“Please, I need it,” I beg, and she closes her eyes, grabs the ring between her lips, and pulls. It’s not hard enough to rip it out, but it’s hard enough that the bite of pain pushes me over the edge, and I come with her following just after me. As soon as I feel her body stop shuddering, I slip down again and lap up our combined releases, rewarding her for what she did even though she didn’t want to.
Her hands slide into my hair and caress me gently as I clean her up. This is why I know this won’t last. We both know it, but we aren’t quite ready to accept it. I need something different than what Candy wants to give me. Pain and domination turns me on, and whether I’m giving or receiving it, I don’t really care, but Candy is too gentle for that, and I won’t ask it of her.
Pulling away, I lean in and give her a kiss. “Thanks, babe, I needed that.”
As I climb off her, I think I see hurt in her eyes, but I’m not ready to think about the cause. I use the bathroom off the office to clean up and make my hair neat and tidy again before returning to quickly redress. She’s quiet while she dresses. I shove my guns in their holsters and swing my jacket back on. Sometimes I wear an ankle holster with another gun there, but I didn’t this morning. Once I’m all set, I head around to the desk, take the computer out of rest mode, and bring up the information I needed. Attaching it to an email, I send it to myself and then stand up, stuffing my phone in a pocket.
“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later,” I tell her, placing a kiss on her soft lips, knowing that will probably be the last time we’ll be intimate.
It’s been a long time coming, and I think she’s started to develop feelings despite me not being her only lover. It was the look in her eye, and when feelings start to develop, I get the urge to cut and run. I’m just not built for emotions and monogamy. The thought of being responsible for someone’s life, which is essentially what will happen if I have a relationship, terrifies me, and it’s what’s stopped me from exploring anything with Sage too. Nope, if I go there, I may not be able to stop, so I stick to women. If I explore the unknown, I might like it too much, and then how would I give it up?
She’s silent as I leave, but as the door closes behind me, I hear her scream before something smashes against the door. Yup, pretty sure I won’t be doing that again. Patting my pocket, I feel the joint I have in there, but I know I need to be alert. God, I can’t wait to get home so I can light up.
ChapterTwenty-Four
As I walk through the crowded club, I toss my car keys to Poppy, the girl behind the bar. “Give these to Sam and Dean. If they aren’t out in five, go get them and tell them to meet me at the Lucky Diamond. She starts to argue, but I hold up a hand. “I don’t care if they are balls deep in Lacey, they have had enough time. Oh, and if they scratch my car, I’ll kill them.” I see her swallow nervously, and I try to put a smile on my face, but I guess it comes off more homicidal maniac than friendly, because she squeaks and runs away.
Damn it. This thing with Candy has got me all fucked up. I throw open the door and it bangs against the wall as I stomp to Gio’s car that’s idling directly by the entrance. Climbing in, I pull the door closed a little too furiously.
“Hey,” he complains as I put on my seat belt. “Easy on my car.”
“Oh, blow it out your ass, Gio,” I retort and cross my arms, staring out the window.
The car starts to move as he drives us in the direction of the Lucky Diamond. “Aww, what’s wrong, babe? Didn’t get your weekly orgasm?” he asks sarcastically, and I growl, whirling on him.
“Why were you late?” I snap, watching him carefully and waiting for him to lie.
“My meeting ran over,” he replies, not taking his eyes off the road. Hmm, he didn’t lie.
“Who were you meeting?” There’s a pause, and I know before he does it that he’s going to lie.
“Just one of our suppliers, no one important.” He tugs on his right ear, and I feel like pulling my gun out and shooting him in the foot. Nothing vital, just maybe a pinkie toe. He can live without that, but fuck, it would hurt.
Sighing, I turn away from him again, but I make sure he can hear me clearly. “You know, out of everyone in our lives, you were the one person who I could always count on to tell me the truth. It kind of makes me feel sick that once again, the person I trusted most in this world is lying to me.”
We don’t say another word. I can’t even look at him, and the tension in the car is thick. Gio pulls into the underground parking at the Lucky Diamond, and we climb out.
“Dad says we’re using the limo today and to meet him out front.” Gio looks at his phone, and we use the elevator to get up to the main floor. It opens into the middle of the game floor, so it’s loud and noisy chaos, but I love it.
“Oh, where are we going for dinner?” I ask him, and he shrugs as we walk across the casino, passing all the tables and slot machines.
“I’m not sure. All he said was that he had an announcement and a surprise.” The doors are in sight, and I can see the limo parked in the valet area at the front of the hotel. When we exit the hotel, I see that the car door is open and Dad and Carla are waiting for us. Dad is frowning, but I don’t think it’s at us, so I turn to look back and see Penelope and Lorenzo following closely behind us. I guess we weren’t the only people who were late. Suddenly, Gio stops and bends down to pick up a casino chip from the ground. Just as he does, there is a huge explosion, and we are thrown off our feet. I get tossed backward and hit my head on the ground. Dazed, I try to sit up, but the heat of the explosion and my throbbing head make it hard, and the last thing I see before blacking out is the limo that Dad and Carla had been sitting in consumed by flames.
* * *
My mind is foggy and my body aches as I try to wake up. Fuck, what did I do last night? I don’t remember going on a bender. But then an incessant beeping noise makes itself known, and I realize my arm is heavy. Struggling, I finally get my eyes open and find myself in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm and a heart rate monitor attached to me.
What the fuck? I freeze as it all comes back to me. Dad! Carla! Gio! Struggling, I reach over to rip the IV out of my arm, but my body doesn’t want to cooperate. A hand on mine stops my struggles, and when I look up, I find Sage, his cheeks streaked with tears.
“Let me up. I need to go to the others.” I try to fight him, but he sits down on my bed, wraps his arms around me, and just holds me.
His body trembles as he sobs, and I shake my head. “No, no way. No! Noooooo!” I shout, my voice giving way to screams, and I fight against him. “Let me get up. I want to see my dad,” I yelp, but he just holds on. Finally, I exhaust myself and collapse into his embrace, sobbing. I know the truth. He’s gone. My daddy is gone, and I will never see his smile or be held by his strong arms again.
I’m not sure how long we sit there, holding one another, but when I see movement over his shoulder, I’m completely drained. Sam and Dean are standing guard on either side of the door, and they have stopped the nurse from coming into my room.
“Let me through, you idiots, I need to check on my patient.” She sounds pissed.
Sage pulls away, wiping his face with his hands before he nods at them. They step aside, and she bustles in.
