Chapter Nine: Unfinished

Ruby’s POV

“Keep cursing me, Ruby,” he said softly. “It only makes me want to shut you up.”

My heart started beating fast. I knew exactly what he meant by that. The look in his eyes was already dangerous, so I quickly stopped talking and forced myself to calm down.

“Boss… I appreciate you bringing me home, but I have to leave now,” I said carefully, choosing every word so I wouldn’t make him angry.

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he smirked.

Then I felt it — the hard press of him between my thighs.

Gosh. What a monster. My body tensed immediately. I needed to get out of here before things went further.

“Boss…”

“Call me Zane,” he cut in. His voice was lower now, rough around the edges.

“Mr. Zane… it’s morning. It’s not proper to do this in the daytime,” I said, already freaking out inside. I didn’t want to sleep with my boss again. Not when I already knew how rough and overwhelming he could be in bed. One night with him had been enough to leave me sore and confused for days.

“Ruby Carter.”

He said my full name for the first time.

Almost no one called me that. People usually just said Ruby… or Miss Ruby. Hearing my full name from his mouth made something strange twist in my stomach, and my stupid body started reacting even though I didn’t want it to.

Traitor.

Before I could say anything else, he kissed me suddenly.

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t romantic. He kissed me like he was angry, biting my lower lip hard enough to make me flinch. I tried to push him away, pressing my hands against his chest, but he caught both of my wrists and pinned them above my head with one hand. His mouth left mine and trailed down to my neck, where he bit me again — harder this time. The pain made me gasp.

“Mr. Zane…”

I stopped talking when I felt his free hand moving under the shirt I was wearing. Panic rose quickly in my chest. I shook my head.

I really didn’t want this.  

I didn’t want to recreate what happened between us.  

I didn’t want to lose control again.

But before I could say another word, his phone started ringing.

He froze.

For a second, he just stayed there, jaw tight, clearly irritated by the interruption. Then he released my wrists and stepped back to answer the call.

Relief washed over me so strongly that my legs almost felt weak.

The moment he turned slightly toward the window to speak to whoever was on the line, I didn’t waste a single second. I scrambled off the bed, not even looking for my clothes, and ran out of the room barefoot.

I didn’t stop until I was outside his house, heart pounding wildly, still wearing only his black shirt. The cool air hit my skin, but I barely felt it. All I could think about was how close I had come to ending up under him again.

Zane’s POV

I was pissed when the phone rang.

I had been seconds away from putting her back in her place, and now the moment was gone. I hated missing important information, so I let her go and walked toward the window as I answered.

“What?”

“Boss… I found the person we’ve been looking for,” the voice on the other end said carefully.

It was James.

I narrowed my eyes slightly. “Did you catch him?”

“He’s not just any man. Catching him won’t be easy.”

I smirked to myself. There was no man I couldn’t catch if I wanted him badly enough.

“Then you’re a weakling,” I said coldly.

“I—”

“Where is he heading now?” I cut in before he could finish.

There was a short pause on the line.

“Italy.”

I stayed quiet for a moment, staring out the window.

Italy.

Interesting.

“Send me everything you have,” I said.

“Yes, boss.”

I ended the call and glanced back at the empty bed. The sheets were still messy, and her scent lingered in the room. She had run from me again, leaving me hard.

That was fine.

The hunt is just starting to get interesting.

I unlocked my phone again and dialed another number.

“Prepare for a trip,” I said when the line connected. “We’re going to Italy.”