Page 82 of Imperial: The Corvidae Family
Yair shut his laptop and slung his bag over his shoulder. “I’m gonna head out to see what I can find. I’ll let you know if I find anything else.”
Kades packed up the devices he and Emir were using to check for bugs then looked at me. “You know it’s not just him. Me and Yair are on this shit too and we’re not gonna let anything happen to you.”
Emir lifted my bags from the kitchen table, grabbed my keys, and led me toward the door. He didn’t say anything as we walked out, but his presence and energy were everything. Someone was going to have to deal with him and even though I knew what that could look like, I didn’t feel one ounce of remorse.
Emir layon his back in the living room, his hands gripping my thighs as I straddled his waist. Today had be a lot, but here, like this, with his touch grounding me, things didn’t feel so weighted.
I sighed, tilting my head. “I don’t know how I should feel about all this.”
His fingers moved in a lazy motion gliding over my skin. “You can feel however you want, and it will be valid.”
I frowned, looking down at him. “Is this normal?”
He shook his head. “Nah. Not really. The circles I move in are tight. The people are structured because we have rules. It’s never personal. It’s always about the money.”
I studied him, the relaxed way he lay here like this conversation wasn’t about life or death. Like he wasn’t explaining a world I had no business being a part of but had willingly walked into anyway.
“Then why is this guy doing all this?” I asked.
Emir brushed a hand over his head. “Because he’s too damn lazy to invest the time into being good.” His thumbs pressed into my skin, firm but soothing. “It’s always been about the money for him, not the job. When you care more about the money, you get messy.”
I stayed quiet, letting him continue.
“He messed up enough times for people to take notice and that hurt his pockets. When that happened, instead of doing what he needed to gain their trust again, he blamed me.”
I frowned. “Why would he blame you?”
Emir grinned arrogantly. “Because when he messed up, I was the one they called to fix that shit.”
I bit my lip, thinking that over.
“What’s on your mind, Baylyn?”
“You’re good at…you know.” I made a gun motion with my fingers.
Emir chuckled.
“And I’m glad that you are, which is…” I hesitated, searching for the right word but he responded instead.
“Twisted shit.”
“Very twisted considering what you do.”
His hands slid up my thighs. “Your man is the best and that makes you happy.” His voice held his usual arrogance. “There’snothing wrong with that. It doesn’t make you twisted. It makes youmine.”
“You just want me to be like you.”
He grinned and shook his head. “Nah. I want you to be with me, not like me.”
Before I could respond, he reached up and gripped the back of my neck as he pulled me down to him.
His lips brushed mine and his deep voice vibrated against my mouth when he spoke. “Are you with me, Baylyn?”
“Yeah.”
Emir’s grip tightened, and when I had his eyes again, his smirk was dark and satisfied.
“Good, because you didn’t have a choice.”
