Page 23 of A Corruption Dark & Deadly

For the briefest of seconds, Jericho's eyes flashed darkly. Then, the color returned to its typical pale green color. "I am a very powerful man," he murmured. "And I say that without the arrogance that statement typically comes with. As such, people would try to hurt me no matter what. And they know it would hurt me if they got to you. I don't trust anyone here except you. I'm asking you to please stick around just in case. Can you do this for me?"

Annie nodded her head. "Okay," she said.

He smiled at her. "Okay," he agreed.

Before she realized what was happening, he leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. He let his lips linger on her forehead and she felt a shudder slide down her spine. There was something in his touch, in his kiss, that made her think there was more to him and more to his affection than a sweet, genuine guy. There was a dark side to him, one that manifested in his business and possibly in physical affection.

When he finally took a step back, Annie felt her cheeks turn pink. He smiled and kissed her cheek one last time, almost as though he was saying thank you for her understanding, and disappeared in the conference room. Two bodyguards shut the door behind him, leaving Annie alone.

She pressed her lips together and glanced around the empty banister. A part of her wanted to press her ear up against the door to listen in on their conversation, to learn about this side of him she didn't know, but she found it in herself to refrain.

It definitely wouldn’t look good if she was caught. Perhaps he would find it amusing or let her get away with something like that, but if his potential buyer did? She was supposed to be representing him and she had a feeling they wouldn’t appreciate their secret conversation being listened to by someone as innocuous as Jericho’s date, especially considering he tended to change dates every week or so.

Instead, she decided to slowly walk down the long hallway of rooms, looking at the pieces of art that hung on the wall rather than look over a banister to see the lobby of the hotel from so high. She wasn’t exactly afraid of heights but that didn’t mean she wanted to look down. The artwork was typical for a hotel – the majority of them were pretty stock paintings that probably came with the frame. They all had hues of white or red, keeping with the theme of the hotel.

“Hey, pretty thing,” a voice said. She nearly jumped and turned, only to find a somewhat familiar man looking at her with hungry eyes and a feral grin. “What’s your name?”

Annie pressed her lips together, unsure how she should respond. She knew she had seen this man downstairs. Since he was up here the same time Jericho was, there was a good chance he belonged with the potential buyer, which meant he had seen her with Jericho. A shiver slid down her spine. It was different from Jericho shivers because those were full-body and left her heart pounding with anticipation, with the hope of something more, something deeper. But this one, this one made her entire body seize up. It was a warning, a warning that said this was the last person to be alone with. She needed to head back to the conference room. Maybe Jericho’s meeting was over anyway. Maybe he was looking for her.

As such, she decided not to respond at all. Instead, she slowly started heading back in the direction of the conference room. It seemed only paces away when she left but now it felt like there was an entire football field between her and her point of destination, with a linebacker coming from the right to prevent her even more from getting to him.

“Ah, come on, sweets,” he said with a smile. “Don’t be like that. I just want to talk.”

There was something inside of her that told her he did not just want to talk but she didn’t say anything. No point in prolonging the situation when all she wanted to do was return to the conference room and bang on the wall, regardless of whether the meeting was over or not.

“I’m not up for talking at the minute,” Annie said before she could stop herself. She probably shouldn’t have responded at all, she knew that, but the words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. She turned the corner only to nearly run into the broad chest of the stranger trying to get a conversation out of her.

“She speaks,” he joked, his thin lips curling into a small smirk.

“She does,” she muttered, taking a step back, and then a second. “I’m sorry, I’m meeting Jericho. Excuse me.”

“No you ain’t,” he said, not moving one inch and giving her a look that said he knew exactly what she was trying to do and didn’t buy it. “He’s still in a meeting and if he’s disturbed at all, you’re going to be in big trouble,” he said. “See, he’s meeting with my boss, pretty thing. And my boss ain’t the type to entertain the beauties. He don’t even have a date to this thing. Wanna know why? Because he’s not about distractions. He keeps his head focused. Not me, though. When he’s in the meeting, I can go meet pretty things like you.”

Annie forced a smile, her hands wrapped tightly behind her back. “I’m sure those pretty things are just waiting to meet you,” she said. She knew fighting would get her nowhere. She hoped being nice, even if it was obviously forced, would get her away from this.

“Maybe,” he agreed. “But why meet those pretty things when I have one right in front of me?”

It was the smile that made her snap. It was slow and lecherous, the kind that didn’t reach his eyes but slid down her spine like a slug. She bolted, running down a secluded hallway meant just for employees. There were no rooms around. Maybe if she could get to the staircase, she could get down and get lost in the crowd. Or at least the women’s restroom.

She heard him laugh behind her. “I do love the chase,” he said to himself, and then she heard footsteps rushing to catch up to her.

Shit. She wasn’t going to make it. She knew it the minute she realized he was chasing her. The guy was tall and built. She wasn’t sure if he was quick but his long legs would probably catch up to her within a few strides.

The door to the stairway. If she could just get to that…

He lunged for her, knocking her down. They landed on her hipbone and she cried out. He laughed as she struggled underneath him.

“No need to fight anymore,” he told her.

“Don’t you know who I came here with?” she asked in a strained voice. “Jericho is going to be so pissed.”

“You think I give a shit about Jericho?” he asked. “You think Jericho is going to stop me? By the time he finds you, we’ll be long gone. Oh, don’t worry, pretty thing. I ain’t gonna kill you, but I will take your body out for a drive.”

“No,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m telling you no. Get off of me.”

She struggled underneath him, grunting and groaning. “Ain’t no one gonna hear you,” he said. “Struggle all you want. It makes it more fun.”

And then, he stopped. Annie had no idea what had happened but the man’s face was suddenly ashen. Blood was everywhere.

“Annie!”

And there was Jericho, holding a gun with a silencer attached to it. His pale green eyes were dark, a cold look that haunted his features. He was furious. He ran over to her, pushing the man off of her body so he rolled over, lifeless.

Jericho had killed him, shot him straight through the temple of his head.

“Come on,” he said, helping her up. “Let’s get you home and cleaned up.”