shame, fleets of private jets, and I’m sure they’ve got powerful friends. There’s nothing in the world that money can’t buy, and these people have plenty of it.
I’m sure he could make my life a living hell.
“I’m sorry, did you just call yourself a cranberry?”
It’s worth it just to see his nostrils flare out into little wings. Mark takes a furious step forward, his chest bumping against my ribs. If he thinks he can intimidate me, but one swat of my hand would send him soaring across the room. He doesn’t seem to realize that I’ve got at least eighty pounds on him.
“It’s Cran-bury, not Cran-berry!”
“Sure. Cranberry. Whatever.”
“You think this is funny?” he screams, spittle flying from his mouth.
Yeah. Kind of.
“She’s my fiancée! You have no idea what I could do to you! I’ll ask you one more time: Where is she?”
My heart pounds like a drum, every instinct inside me screaming to grab this asshole by his belt and hurl him out. Even though he’s done nothing wrong except park in my goddamn spot and sit in my chair. Bad vibes. That’s all I’m getting from this prick.
“You know where she is, Cranberry.”
Smirking, I walk past him and shove open the door, walking into the sunlight. He’s not far behind, screaming.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I turn around. Mark’s whole face is red with apoplectic rage, every movement livid with fear.
“You know what it means.”
Let him think I fucked his fiancée.
“You piece of shit! You bastard! How dare—why are you laughing?”
I laugh even harder when his delicate hands curl.
Just try me.
“I’m laughing because I don’t respect you. You come in here like a tone-deaf asshole demanding to know where your fiancée is, and you expect me to tell you. Now you’re raising your fists at me. Are you fucking kidding?”
He unflexes his spider-like hands. There are deep marks where his rings cut into his palm. “She’s my fiancée!”
“Yeah. You’ve said that about fifty times.”
“You don’t even know why I’m looking for her!”
“I can take a pretty good guess.” I turn my back on him, walking toward the garage as my employees anxiously watch us.
Olivia’s engine needs to be ripped out. I want to be elbow deep in metal and grease, tearing shit apart. Right now, I can’t think of anything more appealing, aside from smashing my fist against Mark’s face.
The man keeps screaming at my back, every syllable grating on my ears. “What do you want? Money? I’ll pay you!”
I whirl around, and a drop of amusement gets swallowed by the flames in my chest as he jumps back a mile.
“Fuck you and your money!”
Judging by the way he flinches, I might as well have told God to fuck off.
“I don’t need it, and I don’t want it. Now get the hell off my property before I throw you out.”
The blues of his eyes flare out like a flash of lightning. “I will not forget this.”
All right, bro.
I give him a sarcastic wave and a smile as he stalks back to his Benz.
“Ouch!”
Olivia sticks her thumb in her mouth, swirling her tongue around it. She’s standing on the porch in the backyard, frowning at the grill in front of her. There’s a plate of uncooked, seasoned steaks beside her, corn, and a glass of red wine rimmed with her lipstick.
My chest tightens and releases, remembering how many times I used to see her cooking behind that grill, an ice-cold beer in her hand.
Olivia’s sharp yell punctures the bittersweet bubble. “Jesus!”
Orange light flashes over her face as flames suddenly jump up high, illuminating her skin. A laugh escapes from my throat as she grabs one of the tools and beats at the fire.
I can’t take this anymore.
The wooden gate swings inward as I push it open, and she looks up at the creaking noise, a slight frown settling over her delicate features as she recognizes me. She’s wearing her dark hair up in a loose bun, and my gaze wanders along her jaw to the silver earrings dangling from her ears. High, arching eyebrows give her a haughty look that would be unappealing on any other woman. On her, it’s downright sexy. She’s goddamn beautiful, even when her lips are pursed in a little frown. I imagine myself creeping up behind and wrapping an arm around her waist as my mouth finds her neck.
Fuck, even the way she sucks on that thumb is sinful.
I keep watching it slide in and out almost as though in slow motion. It’s