Page 40 of The Boss
“You didn’t tell me about the marriages,” he said, voice softer now that it was only forher.
“I’m telling you now.”
“Too late for me to be reasonable about it.” He slid his hands to her hips and pulled her closer until her stomach met his. Her breath trembled. “Your brother tried to make you a currency.” His thumb pushed under the hem of her blouse. He found bare skin and stroked. Goosebumps shivered under his touch. “I assume Stellan set the bomb because he was worried I’d uncover how his family was creeping into Severin river territory. Adesperate move to distract me and cover his tracks—and it nearly cost both of us our lives.”
The emotion that moved over her face wasn’t fear. It was anger. Cleared, honed. “I won’t be traded.”
“You won’t be touched,” he said, and meant it more than any threat he’d ever made. “Not by him. Not by anyone who thinks they get a say because they stand near your family name.”
He bent and kissed her, slow and hot, abrand where no one could see. Her mouth opened and heat dragged through his belly. He slid a hand up her spine and the other into her hair and kissed her until the world narrowed to breath and need and the small sound she couldn’t hold in when he sucked her bottom lip between his teeth.
She broke first, head tipping back, lungs pulling for air. “Leif,” she whispered, and the sound of his name did things to his control he refused to examine.
“We’re not finished,” he warned. “But if I take you here, Iwon’t leave this room today. And Stellan will run another load while I memorize the way you come apart.”
Color bloomed in her cheeks. The pulse in her throat thudded hard. She caught his shirt when he moved to step back and held him there for one more second. He let her. He gave her a last kiss that promised everything he’d delayed. Then he forced himself tomove.
“You’ll come with me. You don’t leave my sight.”
“You say that like I’m going to argue,” she said. “I’m not eager to be kidnapped by the man my brother tried to sell me to.”
“He’s not a man. He’s a problem. We remove problems.” He picked up his phone. “Tomas, bring food. And tell the garage we’re wheels in twenty.”
Chapter 12
MARIAH ATEscrambled eggs at his kitchen island while Leif scanned reports and replied to three texts with his thumbs flying.
He watched her more than the screen. He watched the way she sat, alert even while wearing a buttoned-up blouse and fitted skirt, aformality he wanted to unwrap with his teeth. He watched how she tracked the room, index of exits purely out of habit, and how each time her gaze returned to him without her meaning itto.
“Tell me about the river,” she said when the plates were empty. “Not stories. What it actually gives your enemies.”
He set the phone down and gave her what she asked for. “It gives them quiet. Sound dies under the levees and trucks don’t ask questions when a manifest has the right stamp. It gives them speed. The rail runs close. Move a crate from a barge to a truck to a track and you can make it disappear inside three zip codes before lunch.” He lifted his palm, turned it to watch the lion in the morning light. “It gives them arrogance. Men who can move product start thinking they can move cities.”
“De Angelis runs without your sanction.” Not a question.
“They skim what they think we won’t notice. They pay who they think we won’t miss. They test fences and cameras and men. And they tell themselves they’re small enough to live.”
“And you let them.”
“I learned where the leaks were and who drank from them,” he said. “I let it run while I built a list long enough to clean in one sweep.” He looked at her. “Stellan shifted his shipment to tonight. That means he’s set the timetable, not me—and I’ll use his move to clean house on my terms.”
Something like understanding and pride warmed her eyes. “You’re not civilized at all, are you?”
“I am when it pays,” he said. “I’m not when it doesn’t.” He stepped closer, bracketed her between his arms where she sat on the stool. “I am with you because I want you to trust me. When I’m not with you, Idon’t mind if men mistake concession for kindness right up until they realize it isn’t.”
Her breath hitched. She tilted her chin. “And what do you want me to do right now?”
He smiled. “Kiss me because you want to, and then stay close because I’m done being late to kill a man who tried to kill me.”
She kissed him. It wasn’t neat. It wasn’t careful. It was an answer. He took it, gave back more, took again until her hands clutched his shoulders and the sound she made broke something deep inside him.
He pulled away before he forgot Stellan’s name. “Stay close,” he said, voice a scrape, the words more command than request.
She slid off the stool with a flush still on her cheeks, smoothing her skirt into place. He watched her cross the roomwith unconscious grace, then dragged a hand over his face, laughed once without humor, and picked up his phone again.
“Tomas,” he said when the man answered. “Make sure the second SUV has the kit we talked about. And find me a clean location with a view on Bay South. High angle.” He ended thecall.
He crossed the room to her, catching her just as she reached for her bag. She wore her hair twisted up with a few dark tendrils falling at her neck. He wanted his mouth there. Instead he set his palm at her waist, grounding them both. “Ready?”
