Page 29 of Filthy Little Lies

“Good. So, about the car.”

“I’ll have a driver ready for you.”

“I don’t need a driver, just a car.”

“I’ll have a driver ready for you. I have work to get back to, and so do you.”

She turns on her heel and storms from the office, slamming the door behind her.

“So…how’s the new girl working out?” Roman smirks at me as I sit back down behind my desk.

“I’m not in the mood.”

“If she irritates you so much, why are you keeping her here?” He shoves his phone into the back pocket of his jeans.

“She’ll settle in.”

“Hmm.” He gets up from his chair. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of girl that settles in. She’s more of the bring-chaos-into-every-room-she-enters sort of girl. But I have limited experience with her, so I could be wrong. It’s just most women would have curled up in a ball and sobbed themselves to sleep after I locked them in a room. She threw insult after insult, tried to barricade the door with a hundred-pound bookcase, and then escaped.”

“Thanks for the review. I’m aware of what sort of woman she is.” I open my laptop, determined to put her out of my mind so I can go over the proposals waiting for my approval.

Savvy Collins isn’t going to bring chaos into my life. She’s going to work off the money she lost me, and then she’s going to sail off back to the tiny apartment with the paper-thin walls.

“I’m just saying that you’ve forced men into your employ before but none of them spent the night in your bed.” He gets up.

“Don’t you have things to do? You have an office; you should use it.”

He cocks an eyebrow. “I’m heading there now. Are you going to be in at all today?”

“No. I have enough to keep me busy here.” I open an email, set to put my mind into work and forget about the curvy brunette upstairs.

“I’m sure you do.” He laughs, heading to the door. He stops when the door opens and our cousin, Lucian, stalks inside. A murderous look fixed on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I gesture for Roman to shut the door.

“I just came from a meeting. Ricci’s unhappy,” Lucian states, his hands fisted at his sides. He’s been looking for a fight, and if Ricci’s as dumb as I think he is, there might be an opportunity here.

“What could he be unhappy about?” Roman asks, leaning against the door and checking his watch.

“He’s saying the money Gabriel paid him to cover that girl’s debt was a purchase.” He gestures toward me. “He’s saying you bought the woman from him. He wants to make another deal to cover her debt.” Lucian’s jaw ticks.

“That’s a little different than the gratitude he’d shown for taking her off his plate when I’d made the offer to pay her debt.” I lean back in my chair. “What does he want?”

“Full access to her.” Lucian says flatly. “He tried making the case that since he let you take her, he’s out the opportunity to have her work for him. He wants that opportunity back.”

“No.” I answer before he’s even finished the sentence. “She doesn’t work for him. She doesn’t work near him.”

“Who the fuck does he think he is trying to make a deal like this after he’s already taken our cash?” Roman demands.

“He’s trying to make it seem like you couldn’t get a woman, so you bought yourself one that can work for you in and out of your bed.” Lucian rolls his shoulders. “He’s lucky I didn’t rip his fucking windpipe from his throat right there.”

“Other than you, who’s he saying these things to?” Roman questions. Always on the lookout for trouble from every angle.

“His own crew mostly, but you know how shit like this spreads. No one would believe it, but it’s the disrespect,” Lucian says.

I can have Ricci in the ground within the hour with one single nod of my head. And he knows it. But killing him would trigger a bigger problem with other families that work with him. And having a full-scale war over that little prick right now with all of the business I have tied up with the city right now outweighs my need for his blood.

“Tell him no. If he reaches out again, the answer is no. She doesn’t go anywhere near him for any reason. She works for us, and only us. And if he so much as looks like he’s going to make a move against us, take care of it.” I nod to Lucian. “However you see fit.”