” with him?

I pace around the office, my teeth clenched as tight as my fists.

Every time I see his face, I want to punch him.

Why the fuck does he have to look so good when he’s all roughed up, though? I thought after ten years of not seeing him, I’d be completely over him. He fucking betrayed me. He hung me out to dry and let me shoulder all the consequences.

---