Burn Me Once Burn With Me (Ruby Grayson) novel Chapter 670

The sheer sleaziness of his tone made her skin crawl.

Forcing down the nauseating bile rising in her throat, Ruby looked Morgan dead in the eye. "Name your price."

Happy to finally drop the charade, Morgan nonchalantly spread his hands. "It's simple. I'm not a greedy idiot like Hanley. All I want is for you to back me once you take control of the Steele empire. Help me turn the Blackwood Group into the undisputed king of Quinborough."

"We can crush Cassian together. Consider it payback for what he did to you a year ago."

Morgan suddenly stood up. Before she realized it, he had slipped behind her sofa, leaning in to whisper directly against her ear.

Ruby's entire body went rigid.

She immediately shot up, putting distance between them as her gaze turned venomous. "Keep your own pathetic ambitions out of this. Do not try to use my name to justify your greed."

Morgan didn't try to close the gap this time. Instead, he stayed exactly where he was.

Suddenly, as if exhausted by the entire ordeal, he leaned back against the sofa and let out a long, theatrical sigh.

"Ruby, why do you refuse to see how much I genuinely care about you?"

Morgan stared at her with deep, unblinking intensity, manufacturing a disturbingly convincing illusion of true heartbreak.

Ruby didn't buy a single second of it.

"Care? Let me repeat myself. If you had to choose between me and a massive payday, you wouldn't hesitate for a fraction of a second to sell me out. Someone like you has no right to talk about caring."

Ruby smiled, her demeanor entirely composed and dangerously polite.

Morgan stared at her, and as they locked eyes, he suddenly burst into laughter. "Rue, it was true a year ago, and it's true today. My feelings for you haven't changed. I just know how to play the game... the two aren't mutually exclusive."

He took a slow, calculated step forward, trapping Ruby against the corner of the sofa. Noting the intense caution in her eyes, a flicker of dark, twisted satisfaction danced across his brow.

Morgan leaned in, burying his face in her hair, inhaling deeply with absolute, sickening obsession.

Disgusted, Ruby tried to bolt, but a heavy hand clamped down on her shoulder, forcing her back into place.

Morgan kept his eyes closed, anticipating her every move as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

He took another slow, suffocating breath, exhaling with a sinister hum of satisfaction. "Ruby, why won't you just look at me? Once I build my empire, I'll have the power to protect you. I can give you the perfect life. Isn't that what you want?"

The urge to violently empty her stomach lodged in Ruby's throat, threatening to spill over at any second.

Fighting through the sickening revulsion, she turned her face away. "I agree to your terms. Now, I'm taking him with me."

Morgan straightened up. "Be my guest."

As soon as he spoke, the two massive bodyguards restraining Domingo stepped back.

Ruby shot Morgan a withering glare before striding over and grabbing Domingo's arm.

But Domingo grabbed her wrist in return, his eyes shining with tears. "Miss Ruby, what about my wife?!"

Ruby whipped her head back toward Morgan. He merely shrugged. "Domingo is the deposit. His wife is the final payment. If I hand them both over right now and you decide to back out, I'm the one who loses."

Ruby glared at him with lethal intent.

She had underestimated him.

Rosalie suddenly blurted out.

The moment those words left her mouth, Morgan's boredom evaporated.

He looked her up and down, a spark of dangerous amusement returning to his eyes.

She was just an ordinary, unremarkable country woman, though she had taken decent care of herself and looked a few years younger than her age.

Entirely uninteresting.

Morgan looked away, his gaze turning icy again. "That is none of your concern."

He stood up, preparing to leave the room.

"I can help you win her back!"

Seeing the two massive bodyguards closing in, Rosalie desperately shouted after him.

Just as she hoped, the phrase "win her back" made Morgan stop dead in his tracks. He slowly turned around.

"And what makes you think you can do that?"

Though his tone was mocking, his full attention was now entirely focused on her.

Rosalie straightened her spine and lifted her chin, fighting down her terror to look as convincing as possible.

"Go get some rest. I'll stay right here and write out a step-by-step strategy on how to win her."