Page 14 of Pretty Little Threats

“Why were you talking to my fiancée?” He bumps his chest against mine. The pretty boy is aggressive tonight.

“Vanderbelt, you better back the fuck off,” Remy growls, inching closer, but I hold my hand up to stop him. I’m not afraid of this asshole.

Stepping into Eric, I get in his face and he backs away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I tell him.

His jaw clenches. “I saw you with Rosalynn. Stay away from her.”

Rose? “I didn’t know you two were engaged.”

“We’re not, but we will be as of Monday.”

Monday is the quarterly board meeting. Is he planning to propose? I almost laugh at the thought. That would befunny to watch. I saw the way she practically crawled out of her skin to get away from him before I cornered her. What makes him think she’d ever agree to marrying him? “Does she know that?”

“It’s none of your business,” Eric snaps. The idiot gets brave and inches closer. “Like I said, leave my future wife alone.” He moves to shove me, but I snatch his wrist and twist his arm behind his back. His cry alerts the kissing couple, and the woman shrieks when I slam Eric against the wall next to the elevator.

“Touch me again, and I’ll chop off your hand.”

Eric struggles against my hold, but it’s a pathetic attempt. “Is that a threat?”

A dark chuckle rumbles in my throat. “It’s a promise.” When I tug his arm a little harder, Eric shouts in pain again, the sound doing little to soothe the annoyance and frustration bubbling in my chest.

First, Rose thinks she can insert herself into my business, and now, this prick thinks he can intimidate me? I must be losing my touch. My grip on Eric’s wrist tightens, but Remy grabs me before I can break it.

“Too many people,” he warns.

I release a long-suffering sigh. “Fine.” I lean in to whisper in Eric’s ear, pushing his face against the wall even harder. “As for your fiancée, I’ll do whatever I want with her, and if you’re lucky, I might even let you watch.”

With that final jab, I release him and smash my finger into the button to call the elevator.

I fucking hate theseparties.

Remy side-eyes me as he settles behind the steering wheel of his onyx Range Rover. Despite the run-in with Eric, the musky scent of Rose’s perfume clings to my skin. As soon as the SUV is turned on, I roll down my window and glare out of it. The air of late-night New York City is fresher than other times of day, and it sweeps in, ripping that tantalizing smell from the cabin.

I curl my fist to keep from rolling the window up, so I can savor her scent.

Clearing his throat, Remy says, “So. That went well.”

“Remington,” I warn.

“Oh, no. Using my full name?”

I glare at my best friend and bodyguard. Frank is Remy’s father, and though he’s retired and spends his days baking now, they come from a long line of mercenaries. Not to mention, Remy’s one of a handful of people I actually trust with my life. But, right now, he’s pissing me off. “I don’t pay you to speak.”

He snorts. “Fuck you. You pay me to keep you safe, but I’m still your best friend, and even I’m human enough to admit Rose Miller is fucking hot. I guess Eric thinks so too.”

“Shut up.” I jam my finger into the button and close the window. Rose’s smell lingers in the air, taunting me the same way she did. After her little stunt this morning, I had every intention of getting inside Rose’s head tonight, but she’s occupying my thoughts more than she should be. Running into Eric was the cherry on top of a bad night. The way he insisted that Rose was his makes me want to pluck her from the garden, just to keep him from having her.

That, and I’d get to keep that vicious mouth all to myself.

Remy navigates NYC’s busy streets with ease. “Don’t tell me you have a hard-on for the ice princess.”

“I don’t.”

He lifts his eyebrows but doesn’t call me on the lie.Maybehaving Rose trapped against that railing made me hard. All the news outlets and tabloids paint the picture that she’s coldhearted and unfeeling, but at the bakery, she’d reacted so viscerally to me. Then, when I had her cornered, she was anything but unfeeling. Having the power to unsettle her went straight to my cock, though I could blame that on the fact I haven’t had sex in close to six months. Any man would have felt the same stirrings of desire, especially if Rose Miller looked up at them with those wide, almost too-innocent eyes while wearing a dress that revealed curves which practically beg to be explored.

“She said she wouldn’t hurt my sisters,” I tell him.

“Do you believe her?”

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