Katie turns into me, spitting venom. “You never told me you had call girls coming to the house.”
I bite down to stop a laugh. That’s my girl. She might be a little awkward socially, but she can give as well as she gets. Tracy may be a prison guard, but if the claws come out, I’m betting Katie will shred her.
“Friend,” I draw out the word for all it’s worth. “Katie is not my friend, Tracy, as you can very well see. I don’t have friends.” Lowering myself onto a stool by the kitchen island, I pull Katie onto my lap. “I have two businesses, I have staff, and I have four houses across the country that I rarely visit. But friends? No, Tracy, I don’t do friends. They’rejust distractions and liabilities in my line of work.” I stroke Katie’s cheek, keeping my gaze fixated on the one person I feel can truly accept my mangled heart. She was about to say love earlier before she caught herself. Katie thinks she loves me. She loves the sides of me that I have allowed her to see, but I cannot believe that she can truly love me until she knows the dark and twisted parts of me. The parts I cannot give up. Not even for her.
I’ve got an inkling that she won’t run from the shadows that consume my soul. I only hope that when the time comes for her to find out what I am hiding, she will still choose to stay by my side.
“You never said—”
My head snaps in Tracy’s direction. “I don’t need to disclose anything to you. I owe you nothing.”
“We were—”
“There was never a we.” Resting my chin on Katie’s shoulder, I look at the woman who used to warm my bed on occasion and feel absolutely nothing. Never have. Never will. She was a means to an end. A way to relieve some stress, and she knows it. I told her exactly what our arrangement would be, and she went along, hoping she’d change me. Worse fool her. A leopard never changes its spots, and I am no exception. “For more than a few fleeting moments anyway.”
I feel Katie shift on my lap; her arm slides around my shoulders as she leans into me.My bug.
I can see the quiver in Tracy’s lower lip that she tries to fight back. “So what?” her eyes flit to Katie for a moment before returning to me. “You downgraded to a cheap substitute.”
“Wow!” Katie snarls. “And I thought I can’t handle rejection well.” Her dark eyes flash in Tracy’s direction.
“The only cheap thing I see in here, click and collect, is that dress,” she says, sniffing the air and wrinkles her nose. “And your perfume.”
Click and collect? I love it! Why have I never thought of that? That’s getting filed away for a later date, I should use it on Éabha the next time I see her.
“You think you can talk about me like that?” Tracy drags her gaze the length of my bug before locking eyes with her. “Your fat ass couldn’t even wear a dress like this without looking like the Michelin man.”
I’m up, but not fast enough. Katie has already lunged forward, her fingers gripping Tracy’s hair tightly. Jumping to the side, I avoid the stool getting kicked in my direction and look up in time to see Katie bounce Tracy’s head off the counter.
“Fuckin’ hell!” I should break this up. I really should. But I can’t tear my eyes from my girl in all of her savage glory. I knew there was anger beneath that sweet exterior, but I never expected it to be such a fucking turn-on. Blood splatters my counter and my floor, and there are a few splashes on the wall. I don’t know when Tracy’s nose got broken, somewhere between greeting the granite counter top headfirst and Katie’s relentless blows.
“Baby, baby, enough, come on.” Wrapping my arms around Katie, I lift her up from Tracy and try to calm her down. Try as I might, I can’t stop laughing; she’s a scrappy one. Placing her on the edge of the kitchen counter, I wipe the blood from Katie’s knuckles, watching the steam billow out of her nostrils. She’s not done. She’s ready to lunge again.
Tracy staggers to her feet, a bleeding, screeching mess. She tries to take a swing at Katie, but I catch her fist inmid-air, holding her back. “You are lucky that I don’t hit women because if you were a man, I’d snap your fucking neck.” Forcing her away from the counter, I put more pressure on her wrist to ensure she doesn’t try to attack again. “You come into my house, upset my girl, and have the fucking audacity to try and compare yourself to her?” I growl, bending her wrist back ever-so-slightly.
Tracy’s eyes water. She winces, trying to pull back her hand.
“You are nothing to me. You were only ever a quick fuck.” I release my hold on her wrist, and she jumps back, clutching it to her chest.
Katie scooches from the counter and steps up behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I tell her, “You would own the shit out of that dress, babe.” Before I lock eyes with the cowering prison guard edging for the exit. “Don’t ever try and compare yourself to my girl, Tracy. You’ll always come up short. In every. Single. Way.” Turning for Katie, I draw her to my side, bringing her right hand to my lips, and kiss her busted-up knuckles. “Now get the fuck out of our house before I throw you out myself.”
Katie relaxes into me, allowing me to tend to her. “My bug,” I whisper against her skin, kissing her fingertips and nipping at her thumb.
“And Tracy,” I throw over my shoulder. “If you even consider pressing charges against Katie, I promise you’ll regret it.”
The front door slams shut with a resounding thud, and two minutes later, we can hear her car haul arse out of the garden.
By the time the screeching of her tyres fades into the distance, I’ve already got Katie stripped down to her underwear, revealing her incredibly long legs, pillowy thighs, and milesupon miles of soft curves.
She tears my shirt off and tosses it aside before making short work of pants.
“Get up here,” I growl, grabbing her by the cheeks of her arse and lifting her off the ground. “That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen you do.”
Katie blushes and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. “We should probably clean this up,” she murmurs, gesturing towards the mess of blood and clothes strewn across the floor.
“I’ll take care of that later.” I head for the stairs with Katie still in my arms. “First, we’re taking a shower to wash the smell of cheap perfume off you.”
She throws her head back and laughs maniacally. “Then what?”
