The Maddest Obsession by Danielle Lori

“GET RID OF HER,” I growled as soon as Nico opened the door.

He leaned an arm against the doorframe and rubbed a hand across his mouth that was fighting off a grin. “Not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit. I want Gianna out of my building by tomorrow morning. And if you don’t think I’m serious, I’ll find a way to make it crystal fucking clear, Ace.” My voice was cold, but I let it warm around the edges suggestively when I said, “How’s your wife?”

His eyes flashed, and he sucked his teeth. “You know, if anyone else said that to me, I’d goddamn kill them. But I’ll make a concession on your account, considering I own the little nightmare of a woman you’re so desperate to fuck. Understandable you’d be a little touchy.” His voice was dark and mocking. “Not exactly off to the best start, but maybe, if you play your cards right from here on out, I’ll let you have her when Richard passes.”

Irritation unfurled in my chest. My hand twitched but I wouldn’t let myself react. I hadn’t had to throw a punch in years, and I wouldn’t start now—over a woman, no less.

“If I wanted her, I’d have her already.”

He let out an amused breath. “You know, you and I—we’re a lot more alike than you think, Allister.”

“Doubtful.”

He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Gianna is a headache when she’s married, but single? She’s more trouble than she’s worth. I was giving you the courtesy of working something out with me, but if you don’t want her . . . there are plenty of men who’d be interested.”

“I’m not so easily manipulated,” I said, not letting myself take his bait on a hook.

“I’m just being practical, Allister. She’s a liability. And this time, I’ll make sure her new husband is spry enough to keep her in line.”

Spry enough to fuck her, was the first thought that came to mind.

Fire burned in my blood, and I saw red spots at just the idea of some other man touching her, pushing his way between her legs.

“I want her out of my building,” I bit out, because I couldn’t think about Gianna with another man for another second without doing something crazy—like actually going through with Ace’s absurd proposal and forcing her to marry me.

“Why don’t you cut your losses and check into a hotel? Or are their sheets not a high enough thread count for you?”

I hated hotels. The housekeeping always reorganized my shit, went through my things, and left behind their phone numbers outlined with a goddamned heart.

I refused to stay in a hotel because I refused to let Gianna know how deeply she was under my skin. I couldn’t even look at the woman, let alone be near her, without fighting the urge to do things I probably shouldn’t. Like tie her to my bed and make her come, over, and over again, just so I could watch the fire go soft in her eyes.

Nonetheless, I wasn’t going to last much longer with Gianna running around in a tiny thong bikini. But, thankfully, business should only keep me in New York for a couple more weeks.

I was in the middle of negotiations with Aleksandra Popova’s father, a Russian politician, during his stay in the States. But it seemed he was more old-fashioned than I’d thought, and he was pushing his daughter on me like an incentive. It was an arrangement I was seriously considering. Aleksandra was beautiful, traditional, and composed. She wouldn’t challenge me, ask me questions about my past, or dig her way into my business. She’d make the quintessential housewife. It would be a good match, even if I had to think about Gianna when I fucked her.

I adjusted my cufflinks. “Use Gianna to fuck with me again, Ace, and business between us is going to be a lot different. Understood?”

A corner of his lips lifted. “Never thought a woman could come between us, Allister. Say, you wouldn’t know anything about my surveillance camera in and outside the club being wiped clean last Sunday, would you?”

“Must have been a power outage.”

“Must have been,” he drawled. “What a shame, though. A whole lot of men would have paid to see Gianna in that get-up of hers.” He tsked in feigned disappointment, and anger burned my throat.

I turned to leave, but . . . fuck it. “One last thing.”

“Yeah?”

When I turned to face him, I punched the smirk right off the fucker’s face.

Ace wiped at the blood on his bottom lip, his eyes lit with amusement. “I guess this makes us even, Allister.”

I stepped into the lobby and, naturally, the one person I fought to avoid was leaning over the front counter, playing cards with the pubescent pool boy.

She wore a short little romper—one of those things she’d have to take all the way off to use the bathroom. So impractical. So her. Her dark hair trailed down her back, the longest strands stopping at a point just before the curve of her ass. It was another obsession of mine. Always wavy and uninhibited, just like her.

She looked over her shoulder as if she could feel my stare.

Fuck, she was pretty. With soft eyes, pouty lips, and a body sex doll companies tried to replicate.

Heat ran to my groin, and I clenched my teeth in annoyance.

Why did the most perfect woman from here to Seattle have to be this one?

She frowned at me, then turned her attention back to the kid as if I wasn’t even here. Women stared at me; Gianna glared. It was just a fact of life I’d come to terms with. Sometimes, I wondered, if she smiled at me genuinely, all coy and sweet, like I was someone she actually liked, would it finally be enough to end my infatuation with her? Reverse psychology and all that.

But no, she reserved those smiles for scrawny pool boys.

Pool boys with a death wish.

Who knew what his excuse was—a stray eyelash on her cheek, a hair out of place, her soft skin was distracting—whatever the fuck it was, he was going to touch her.

Over my goddamn body.

As I walked past the front counter, I grabbed his wrist before his hand could make contact with a strand of her hair, shooting him a touch-her-and-I’ll-kill-you look. He paled. I let him go and continued to the elevator.

“Oh, don’t mind him.” I could hear Gianna roll her eyes behind my back. “He doesn’t have a fun bone in his entire body.”

Maybe not, but my idea of fun certainly wasn’t watching some teenager who wouldn’t even know where to put his dick touch her.

Gianna and I exchanged a look before I stepped onto the elevator. Hers said, Stay out of my business. Before I could stop it, mine said, I’ve been inside that little body and I’ll goddamn say who can touch it.

Her eyes flashed.

Then, she lifted a finger and flipped me off.