Chapter Five

Nex.

Ifelt the panic radiating from Cia and I almost laughed. This wasn’t how she expected things to play out between us. I would also bet every penny I owned that Merrick was confused about how his sister was willingly standing beside me. When he reached out and asked me to help find her, I refused at first.

He assumed I wouldn’t help, but after I had all the details from Morgan, I called him back and promised to locate her with a price that outbid what Arlo was paying. I located Cia and Merrick was the first call I made to negotiate the terms of what it would take for him to get her back.

“Cia…”

“Merrick…”

I watched the ripple of her throat as she swallowed.

“Why the fuck are you with Promise?”

Her eyes flitted to mine and I arched a brow, waiting. Seconds passed before she fumbled over the words. “I…we…”

“Are married,”

I finished for her. “Which means you can tell Harte to go fuck himself because he won’t be fucking your sister.”

Her expression shifted from hesitation to anger, but before she could deliver whatever harsh response was on the tip of her tongue, Merrick was yelling again.

“What the fuck do you mean you’re married? How is that even possible? How the fuck do you know my sister, Nex? This is not what we…”

“We met today after Arlo hired me to grab her so she couldn’t marry Harte.”

“You were going to kill my sister?”

“No, I don’t kill women and you know that, don’t you?”

He’d inquired about the service before, even offered a very gracious amount for me to permanently make his wife disappear. She was a bitch and I couldn’t blame him, but her poor social skills and gold digging ways wouldn’t change the fact that I didn’t accept those types of jobs. Merrick must have changed his mind because his wife was indeed still alive and well, making his life a living hell.

“You shouldn’t have her. That’s not the agreement. And how did Arlo know about the wedding?”

Find her, call me, I’ll pay you whatever you want…

That was the agreement but Cia’s proposition changed my mind and had me accepting her offer instead.

“She’s here because your sister didn’t want to marry Harte.”

“So you decided to force her to marry you?”

he gritted.

“I didn’t force her. Marrying your sister was her idea, not mine. And as for Arlo, I don’t know how he found out about the agreement between you and Harte and I don’t fucking care. Your problem, not mine. I’m simply giving you a heads up.”

“Nex, you can’t fucking do this. You know I have a lot on the line here.”

“Again, your problem, not mine. Cia is my wife. Figure out another way to fix your father’s fuck up, but I will offer you this…”

“Nex, come the fuck on. You can’t be serious right now. You don’t want a wife. You damn sure don’t want my sister.”

I smirked and eyed my new bride. “Still on the fence about the wife part, but I definitely want your sister. Do you want my help or not?”

“Yeah…”

Merrick breathed in defeat. He conceded to me and Cia gave me a look that clearly had her questioning who the hell had she married. Merrick didn’t bow down to anyone, ever.

“Tell Harte your father’s debt is now mine. I’ll pay within reason. Let him know I’ll reach out soon and you can tell him if he makes a move before he talks to me, he will fucking regret it.”

I ended the call before Merrick could respond and Cia blinked at me several times as if processing what just happened.

“You’re taking my father’s debt?”

I nodded and she looked visibly relieved.

“What if he won’t accept the new agreement?”

“He will.”

“You don’t know…”

I reached out, grabbed her waist, and yanked Cia into me. “He’ll accept and I’m done discussing Harte and your father. Take your clothes off.”

She opened her mouth to say something that died on her tongue when mine pushed through her lips. I half expected her to push me away because the timing wasn’t ideal. I had single handedly dismantled the power struggle between Cia and her brother. As far as she could understand, I also placed Merrick in the line of fire by taking her out of the equation. Neither seemed to matter because she moaned into my mouth and pushed her hips forward, leaning deeper into my frame until I pulled away. My hand wrapped firmly around her neck.

“I don’t do gentle, Little Flame.”

She nodded and I smirked, feeling her throat hum with a vibration beneath my palm. Cia Malone was going to tame me but that would only work for her. She would be my fire and ice, leveling me, which meant I was going to be fucking destroyed.