Page 34 of A Corruption Dark & Deadly

As he expected, the food was ready. He, along with two members of his small wait staff team, took the plates of food and headed out of the kitchen and to Annie’s booth. The only plate of food he carried was Annie’s. She was the only person he cared about. The others he wanted to like and he was sure he would but his only concern was Annie. As such, he set her plate down first, keeping his eyes just on her. She beamed at him, this gorgeous smile that completely took over her face and shined like the sun.

Jesus, she was beautiful.

He still had no idea how he managed to get her.

Once the food was dispersed, he turned to head back to his office but stopped. From the corner of his eye, he saw Bennet with the potential buyer. Jericho had no idea what his name was and didn’t think it would matter knowing it in the long run.

The man was completely average. Typical skinny white guy who had a swagger that he hadn’t earned and didn’t deserve. He thought the world owed him everything, that he didn’t have to work for anything and it should just be handed to him because he was awesome and shouldn’t have to break a sweat. He was either raised with wealthy parents or with bitter parents who were jealous of those with more. This type of personality had been long engrained into him so there was no helping it. Jericho just needed to figure out if he was actually worth doing business with.

Jericho stopped what he was doing and leaned against the door to his office, his eyes narrowed. The way this guy walked by the table of girls would tell him all he needed to know. He had a good view of Annie and a good view of the guy. If he was staring at her, Jericho would know.

Of course, he wouldn’t be able to blame the guy. Annie was gorgeous and that was an understatement, especially in her black dress with her messy updo. He had noticed the stares she received when they walked in. Part of him was proud. The other was protective. He didn’t mind if men looked at her but he minded how they looked at her. Some did double-takes, not fully expecting her to be so beautiful. He could understand that. It was hard to just glance at Annie when someone who looked like her deserved a long, studious stare. However, if they lingered too long, if their eyes darkened, if their lips turned up and the gaze turned hungry, that was when he had a problem.

Jericho’s eyes narrowed as he watched Bennet lead the buyer past the table. As he expected, the buyer glanced at the group of girls from the corner of his eye. He thought his instincts were wrong when the buyer nearly walked past them without commenting, without doing anything.

And then, the buyer stopped. He didn’t call Bennet back, didn’t tell Bennet to wait up for him. He was focused on the group of girls and was proceeding to walk back to the table without indicating a thing to Bennet.

Jericho clenched his jaw and waited. He wanted to see how this would play out.

The buyer spoke to the group. They stopped talking, nodding their heads at one another and whispering. Not in the way women did when they thought a man was attractive. More in the way where they were annoyed and didn’t want this stranger hitting on them and interrupting their night.

The only one not speaking was Annie. She regarded him with a guarded look and a gently furrowed brow, which seemed to indicate that he was only speaking to her. She seemed confused and annoyed but held it back with a passive look on her face. Which was admirable.

She had no idea that Jericho was watching and she still looked like she wanted nothing to do with the man in front of her.

Jericho was never one to judge other men in terms of attraction. The guy wasn’t particularly ugly, he had to admit, and there was those type of girls who watched shows or listened to country music who found this sort of guy sexually appealing. To be quite honest, he had no idea what Annie preferred, if she had a type, if guys like these were sexy to her, and that thought of not knowing bugged him more than he was willing to admit. So he continued watching through the blinds of his office, his eyes narrowed, looking for any tell that might implicate that she thought he was cute.

Which was silly. This was just silly. He felt like he was spying on her, which he wasn’t – he was just making sure she was okay – but he was glued to his window, watching like some sick, son of a bitch. He had never been the jealous type before. Many of the women that had come before Annie would try and flirt with other men to make him jealous, to get a reaction out of him, but it never worked because he didn’t care. Because Annie was different.

He was a jealous, possessive wild animal when it came to Annie. He didn’t care what she wore or what she didn’t. And he was okay with men looking at her. But if they lingered, if they tried anything, he was not above killing. Or, at least, hurting very, very badly in order to teach a very important lesson.

With amazement, Jericho watched as his buyer leaned on the table and continued to smile at Annie. Annie’s brow was now pressed further down, her lines drawn into a downward, tight direction. Bennet came back and gripped his arm, tugging him away from Annie. Despite the fact that Bennet was dragging him away, his eyes fixated on Annie still.

Jericho pulled his eyes away from Annie and started to prepare himself for this meeting. However, all he could think of was Annie and how the guy couldn’t stop looking at Annie and how he couldn’t stop talking to Annie and how this was very upsetting to him.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Jericho would recognize Bennet’s knock anywhere.

“Come in,” he called, hoping that the edge in his tone he detected wasn’t as prevalent as he thought it might be.

The door opened and in walked Bennet, followed by the potential buyer. He had a face Jericho wanted to punch, or maybe that was him projecting his frustration. Either way, he strutted into the office with that swagger he hadn’t earned and a smug smile on his face like he hadn’t just been rejected by the best looking girl in The Red Door.

Jericho stood and extended his hand because that was the polite thing to do. Not because he wanted to touch this vile insect he had absolutely no intention of doing business with.

“Jericho,” the man said with a slimy smile that crawled across his face like a snake slithering in the sand on its belly. “So good to see you. Thanks for having me.”

“Please,” Jericho said, pointedly ensuring that he did not return the sentiment. “Sit. Let’s talk.”

“Let me tell you, sir,” the buyer said as he slid into the chair like he owned the place, as though he was calling this meeting, as though he were in control. Jericho hated men who thought they deserved everything, who thought they were in control. He had learned at an early period in his career never to let that upset him. Instead, he would use their arrogance against them. Arrogance was a sloppy trait, but useful for what he wanted to accomplish. It always bit them in the ass. “The women you have adorning this club is immeasurable, and I’ve been to a lot of nightclubs, let me tell you.”

“What’s your name?” Jericho asked, keeping his eyes focused on the buyer. He could tell the buyer was going to slip up, much sooner than Jericho anticipated. Which was just as well for Jericho. It didn’t matter much to him anyway.

“Would you believe it’s Bob?” the buyer said with that smarmy smile. “My folks weren’t that creative. Named me after my mom’s dad, my grandfather. I inherited his brains, though.”

“Did you?” Jericho muttered more to himself than to the room.

The buyer – Bob – didn’t pick up on it. Jericho didn’t think he would.

“Anyway, so, yeah, the girls here are gorgeous,” he said. He glanced around, even though the office was small enough to see that besides Jericho, only Bennet was occupying the room. “Do you know if they, uh, well, take care of a guy who’s willing to pay – if you know what I mean?”