A Corruption Dark & Deadly (A Dark & Deadly Series Book 3)

by Heather C. Myers

  Which was silly. This was just silly. He felt like he was spying on her, which he wasn’t – he was just making sure she was okay – but he was glued to his window, watching like some sick, son of a bitch. He had never been the jealous type before. Many of the women that had come before Annie would try and flirt with other men to make him jealous, to get a reaction out of him, but it never worked because he didn’t care. Because Annie was different.

  He was a jealous, possessive wild animal when it came to Annie. He didn’t care what she wore or what she didn’t. And he was okay with men looking at her. But if they lingered, if they tried anything, he was not above killing. Or, at least, hurting very, very badly in order to teach a very important lesson.

  With amazement, Jericho watched as his buyer leaned on the table and continued to smile at Annie. Annie’s brow was now pressed further down, her lines drawn into a downward, tight direction. Bennet came back and gripped his arm, tugging him away from Annie. Despite the fact that Bennet was dragging him away, his eyes fixated on Annie still.

  Jericho pulled his eyes away from Annie and started to prepare himself for this meeting. However, all he could think of was Annie and how the guy couldn’t stop looking at Annie and how he couldn’t stop talking to Annie and how this was very upsetting to him.

  At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Jericho would recognize Bennet’s knock anywhere.

  “Come in,” he called, hoping that the edge in his tone he detected wasn’t as prevalent as he thought it might be.

  The door opened and in walked Bennet, followed by the potential buyer. He had a face Jericho wanted to punch, or maybe that was him projecting his frustration. Either way, he strutted into the office with that swagger he hadn’t earned and a smug smile on his face like he hadn’t just been rejected by the best looking girl in The Red Door.

  Jericho stood and extended his hand because that was the polite thing to do. Not because he wanted to touch this vile insect he had absolutely no intention of doing business with.

  “Jericho,” the man said with a slimy smile that crawled across his face like a snake slithering in the sand on its belly. “So good to see you. Thanks for having me.”

  “Please,” Jericho said, pointedly ensuring that he did not return the sentiment. “Sit. Let’s talk.”

  “Let me tell you, sir,” the buyer said as he slid into the chair like he owned the place, as though he was calling this meeting, as though he were in control. Jericho hated men who thought they deserved everything, who thought they were in control. He had learned at an early period in his career never to let that upset him. Instead, he would use their arrogance against them. Arrogance was a sloppy trait, but useful for what he wanted to accomplish. It always bit them in the ass. “The women you have adorning this club is immeasurable, and I’ve been to a lot of nightclubs, let me tell you.”

  “What’s your name?” Jericho asked, keeping his eyes focused on the buyer. He could tell the buyer was going to slip up, much sooner than Jericho anticipated. Which was just as well for Jericho. It didn’t matter much to him anyway.

  “Would you believe it’s Bob?” the buyer said with that smarmy smile. “My folks weren’t that creative. Named me after my mom’s dad, my grandfather. I inherited his brains, though.”

  “Did you?” Jericho muttered more to himself than to the room.

  The buyer – Bob – didn’t pick up on it. Jericho didn’t think he would.

  “Anyway, so, yeah, the girls here are gorgeous,” he said. He glanced around, even though the office was small enough to see that besides Jericho, only Bennet was occupying the room. “Do you know if they, uh, well, take care of a guy who’s willing to pay – if you know what I mean?”

  Jericho almost shuddered. “Well,” he said slowly, trying to control his temper. “The girls here do not work for me. They have their own free will. Who am I to judge if they indulge in a little pleasure for profit?” He forced a smile, showing his bared teeth like an animal issuing a warning. “Did you have anyone in mind?”

  “Oh, boy,” the buyer said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his hands together. “Quite honestly, I’m open to any of ‘em. They’re all gorgeous. But see, the thing is, I’ve always been a fan of blondes. Had the biggest crush on Heather Locklear when I was a kid. She was the first woman I beat off to, and that’s an important monument in my life. There’s a woman sitting at a table surrounded by beautiful women but Jesus, for the life of me, I couldn’t stop staring at her. Blonde hair, pretty nice tits. Ain’t the biggest I’ve seen, but they’re perky and natural. But God, that face. Shit, that face. I want to jizz in that face, you know what I mean? I’d pay her a grand to do that.”

  “Hey,” Bennet snapped, pushing off the wall from behind Bob and crossing his arms over his chest.

  Jericho lifted his hand to keep Bennet at bay.

  “It’s okay, Bennet,” Jericho said, keeping his eyes fixed on the buyer. There was a smile on his face, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. It was a warning, but he highly doubted the buyer would recognize that if it punched him in the face. He was so self-absorbed, he was talking out of his ass about a woman Jericho was intimate with, the woman – whether she knew it or not – he planned to marry.

  So Jericho would let him talk, let him run his mouth, because there would be a moment when he said something stupid, and Jericho could pull out the gun he had in his top tight drawer and shoot him in the head. No one would hear it except Bennet due to how loud the music was. No one would see it because the minute the buyer stepped in his office, Jericho had drawn the blinds. Jericho couldn’t explain it but he knew he would kill this man tonight. He accepted it. He was just curious as to what would compel him to actually do it.

  They hadn’t even started talking business yet.

  “Did I say somethin’ wrong?” the buyer asked, a smug smirk on his face at the thought that he might have offended Jericho’s sensitivity. “Did I offend you? What, I didn’t think you had a sister. I know you have a crusade against those women who got beat up by their boyfriends or husbands. But, see, I wanted to tell you about that. Maybe they did something to deserve it, you know? You don’t know. Maybe they ran their mouth when they need to be kept in line. Anyway, we aren’t talking about them, are we? We’re talking about the blonde girl in the black dress with the fuck-me lips that I want to have around my cock.” He furrowed his brow. “She your sister or something?”

  “She’s something to me,” Jericho said slowly. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. Instead, he took his time, indulged his patience. It would come up soon. He was certain of it.

  “So you’ve had a couple of go’s with her?” the buyer asked. “Why am I not surprised. You fuck only the pretty ones, right? Hey, can I ask you a favor? If I take one thousand off my asking price, would you introduce us, maybe put a good word in for me. Seriously, my cock throbbed when I saw her and I need to fuck her just to get it out of my system.”

  Without warning, Jericho opened up the top right drawer, pulled out his gun which already had the silencer attached, and shot the guy square in the forehead. From the corner of his eye, Jericho noticed that Bennet didn’t even wince.

  “That fucker had it coming,” Bennet said. He looked at Jericho, slight concern in his tawny gaze. “You okay, boss?”

  Jericho stared at the body in front of him with a sneer. “Get this fucker out of my club,” he told Bennet. “I don’t want a single trace of him left here. Bury his body where no one will find him. Not that anyone would miss him anyway.”

  “You got it,” Bennet said.

  Jericho leaned back in his chair, relief sweeping through his body. He wouldn’t have to worry about Bob the Buyer again. And, unbeknownst to Annie, neither would she.

  Chapter 9

  It wasn’t long before the gossip magazines picked up on the fact that Jericho was now dating the same woman longer than a week. They ran the pictures from their time at the Gala from their first week together, and as
Annie peered over one at the kitchen table the next morning, she couldn’t help but run a critical eye over the shot of them on the cover. She looked stiff and awkward, but Jericho still looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman on the planet. She had no idea how she had won him over; it wasn’t as though she had been trying to. She had hoped to hate him for the rest of her life but she found that that plan completely backfired.

  Instead, she had fallen in love with him.

  “I like that shot of us,” he said from behind her, surprising her at his ability to sneak up on her without a sound.

  “You’re looking at me like I’m something otherworldly,” Annie murmured, pushing the paper aside and taking the offered mug of coffee from his hands without even looking up. How was it that they hadn’t been together for a month and somehow they had fallen into a comfortable routine while also still maintaining the passion they had for each other. That was the dream, wasn’t it? To be comfortable and lustful simultaneously?

  “Because you are,” he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. He slid at his usual seat across from her, wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt that clung to his long torso and revealed his broad shoulders and muscled arms. He wore sweatpants that clung to his ankles and, as usual, bare feet. Jericho didn’t wear socks unless he absolutely had to. He brought his own mug to his lips and took a long sip of coffee, black.

  “Are you okay with this?” she asked skeptically, perking her brows. “I just, I know you’re a private guy and the fact that you seem serious with me means they have a lot more stuff to talk about.”

  “First off,” Jericho said, keeping his eyes on her even though his hand was on his newspaper. “I am serious about you. I would marry you tomorrow if I thought you’d say yes.”

  “Excuse me?” she asked, flabbergasted. “You would marry me?”

  “Of course,” he said.

  “But… why?” This made no sense to her. “You barely know me.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I know enough,” he said. “You’re an educated accountant with lawyer friends and you graduated with honors from the University of Seattle. Your parents are dead and you have an older brother who’s good at his job but somewhat misguided. Your greatest fear is being alone and you bite the inside of your bottom lip when you’re worried. Unlike most people, you get quiet when you’re nervous and you make decisions based on your rationalizations rather than your emotions, which is practical. Except when it comes to this house.” He bit his lip as a smile broke out on his face. “This house is incredibly dear to you. It was my only bargaining chip to persuade you to open up to me. I know your favorite position is underneath me, when I have all of the control and you especially love when I hurt you just a little bit. Maybe leave a mark on you, spank you.” His eyes darkened just talking about it and Annie felt the inside of her thighs start to moisten. “And I know for a fact you would look absolutely sexy with my child growing in your stomach.”

  Annie clenched her jaw. She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, but she had a feeling Jericho could read her thoughts, her body language.

  “You looked absolutely amazing last night,” he said, his voice dropping an octave and causing a shiver to tingle throughout her body. “If I didn’t have to kill that man for touching you, I would have fucked you in my office.”

  “You killed that guy?” Annie asked, surprised. It was strange to find her insides completely used to a statement like this. There was no resistance in it, not even a swirl of guilt. She was frustrated, but for a completely different reason. “Were you careless?”

  “Do you even have to ask?” he asked. “No one is allowed to touch you, Annie. Everyone needs to realize the consequences of their actions.”

  “You’re not going to blame me for my outfit?” she asked, quirking a curious brow.

  “Why would I blame you for your outfit?” he asked, as though the question itself was ridiculous. “You looked stunning last night. You look stunning always but last night… Jesus. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. And neither could anyone else.” He reached out and curled an errant strand of hair, tucking it behind her ear. He clenched his jaw, anger lighting the pale green. “I’m not sure who you dated before but I want to make it clear to me that you are allowed to wear whatever you want when you go out with me or your friends or by yourself. If any man touches because he doesn’t understand that you don’t want to him to touch you, that is on him and not you. Do you understand?”

  Annie bit her bottom lip and nodded. Immediately, his eyes were drawn to that lip and he couldn’t help but stare at it.

  “We should,” she said slowly, just as he reached out to touch her bottom lip. It was like he was obsessed with it. And maybe he was. That wasn’t a big deal, was it? Why would it be? But she needed to focus on the task at hand, even if his touch was distracting. And tempting. “We should talk.”

  Instead of making a snarky comment about how those words said in tandem could never mean anything good, he picked his eyes up so they would lock with hers.

  “Probably a good idea,” he agreed. His voice still had that husk to it. Her body was still covered in goosebumps.

  “What are we?” she asked, deciding to be direct rather than dance around it. She didn’t think they were simply friends. There was more to their relationship, a dark attraction that wasn’t exactly typical, that rested between them. And she wanted to figure out what they were to the best of her abilities so they could get on the same page.

  She knew they had discussed this the other day as well. Briefly, before he distracted her with pleasure and perfect words. She had been asking, at the time, because she was scared. Now, she wasn’t scared anymore. Now, she was confident in herself and in Jericho and what it meant to be with him. Still, she wanted to label it because, like the majority of society, labeling something came with a set of expectations.

  “That depends,” he told her. “Are you going to marry me?”

  She laughed. “Now?” she asked. “Um, are you being serious?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be serious?” he asked softly, tilting his head to the side at that awkward angle. “Marriage is not to be taken lightly. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t mean it.”

  Annie thought about it. Did she want to marry Jericho? She had never thought about it. She liked being his, she liked the fact that she was the only one who belonged to him. Marriage would solidify that bond. It wouldn’t – shouldn’t – change anything. It would just make things legal between them.

  “I’m sure you want to put together a prenup before we get married,” she said slowly. She couldn’t believe she was actually considering his offer. She was crazy. Yeah, she was crazy for him as well. She just wasn’t as comfortable admitting that out loud the way he was.

  “Actually, I don’t,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “You can leave me and get my riches. Hell, I’ll throw your house into it as well, if you really want that. I just don’t think you’ll leave me.”

  “And why do you think that?” she asked, arching a playful but challenging brow.

  He cocked his lips into a smile. “Because,” he told her, his voice low. Just above a whisper. “You’re just as crazy as I am.”

  “So, you would marry me, a stranger, with no prenup,” she said slowly. “Why would you do that?”

  “I already plan to spend the rest of my life with you anyway,” Jericho said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What’s the difference between a piece of paper and not having that piece of paper.”

  “Uh, health benefits, for one,” Annie pointed out. “I could also stay by your side in the hospital. Filing together might ding our taxes since our combined income would be even more, although that might not really matter to you.”

  He chuckled. “You are so logical, do you realize that?” he asked. “It’s something I love about you.”

  “I like to think I’m practical,” she murmured. “It helps me keep a cool head. I don’t know.” She
shrugged. “It calms me down.”

  “But those things would benefit you, you know,” Jericho said slowly. “You would never have to worry about anything again. I would put the deed to your house back in your name so if you ever did decide to leave me, you would have somewhere to go. Not that I’m trying to buy your agreement or anything, but…” He shrugged and a light blush caressed his sharp cheekbones.

  “Are you blushing?” Annie asked with wide eyes.

  “Well, I’m not sure how to react,” he told her. “It’s not like I’ve asked anyone else to marry me before.”

  Annie smiled, running her fingers through his hair. “I still don’t understand why you picked me,” she murmured. “I’m not trying to fish for compliments or to throw myself a pity party. But, to be honest, I don’t understand why, out of all the beautiful, intelligent women you’ve been with, why you decided to settle with me.”

  He furrowed his brows. “I wouldn’t be settling with you,” he corrected. “I wish I could tell you. I mean, I could list all of your amazing qualities but I don’t think that’s what you want to hear. You want to know why you’re worthy of my hand in marriage when, in reality, I should be the one questioning my worth to you. The love I have for you can’t be measured in character traits, Annie. You’re the complete package and I admire you, respect you, and trust you. Marriage might be an extreme step, and I completely understand your hesitation. I would wait for however long you want to wait until you finally gave me the honor of becoming my wife. But I would tell you the same thing then that I know now: I know you’re the one, Annie.”

  Annie smiled and shook her head. It was exactly what she wanted to hear. It was almost too perfect, if she was being honest.

  “May I ask you a question?” she asked.

  He nodded. “You can ask me anything,” he told her sincerely.