“My suggestion still stands; I could find you a new place to live.”
“I’m sorry I’m such a burden.”
She waves me off. “You’re not at all. Is that what you want, some space from them? Cruz will probably kill me, but I can make it work.”
I drink the last of my coffee while I think on it. Is that what I want? My own place away from them? “Honestly?”
She nods.
“I feel safe with them. I’ve stopped having nightmares. And the truth is, I’m not home that much; I spend most of my time at the club. I just need the controlling shit to simmer down or I will run again. I won’t be able to help it. I made a promise to myself that I would never put up with how Valentine treated me again. And I won’t, Sloane. I know they are coming from a place of protection, but it’s…”
“Suffocating.” As she says it, she glances across the street, and I spot what she’s looking at. Cruz stands by Jagger’s Range Rover, arms folded over his chest, watching us.
“Yeah.” I sigh. “Why are they so full-on?”
“Those boys have been keeping shit from me since I was a kid, so honestly, I couldn’t tell you. But my guess is they are involved in something they shouldn’t be. They always did know how to find trouble. And Cruz getting stabbed the other night cements it.”
I look back at her more seriously, knowing I probably shouldn’t say anything, but shit, I need someone to talk to about this, and she’s the only one who gets it. “The first night I got here, I got off my bus headed for your club, and I stumbled upon something I shouldn’t have.”
“That explains it. They must be worried someone important saw you. They have a lot of enemies in this town, people worse than your ex-husband.”
I scrunch up my face as memories I don’t want invade my brain. “Is there worse?”
“If you’re on the wrong side of them,” she says quickly, because we both watch her brother walk through the front door of the coffee shop heading right for our table.
He shoves in beside me, taking my hand in his. Then he picks up my fork and eats the last scoop of my cake.
“Unbelievable,” Sloane snips. “You clearly didn’t do your homework.”
“Got sick of waiting for your girly catch-up to be over, so thought I would join you.”
“Girly catch-up implies you’re not welcome,” I mutter back, only half serious.
“Harsh. But I know you really love me, so I will ignore your cutting words.” He kisses my cheek playfully and pulls me in close. How can he be so confident about what this is when my head is spinning.
Sloane smirks back at the two of us. “Well, this is adorable.”
I throw her a “no it’s not” glare.
“What did we buy?” he asks, and before I can stop him, he’s digging around in one of the bags on my other side. “Nice.” He pulls a pair of frilly panties from the bag and inspects them.
I shove his hand back in the bag quickly. “Cruz,” I warn him. “We’re in public.”
The old woman glares at me again, and I glare back. If she doesn’t want to listen to my conversation, she should stop eavesdropping.
“No fair, Sloane got to pick them out with you. I was going to replace the ones I destroyed this morning.”
My cheeks glow with heat. “Oh, my God. What is wrong with you? Stop talking!”
Sloane’s slapping her thigh now, her head back, laughing in hysterics. I’m the color of a beetroot, and Cruz just grins at me like he has no clue what he’s done wrong.
Sloane collects her bags of shopping. “I think that’s my cue to leave.”
Or he has every idea what he’s doing and he’s trying to get rid of his sister so he can have me all to himself.
“Think about what I said, you have options, sis. And Cruz, give the poor girl some space. She’s your roommate, not some new plaything for you to corrupt.” With that, she walks away, her long blonde hair flowing out behind her.
He takes my hand and kisses the back of it, his eyes dancing with delight. “I think my sister is right about one thing. That’s exactly what you are, isn’t it, little darlin’?”
