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I groaned in annoyance under my breath and brushed my fingers over the bite mark that remained. The spot was sensitive, and each time I touched the puncture wounds, my body shivered with a reminder of him. His insanity, his touch, and this pull I felt to a gotdamn vampire was unnerving.
The door to the shop beeped and I glanced toward the two monitors on the wall, checking the screens. I spent a lot of time working in my office, so I had cameras installed to keep eyes on the store while I was back here. A smile split my face when I noticed my cousin walk in.
“Where you at, hoe?”
“In the back…” I yelled, watching as she moved through the store, snagging a relax and chill elixir before joining me. By the time she stepped into the storage room, the cap was off and she was turning it up.
“Is your sole mission in life to bankrupt me as a small business owner?”
She grinned. “I’ll pay but you’re also nowhere near destitute, cousin. Did you forget I’m your accountant?”
“That’s not the point.”
“That’s exactly the point. What the hell happened in here?”
“Fire this morning. Thankfully it happened right before I pulled up or my entire store would be done.” I frowned.
“Damn, this looks bad. What happened?” She crossed the room and checked out the left wall and the ceiling above it, both of which were charred from the fire. She also leaned over the large plastic trash can almost full of things I couldn’t salvage.
“The outlet was bad.” I pointed to the one in question. “I had the paper shredder plugged into it. I’m guessing it sparked and the bin was full so it caught on fire.”
“You’re suing the building, right? That’s their fault.”
I shrugged. “I have insurance. I just really don’t want to do a claim because my rates will go up.”
“That’s that bullshit scam. You have to pay them monthly to protect your shit, and when you use it, they punish you by making you pay more when they barely cover the expenses of what you need.”
“For sure bullshit, but they also make you have it, so there’s nothing I can do but keep throwing away money.” My eyes rolled hard.
I heard the door again and frowned when I noticed two guys walking in looking around. They were in dark pants and navy polo shirts. As fine as both of these men were, the way they were surveying my store had me anxious.
“Come with me.”
“Who’s that?” Nee asked.
“Don’t know.”
I left the back with Nee on my heels and plastered on a smile as soon as I stepped into the main area of my store. “Hi, welcome to Sweet Inferno. Can I help you with something?”
Both men had deep chocolate skin, were unbelievably tall, fit, and ruggedly handsome. Smiles exposing perfectly aligned white teeth greeted me before one of the pair reached into his pocket and removed a business card. I arched a brow.
They were soliciting while there were signs clearly posted on the doors and windows of all the businesses in the shopping plaza stating it wasn’t allowed.
“No thanks, not interested.”
“Well you might want to discuss that with Kyron because he paid for the evaluation.”
“What evaluation?” I asked at the same time Nee spoke.
“Who is Kyron?”
“This is Sweet Inferno, right?”
“Yes.”
“Wasn’t there a fire this morning?”
Are you fucking kidding me? This is him…
