Page 24 of The Last Call Home
And I almost leave it there.Almost.But the memory creeps up like a shiver under my skin.
Should I tell them?
Should I tell them that while I was negotiating the new space for my bakery’s expansion, someone made me an offer to buy me out?That it felt ...wrong?
There was something off about the couple who tried to buy me out.Like they weren’t really a couple at all.Like the woman was about to threaten me when the guy—provably her husband or partner—stopped her with a look.And then he muttered, so quiet I almost missed it, “Not her.Remember, she’s off-limits.”
It didn’t make sense then.How the fuck am I off-limits?Will something happen to me if I don’t regret it?
I shiver.A full-body warning my brain is too late to decode.
“What’s that?”Cassian asks suddenly, pointing at me like I just leaked something I didn’t mean to.
“The mafioso comment?”I ask, trying to reset my expression.
He shakes his head.“No, you’re afraid of something.”
“Me?”I scoff.“Nah.”
Malerick steps forward.“Did someone try to buy your business?”
“They threatened you, didn’t they?”Cassian steps in, not fast, not loud—but there’s a shift in him.His eyes don’t leave mine.Not even for a second.There’s no softness there, no space to hide.Just a quiet, relentless pull—like he’s waiting for me to flinch.
“Delilah, we’re not playing here.If anyone tries to do something...”Malerick runs a hand through his hair.“Fuck.Do they know I’m not just the sheriff?Do they think she ...but I’ve been so fucking careful.”
Cassian lets out a low chuckle, the kind that curls at the edges like he’s already two steps ahead of everyone in the room.“Okay,” he says, dragging out the word like it’s a full sentence.“That answers why you two aren’t fucking—yet.You don’t want them to know you care about someone.”
“It’s none of your fucking business.”Malerick’s jaw clenches.His teeth grind.His whole face goes murder-mode, and honestly?It’s kind of hot.I’m not proud of that.I should probably unpack that in therapy.
But before I can spiral too far into what that says about me, I jump in.Because if we’re going to talk about the elephant in the room, we might as well invite the whole fucking zoo.
“He’s not interested,” I say.Too fast.Too loud.Like I need to be the one who says it before someone else does, and it stings worse.
Cassian snorts, that smug glint flashing in his eyes.“Sweetheart, he’s very interested.”He grins, and I hate how good he is at reading people.“Which is a little sad,” he adds, tapping his chin, “because that makes you both officially off-limits.”
He pauses.
Then—of course—he adds, “Unless ...”
“Unless?”The word slips out of me before I can catch it.Curious.A little too curious.My brain throws up a red flag, but my hormones tell it to shut up.Let the man speak, he might have ideas, very interesting ideas that will bring you pleasure—lots of it.
“She’s not a toy,” Malerick growls, stepping in like he’s ready to throw Cassian through a wall if he doesn’t shut up.“Don’t talk about her like that.”
“Definitely not a toy,” Cassian says, and this time his voice is calmer, as if he had heard the warning but chose not to back down.“She’s smart.Gorgeous.And look at that mouth.”His gaze dips to my lips and lingers—long enough to make me forget what breathing feels like.“I bet it can do a lot of things.”
“Mouth still works fine for telling you to fuck off,” I mutter, heat crawling up my neck even as I try to sound unaffected.
“Not her,” Malerick warns again, voice rough now.Possessive.
Cassian ignores him completely.Of course he does.
“I bet she’d fit perfectly between the two of us.”His eyes find mine, full of that shameless, flirty heat that says ‘I could wreck you right now, and you’d say thank you.Maybe even ask for a second round.’
And the worst part?
He’s not wrong.
It’s been too long since I’ve had a human-produced orgasm.And Cassian looks like a man built to ruin women—in all the right ways.The sort who doesn’t just mess up your sheets but leaves your standards permanently rearranged.
