That’s probably what he was working on. I put the pedal down and raced toward Camille’s house.
Even though he was a bastard and she hated him, I knew she’d be feeling worse for wear about it and I couldn’t have her feeling bad for that prick.
Kane
“You need help,” Sal’s words echoed through my mind as I made my way down the street to Paddy’s. “This is sick. You can’t let her get into your mind like this.”
It was sick.
I was falling for a woman I barely knew and for one who wouldn’t hesitate to take me out the closer I got.
But I found myself wanting to wake up to her scent. The thought of those violets made my dick hard and that was fucking sick in itself. How could I get hard over a fucking smell?
I headed inside, Craig giving me a nod of acknowledgement as I took a seat at the end of the bar. The three oldies gave me a nod before they resumed talking. Craig set a glass of whiskey down for me before he went back to his conversation with one of the other patrons. I let the whiskey burn on its way down as I soaked in the words of warning from Sal.
She wouldn’t betray my trust, but I would if I were her. I couldn’t let her risk her career for me, because I knew she would.
I downed my drink and pushed the empty glass back to Craig’s side. He came over, filled it and disappeared again. I couldn’t get Maurelle’s face out of my mind, as I closed my eyes for a brief moment to relish in the amount of shit I’d done since I met her. I’d never risked my career for anyone, much less a fucking criminal. It didn’t matter how beautiful she was, or that she was doing it to men who fucking deserved it. She couldn’t keep killing men.
There was no way I could save her because I knew she’d never stop. She was what Stanley Dale had told me she was.
A fucking black widow.
She relished the kill too much.
“There you are,” I heard the familiar voice from beside me. I looked up just as my second whiskey disappeared down my throat to see Kemp standing there. His usual cocky grin was gone and replaced with a worried expression. “I’ve been looking everywhere.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked him. “I told you two to leave me alone.”
Panic rose in me, because I knew she had eyes on me from time to time. I had to hope that Camille was right and she’d disappear from the city. I’d given them the heave ho to protect them and now this fucker was here, in public, talking to me.
“This isn’t like you. I miss my best friend, man,” he said, taking a seat on the stool. I looked around the pub to see if anyone I didn’t recognise as a cop was watching.
Nothing.
“I told you guys…I don’t want to see you. Not for a while. I need space.”
“I get you not wanting to see your ex-wife, I do, but me? I’ve been with you for ages. Come on, you weren’t pissed off when I married her, why now?”
I could have laughed at how ridiculous this was. I motioned for Craig to fill her up again, which he did, keeping an eye on Kemp and my interactions.
“You think I wasn’t pissed off that my best fucking friend married my ex-wife just months after we divorced?” I replied. “Of course I was. I was furious and miserable. I acted like I was okay with it because I wanted her to be happy, and she seemed like she was. You gave her what she needed - attention and love. That’s something I could never do, not with my job.”
Kemp sighed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“What could I say?” I asked him. “You two were happy. I couldn’t break that up. You made your decision when you chose to fall in love with her, and now, you want to push your luck with being my friend again?”
“She was crying every night,” he said, suddenly. “Asking me what she’d done wrong, why you couldn’t love her. I’m sorry that I fell in love with her, but you know as well as I do, how fucking innocent and perfect she is. I truly am sorry that it broke whatever bro code we had, but I mean it, if you’d said something, I wouldn’t have continued. I would have broken it off.”
“The fact that you didn’t think to do that beforehand, or feel bad about marrying my ex-wife, that in itself tells me you valued your dick more than me. It shouldn’t be too hard for you to leave me the fuck alone.”
I finished my third glass and moved to get up. Kemp’s hand grabbed my elbow and pulled me back. I felt red-hot with rage as I pulled my other arm back and blasted my fist into his face. He stumbled back, his face moving up to look at me with shock as everyone around us jumped into gear. He was on me faster than anyone could stop him though, throwing punch after punch into my sides. I felt every hit, nausea jumping to the forefront as he landed a punch in my gut.
Low fucking blow.
I swung and connected with his jaw, knocking him to the side of the bar, just as Craig pulled me back before I could land another.
My rage at what had happened had been held back for too long as I let the others throw Kemp out on the street.
