Fiery Red

Orion~

I take another sip of the whiskey on ice given to me by the server with shaky hands. They are all nervous, I can feel it in the air and if it wasn’t for the food, I’d have rather not attended, to be honest.

From the size of the house, the cars parked up out front, and the lodgings close around, it’s clear to see that this place is profitable and my mind is fairly close to being made up. The delicious starter only served to push me further over the fence.

I have high hopes for the mains and just wish the server wouldn’t risk sweating all over it again. I’ll have to beat him in that case and for some reason that doesn’t seem like proper dinner etiquette.

A woman who is seated to my right tries to encourage me into her feeble attempt at small talk. She’s just about to finish asking whether or not I’m married, when the servers enter again with the long expected mains. I mean, the starter was filling but it barely managed to touch my hunger after a day on the road.

Plates of food are stacked against their trolley and I watch as a fiery redhead whispers a series of orders to the others, she must be their appointed leader and they listen without question.

Annoyingly she serves their leader before me, something I’ve been trying to let lie so far with quite a lot of effort on my part. I’m stuck with a sweating moron getting served second, while Brian gets a face full of the redhead’s cleavage which is another perk I’ll enjoy when this place becomes mine.

I realise now that I’ve made my decision and I wonder if I should be ashamed that a random woman’s figure cast the deciding vote for me? Nah, as I said, it’s about time that I profit from one of these takeovers and decent bed warmers are hard to come by.

Looking up from her breasts, I catch her eyes wandering over in my direction, and the second they lock with mine, it’s like a bolt of electricity shoots through me.

I’m not the sort of man that jolts easily. Hell, I’ve seen countless women, many of them naked, and have been able to take it in my stride each and every time. But this one, there’s something different about her.

Only now am I just managing to see those bright green eyes surrounded by light freckles. Her auburn hair falls over her shoulders in waves, causing her to have to flick it back several times already throughout the night. Then there are her full lips, making it almost impossible for me to regain control of myself and the pressure growing beneath my zipper.

But just like it started, she breaks her gaze away from mine and continues serving the men opposite me as if nothing happened.

There’s even one of them that seems to be making the effort to keep catching her eye, and I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but for some reason, I want to reach across the table to rip his throat out. She seems nervous enough as it is though, so I manage to hold it in, while also considering how it might not be received too well by Brian here, not that I care that much.

All of the plates have been served, but I barely cast the lamb in front of me a second glance; my eyes are glued to the woman, and they’re taking in every inch of her. She’s small, pale, and curvy in all the right places, but still what has my attention the most is those lips.

How would they feel when I slam them against mine, nibbling at my ear or wrapped around my cock?

I hate that she continues to hover on the opposite side of the room, far from reach and oblivious to my attention. To the point where I have to do something and make the mistake of opening my mouth.

“Sit.” That is all I can think to say, and the sudden outburst earns me the attention of the rest of the diners.

She pauses for a second, as if considering who else might have earned my addresses, but then her eyes find mine and the penny drops. I don’t know what I expected in response, but it’s fair to say that the anger shown on her is a fun little surprise.

I can’t say the same for her turning away though. Now that is unacceptable.

“Who are you speaking to?” Brian’s face is the picture of displeasure and I grind my teeth so as not to say something I might regret.

“Her.” I tilt my head over to the beauty near the door and watch as her porcelain face fills with a second blush of the evening. She’ll be doing plenty of that before the night is over.

The woman hesitates, clearly noticing the attention now on her, and her gaze flickers from just in front of my placemat, to her leader. She’s avoiding my eye contact, why?

“Thank you for the offer, Mr. Neville, but I have duties to perform in the kitchen for the next course.” The delicate delivery of her voice almost makes me shiver, and it takes me a second to process the refusal.

“Sit.”

The green eyes once focused on the floor, now lock with mine and the sensation is indescribable. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that there was a fire burning behind them now, and her expression is no longer hidden. She’s pissed.

“I’m not a dog,” she snaps, and I bite my tongue. For a second there, I was worried she’d be too meek. Not anymore.

“Father, please, may I be excused to prepare the dessert?”

My mouth falls open as I process the word. Brian Fitzpatrick is her father? I only knew about his son, the heir, and if I knew there was a daughter like that on the cards, this could have been a whole other conversation.

Donovan will be having a word with my sources later, the kind you bring a raincoat to witness.

This is an opportunity for this merger to go down without getting ugly. Not that I care too much, but I’ve raised too many eyebrows with my previous takeovers last year, and my family has been pestering me for ages to take on a wife. I’ve always been saving that chance for the right deal, and now that I’ve seen the kind of woman on offer, it’s got me thinking, what better wife to a crime boss than the daughter of one?

In the span of a few seconds, my mind is made up, and I turn to glare at Brian in case he so much as dares to agree with her request. But he does.

She leaves before I can say another thing, and fury radiates throughout my chest. That woman is mine now, not some common serving girl, and I will not have her hiding away down in the kitchens.

“Do you not have a cook for that?” I can’t help but snap, and Brian’s eyes widen as far as his eyebrows. They’ll go even further if he doesn’t justify himself, and quickly.

“She is our cook,” he regains his composure, and I can’t help but notice the glare of the man that was looking at her earlier. He’ll be next.

“Not anymore.” I grin, and I hope the malice in my eyes is as present as it feels.