EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright©2020 Sam Crescent
ISBN: 978-0-3695-0236-0
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Audrey Bobak
ALLRIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorizedreproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used orreproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in thecase of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction.All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actualevents, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirelycoincidental.
I HAVE TO HAVE HER
Sam Crescent
Copyright© 2020
Chapter One
“It’ll only be fora few days, I promise. And then everything will be fine. I mean, it willprobably be longer than a few days. That asshole shewas with took the car and all of her belongings, and even got her fired fromher job for making a scene. He hit her too. You should see it, it’s really bad.So please, please, please, Gabriel, can she stay?”
Gabriel Locke half-listenedto his sister over the phone as he stared at the man who’d tried to steal fromhis casino. Not that he himself needed the money, but still, he couldn’t haveanyone stealing from him.
“I don’t want herhere,” he said.
“If you don’t dothis, I will be the biggest royal pain in your ass.”
“I haven’t seenthis girl since she was eighteen. I don’t know what kind of influence she hason you.”
“That was yearsago, and I told you all the time, I’m the one who convinced her to go out toparties with me. Not her. You’re being unreasonable. Why am I not surprised? Ishould have known you’d react this way. It’s what you always do. You just reactwithout being given all the facts.”
If he didn’t nipthis in the bud, he was going to hear this all day. With prolonged nagging, Rhianna’svoice was like nails down a chalkboard.
“Fine, but onlyfor a couple of days. Don’t push me on this.” He hung up the phone to the soundof her squealing. At least she was happy, which was more than he could sayabout this man in front of him.
“Please, please, Ididn’t mean to do it.”
After rolling upthe sleeves of his jacket, he cracked his knuckles and his fist flew across thebastard’s face. He repeated thisfour more times.
Stepping back, headmired his handiwork. He needed a bit of blood, the pain that dug into hisknuckles. He didn’t like people who tried to steal from him. He’d built up thiscasino along with the six more he owned, as well as his strip clubs, and acouple of other illegal businesses on the side.
No one fucked with him because he hit right back. This was who hewas. He’d built up his reputation and his businesses on pain and fear. The onlyweakness he had was his little sister and he made sure she was covered withplenty of protection at all times. Their parents were gone, killed years ago ina shootout at a diner. They’d been unlucky and Rhianna had been home, sulkingover something.
He knew she feltpersonally responsible for their parents’ deaths. If she hadn’t been arguingwith them, they would’ve gone to a different restaurant. No matter how manytimes he told her it wasn’t her fault, she still blamed herself.
Grabbing his gun,he pressed it to the thief’s temple. The man whimpered at the cruelty of it all.Gabriel took no prisoners and without a second’s remorse, he fired his weapon.The shot echoed around the basement.
His work complete,he ordered the disposal of the body, put his jacket back in place, smoothingout any wrinkles, and left, heading back up to the main casino party. Steppingout onto the balcony, he was the king, overlooking his empire. Men and womenwere all throwing their money away. All taking a chance on what could be. Couldthey double, triple, or quadruple their money? The temptation clawed at them.
Of course, he haddistractions. Men and women dressed to impress and gain their focus. Sex andmoney.
He’d come to learneverything had a price. Even women who played hard to get, who thought youwanted the chase. Several of his waitresses had tried to seduce him, but hedidn’t fuck where he worked. He had women who knew thescore and if he dialed, they’d be waiting. He didn’t do love or relationships.
He fucked.
Hard.
Fast.
Dirty and fucking incredible. He couldn’t be done with a prim andproper woman who needed to be coaxed to touch herself. He liked wet, willing,begging, desperate women. Some of these men tonight would take one of thewaitresses to bed and fuck them into oblivion.
He smiled. Thiswas his hard work paying off.
Now it was time tomove on. On a Friday night, he always liked to make an entrance at several ofhis establishments. He left the balcony, aware of the men following him. Hisown personal bodyguards. Paying for the best, he got his men’s loyalty, and he onlytook men who were the hardest motherfuckers in town. He didn’t care if theypunched first and asked questions later. This life was hard and it was fucking dangerous.
His car wasalready waiting outside. Pulling out his cell phone, he checked to see if hislawyer had been in touch about a property he wanted to acquire. For the pastcouple of months, the owners hadn’t wanted to sell it to a company, and so he’dchanged tactics and made it a more personal venture. They didn’t need to knowhe intended to strip their home down and build it as an exclusive sex club.
Still nothing fromhis lawyer. He made a quick note to call him in the morning. Even though hisworld never slept, he allowed his people to get some sleep. He was used topower napping. A couple of hours here or there, never with anyone. If he took awoman to bed, she left it before he got any sleep.
Staring out at thenight, he watched people coming and going. Some were dressed to party. Otherswere homeless, and a couple looked like they were just finishing work. The hard,gritty world.
This was hisparadise. He’d made it his bitch and he ruled over allof it. Anyone who tried to take any of his territory, he slaughtered themwithout a second thought. This was his part of the world and no
