Corrupted Chaos (Tarnished Empire)(49)

Rodney stopped and turned, his eyes studying Cade and then me. Cade didn’t hide the way he stared at me, how his gaze tracked up and down my body slowly, like he wanted Rodney to know he was staking a claim.

“I got her, Cade.” Rodney’s arm was around my neck, insinuating he was going to hold me through the night, implying we were a couple used to this stance.

Cade nodded once, then twice, before he got up.

He walked slowly over to us, then his hand went to my waist. Both Rodney and I watched how he slid it around me. Then he jerked me forward so hard I stumbled into his chest. I would have stopped him, but the look in his eye told me now wasn’t the time to fuck with him.

I could practically feel the stare down happening over my head. “I’ve got her.” Cade made it clear.

“I’m down to stay if you two are into that,” Rodney offered, but his arm had fallen from me, willing to give me up. Most people would with Cade’s dark glare on them.

“I’m not into sharing her. Ever,” Cade growled.

“Okay. Izzy, you got my number, right?” he murmured, and that was the moment I could have taken the out and gone with him, not stayed with a man nobody really understood, who a lot of people either feared or revered.

“It’s in my phone, Rodney,” I replied.

As Rodney walked off, we let the silence stretch between us. Finally, I stepped back and put my hands on my hips. He didn’t address what had just happened. Instead, the man dug through his sweatpants pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. He grabbed a marshmallow from a food station and stuck it on the tip of the blade.

I widened my eyes at his lack of attention. “Um, hello? Do you feel good about that?”

He held the marshmallow near the flames, and we watched the sugar sizzle, the white of it burn. A moment before it would have caught fire, he pulled it back sharply. Him standing over the fire with that knife reminded me how he could dominate a space, how tall he was, how he owned all of us in one capacity or another.

“What did you eat today, Izzy?” His tone was measured.

“Food,” I shot back, annoyed that he wasn’t giving my question an answer.

He hummed. “Want a taste of the marshmallow?” He held it out to me.

“No.” I stepped back. “It’s after eight.”

“What’s one marshmallow after eight when you eat at least five candy canes a day?” he asked in mock shock.

I scratched my forehead, giving myself a second to cool off, trying to make sure he didn’t get a rise out of me. “Were you watching me out your window today?”

“Anyone could guess you and Lucas were still eating those things all day, woman.”

I waved off his explanation. “Answer me. Do you feel good about staking a stupid claim on me with Rodney when you’re supposed to be my boss? I don’t want that getting around.”

“Why? You that into Mr. Rodney?” he asked because he, like all men, was completely dense in that category.

“This isn’t about Rodney!” I stomped right up to him and his stupid marshmallow knife. “You’re jeopardizing my reputation with this team by walking around claiming me as your fuck toy. Which I’m not. I’m not hooking up with you anymore.”

“Really?” he said, spinning the knife with the marshmallow still attached. “So instead, Rodney’s going to be the man you let choke you out?”

My eyes narrowed, and then I remembered he’d told me back in the office not to let other men touch my neck. But Rodney had. “You’re being insanely territorial for a guy who took a girl’s number tonight and promised to meet Heather later. Sounds like you and your event assistant have a lot to catch up on too considering you bought her a bracelet.”

“You watching me like I watch you, huh, dollface?” He chuckled and took the piece of paper with the number on it from his pocket.

“I’m just saying, you’re being irrational for a man who seems available enough that women hand out their numbers.”

He nodded and then I stepped back as he stepped forward to turn toward the fire. He threw the number into it.

We both watched as it burned. “Better?” he said softly.

I took a breath. “You still bought Heather a bracelet. Seems you know each other.”

“I fucked her once, didn’t happen again. I wouldn’t have chosen for her to be here either, but she’s obviously good at her job.”

I took a breath at his admission, and jealousy cut so deep into me I felt it in my bones. Cade was becoming mine even though I tried to avoid it.

“Dollface, are you jealous of a little bracelet?” He tilted his head like he was confused.

“It’s a very expensive, beautiful bracelet!” I blurted out. I bit my lip. “I think this is where we end. I’m . . .” I glanced away from him. “There’s something wrong with me when I’m around you. I feel a little bit of everything too much.”

“And how do you feel with Rodney?” Cade wasn’t letting go of the fact that he’d seen another man touch me. I saw it in his eyes.

“Okay, that’s none of your business,” I told him. “It’s beyond what this relationship is capable of.”

He hummed and then took the marshmallow from the knife and set it on a piece of chocolate. “You know . . . I think people sometimes forget who I am.”