Chapter 34: : Chapter 34

I’m sitting in my car outside her apartment building. I texted her to warn her I was on the way, and she told me not to come up and that she’ll meet me down here.

I’ve been waiting for over thirty minutes.

No sign of her.

I try calling.

No answer.

I message.

No answer.

I huff in frustration. I have tried to do the “patient and chivalrous” thing, which is so uncomfortable and out of character for me, and I’m now pissed for even trying, especially when I’m rewarded with her silence.

Pocketing my phone, I leave my car and am heading inside the building, when I receive a notification that someone has entered my apartment. Pausing outside Jewel’s door, I open the app for the cameras I had set up and see someone wearing all black, walking around my private space. I watch as they go to my fridge, pull out a piece of cheese, and eat it as they open every door, then close them, leaving everything the exact same way. That’s when the intruder turns, amber eyes staring directly at the camera I had installed just because of her. She has the fucking audacity to wave before she continues her search.

She’s trying to find her guns.

Good luck to you, tigress; that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

This little vixen actually has the balls to not only lie to me about her whereabouts and pretend she’s taking her time to meet me but to break into my apartment again. I’m just now realizing that perhaps my approach of having minimal security personnel besides Ford and Hawke, might have been a miscalculation, especially when it comes to this sneaky woman.

My other camera indicates motion detected as she walks into my bedroom. She spins dramatically and then throws herself backward onto the bed with a smile, her knee-high-boot-clad feet kicking into the air before they land on my bed.

“Jewel,” I say into the microphone. She offers me a small wave as she lounges on my bed. “Get your shoes off my bed.” She laughs but doesn’t do as she’s told. Of course she doesn’t. I would expect nothing less from her.

Flipping onto her stomach, she gives me a perfect view of her ass in those leather pants as she crawls to my bedside table. She proceeds to pull open the drawer and then wreaks havoc on the contents. My jaw tics. She’s purposefully fucking with me because she knows I like things in a particular way.

She finds something and lifts it toward the camera, showing me what she has.

A condom.

“Guess you won’t be needing this,” she says, opening it and throwing it to the floor so it can’t be used again. Not that I ever bring women to my apartment. That condom has probably been sitting in there for years.

She rolls over with an exhausted sigh. “Where are my guns?” she asks, getting to her knees and eyeing the camera.

“Meet me at the dress shop, and I may give you one,” I tell her. She rolls her eyes, and I can’t help the smile that teases my lips.

Her apartment door opens, drawing me back to where I am, and her roommate is startled when she almost runs into me.

I drop my phone into my jacket pocket, aware of where I have to go next.

“Oh, she isn’t here,” she tells me before I can say a word.

“I know.”

“Okay, then.” She steps into the hallway, locks the door, double-checks that it’s locked, then walks around me.

She’s a strange one.

I pull my phone back out and check the cameras again. Jewel is lazily curled up on my bed, playing with the remote and trying to get the TV working.

“Jewel Diamond, we have an appointment today,” I remind her.

“I don’t give a fuck. I have my period. I hurt. And I still don’t like you, asshole.” She flips me off.

I crack my neck from side to side. It’s about time I teach her a lesson… in obedience.

When I arrive at my apartment, I find her right where I saw her last—on my bed. I go to speak, then notice she’s fallen asleep. I drop the plastic bag of chocolate, pads, tampons, and something called period undies, which I don’t entirely understand the need for, onto the dresser. As much as I want to punish her for being a brat, I still feel a pang of guilt—not something I’ve ever felt before—for how I spoke to her last night.

A soft snore leaves her.

Fucking hell.

I pull off one of her boots, and when I get to the second, she startles awake, kicks me in the chest, and basically crawls up the bed, ready for a fight.

“What the actual fuck?” I shout, rubbing my chest.

She lays her hand over her heart and starts breathing heavily. “You scared me.”

“Yeah, well, you broke into my house and fell asleep in my bed. What are you, Goldilocks or something?”

She slides back down the bed with a yawn. “I was tired. I didn’t sleep well, and your bed is comfy.”

My smile doesn’t meet my eyes as I continue to attempt to be… nice.

“Next time, take your fucking boots off,” I grumble. I pick up the plastic bag and dump it in front of her. I begin undoing the buttons of my shirt. There’s no mark from when she kicked me, but it doesn’t feel entirely clean now.

“What’s this?” she asks curiously.

I peel off my shirt as I say, “You said you had your period and you were tired, so I brought some snacks.”

“And tampons and pads and… are those period undies?” She looks up at me in shock. Her mouth falls open as her gaze scans over my body. I flex my muscles for her, and she looks away as if uninterested.

Smirking, I comment, “Well, I assumed by your pissy mood it must be bad.”

A ruthless smile appears on her face. “You’re just saying that to really piss me off, aren’t you?”

Yes.

I witnessed my father once mention my mother’s mood swings during that time of the month, and I learned very quickly it was not the right thing to say.

“Besides, I’d much rather you eat this than steal slices of cheese from my fridge like some kind of rodent.”

“Could be worse; I could leave another dead one in your drawer.”

“That was absolutely despicable,” I reprimand as I step out of my closet and button the clean shirt.

“You’re telling me. I saw that thing dead in an alleyway and used a plastic bag to scoop it up. I wasn’t touching that. By the way, I noticed you threw the entire dresser out.”

She smiles as she breaks off a piece of chocolate and pops it into her mouth.

“Why are you here? If you want a key, I can give you one.”

Her knees curl up to her chest, and I hate how… vulnerable it makes her look. I sit at the end of the bed.

“You’re a dumbass for trusting me.” She huffs out a breath. “Don’t you feel even the slightest bit bad for lying to your family about us?”

It dawns on me then; perhaps that’s why she was so off last night. Does my little Kitten have a conscience? That makes one of us.

“No. I was backed into a corner by my parents, and this was my way of charging through it. So whether you like it or not, we’re going through this together.”

“I want my guns,” is the only response I get. Glancing at the floor, I find the condom she tore open.

“Why? Has the order to finally kill me been made, and you’re worried you won’t get your guns before I die?” I antagonize.

Her mouth opens and then closes. She curls further into herself. “This isn’t a joke.”

“I never thought it was. But I live by the saying, ‘Keep your friends close and enemies closer.’ And it would appear I don’t have many friends.”

“With a personality like yours, I can see why someone would want to kill you.”

I chuckle at that, then pull her feet toward me. She seems perplexed as I begin to massage her feet and legs. I don’t like seeing her shrinking herself into a ball, making herself smaller than she is.

This client of hers has been on my mind for some time now. No matter how hefty a price I pay Will, he can’t track them down. It’s also strange that the person hasn’t yet authorized the actual hit. Part of me has started wondering if perhaps it’s not about the hit at all but that someone’s using her to get my attention. A gamble considering she could’ve ended up dead.

I even considered she’s working for someone on personal matters, but everything Will has provided me about Jewel indicates her being a lone wolf. The only person she is in touch with is a man named Craig, and he’s had nothing to do with my family.

I grow more impatient the longer this is drawn out. I thought her client would’ve made some move by now. Shown some kind of play.

Jewel slowly relaxes with each press of my fingertips into her tense muscles.

My gaze lands on her engagement ring. “You’re wearing your ring again.”

She rolls her eyes, but I notice how her body eases back against the headboard. “I thought it was mandatory since we’re dress shopping today.”

“Oh, so now you’ll willingly come.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “I just want to get this over and done with so you’ll return my guns.”

“What about the money?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I have more money than I know what to do with. And I’ll have even more after taking you out.”

Curious, I ask, “How much is my head worth?”

What lengths would someone go to take me out?

“Too much for the prize, but not enough for the hassle,” she quickly replies as she slips her feet out of my grasp. “Which is why when you pay me alongside giving me my guns back, it might make it barely acceptable.”

“You may be uncomfortable in that when going to try on dresses.” I wave my hand at her tight leather pants that she knows I can’t look away from. She strides over to the small bag in the corner she must’ve brought with her.

“The only one who is uncomfortable with me wearing these pants is you,” she taunts. To make a point, she undoes her leather pants, her gaze on me as she shimmies them down her legs until she kicks them off.

Once she’s free of them, she unbuttons her shirt, showcasing her gorgeous tits in a black bra. Discarding it to the side, she stands in front of me in nothing but a G-string, the bra, and a smile.

“You don’t really think you’ll get away with taunting me like that, do you?” I ask, stepping closer.

“My guns?” she purrs.

“After we’re married,” I tell her for what feels like the hundredth time. “Momentary truce?” I suggest, my cock already swelling. I grab her by the hip, my thumb brushing over the aggressive neon bear with sharp claws and teeth. The sight of the tattoo causes the corner of my lips to twitch.

With a small smile, she flicks her hair over her shoulder and then turns to a small backpack she left by the door. She bends over, showing me her ass, and my cock painfully strains against my pants. Reaching into the bag, she pulls out a dress and then slips it on.

“Ready.” She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. And I know she’s trying to work out a way to get out of this marriage and just take her guns.

Lucky for her, I like to play games.

And I always win.