Chapter 8

Fuck. She didn't have a choice. Now they were threatening Katie. If she didn't go with Soloman, Roman would go after Katie and do to her what they were doing to Riley. Katie was tough, but the divorce had been hard on her. She was fragile, she wouldn't be able to handle the pursuit of someone like Roman. Riley turned on her heels and glared up at the big, muscular bodyguard, throwing every ounce of hatred she felt for the man into her look. He stared back at her coldly before stepping aside so she could slide into the open vehicle.

Riley buckled her seatbelt and pointedly ignored Soloman who took the seat beside her. Roman got into the driver's seat. She stared hard at the back of his head and finally said in an accusing voice, "I didn't know you knew Katie. And she's my best friend."

He didn't speak for a moment as he pulled the Audi onto the road. She was forced to take a moment and appreciate the gorgeous black leather interior of the $120,000 vehicle. Finally, Roman spoke. "Knew her brother."

"Wendell?" Riley asked, confused. She was pretty sure she would have heard from Wendell himself if he'd ever hung out with Soloman's terrifying right-hand man.

"Dexter," Roman grunted.

Riley fell silent. Dexter had been Katie and Wendell's older brother, the one that'd been killed in a gang shooting. Now she understood. Roman had been part of the same gang as Dexter. The one that'd been taken out by the Red Brotherhood in a gang war that lasted a week. Rumour had it that a single guy had taken out half the Brotherhood in bloody revenge for the death of his best friend, Dexter Pullman. Then he'd quietly disappeared. Everyone thought he'd been killed too. Now Riley suspected he had just gone to work for Soloman Hart.

Soloman picked up her hand and laced his fingers through hers. She tried to draw away from him, but he tightened his hand to the point of pain. She subsided, deciding that hand-holding was not the hill she wanted to die on. She turned fiery eyes on him and dug her nails into his hand. He gave her a feral smile and jerked her toward him until her face was inches away from him.

She gasped and brought her hand up to brace herself against him. Her hand landed on his hard chest, sliding against the fine fabric of his suit jacket. She felt his pectoral muscles clench under her fingertips and jerked back in response. He brought his hand up to catch the ponytail at the back of her head and hold her still, forcing her to stay within the circle of his body instead of subsiding into her own seat.

"Just let me go," she begged him quietly, searching his eyes out in the darkness. What she saw there made her heart sink. Gleaming possession combined with ruthless intent ensured that he would not let her go. "This won't work, Soloman. We're from different worlds. I like fast cars and video games. You like… I don't know, expensive suits and… and breaking people's kneecaps and stuff. Stomach turning shit like that."

He chuckled coldly, releasing her just enough that she could relax back into her seat. He continued to keep his hand in her hair though, running his fingers through the chestnut waves, smoothing them out along the back of the seat. "We'll work, Riley, don't worry about that."

"I don't want to work with you," she snapped, shrugging her shoulder in an attempt to push his hand away from her hair. He merely dropped his long fingers onto her shoulder and began teasing the bare skin. She shivered as sensations cascaded down her arm, tingling throughout her body. She bit her lip to keep the gasp of pleasure from escaping. She did not need him to know that he affected her.

Roman's deep voice startled her from the front seat. "Katie in town this weekend?"

Riley's body tensed and she glared at the back of Roman's head. "That is none of your damn business," she hissed.

Soloman's hand tightened on her shoulder in warning, wrapping around the delicate bones and holding her still. "Tell him," he said quietly.

She turned angry eyes on the dark man sitting next to her. "I came with you! You said you wouldn't..."

"Roman will pursue Ms. Pullman or not, regardless of your feelings on the matter." When she opened her mouth to protest he brought his hand down on her thigh, wrapped his long fingers around the smooth, bare skin and slid her skirt up a few inches until his fingers were close to her panty-covered crotch. She gasped into the darkness and clenched her legs tightly together. He responded by flexing his fingers, biting them deep into the muscle of her leg until she wondered if there would be bruises in the morning. Moisture flooded her pussy, while fear and adrenaline sizzled through her veins.

Soloman leaned in until his hot breath tickled the long hair escaping her ponytail. "Answer him," he growled.

For one long, frozen moment Riley couldn't remember what he was talking about. Her entire focus was centred between her legs and the pounding question of whether he would close his hand and crush her leg or slide his fingers further up. She licked her lips, but refused to answer, staring at him stubbornly, daring him to do his worst. She was an adrenaline junkie, she could handle the likes of him.

Eyes locked on hers, he slid his hand up further until his small finger was a hair's breadth away from her aching pussy. She tried to clench her thighs together, but he jerked her leg open and gave her a look of such heated warning that she knew if she dared disobey he would do something much worse. She bit back a whimper as he pressed his fingers full against the soaked crotch of her lace thong.

She couldn't hold back the moan of half fear, half arousal that passed through her parted lips. She thought he might retreat now that he'd successfully intimidated her, but he didn't. His eyes still held hers. Still dared her to refuse Roman's request as he pushed her panties aside and very lightly brushed his knuckle against the soft folds of her labia.

He leaned over and growled for ears alone, "Bare."

Finally, chickening out, she gasped, "Yes, she's in town this weekend."

He moved her panties back into place, slid his hand back and gently smoothed her skirt down. Her muscles refused to relax though. He ran the back of his knuckles over her thigh, then across her arm before settling back into his own seat. He continued to watch her with speculative, gleaming eyes. Fuck. These assholes were pissing her off. They just caused her to throw her best friend under the bus. She would have to warn Katie that Roman was targeting her, and he was a giant, scary fucking bad guy. Then she'd encourage Katie to take another job out of town for a while.

The car pulled up outside of Riley's apartment building. She sighed in relief, never happier to see her home. She'd been half afraid that Soloman was taking her back to his place. She reached for the door, but he captured her hand in a hard grip and pulled her out his side of the car, forcing her to stand too close to him while he leaned down to speak quietly to Roman. She thought she heard something along the lines of twenty minutes. Well that was good, right? He couldn't do much to her in twenty minutes?

Turning back to her, he placed a hand at her back, allowing his fingers to linger inside the edge of her red top, and guided her toward the building. She was reminded sharply of the difference between him and the man who had picked her up for the evening. Scott was about the same height as her when she wore heels, had sandy blond hair, enjoyed sports, and liked to smile and joke a lot. Soloman carried shadows with him everywhere he went. A sinister intensity followed him, warning others to stay away or suffer the consequences. Riley badly wanted to stay away.

When they reached her apartment, she pulled away from the hand that was stretched across her bare back and turned to face him. "Well that was interesting," she said, bitterness creeping into her voice. She dug her apartment keys out of her purse, but made no move to go inside while he was still standing there. "Thanks for the kidnappy ride home."

The edge of his lip quirked at her sassiness. "I'm coming inside, Riley. We have a few things to discuss."

She gasped. "Fuck that! You are so not coming inside my home. I've had enough of you, Mr. Hart!"

"Soloman," he growled, stepping into her space and forcing her to step back until her back hit the door. He reached out swiftly, took her wrist and twisted until she dropped the keys into his other hand. She cried out, but he hadn't really hurt her. He knew exactly how much pressure to apply without harming a beautiful hair on her head. He took her arm, unlocked and opened the door and pushed her inside. She stood gaping at him as he punched in the alarm code.

Her eyes were wide and luminous in the glow of the single lamp she had left on in anticipation of coming home late. She was caught between anger and fear. Her hand came up to cover her mouth for a moment as she decided which was going to win. He rolled his broad shoulders and cracked his neck, waiting for her to decide.

She backed away from him. He slowly stalked her as she walked backward on her heels toward the desk her lamp was on. Her ass hit the edge at the same time as she jerked the drawer open. He could have stopped her, but he just watched as she pulled a taser gun out and pointed it at him.

"You creepy, stalkery son-of-a-bitch!" she snarled, spreading her legs and bringing both of her hands up to hold the weapon steadily on him. "Why the fuck are you doing this to me? I can have your ass for this shit! Lay one more finger on me, asshole, and I will fucking cross the line with you. You think you're badass? You think you're untouchable? Well, I know people in this world, too, and I can have you dealt with, fucker. I'm Riley Bancroft, I'll have your ass before you can have mine!"

Her heart thundered as she waited for his response. As the rush of anger began to recede, she started to silently berate herself. Her options were pretty slim. She was probably going to die just for threatening Soloman Hart. People died for looking at this guy funny and she was pointing a weapon at him.

He didn't threaten her though. He did something she'd never seen him do. Probably no one ever saw him do. He started laughing. It was a quiet, sinister laugh, that shook his large frame. His eyes shone with pride as he took her in from her ankle boots to the long curls cascading from her high ponytail.

"You just solidified your fate, little girl. No fucking way I'm letting you go now," his deep voice shivered through her until she was gasping with dismay.