by Flite, Nora
That thought keeps me centered. Just that knowledge that I took something he thinks is his. I cross my arms over my chest and just keep staring him down.
“I think you know why I asked you to come talk to me this morning,” he says finally.
I nod. “I’ve got a fair guess.”
“Then why don’t you explain to me what happened last night?”
“I won the fight.”
Spada leans forward in a sharp movement. For a second I think he might actually slap me from across the desk, but that’s not in the cards. Mostly because his arms are too short. Otherwise...
“You,” he bites out, “were supposed to lose.”
“Yeah. Well. That was the plan. Unfortunately nobody told the other guy.”
Spada leans back again, his expression shifting from anger to a questioning annoyance. “Okay. What happened, Cain?”
I decide to back off a little. No point giving him still more excuses to hurt me. “It was an accident. I was trying to make it look real—that’s the way you want it, right? It has to look real, or people might start looking too close.”
He gives a terse nod. We’re on the same page on that one. Nobody wants anybody looking too close, because that path leads nowhere good.
“Well,” I go on, and at this point I manage to look a little contrite. Just a little. “I was making it real—but not too real, you have to understand me on that one—and he couldn’t take it. When he went down, it was as much a surprise to me as it was to you.”
The tension in Spada’s shoulders eases a little, and he breaks eye contact, looking down at the surface of his desk. “All right.” He looks back at me again. “I can believe that. You swear to me it wasn’t on purpose?”
I shake my head. “No. It was a fluke. Or maybe your scouts overestimated the guy.” I shrug. “Either way, it wasn’t my plan to take him out.”
“All right,” he says again. “All right. But you understand I’ve got to answer to people, too.”
“Sure. We all do.” I resist the temptation to take a relieved breath. He’s not going to kill me, after all. Not this time, anyway. I’ve been too reliable, too much of a cash cow. Although that thought twists my stomach, too.
“So you’ll have to pay.”
“Fine.” The word is clipped. What’s he going to do to me? I expect a beating, maybe out back. He can do that—he hasn’t given me a new fight schedule yet, so I’ll have time to recover.
“That was a pretty big purse you won last night. You’ll give me half of it.” Again, he leans forward, the movement sharp, like a snake striking. “And, Cain—this happens again? You’re a dead man. You got me?”
Well. There we go. He’s not even going to rough me up. Got off easy this time, didn’t you, Cain? “I got you. And it won’t happen again.” Unless Spada’s scouts fuck up again, but now that I know they can, I’ll keep an eye out for the signs. Last night I was just blindsided at how bad the guy was. It was like fighting a twelve-year-old.
“Good.” He pushes to his feet, and I do the same, shoulders wide, facing him squarely. He wants to intimidate me, but I’ve never let him. I don’t think he likes that about me.
There are a lot of things he probably doesn’t like about me. And one of them he doesn’t even know about. I smile a little—just a little, since I don’t want to piss off Spada now that I’ve dodged that bullet. But it’s hard not to. Because Jessica’s mine. She’s got my smell on her now, all over her skin, all up inside her. I own her. And he doesn’t. Not anymore. Never again.
And I don’t care what Jessica says—she and I aren’t through. I’ll have her again. She’s just going to have to deal with that. And so is Phil Spada.
“Thank you, sir,” I say to him with a brief, subservient nod, and I turn and walk out of his office.
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~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
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A USA Today Bestselling Author, Nora Flite loves to write dark romance (especially the dramatic, gritty kind!) Her favorite bad boys are the ones with tattoos, the intense alpha types that make you sweat and beg for more!
Inspired by the complicated events and wild experiences of her own life, she wants to share those stories with her audience. Born in the tiniest state, coming from what was essentially dirt, she's learned to embrace and appreciate every opportunity the world gives her.
She's also, possibly, addicted to coffee and sushi.
Not at the same time, of course.
Check out her website, NoraFlite.com and also email her at [email protected] if you want to say hello! Hearing from fans is the best!
-Nora Flite
Also from Nora Flite:
The Bad Boy Arrangement
My Secret Master
Last of the Bad Boys
Only Pretend
Hard Body Rock
Slow Body Rock
Flawed Body Rock
True Body Rock
Watch Me Fall
Connect with Nora!
www.NoraFlite.com
Facebook- www.facebook.com/NoraFliteAuthor
Goodreads- www.goodreads.com/noraflite
Twitter- @NoraFlite
Amazon- www.amazon.com/author/norafliteauthor
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Nora's books!
Last of the Bad Boys
All I've ever been good at is fighting and fucking.
Pure violence and wet sex. For years, it's been my life. If you think I'd get bored, you'd be very wrong. I'll never get enough.
Nothing can sate the ache that wants to bend any and every woman over, just to see how she tastes. I'm a man who aims to please, but no one holds my attention.
No one but Zoe.
My cock throbs at the very IDEA of her... I want to suffocate with my tongue inside her thighs.
When my phone rang, I didn't expect her pretty voice to beg me for help.
She thought I'd save her and that'd be it. Well.
Too bad.
I'm hooked on this girl—I want her more than water or air.
I wasn't her first.
But I planned to be her last.
Author's Note—Standalone full-length novel. Contains explicit and erotic scenes, a dirty bad boy with a filthy mouth, as well as themes of violence/mature situations.
The Body Rock Series:
Hard Body Rock
She thought she was stepping into fame:
Meeting Drezden Halifax should have been a dream. But dreams are supposed to be sweet, fragile things that whisk you away. Not monsters crafted from hard fingers, gritty vocal cords and a voice so powerful it could tear my guts right out.
Maybe my heart, too.
Becoming the guitarist for Four and a Half Headstones was everything I needed.
Too bad the band's lead singer is doing his best to ruin everything I am.
He thought she would solve his troubles:
Lola Cooper, god damn Lola Cooper. She was the perfect guitarist, fingers that could summon a sweet song or punch a chord. She's supposed to save my band, make us come out of this tour in one piece...
But I just want to tear HER to pieces.
No one should make me feel this way. One look at her, one smell, and I knew I'd have to have her. She does things to me that scare the shit out of me. Make me want to slam her on a wall and listen to her cries: eager or fearful, it doesn't matter.
I'm a monster...
And I don't even care.
Genre: New Adult Rockstar Romance
This is the first installment of the Body Rock Series
25,000 words
Slow Body Rock
He knew he was addicted:
I thought it'd be smoking that killed me. Lola is more addictive than tobacco could hope to be.
After feeling her warm body, touching her skin... even if it was an accident, I've given up.
The monster inside of me is going to consu
me her.
I'm too tired to fight it.
And I honestly don't want to.
She knew it was risking everything:
Why is he trying to mess up my ONE opportunity at success?
My very god damn existence?
I can't handle this pull between us... a gravity that wants to knot our bodies together and leave me merged.
Ruined.
I thought Drezden cared about his band, that he wouldn't dare do anything that might break them— and me— apart.
When did I become the one thing worth losing it all over?
Genre: New Adult Rockstar Romance
This is the second installment of the Body Rock Series
25,000 words
Flawed Body Rock
She wanted to be a rockstar:
I finally have everything.
Fame, presence, the world knows who I am.
Now my life is even harder.
What do you do when every eye watching you is full of jealous hate?
I'm strong enough to not let strangers hurt me...
But when it's my own brother, the stakes change entirely.
He just wanted her to himself:
My claws are in her, but I'm trapped, too.
Waking up, my first thoughts used to be about music.
Lola's changed all of that.
She consumes my dreams; my existence.
My band... the girl I'm obsessed with...
Is there room in this world for both of them?
If not, which do I choose?
Genre: New Adult Rockstar Romance
This is the third installment of the Body Rock Series
25,000 words
True Body Rock
He never wanted to look back:
I've always run from my past. It's what keeps me sane; whole.
But what if not facing it means losing the girl I love?
Telling her the truth must sound so simple.
It's a request that could leave me more broken—more hollow and wrecked—than ever before.
She never saw it coming:
Answers.
Answers answers god damn answers.
How far do I have to go to find out what I need? To get to the bottom of the filth and finally find the real person waiting? The man behind those delicious green eyes and intoxicating lips?
If Drezden won't talk to me...
I'll find someone who will.
But why does it feel like they're the one who's been waiting for me?
Genre: New Adult Rockstar Romance
This is the fourth and final installment of the Body Rock Series
29,000 words
Stand Alone Novels:
Only Pretend
If you hated your life—wanted to prove to the world that you could change—how would you do it?
I had a plan. I also had no family, no friends, and definitely no jerk of an ex-boyfriend who thought I was boring.
I was tired of being me.
In Vegas, I could be anything.
And then I saw him.
His hungry smile wanted a taste of the new me.
Only a boring person would have said no.
It was reckless to follow a stranger to his bed. Dangerous to take the drink he handed me. I thought the worst regret I'd have would be a hangover, a walk of shame through the hotel.
Except I didn't wake up in the hotel.
Or in Vegas.
I doubt my face will end up in the news. “Woman missing,” the headline would say. “A stupid person who thought she could be someone else.”
I'm not someone else. I was only playing pretend.
Too bad he was playing for keeps.
—Author's Note— This is a dark romance novel, it contains themes of violence and mature situations that could make readers uncomfortable.
Watch Me Fall
Pain, abuse, brutality. That was my life. I struggled and stressed; cried until I forgot what tears were. But I worked hard. I clawed to the peak.
And then I lost everything.
Most people would have shattered.
I'm not most people.
My dreams are gone, but that's fine. I could have lived this tiny, broken life. I could have suffered in silence.
Until I met her: Noel.
God, she's so alive. She makes me ACHE and I just...
I can't ignore her.
So I won't.
Noel thinks she can handle me. Survive me.
If she knew the truth—could see into my mind—she'd smarten up and run.
I'm so lucky she doesn't have a clue.
—Author's Note— This novel is a stand alone. It contains scorching sex, violent themes, and mature situations that could make readers uncomfortable.