Page 63 of Monsters Wear Crowns
The last thread of control snapped.
He reached out and snatched me by my throat. Stunned, I stared up at him. “If you stay in your apartment, someone could break in and take you. Do you understand me?”
I hesitated, feeling his fingers squeeze. “My building is secure. I am a powerful woman.”
He let out an amused laugh. “If someone wants to get you, they will.” His fingers flexed just enough to remind me who exactly I was dealing with. My pulse pounded against his palm, and still, I didn’t back down. Ineverbacked down.
“I’m not some helpless little thing you need to lock away,” I said, my voice steady despite the tight grip on my throat. “I built Sinclair Solutions to what it is today. I’ve defended my company and my power every step of the way. I don’t need you to protect me. I’ve pissed off big men before. Moreau will be no different. Or you, for that matter.”
His eyes darkened, glinting like a storm just before it broke. “That’s where you’re wrong, love.” His voice softened, but the danger in it only sharpened. “You’veneverfaced an enemy like this. And if you think I’ll sit back and let you make yourself an easy target, you’resorelymistaken.”
“I don’t need you to–”
He squeezed, just enough to steal my words. My breath caught, and I coughed. But his touch wasn’t entirely brutal. It wascontrolled.And the tension crackling between us only grew hotter.
“You do need me,” he said softly, his mouth inches from mine. “And whether you admit it or not, you know it.”
I hated the vulnerability that twisted through me. Hated knowing that someone had already gotten too close, that someone hadseenme as his weakness and was moving against me. My independence had always been my armor. And Rafe Vaughan? He threatened to strip it away piece by piece.
But I didn’t show my fear. I never did.
“You’re used to people obeying you,” I whispered, my lips brushing his. “But I’m not one of your men, Rafe.”
“You’re moving in with me,” he said again, ignoring what I just said.
“No,” I said, just as stubbornly.
Rafe’s mouth curved into an eerie grin, his dimple appearing on his right cheek. “Then I’ll have my men stationed outside your building.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then you’re moving in,” he said simply.
“No.” I huffed, anger flaring hotter. “You can’t force me.”
His brow arched, and the slow, wicked smile that stretched across his face sent shivers down my spine. “Can’t I?”
My heart slammed against my ribs. But before I could snap back, a sharp knock on the study door interrupted us.
Rafe didn’t take his eyes off me. “What?”
Scarface’s voice came through the door, tense and clipped. “Sir, we’ve got another problem.”
Rafe’s fingers slid from my throat. He pulled back, his expression shuttering into something cold and lethal. “Stay here.”
I bristled immediately. “Like hell, I will.”
He didn’t argue. He just opened the door and stalked out. And because I wasnotthe kind of woman who waited quietly whilemen handled things, I followed.
We stepped into the main hall, and the energy in the house had shifted. Men moved quickly, speaking in low, tense voices. And when we reached the foyer, Scarface handed Rafe a phone.
“They just sent this,” he said grimly.
Rafe took one look at whatever was on that screen, and his entire body went still.
“What is it?” I demanded.
He didn’t answer. He just turned the phone toward me.
