Page 26 of Submission

“Listen, this wasn’t my idea,“ Ricky says like the coward he is, but the time for excuses and explanations is over.

I don’t let him finish his sentence, my gun now aiming at the ear over his right shoulder.

“Don’t kill him!” Ashley pleads in a high-pitched voice of desperation. “We’re leaving.”

“Hunter,” Megan says softly.

I can feel and hear every bit of warning in her, but the longer I stare at this piece of shit, the more I want to hurt him.

“Are you protecting him?” I ask angrily through clenched teeth, my eyes still entirely focused on his ear. If I shot him there, there’d be blood and a significant amount of pain, but he’d live another day.

It doesn’t escape me how far down a dark path my conscience seems to be wandering. It’s why I usually choose not to get close to women. I’ve seen men start wars over them and now I see why. I hate that this kid has touched her intimately, and I especially hate that she let him.

“No,” she assures me calmly as she moves to stand next to me. “I’m protecting you.”

Fuck me.

Is she protectingme?

I thought I was protecting her.

Ah, of course, I think to myself. She’s protecting me in the same way she pushed me out of the way of the assassin’s bullets in the penthouse. She is safeguarding me from the biggest threat of all – myself.

I reluctantly tuck my Glock back into my waistband and consider how I’ve allowed myself to be totally put in check by this art student.

Hell, if I know.

All I know for sure is that this beautiful creature is going to be the death of me, and now I have to find another way to appropriately punish everyone responsible for pushing her through a glass fucking table.

I will not let that shit stand.

And I don't care what Megan has to say about it, even if she says it in bed...and now my dick is hard.

This damn woman.

Chapter 9

A Special Kind Of Pain Reliever

Hunter

“This has been a tremendous waste of everyone’s time,” I say to the room as I reluctantly tuck the gun back inside my belt. “And tonight marks the end of whatever issues you have with Megan, Miss Parillo. In fact, it would be in your best interest for you and your ragtag band of misfits to cease making any kind of trouble for Megan ever again. Otherwise, I’ll pay your father a house call to let him know what you’ve been up to and how it’s affecting his bottom line. Not only will I not give him any funding for his failing business, but I’ll make sure that no one in the United States gives him one red dime. You’ll be penniless in less than a week.”

Ashley’s eyes water as the realization of my threat penetrates her thick skull and settles into her minuscule brain.

“Let’s go, Ashley,” Ricky says curtly as he and the rest of the group quickly scoop up their things to leave.

As the booth clears, Parker returns to check on us. “You all right, boss?”

“We’re good, but this group needs an escort directly to the exit.”

“Gladly.”

“Is my guest okay?” I ask him about the business associate I have waiting in my office.

“Lars is taking good care of him,” Parker assures me.

“And the girl?”

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