Cousins: An Alpha Bad Boy Romance(31)

"So what's she doing living with them?"

"I'm assuming it has something to do with the trouble she's in idiot. Did you not hear anything I said? All I know is she lost her apartment or something. She used to live over by the art museum. It's my job to find out why."

"You want me to run a check?"

At Masterson & Associates, I am the muscle, Cutter is the schmoozer, and Camden is the techie. He spent a lot of our youth breaking into computer systems for fun, and now he gets paid by Joseph to do it. Usually to gain leverage over someone. He might be able to find out everything I need to know about Elizabeth with a few simple strokes of the keyboard, but where's the fun in that?

"Uh-uh, I got it."

"You never answered my original question, and hand me the bottle." He points to the bottle of Jack Daniels I brought over.

"What question?"

"Is. She. Hot?"

"You can't fuck her Camden!" Or I'll have to kill your ass.

"That's not what I asked." Camden laughs heartily. "But since you brought it up, let me meet her. I'll find out everything you need to know."

"Hell no." I say through gritted teeth.

"Why? I'm a gentleman. I'm way better than you have ever been to a woman."

Unfortunately he's right.

"You're a miserable asshole. Hell. No."

"Eh, I'll meet her at the club. When are you bringing her? You gotta keep an eye on her right? You'll have to bring her to the club at some point."

"Camden–" I'm barely holding it together. "You sound like your horny brother right now."

"I'm doing you a favor," he says sarcastically.

He's right about one thing though. I can't run from this forever. It's time to man up. I pour myself a shot and make the tough decision.

"I'll go check on her and bring her to the club tomorrow, but I just want you and Cutter to be friendly to her. Put her at ease. Otherwise she's hands off. Don't let me have to tell you again."

"All I want to know is, Is. She. Hot?"

Fuck yes.

"She's my cousin asshole. I haven't even thought about it."





Chapter Thirteen

Elizabeth





A BRISK KNOCK AT THE DOOR abruptly wakes me to a sunlight drenched room, and a laptop still in my bed that's about to conk out on less than five percent battery power. I fell asleep working in bed again. I've actually been doing this for the last few days. Staying up because the freelance coders I'm able to afford all live in India, and we're on two completely opposite time zones. The only way we can chat live to troubleshoot is if I stay up, so that's what I do. Of course this is driving Juliette completely insane. She doesn't understand what I do and why I need to stay up half the night to do it, and even if she did, all she cares about is feeding me.

"Come in." I say completely hiding under my covers. I know it can only be her, but I look like death warmed over and my morning breath is lethal. I wouldn't want to kill her with it.

"Get up Duchess."

I jump damn near out of my skin when I hear the deep familiar voice, and squeeze my legs tightly together when I peep my head from under the covers and notice Roman leaning against the inside of the door frame with his arms crossed in front of him, dressed in only a pair of black basketball shorts, and dripping in sweat. I can literally see every ridge and hard sleek muscle in his forearms, biceps, chest, and torso. He must have zero body fat and the capability of lifting a Mack Truck. No wonder he oozes confidence and arrogance. How could he be anything but egotistical when he sees that every frackin' day in the mirror.

"I'm tired," I complain with the covers over my mouth.

"I bet," he snickers. "I heard that you've been working yourself to death up here."

"Did Juliette put you up to this? Why are you here?" Where have you been?

"Not happy to see me?"

Hell yes.

"Ugh." I pull the covers back completely over my head.

"Listen Duchess. I'm not one for elephants in the room. So I'm just going to say it. I buried you in the backyard when we were kids. It was a shitty thing to do, but in my defense I was only ten. Let's move on."

That's the elephant in the room he wants to talk about? How about the fact that he was about two seconds away from making me come right on the dance floor of a family party? Or the fact that I've been thinking about him nonstop since we met. I'm lusting after my own cousin! So what we're not biologically related. It's still yucky. I can hear my mother now. Out of all the thousands of men in that city, you have to decide that you want to spread your legs for your cousin Elizabeth? God you're such a disappointment. Then she'd make the sign of the cross and pray for my eternal soul.