Page 56 of Great White
“Good.” I take her face. “I’m sorry.” I drop a lingering kiss on her lips. They’re warm to the touch.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to coddle me.”
“I’m not coddling you.” I take slight offense. “I’m being supportive. There is a big difference.”
“If you say so.” There’s a lightness to her tone, but her energy is still stiff and tense. Dove slides her face out of my palms and goes to sit behind the desk. She looks exhausted. We haven’t been getting much sleep as it is, and now this with Stefania, she’ll never close her eyes.
“I do.” I follow her, resting on the edge of the desk.
“We’re going to lose everything. I can see it. It’s going to end in disaster.”
“Maybe merging with the Rayas cartel is a smart business decision.”
“If I believed that it was, I would jump at the opportunity. But I don’t trust Raffi, and Stefania isn’t thinking straight. She’s blinded by love.”
“Love does make you do asinine things sometimes.” I sigh.
Public enemy number one right here.
“She’s going to get hurt.”
That’s Dove’s underlying concern. She doesn’t care about the money or the business. She cares about Stefania.
“Maybe you should get out?” I delicately suggest.
“Get out?”
“If Stef is making bad decisions for the business, maybe it’s time you cut your losses.”
“I could never abandon Stef. I don’t care what stupid decisions she makes. We’re in this together. Till the end.” Dove could literally slit my throat with the sharpness of her words.
I put my hands up in surrender. “Easy,Tiburona, it was just a suggestion. A devil’s advocate perspective.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” She covers her face with her hands. “I’m just . . .fuckingfrustrated.”
“Frustrated? Well, I can help with that.” I grin salaciously.
Dove peeks up at me. “You have a one-track mind.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Well, let me convince you, darlin’.”
“Don’t call me darlin’.”
“Okay, darlin’,” I mess with her. “You need to relax. And I know the ingredients to the perfect remedy.”
“Do you?” she questions.
“Yes, ma’am.” I lean in and kiss her.
“Ma’am?” Dove curls her lip. “That might be worse than darlin’.”
“In a few minutes you won’t remember either of those words.” I kiss her again, the forcefulness tilting her head back.
Dove tries to reach for my belt, but we are nowhere close to that yet. This particular encounter is all about her.
