“Feels good to be denied pleasure, doesn’t it? To be made a fool,” he gritted. I opened my mouth to say something, and his brow shot up. “Get the fuck out of my room.”
I swallowed my gasp. Tears stung my lids as I climbed off the bed and walked out, not bothering to dress. I’d already been humiliated enough today by both men, another person seeing me wouldn’t mean much to anyone, anyway.
Chapter 36
––––––––
RAYDEN (27YRS)
When I went down to breakfast the next morning, I was intent on getting the hell out of there. Zayne hadn’t answered any of my earlier calls, nor had he responded to my texts. I figured he wasn’t interested in giving me a reason for sending me into a Rossi trap once more. Whatever the case, I intended to get my way.
I wanted to call Trent but refrained. He had a fairly new woman in his life, he’d just found happiness again and major reason, he had kids. I couldn’t put him in harm’s way. I thought of calling Austin, but he was still in Africa. Not much help there. That left my father, who while I’d forgiven his indiscretion, we still had a long way to go before bridges were fully mended. Which meant I was all alone in my need to escape.
Lorenzo was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. His demeanor cool and calm as if he hadn’t annoyed the crap out of me by being adamant about me not leaving. Next to him, Jardin was trying to paint the table with his Coco Pops and behind him, Zena stood at the counter pouring herself a cup of coffee. She looked up when I entered but avoided my head-on gaze and instead focused on trying to clean up Jardin’s mess. I figured she was miffed with her whole seduction attempt not going according to plan. If she hadn’t learned I was no longer a pushover by now, she was in for a bigger shock.
Still, the cozy façade didn’t sit well with me. “One big happy family,” I muttered under my breath.
“Slept well?” Lorenzo glanced up and at my scowl, cocked a brow, a hint of a smile curled the corners of his lips. He was enjoying my frustration a little too much.
I didn’t bother with an answer, slid into the seat on the opposite end to him and looked at Jardin. “Hey, buddy, what are you eating?”
His lips parted on a full mouth and milk dribbled down the sides of his mouth making me chuckle. “Pops,” he answered, theCocodisappearing with his swallow. He jumped off his chair and with his hands cupped around the bowl, he walked toward me, his steps slow so as not to spill. His steady coordination fascinating to watch.
“What are you doing, baba?” Zena asked.
Only when he stopped beside me and held out the bowl, did he answer. “Din eating pops.”
Laughing, I took it and picked him up to sit on my thigh. As I set the bowl on the table in front of us, I looked up to find Lorenzo and Zena watching us. Their expressions different yet both unreadable.
“What?” I frowned. Zena turned her back on me and Lorenzo went back to reading the paper. “Can you count, Jardin?” His nod was an eager shake of his head. I set a couple of breadsticks in front of him, and he smiled at me. “Go on. Count them.”
He looked at Zena and at her nod, he leaned forward. “One, two, three, four, five.”
“Wow, that’s great.” I ruffled his curly hair. “Can you count more?” Another enthusiastic nod. I set down more breadsticks.
“Six, nine, seven, eight, ten.” He stopped to look at me.
