“Yes, sir,” she said with a mock salute.
A muscle clenched in my jaw, and I saw the tiny flare of recognition in her eyes. The little minx somehow knew what those words did to me, especially coming from her swollen lips.
“Be back in bit.”
I rose, conscious of the erection that tented beneath my sweatpants. Striding to the kitchen, I exited the back door, deciding I didn’t need a coat since my body was still on fire. Walking to the middle of the small back yard, I lifted my face to the sky and closed my eyes.
“Holy shit. I’m in fucking trouble.”
Chapter 7
Alexis
Afew days later, I was finally able to video chat with Mom. Sitting on my bed, I opened my computer to start the video call. When her face appeared on my laptop screen, I gasped at the dark bruises under her eyes.
“Oh, Mom...” I said, covering my lips with my fingers. “You look terrible. Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Ah, myveryhonest daughter,” she teased, forming a weak smile. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Michael is taking good care of me.”
My breaths were shaky as I tried to keep it together. I wanted to be strong for her, but I felt terrible that she’d been hurt so badly.
“It’s my fault,” I said softly. “I just can’t stay out of my own way. I really thought I was helping by making the flash drive, but it just made everything worse.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said, her eyebrows drawing together. “Don’t be silly. John and Simon are determined to take over your father’s empire. Now that Simon’s dead, it’s going to make things worse, but Michael says the acceleration isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
“Nick said you killed Simon,” I almost whispered. “Am I a bitch for being happy about that?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. I’m quite torn about it myself. I acted in self-defense, but I never thought I’d kill a man in cold blood. It’s...disconcerting, to say the least. But I’m also glad he’s gone. One less person to impede Michael’s efforts.”
Biting my nail, I studied her. “The families know that you killed him, even though the police report states differently.”
Bianca nodded. “Yes.”
“Mom,” I said, shaking my head. “You have to stay safe. They’re going to put a hit out on you.”
“I know, sweetie. I trust Michael to protect me, and you need to trust Nick. Is he taking care of you?”
I bit my lip, wondering if I should tell her about crawling on Nick’s lap a few days ago and sucking the hell out of his tongue. Deciding to shelve that, I smiled. “He is. He’s not as bad as I thought.”
“Good.” She coughed weakly a few times. “You’re not being difficult, right?”
“Me? Never.” I gave a cheeky grin. We caught up for a few more minutes before her eyes began to droop. “Okay, you look like you need to rest so I’m going to let you go. What’s the prognosis?”
“I should be back to normal in a few weeks. I’ll call you tomorrow when I’m up and about.”
“Okay. Love you!”
The screen went dark and I closed the laptop, feeling my stomach grumble. It was three o’clock, and I hadn’t really eaten lunch, so I headed to the kitchen to make some food. As I passed Nick’s bedroom, I heard a low groan that stopped me in my tracks. Was he okay?
Leaning closer to the door, I heard another groan followed by a string of mumbled words. I couldn’t make out much, but managed to decipher a few...
His breathing was heavy as he uttered “princess...” and then “just like that...”
Gasping, I covered my lips. Was he jerking off...and thinking ofme?
Feeling like a perv, I rushed to the kitchen, determined not to acknowledge I’d heard him. We hadn’t touched each other since our epic kiss, and I’d wondered over the past few days if he’d forgotten completely.
Opening the fridge, I gazed around as I muttered, “Guess he didn’t forget. Fuck, that’s hot.”
