Dirty Money (Bad Money #2) Read Online Free
Author: Ali Parker
send Marcus this morning because you scare me or because I'm not capable of handling your wayward demands on my own."
"No?" He stood and moved slowly around the desk.
Kate stiffened before forcing herself to relax. Many times in the past she had found herself in the presence of various monsters. This one would be no different. The fear that pulsed through her had everything to do with drowning in his powerful gaze and nothing else. He was beautiful and quite deadly. Victor Parence was a man that had yet to be told no. She planned on changing that.
"No." She slid her hands into her jeans as he moved closer, stopping only a foot from her. She glanced up at him and relaxed her shoulders subtly.
"Then I apologize. I thought perhaps you realized the potential and it scared you, frightened you to the core of your being." He took another step and Kate held her position, the tall drug lord almost pressed to the front of her.
He scared her in the apartment a week ago when he and his lackey had come to teach her a lesson. He was overwhelming, but the only way to make it through the new deal they had stuck between the two of them was to push each chance she got and hope like hell it would be enough to keep him at bay.
"You thought wrong. You do nothing at all for me. I showed you respect for the position you hold when we first met. Don't over-exaggerate where we are headed. You've called me out of a peaceful life and back into the fray. I'm not anything other than ready."
He hovered there for a minute, breathing in deeply before taking a step back, his lips lifting into a sardonic smile. "Good. I want you ready. Work hard to continue pushing against me, Kate. I like breaking a fighter more than anything else."
"Why are you here tonight? You have fifteen minutes before I'm meeting with my staff to start the night's laundry list of chores before we open."
"I wanted to see you, face to face. I felt the need to let you know that it's not me you need to fear. It's what's to come."
"I fear nothing."
He chuckled and moved back around the desk, his smile only making him more handsome. "I fear desolation. I fear having an empire that rules the darkest corners of the world and never having anyone to share it with. I fear the need that pulses inside my stomach when I think about how good it's going to feel to break you."
Kate swallowed hard and tried to calm her nerves. He was only trying to get her worked up and it was working. She wasn't sure if being overwhelmed by the monster and wanting to know the depths of his fear made her a bigger one than him.
How long would it take for her to resort back to the woman she was before?
The one who was willing to do anything for power - even kill.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jon
Jon took the first seat he could find at the bar before pushing the other barstools away. He needed a little bit of room to look through the file without those around him checking out the contents. The information on Kate was hard to get a hold of and not that anyone else would be looking for it, but his paranoia was getting the best of him. He had been one of the good guys too long to enjoy the feelings of guilt that clung to him. He had used the file manager's feelings toward him to check out the file while showing no record of doing so.
He had to know about the woman he was currently willing to give everything up for. Who was she really and why did he sense that pushing their relationship to the next level was the worst thing he could do? Maybe he was reading her wrong. Maybe she wasn't as into him as he wanted her to be. Kate was guarded. She protected her heart at all costs from what he could tell. She had let him in a little, but not much. Sex seemed to be the key - almost as if physical touch was the language she best understood. Jon shuddered at the thought of Victor, or even Marcus, touching her intimately now that he had. Could he stomach that?
"Fuck no," he grumbled and glanced up as the bartender stopped in
"No?" He stood and moved slowly around the desk.
Kate stiffened before forcing herself to relax. Many times in the past she had found herself in the presence of various monsters. This one would be no different. The fear that pulsed through her had everything to do with drowning in his powerful gaze and nothing else. He was beautiful and quite deadly. Victor Parence was a man that had yet to be told no. She planned on changing that.
"No." She slid her hands into her jeans as he moved closer, stopping only a foot from her. She glanced up at him and relaxed her shoulders subtly.
"Then I apologize. I thought perhaps you realized the potential and it scared you, frightened you to the core of your being." He took another step and Kate held her position, the tall drug lord almost pressed to the front of her.
He scared her in the apartment a week ago when he and his lackey had come to teach her a lesson. He was overwhelming, but the only way to make it through the new deal they had stuck between the two of them was to push each chance she got and hope like hell it would be enough to keep him at bay.
"You thought wrong. You do nothing at all for me. I showed you respect for the position you hold when we first met. Don't over-exaggerate where we are headed. You've called me out of a peaceful life and back into the fray. I'm not anything other than ready."
He hovered there for a minute, breathing in deeply before taking a step back, his lips lifting into a sardonic smile. "Good. I want you ready. Work hard to continue pushing against me, Kate. I like breaking a fighter more than anything else."
"Why are you here tonight? You have fifteen minutes before I'm meeting with my staff to start the night's laundry list of chores before we open."
"I wanted to see you, face to face. I felt the need to let you know that it's not me you need to fear. It's what's to come."
"I fear nothing."
He chuckled and moved back around the desk, his smile only making him more handsome. "I fear desolation. I fear having an empire that rules the darkest corners of the world and never having anyone to share it with. I fear the need that pulses inside my stomach when I think about how good it's going to feel to break you."
Kate swallowed hard and tried to calm her nerves. He was only trying to get her worked up and it was working. She wasn't sure if being overwhelmed by the monster and wanting to know the depths of his fear made her a bigger one than him.
How long would it take for her to resort back to the woman she was before?
The one who was willing to do anything for power - even kill.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jon
Jon took the first seat he could find at the bar before pushing the other barstools away. He needed a little bit of room to look through the file without those around him checking out the contents. The information on Kate was hard to get a hold of and not that anyone else would be looking for it, but his paranoia was getting the best of him. He had been one of the good guys too long to enjoy the feelings of guilt that clung to him. He had used the file manager's feelings toward him to check out the file while showing no record of doing so.
He had to know about the woman he was currently willing to give everything up for. Who was she really and why did he sense that pushing their relationship to the next level was the worst thing he could do? Maybe he was reading her wrong. Maybe she wasn't as into him as he wanted her to be. Kate was guarded. She protected her heart at all costs from what he could tell. She had let him in a little, but not much. Sex seemed to be the key - almost as if physical touch was the language she best understood. Jon shuddered at the thought of Victor, or even Marcus, touching her intimately now that he had. Could he stomach that?
"Fuck no," he grumbled and glanced up as the bartender stopped in
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