I didn’t know this man, and he was dangerous, for sure, but I was attracted to him, and his hands felt good on my body. And I might be in a very vulnerable state of mind right now to be thinking about getting involved with someone like Cassius Sire, but I still liked the idea of letting this man make all my troubles go away. Because I was fucking tired. It’s been a long life, handling Keith’s addictions.
Keith’s focus returned to the subject at hand. “Ye…yeah, I think so.”Could it really be that simple?“He can’t play me like he tried you, Devi.” He shrugged. “Besides, Alvin might be a right bastard, but he’s not stupid. He knows if it gets around that he’s not accepting money as legitimate repayment, people will stop borrowing from him. No one is going to risk borrowing from a man who might as for his wife, sister, daughter, or whoever as repayment. He was just trying to play you, Devi.”
“He might be right,” Cassius remarked behind me, his hands giving my shoulders a quick squeeze.
My head turned to look up at him. “Really?”
Those hazel eyes of his studied my face, and for a brief second, I thought he might kiss me when his eyes landed on my lips. But instead, he just said, “It’s possible.”
“So, give me the money and-”
Cassius looked over at Keith. “I’ll be paying back the loan in person,” he announced. “Not you, and definitely, not your sister.”
“But-”
“Let’s get something straight here,” Cassius said as he made his way around me and was now standing in front of my brother. “Alvin Fischer isn’t the biggest threat to your peace of mind if anything happens to your sister because of the shit you’ve dragged her into.”
Keith’s eyes narrowed. “And what interest do you have in my sister, besides her ability to pay back the loan?” Cassius had Keith by the front of his shirt before I could wrestle my way in between them.
“Stop it,” I yelled, breaking them apart. “That’s enough.”
Cassius pointed at Keith over my shoulder. “Count yourself lucky that I give a fuck what your sister wants, Westland.”
“Like I already asked, why do you care what happens to my sister?” Keith asked, ignoring common sense versus provoking a man like Cassius Sire.
Cassius didn’t answer him. “I’m getting your sister home, paying back Fischer, and then you and I are going to have a long talk, asshole.”
Keith didn’t comment, but after a long stretch of silence, he said, “At least let me go with you to pay Alvin back. I still think he’ll be forced to accept payment if I’m the one paying him.”
I could feel Cassius’ arrogance and anger permeate the entire apartment. “You think I give a shit about Alvin Fischer? You think I’m scared of that piece of shit?”
Keith didn’t back down. “You know I’m right.”
“Cassius?” He looked down at me. “I just want this to go away,” I told him, hoping he really did care about what I wanted. I had no idea what was happening between us, but if he was going to get involved, well, then, he was getting my opinion on all this.
His hazel gaze ran over my face before letting out a steady breath. He looked back at Keith. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes to pick you up. Be ready.”
Leaving Keith’s, Cassius followed me as I drove Kim’s car back to her place. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to leave until I filled her in, I let Cassius know I was staying, and after telling me he’d be back by to pick me up later, he left to go pick up Keith and pay Alvin.
Standing on Kim’s doorstep, I watched him taking off, leaving me a confused goddamn mess.
Chapter 11
Cassius~
Icouldn’t remember the last time I’d been this furious. Keith Westland’s only saving grace had been that I believed him about not being willing to trade his sister for his mistakes. However, it didn’t mean I liked the guy.
He had tried grilling me about Devi on the ride to the electronics store, where Alvin did his business, but I had quickly shut that shit down. There was no way I was telling this asshole my intentions when I haven’t even spoken to Devi about them. Besides, we had more pressing business than my feelings for his sister, because, fuck, did I have feelings for her. I haven’t had time to dissect what the fuck this was all about yet, but I planned on rolling with it and making her mine.
When we pulled up to the storefront, I looked over at Keith. “I’ll let you pay the man, and I’ll let you act like you have a say in all this. But when it comes to any questions about Devi, those are mine to answer, got it?”
I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that we were at Alvin’s store, or what, that had Keith Westland settling into the reality of his situation, because he quickly agreed, rather than question me about his sister again. “Okay.”
Turning off the ignition, we got out of the car at the same time and made our way into the store. It was almost ten at night, but the store’s interior was lit up like it was noon. A pretty blonde greeted us as soon as we approached the sales counter, but the second her brown eyes recognized it was Keith underneath all the bruising, her smile dropped.
Keith didn’t waste any time dicking around with her. “Is Alvin in?”
She nodded. “I’ll…I’ll go get him.”
