“About that.” I lowered my voice even more. “Pop and Zio are talking about keeping Zayne there full time. That means you will move up.”
Garret’s eyes narrowed on me. “Are you okay with that?”
“The last six months, you’ve proven yourself over and over again. I have no problem with you getting promoted. Just keep up the good work like you have been.”
He clenched his jaw and turned his gaze forward, hiding his emotions. We were both quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “You think my sister would like it if I built a house beside hers?” he asked out of the blue. “We could put a small guesthouse between the two of them for our parents.”
I relaxed into my chair. “I think she would like that a lot, actually.”
His lips twitched. “Maybe if Lis is busy decorating a house, she won’t have time to work at that fucking club.”
“I haven’t met her yet, but from what little you’ve told me about her, I can already tell she’s too independent.” I considered it a moment then sighed. “Maybe we could find her a different job. Perhaps at the office. But you can’t offer it to her. She will most likely turn it down flat. I will speak to Nova about it and get her to bring up the subject after their first meeting.”
Garret held out his hand to me. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Your Lis might be too stubborn for even your sister’s gentle persuasion.”
He barked out a laugh. “That’s one of the things I love about my girl. Her stubbornness is sexy as fuck.”
I had to admit that Nova’s stubbornness could be a turn-on, but nothing got me harder than when she submitted to me. Needing to see her, I picked up my phone again and looked through each CCTV feed. When each camera came up empty once again, I muttered a curse and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Just a few more hours, I tried to remind myself. A few more hours, and then she was all mine forever.
32
Nova
Ciana: He’s about to jump out of this plane if it means getting to you faster.
Samara: We just landed, and I think he’s going to steal a car if we don’t hurry up and get to your house. It’s kind of funny, but kind of scary. Geesh.
Garret: I seriously hope you are home and waiting for Ryan. Everyone but Anya is ready to get away from him right now. He’s grumpy AF. Where have you been? He couldn’t see you on any of the camera feeds. Did graduation practice really take that long?
I was grinning at the many texts from my family members about Ryan’s behavior, but the grin died a quick death when I read the last two sentences from my brother’s latest text.
Camera feed?
What camera feed?
Was there a camera in my house somewhere?
Wait, he’d said “feeds,” as in plural. How many were there?
I was standing on the front porch waiting impatiently for the limos to pull up outside the house, angrily tapping my foot as I read and reread that final text. The back door of the first limo opened, and my heart gave a happy lurch at the sight of Ryan.
He was wearing casual clothes, just a simple T-shirt and jeans, but he was as devastatingly handsome as always. His dark eyes landed on me, and his entire face morphed into pure joy. I forgot about my anger and took off at a dead run, throwing myself into his arms.
With a groan, he grabbed my ass as I wrapped my legs around his waist, his lips already devouring my own as he kissed me breathless. I stabbed my fingers through his hair at the back of his neck, kissing him back.
“Missed you so fucking much,” he said between kisses.
I pulled back, licking my swollen lips. “Yeah? Is that why you put cameras all over my house?”
His eyes darkened, surprise filling his gaze. “You found them?”
“How many are there?” I avoided answering by countering with a question of my own. “And are they contained to just the house?”
He grumbled something under his breath I didn’t catch. I started to squirm, wanting to be on my feet for this argument, but he tightened his hands on my ass cheeks. “Yell at me all you want, but I’m not letting you down.”
“Why were you spying on me?” I whisper-shouted at him. “Don’t you trust me?”
“I wasn’t spying on you,” he shot back. “I was just keeping track of you and feeding my sick addiction for everything Nova. I trust you completely. But being away from you became too much, and I needed a way of seeing you whenever I wanted.”
Most of my anger faded in the face of his answer. It was sweet and more than a little sexy to me that he couldn’t help but watch my every move. It showed me plain as day he couldn’t live without me. Any lingering doubts that he would always want me as much as he did at this moment disappeared in the face of his obvious obsession.
But I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily. “How long have they been up? And you still haven’t said how many there are.”
“Since the new year,” he confessed unashamedly. “And, in all, fifteen.”
My mouth dropped open at the number. “Fifteen?” He lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug, as if we were talking about the number of clouds in the sky and not, in fact, the number of cameras he’d been stalking me on. “Where are they, Ryan?”
Shifting me in his arms, he pulled his phone from his pocket and opened the app. I took it from him and started flipping through all of the feeds. My bedroom, my bathroom—thankfully angled the opposite direction of the toilet—the kitchen, and the living room. I saw us on the feed directly from the front porch and glanced over my shoulder. I couldn’t even see the camera, yet it had a full 360-degree angle of the porch, front door, yard, and driveway.
But it wasn’t just the house he had cameras on. There was one on my locker, the library where I normally ate my lunch and tutored after school. Each of my four classes and the parking lot of the high school. A few more cameras were left, but I barely paid them any attention before I shoved the phone against Ryan’s chest and wiggled out of his hold.
“Don’t be angry,” he pleaded quietly, his gaze earnest.
“Are you even sorry?” I half growled, crossing my arms over my chest as I stood there glaring up at him. It wasn’t so much that I was pissed he’d been basically stalking me, but jealous that he’d gotten to watch me and I hadn’t gotten to watch him.
And that was ridiculous.
Right?
“I’m sorry you’re upset with me,” he muttered, sounding almost petulant and not sorry at all. “But no, I’m not sorry about the cameras.”
“Wrong answer,” Garret said in a low voice as he passed us. “Mom, your baby boy is home!”
Behind me, I heard the front door open, and Mom walked out onto the porch. “Hi, sweetheart. How was your flight?”
“Long.” I heard my brother tell her. “Let’s go in the house so Nova can murder Ryan on the lawn in private.”
“Why is she going to murder him?” Mom asked curiously, and I didn’t have to turn around to know she was frowning.
“I’m not going to murder him,” I called over my shoulder, still glaring up at my boyfriend. “I’m just going to stay here until the end of the summer.”