An alluring and apathetic young man, driven by his business and success, finds himself fighting a feeling he hasn't had for several years when he cross paths with a woman he can't shake off. ⚠️Sexual Content. ⚠️MATURE COMMENTS/READERS only.
A/N: Hey y'all! Before we get into the chapter, I just wanted to let you know that there will be a spin-off coming soon. It's Veronica's story, and I promise you it's going to be GOOD! I'm going to publish chapters 1 and 2 next month. If you want to read it as soon as it comes out, make sure to follow me to get the notification. Here's the book cover:
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Without further ado...
"You're wasting your time. I'm not gonna open up to you."
Darrell chuckles at Veronica's stubbornness and Veronica mean-mugs him. "You know what I like about you?"
"No, and I don't want to know."
"I don't believe that."
"What? That I don't care?"
"Yeah."
Veronica rolls her eyes.
"Even though I don't really know you, there's something I've noticed about you that I highly respect."
Veronica gives him that, hurry-up-and-say-it look. Darrell smirks.
"Every time we've cross paths, I always pay close attention to you."
"So, you're a creeper?"
He chuckles. "Veronica, I need you to listen to me."
Veronica is low-key turned on by his boss-like energy.
"At Dave & Buster's, I witnessed you trying to put out a fire with whoever you were on the phone with, while making sure Stephen's kids had everything they needed. I also watched you give my team, and the entire neighborhood, discounted haircuts just because you felt like it. You have a big heart. A heart of gold. And believe it or not, Stephen highly respects you, too."
"Fuck him."
"I don't know what he said to you on the phone. But whatever it was, don't let it make you believe anything negative. Before I met you, he would always come back from your family vacations saying how he missed your annoying ass. His words, not mine."
Veronica shakes her head, not wanting to engage in the conversation.
"Your whole family respects you. A lot."
"You call shipping-me-to-California-at-16-to-babysit-a-23-year-old-asshole, respect? I had to ask my Uncle for him to send me back to New York, just for him to say no because he only cared about Sam's feelings. I had to cuss Sam the fuck out just for him to finally stop acting like I wasn't living in the same fucking apartment as him. No one has ever cared about how I felt, except my mother. And maybe Sam, but I had to teach him how to separate me from everyone else. Then I had to fuckin' hide that his mother has cancer while trying to build a bond with her before she dies. Do you know how that makes me feel? Sam will never forgive me. I feel like a fucked up person for not making sure he spent more time with his mother," she vents out all in one breath, before quickly wiping a tear off her cheek. "Damn. All this fucked up shit got my ass cussing again."
