Page 13 of Grift

It’s not friends that I want to be, exactly. But maybe, if we can find a way to work together, a way to reach some sort of compromise, there’s a way out of this. Whatever that means. Stopping it. Going through with it, but ending it. Enduring it.

As much as I like the curve of her hips and the way her pink little tongue darts across her lips, I don’t want to be trapped with a woman that doesn’t want me. My most intimate life controlled by someone I don’t even know if I can trust. There are enough people in my life I can’t trust.

“I – I think so,” her lips tremble, as more tears fall.

“I’m going to be honest with you. Tonight I hurt your brother very badly,” my skinned knuckles are wet where I brushed away her tears. I hold her gaze, commanding.

“Camden?” she sounds frightened and moves a little bit away from me. I let her take the small amount of space between our bodies and the wall, putting distance between us.

“Jared. He was running a scam stealing from the casino. I didn’t know who he was when we caught him, so it was handled the way any repeat thief would be handled. Violently. Decisively,” I say carefully.

At each of my words, she flinches just a little. I need her to know what kind of man I am, so I keep talking. “That had repercussions. Your father is angry. He needs some incentive to keep this out of the news, away from law enforcement. But from what I hear, your brother will live.”

At my words, her eyes widen. Apparently, she’s not close with that brother then, because she doesn’t ask what I meant by violently and decisively. And she hadn’t asked for clarification on how he’s doing.

Her brilliant mind is clearly racing, tying together these disparate pieces and how they got us here.

“And so you what, decided to hold my past scandals against me as leverage to get him to cooperate?” She’s gone so pale that the hot spots on her cheeks burn scarlet, but there’s a defiance in her voice. A touch of fire that threatens to take this nascent attraction I feel for her and engulf us.

“Me? No. But it seems like both our families wanted to make sure that certain details got covered up, and we’ve landed in the crossfire,” it’s an oversimplified explanation. I want to be clear where we stand.

“I’m being sold off to buy your family’s silence because Jared ran some grifting scheme,” she sounds bewildered. “I know I mean nothing to them, but this is next level.”

At her words, something catches in my chest. I’d fight them all if it would help. How could a family like hers be so willing to throw their daughter to the wolves without a second thought? But that’s the sum of it. I can’t change her relationship with her family. All I can do is define how we move forward.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asks suddenly.

“Because if you’re going to be my wife, if you’re going to be the person closest to me,” I say, fighting to keep an edge out of my voice. “I need to know I can trust you.”

“Trust?”

“I need to know if I can be honest with you. We’re in a difficult situation, Jessica,” saying her name is like honey on my lips. “The things I’ve done. The way my family is and what’s at stake for all of us. I’ll go through with this because it’s the only choice. Will you do the same?”

She looks away again, and I lean in closer. Something about her makes me want to be in her space, claim her awareness, command her attention. Deep pieces of me want to know what she wants, and whether I might possibly fit into that. It’s such an alien thought, so far from anything I’d imagined this night would bring. And not based on anything realistic.

She nods. “Y-yes.”

I roll my shoulders and step back. With some distance between us, it’s like she can breathe again. “I won’t marry a woman that’s not willing.”

Her eyes come up to mine, surprise and something else I can’t read. “I don’t know what you’d want with a woman like me. Willing or not.”

A woman like her? Beautiful, smart, and radiating a light that threatens to drive me insane. Sophisticated. God. I barely know her. But then I think again. The words they’d used, that she’d used: Scandals. Tainted. Damaged goods.

The fact is: it doesn’t matter what they have on her or what’s on the damned recordings. At least not today. What matters is what happens here and now – and whether she’s someone that I can trust. Or whether she’s a viper straight out of the world my father so willingly inhabits.

My instincts tell me that she’s prey, not predator. Light, not darkness. My instincts are rarely wrong.

“I can think of many things I’d like to do with a woman like you,” my voice is deep and rough. The image of turning her around, bending her over that bench, and taking her from behind until she screams with pleasure has been running like a movie on repeat through my mind since I stepped in here.

Her eyes widen, her nostrils flare. The ebb and flow of power between us is palpable. What had been there earlier is still here. It just needs to be unearthed beneath the layers of all our families’ bullshit.

Part of me wants to laugh. Of course I’d be deeply drawn to the woman that fate would end up having me marry under circumstances like these. Take one of the first flares of interest, sparks of something good that I’ve felt, and twist them until they’re corrupted. Until it’s clear how this is going to go, I’m not going to add more complexities to the situation. Having her in my bed is only going to confuse matters. Confuse me and my ability to make good decisions for both of us.

Still, though, it wouldn’t hurt to know if there’s any chemistry. That could be an advantage, depending on how long we’re together.

She’s backed up against the wall, and I know that I should stop invading. Give her space. She’s had enough taken from her today. But instead, I lean down and whisper very softly in her ear. “For me to trust you, you have to trust me. Do you understand?”

She exhales breath that could be mistaken for a moan. I close my eyes. Lost in the heat, the scent, the feel of her body. “I take what’s mine, but never without consent. Do you understand?”

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