“Get the kid some food, Everest.”
“Fine,” he grumbles. “Just don’t be a jerk, okay?”
I ignore him, but as he opens the door, I call out, “Everest!”
“Uh huh?”
“Here. Take this.”
I toss a gun to him and he catches it in his free hand. “Fuck, man! Careful! I’m holding Aurora! Why do I need a gun anyway?”
I shrug off his protest. “Just look out for the kid. Okay?”
The door closes behind them, and I do my best to keep my eyes averted from Lia. I can only assume how nervous, but also, confused she is. I’m just as confused as her. Why the hell do I care what happens to that kid? I would never hurt a child, but what’s it to me if someone else does? Especiallythatchild, whomI spent the past two years wishing had never been born.
“Logan,” begins Lia at last.
“Shut up.”
I go to the mini-fridge in a corner of the room and grab a beer. For all the shittiness that comes with working for the family, at least, you can always be sure of a good cold beer. I pop off the cap then settle down on the chair opposite the bed, taking a long swig.
I do my best to keep my eyes away from her, and to focus on my phone, on the messages I’m exchanging with Damien. He’s been keeping me in the loop of his plans to find the killer with Coltello. But out of the corner of my eye, I see her sitting on her knees on the floor, her hands in her lap. She’s still wearing only my leather jacket, but it’s so big on her that it covers everything. Only it’s not zipped up, and now that she’s sitting down, I can just make out her breasts underneath.
“Take it off.”
She looks at me in surprise.
“The… the jacket?”
“Yeah. Take it off. Now.”
Slowly, she starts to peel it off. Then she pauses. “Am I going to the cell after?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
She tilts up her face, trying to look brave, but I can tell her chin is trembling. “I’ll take off the jacket if you don’t lock me in the cell after.”
I snort. “You really think you have that kind of power, Lia? You havenopower. You’re my captive. I can do whatever I want with you, and if you think letting me fuck you can save you…” I feel myself getting angry as I speak. “You’re a real slut, aren’t you? Have you ever fucked anyone in your life without an ulterior motive?” I grab at the collar of the jacket, twisting it so that it pushes into her neck, lightly constricting her breathing.“Have you, Lia?Haveyou?”
“N-n-no, Logan,” she chokes out at last, and I let her go.
“Whatever happens now isn’t going to change what happens later,” I tell her. “I’m not going to force you like that. Either take off the jacket or not. Accept my cock or not. Up to you. Sayreda million times if you feel like it. It won’t change my mind about the cell.”
I gulp down more beer. “So I guess that means youwon’ttake it off, huh?”
She stares up at me for a moment and then—slowly removes the jacket.
I sit up straight, hungrily looking at her perky tits, her flat stomach with just a hint of stretchmarks, the thighs that have gotten thicker since she was in high school, the pink cunt between them.
“Turn around, Lia,” I croak. “Stand up and turn around.”
She takes her time to obey. But at last she’s facing the opposite wall, and my breath catches when I take in the ass that she was furious at me for calling fat. It’s definitely not small. Not anymore. She has two round, creamy globes, sprinkled with freckles, with a hint of cellulite on the bottom. And when I smacked them this morning, the way they bounced…fuck. Just the memory of it makes my dick swell.
“Spread them, Lia.”
“Spread… them?”
“Take your ass cheeks and spread them,” I say impatiently. “Let me see your little hole.”
