Cousins: An Alpha Bad Boy Romance(47)

He's totally pissed and it brings me a small bit of satisfaction.





Chapter Nineteen

Roman





I'M NOT SURE HOW LONG I've been standing by this railing watching Elizabeth and this pretty ass swim boy dance in the middle of my club. I don't like him. I can tell life has been entirely too easy for him. He probably got all A's in school, all the pussy he wants, and lives off daddy's money. He doesn't look like he's ever had to fight for shit a day in his life. Guys like that feel a sense of entitlement about everything. I'm positive that he's nothing but trouble.

Of course one might interpret this another way, and I can't believe I'm even thinking this shit, but is it possible that I'm jealous? I mean Elizabeth's arms are draped casually across this guy's shoulders, and his hands are holding her tiny waist as they dance way too slowly to a fast ass electro song. They're both smiling and giggling with each other as if they are in the middle of some sort of teen Disney movie or they're out on their first date. I'm really trying like hell to tame the beast within me, but this is another new emotion for me, and I'm not sure what I can do about it. The swimmer kid should just back the hell off. That would make things a lot simpler, because it would be very embarrassing for everyone if I broke every one of his dainty slender swimmer fingers, now wouldn't it?

My body is humming.

The hairs across my forearms are vibrating.

This thing brewing inside of my body has rendered me utterly stupid. While it's a sensation that I've felt recently, it's a whole hell of a lot stronger this time.

Possession.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but Elizabeth is mine. I'm not exactly sure how I can feel so covetous of a woman that I have only tasted but not fully claimed. Not to mention that I don't claim women. That's not what I do.

And that's exactly how I know that I'm completely and royally fucked.

I like Elizabeth. I mean I really like this girl. She's made me laugh more than I have in the last year. She doesn't have fake tits, a fake ass, or even false eyelashes. She's a hundred percent natural, one hundred percent real, and she's super smart. I'm not used to intelligence in the bedroom. I'm used to women who either pretend that they are way smarter than they actually are or are plain ole' home grown dummies.

I'm actually interested in not just Elizabeth's body (which is perfection by the way), but in who she is and who she wants to be, which is some brand new shit for me. Unfortunately though, I am highly interested in a woman who Joseph has made crystal clear is off limits to me. He made sure of that tonight when he called me into the home office.

Hence my shitty mood all night.

"I have never interfered in your personal life Roman, but you're my son, and I know you like the back of my hand. Something's off and if I find out that you are screwing with Elizabeth's head in any kind of way, be assured that I'll cut yours off. She is Juliette's niece. She's a sweet kid. And while she's under my roof, I want you to find out what's going on with her, and then protect every single hair on her head. Including from you."

"I don't know where this is coming from Joseph, but you're way off base."

I lied through my teeth.

"She had a falling out with her landlord. I took care of it, and I've been watching her like you asked."

With my tongue.

"Ask Juliette."

She might have heard me make Elizabeth come like a champion.

I decided not to tell Joseph about Elizabeth's boyfriend and the attack. I think that I need to do some more digging, and the old man only needs to know details on a need to know basis. Especially now that he's suspicious.

"Good. Because I've made a big decision, and I don't want to regret it."

"What decision?"

"I want to retire from the business and start traveling more with Juliette. I'm going to hand over everything to you. That is if you're ready."

I was fucking stunned.

Never in a million years did I believe that Joseph would ever hand his business over to me. I'm not sure that I even wanted it, but I've come to terms that what I want is not the point. I'm already knee deep in this life, and I've done so much crap over the years to build it to this point, that I doubt I'd really know what else to do with myself. This is what I know. This is what I do well. I'm a thug. I'm a monster.

"So how would this work?"

"So you're on board?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, we'll start by me handing The Lotus and the other clubs over to you. I bought them because it will be much easier to control media access to our clients if they use our properties to party in, to get drunk in, to see their mistresses in. Each club will have a strict policy of no cell phone use. So no pictures and no social media posting or check-ins will be permitted. We can block most cell service within the club walls. If they need to use a phone, they'll use the house phone. Celebrities will love it. It's old school. It's exclusive. It's private. You'll eventually have to acquire a few spots in LA and Miami to cast a wide net, but at least we already have New York and Philadelphia on lock."