Once I’ve dressed and brushed my hair, I pull out my phone to plug it in on my nightstand and realize I’ve missed a text from my parents in our group chat. My heart drops out when I see they want to come visit.
My stomach clenches—not because I don’t want to see my parents, but because if they come to visit, they’re going to see where I live and where I work. It’s a reality I have to face at some point, but I’m not ready yet. Especially when I don’t even know what Bast and I are.
So I text them back and tell them that I’ll let them know when a good weekend is, but that I’m planning on returning home for a visit soon and we’ll figure it out. It’s the better of the two options. If I return to Wisconsin for a visit, I can push them off longer.
I plug my phone into the charger and return to Bast’s room. He’s already in bed, leaning against the headboard and watching sports updates on the television.
“Have you heard when the apartment will finish being repaired?” I climb into my side of the bed. It’s a given now that I’ll be sleeping here.
He glances away from the screen at me. “Contractor said that there was more water damage than he thought once he started pulling everything apart. It’s going to be at least another month.”
“It sure is taking him a long time.” I snuggle into Bast’s side.
“You eager to get away from me?” He holds my gaze, and there’s something in his I can’t figure out.
I frown. “Of course not.”
“Good.” His arm comes around me and squeezes me into his side.
I try not to read into his words tonight—mine, my woman, good—but my hopeful heart finds it impossible.
36
BASTION
Ineed to get my head straight. Ever since Sunday night, my mind has been a fucking vortex. Seeing that prick with his hands on Hattie, I swear to God, it’s lucky we were in public because I wanted to murder him.
And the words that were coming out of my mouth—mine, my woman—what the fuck was that about? The worst part is that they weren’t even part of the act to get Hattie to fall in love with me. Though I think she is. At least that much is going my way.
Until she asked about the condo.
But I have to remember why I’m doing this. Who I’m punishing. And even if I realize that maybe Hattie doesn’t deserve my punishment, Carla does. And Hattie is the most effective way to deliver the killing blow. She’s just collateral damage, nothing more.
Trent always said going to war meant innocent casualties, and Hattie is going to become one. I need to not give a shit.
I’ve been pondering all morning how to ensure that the blow I deal Carla is as painful as possible, and the idea of getting Hattie to try heroin came to mind. I’m waiting for Sean to show up, and it would be easy enough to ask him for some. I’d never let him sling that shit in my club, but I’m sure he has sold it elsewhere.
Imagine if Mommy Dearest found her daughter going down the same self-destructive path she had. That would be the ultimate revenge. Then she’d know what I’d had to deal with all those years she was hooked.
But I can’t do it. I know I can’t.
I’m intimately familiar with the hell that path leads to, and while I don’t have any sympathy for people who willingly embark down that road, I can’t manipulate Hattie into it. Why? Because I’m fucking soft where Hattie is concerned, which has to change. Trent would have been so disappointed in me for falling for my mark back in the day. I have to figure out some way to further ruin her and make Carla pay.
The door to the VIP room opens, and Ray takes up almost all the space. “Sean is here.”
“Send him in.” I lean back in my seat and cross my legs, resting my right ankle on my left knee with an unaffected air.
This will not be a pleasant meeting. Sean is getting fired today. He just doesn’t know it.
The door opens again, and Sean steps inside. I gesture to the area with the wrap-around couch to my right, so we’ll be facing each other.
He takes a seat and starts right in on his bullshit. “I hope you asked me here because you decided to be smart and take our offer.”
I chuckle and smooth my tie down my chest. “Sorry to disappoint you, but no. I asked you here to tell you that I don’t take kindly to business partners who try to stab me in the back. We had a good thing going here—we were both making money, there were no problems, no drama—and then you had to go and change that because you got greedy. Do you know what the most important thing in business is to me, Sean?”
“I’m not gonna sit here and listen to a lecture.”
“It’s trust and loyalty. It seems I made a mistake when I thought you possessed the same mindset. Consider this your official notice that we are done doing business together. Effective immediately, you, your goons, and any of your assets are not welcome in any of my clubs.”
