“I wouldn’t have done that if you weren’t so stubborn, but I still got the girl.” He gives me a smug look, then clears his throat. “Sorry. I got the woman.” He pulls me back on top of him, and one of his big hands slides down my back and cups one butt cheek.
“You were scary, baby. You had three women dragged into a dark alley with a bunch of guys. You scared the hell out of us.”
“Sorry?” From his grin, I don’t think he’s sorry at all.
My stomach growls, and he tosses the covers off us.
“Let’s shower. I’ll make breakfast while you get ready for work.”
There’s a cappuccino waiting for me when I get to his kitchen. He’s shirtless, and his damp hair is in a bun on top of his head. I wrap my arms around his waist while he chops vegetables on his cutting board. I take a sip of my drink and put it down.
I look into his face. He smiles down at me, bends down, and kisses me.
“I’ll be gone most of the day and into the night,” he says. The only thing he’s ever asked of me is that I don’t question him about his work, so I don’t.
“Okay. I’ll go home after my shift.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” he says.
He puts down the knife and gestures for me to follow him. He leads me to his office. I’ve never been inside this room. He showed it to me when he gave me a tour of his house, but out of respect for his privacy, I stay away. He gestures to a duffel bag on his desk. “Open it.”
The bag slips out of my hand and lands on the floor after I see the piles of cash inside. I stare and wait for an explanation.
“I got your money back plus interest from that dipshit you used to live with. Lots and lots of interest,” he adds.
Staring at him, I wait for him to say more.
“Do not deposit more than ten thousand at a time. Do a few thousand every few days to stay under the radar.”
“How much money is in there?” I point at the bag.
“About seventy thousand. All the cash that was in his parents’ safe.” Shaking his head, he whispers, “Little dipshit.”
I stare into the bag and back at my man. “Seventy thousand?” I whisper with my eyes wide. “How? Why? That’s way more than—”
“Because that asshole stole from you, totaled your car, and ruined your credit. And how? I pointed a gun at his stupid face, knocked him out, and threw his little pussy ass in a van.”
My hand flies to my mouth in shock, but my body floods with goosebumps.
“He’s a rich little asshole. They can afford it. They can consider it taxation for raising an entitled little thief.”
“Is he …” I let the question hang.
“He’s alive. Fucked up but alive.”
“What if he calls the police?”
“He won’t. Even if he does, he has no evidence. He didn’t see my face. No cameras. I made sure of it.”
“But—”
“I righted a wrong. Look at me,” he says. When I do, he cups my cheeks. “Remember what I said to you? I said no one is going to fuck with you. And anyone who fucked with you in the past is going to deal with me now.”
I wrap my arms around him, bury my face in his bare chest, and plant kisses on him.
“Thank you. And how fucked up is the dipshit?” I ask with a laugh.
“Very.”
