“What?” Zanna had no old friends, no one she would ever want to reconnect with. “What was his name?”
“Didn’t leave one,” Bertie said. “He’s been asking about you all around town. Tall and thick. Has a big head and one of those goomba accents.” Bertie’s eyes met hers. “Said he was going to come back to see you. Told him to buzz off and if you wanted to see him, you would have contacted him.”
“Oh.” She didn’t want to alarm the girls but her stomach dropped. Her luck had run out. She’d tried to put that encounter with Johnny out of her head, thinking maybe he would have forgotten to tell Bruno he saw her. Or at the very least that Bruno wouldn’t track her here. Not to the town and the people she had come to love. “He’s just some loser from the past I don’t want to see,” she said, realizing that all eyes were on her. “I just came to check in with you all. I’ve got a bit of a headache. I think I’m going to lie down now.”
She got back in her car, her mind racing. She could make it back home, grab her bag and her gun, and be out of town within the hour. She had money saved up. She could start over somewhere new. In another small town. In a new place.
She arrived back at Lolly’s house and ran into her bedroom. She could try for Alaska. She had a cousin there. She could lay low for a while. Maybe he would get tired of following her. Maybe she could start over and be a completely new person.
He wouldn’t stop coming after her, though, and if he knew how much she had come to love this place and these people, he would damage them. It wasn’t above him. He could steal from the elderly. He could put his hand around a woman’s throat and choke the breath out of her.
There was no telling what he could do when he was pushed. She shoved as many clothes as she could in a duffel bag along with her savings before she grabbed her shotgun and headed for her car. She needed to fill up the tank. Once she got going she didn’t want to stop until it was absolutely necessary.
She threw everything in the backseat. It was then she heard the sound of a roaring engine coming down her dusty little road.
A big black SUV pulled up behind her car, blocking her in. And then Bruno stepped out of his truck looking almost the same way he had when she left him. Big body, dark, slicked-back hair. She had thought he was handsome once upon a time, but he just looked like a big goon to her now. “Where you going, Z? I thought you would be happy to see me.”
“Leave me alone, Bruno. I don’t want any trouble from you.”
“You should have thought about that when you stole from me.” He grabbed her by the back of her neck and brought her closer to him. His scent made her queasy, too much cologne mixed with sweat and the smell of a rotten soul. “You’re looking good, though. Still sexy. Still fuckable. I actually missed you for a while when you were gone. Nobody can do me like you could.”
“Get off me, you asshole.” She struggled against him, but his grip on her neck tightened.
“Easy, baby girl. Easy.”
“I’m not easy and I sure as hell ain’t your baby girl.”
“Still got that spark, huh? Makes my dick hard seeing it. Can’t wait to get you back in bed.”
“I’m not sleeping with you.”
“You’ll do what I say or you’ll end up spread across this fucking state. You stole from me. You don’t get to steal from me. Most people don’t get to steal from me and see their next birthday, but I’ll make the exception for you because we had good times.”
“I’ll pay you back.”
“You will. On your back and your knees and whatever else I tell you to do.”
No she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t be used like that. No man would use her like that. “I’d rather you kill me. I won’t sleep with you again.” She stomped on his foot and kneed him in the groin, causing him to stumble backward and let her go.”
“You bitch.” He went down on his knees, holding his balls, but Zanna wasn’t satisfied with that. She took the palm of her hand and rammed it into his nose, feeling the satisfaction of hearing him squeal out in pain. “I’m going to kill you for that.”
She reached into the back of her car and grabbed Luna out of the case, pointing the shotgun at his head. She was tired of running. Tired of hiding from him. Tired of wondering if and when he was going to catch up to her again.
“I’ll blow your goddamn brains out.”
“Relax. I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to talk to you.”
“Bullshit. You flew all the way across the country to talk to me? Yeah. You put your hands on me once and I let you live. But not this time. You touched me so you’re in for it now.” She cocked her gun. “Nobody gets to degrade me. Nobody gets to treat me like shit ever again.”
“Calm down!” Fear crossed his face, and she took pleasure in that. “I didn’t fly across the country. I was in California when Johnny called me.” He stood up very slowly, and as he did she raised the gun so it stayed pointed right between his eyes.
“I hate it when a man tells a woman to calm down.” She pointed the gun at his feet. “I’m wondering how many toes I can blow off with one shot.”
“I just want my money back.”
“Your money!” She pointed her gun right at his manhood. “You stole that money from senior citizens, promising and then failing to do work they never needed in the first place.” She fired one round off, missing him purposely. He screamed. “Somebody needs to teach you a lesson and I think it’s about time I did.”
“I’ll leave. I won’t bother you again.”
“And why should I believe you?”
“Because you’re a crazy psycho bitch and I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“Who you calling a bitch?” She fired again, barely missing his left foot this time.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
“You’re damn right, you’re sorry. You’re the sorriest piece of shit I’ve ever laid eyes on and I’m sorry I ever met you. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t blow your balls off.”
Colt’s SUV pulled up behind Bruno then. Bruno actually looked relieved, but Colt looked murderous as he got out of the vehicle and slid his arm around Bruno’s throat, crushing his windpipe.
“Who the fuck are you? And why are you here?”
Bruno wheezed something out, unable to form words.
“He’s my ex,” Zanna supplied.
“Is this the piece of shit that put his hands on you?”
“I just called him a piece of shit, too! We do think alike! And yes, it is.”
“Didn’t anybody ever teach you not to put your hands on a woman? That’s one thing my brothers and I cannot tolerate. That’s one thing that’ll cause you to end up dead in these parts.” He tightened his arm around Bruno’s neck.
“Step away from him, Colt. I need a clear shot.”
“Let me kill him. I’ve got a place where we can get rid of him and it’s less messy.”
“He hit me. I’d rather do it.”
“Okay.” He stepped away.
Zanna lifted the gun to his head again. “Any last words?”
“I just wanted my money. Okay? I wasn’t going to hurt you. You don’t have to kill me.”
“She owes you money?” Colt asked.
“Fifteen K. I need it now. That’s all. That’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t have your money. I donated it to charity.”
Colt slipped his watch off his wrist and gave it to him. “Take this and get in your car and don’t ever come near her again.”
“Don’t give him your watch! He’s a low-life thief. Just let me shoot him.”
“Go!” he ordered in the voice that told her he was taking no arguments. “Oh, and one more thing.” He punched Bruno in the jaw so hard his head snapped back. “If you ever come back here and mess with my girlfriend again, I’m going to tie you to a tree and let Zanna use you for target practice. You’ll look like Swiss cheese when we get finished with you.”
“Okay. Okay.”
He got in his car an
d sped off. Colt closed the distance between them and took the gun from her hands. “Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m fine,” she said, even though she wasn’t. She was dizzy was relief and high from adrenaline pumping through her veins and shocked to see him. She thought she’d never see him again. “You should have let me kill him.”
“We both know you couldn’t do that. You may be spunky, but I’m not sure you’re cut out for jail.”
She grabbed his arms, feeling kind of shaky, and just looked up at him.
“Is he the reason why you came to Destiny?”
She nodded, unable to speak, her heart was pounding so hard.
“Why didn’t you tell me that someone was after you? I could have protected you. I could have stopped it before it got this far.”
“This wasn’t your fight, Colt. It was mine. And I didn’t want a man saving me when I could save myself.”
“You did save yourself, but I want you to be safe. Do you have any idea what it would have done to me if something happened to you? I can take a lot of shit, but I couldn’t take that.”
“I’m fine.”
“He could have killed you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“But you shouldn’t have to! You shouldn’t have to do everything alone.”
She looked up into his eyes. There was a ferocity to his face, a look in his eyes that made her heart sore. “Why did you come back here?”
“I forgot to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I love you.”
“Oh.” Her heart pounded against her chest. She had gone a long time without anyone saying those words to her. They almost sounded foreign to her. It almost felt unreal. “Are you sure about that?”
“I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life. I’m just as sure that you love me, too.”
“How do you know I love you?”
He tossed her gun aside and took her hand, placing it in the center of his chest. “I know it because I feel it. I haven’t been loved much in my life. I’m not an easy man. I’m not easy to love, but you love me anyway.”
“I’ve always enjoyed a challenge.”
“I was afraid of being with you, because when I am I don’t recognize myself. I feel different. I feel out of control. You make me do things I’ve never dreamed of doing. You drive me crazy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You make me happy. I think I thought all the money and all the success was going to make me happy, but none of it matters. I just want to be with you and I’ve realized that I’ve got to meet you halfway.”
“I’ll try to like Vegas more if you agree to work less. I—”
“No.”
“No?”
“No. We’re not moving back to Vegas. Lolly is giving you her salon. We can’t move it there. I’ll move here. We’ll make it work here, but on one condition.”
“What?”
“We’re going to remodel the hell out of this house.”
“Where’s Lolly going to live?”
“In a brand-new beachfront condo somewhere. She’s giving me the house.”
“She is?”
“Yes, on the condition that I marry you.”
“Marry me?” She looked up at him in shock. “But it’s so soon.”
“I fell in love with you the moment you aimed your gun at my head. I knew right then there was no one else for me.”
This was insane and foolish and they were all wrong for each other … and yet so right at the same time. She really didn’t have any choice in the matter. “Holy hell, I love you, Colt King.” She kissed him. “I think I will marry you.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m going to be Zanna King. What a crazy name.”
“No crazier than the story we get to tell people about how we met. ‘I saw her standing across the room in nothing but a pair of leopard-printed underwear with a shotgun aimed at my head. I knew then that I had found the love of my life.’”
“The love of your life, huh?”
“The love of my life.”
She laughed before she leaned in and kissed him. “I hope you’re ready, because this is going to be one hell of a ride.”
“Don’t I know it.”
He kissed her again. They both knew that in each other they’d found what they had spent a lifetime searching for.
Don’t miss Sugar Jamison’s next eBook
BETTING THE BAD BOY
Available February 2016 from St. Martin’s Press!
About the Author
Sugar Jamison is a Southern belle trapped in a New Yorker’s body. With a love of big hair and high-heeled shoes, she spends her days at her very normal day job and her nights dreaming up sweet and sassy romances. Visit her on the Web at www.sugarjamison.com. Or sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
The Bad Boy CEO copyright © 2015 by Sugar Jamison.
All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Author photo © Dawn Lyn
Cover design by Danielle Christopher
Cover photographs: man © BlueSkyImage/Shutterstock; background © STILLFX/Shutterstock
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
eISBN 9781466891135
First eBook Edition: November 2015
The Bad Boy CEO Page 19
