by Belle Aurora
Luka sighed, closing his eyes. “The body of Aslan Sadik was found this morning in the harbor, a bullet in his back. The Lost Boys want answers, and I’m trying to give that to them. They’re mourning, and that makes them volatile.” Luka’s jaw steeled. “There are rumors going around.” He looked around before continuing, “About a relationship he might have been having with someone he should not have been having a relationship with.”
“Ling.” It was a grave response.
And as my body stiffened at Twitch’s side, Luka’s lip curled. “Seem to know a lot of underground shit for someone who’s out.” When Twitch’s gaze darkened, Luka added, “Just saying.” He peered down at his shoes, before stating, “I’m pretty sure she did it, but no one saw a thing, and when I called in to question The Dragon Queen, her brother gave her an alibi.” Luka raised his eyes to Twitch. “Said they were together all night.” He licked his lips and peered at me a moment before he clarified, “In bed.”
My stomach lurched.
Ling was screwing her brother?
Oh my God. Gross.
My face must’ve conveyed my feelings about that, because Luka shook his head, illuminating, “As far as we know, it’s a lie. Van will say and do anything to keep his sister safe. And he’d go that far to do it.”
Still... ew.
Twitch paused a long moment, before he said, “I don’t know what to tell ya, man.”
Luka watched him closely. “Why don’t you start by telling me what the fuck you and your boys were doing making a house call to Asya Sadik a few weeks back.”
My heavy gaze landed on Twitch, and when his eyes met mine, he didn’t squirm or fidget at all. He looked the picture of innocence. Fortunately, I knew better.
His shoulder jerked in a blasé manner. “A friendly visit. Just wanted to push my old friend Az in the right direction, away from the jaws of a fucking Viper. And maybe I thought giving him a scare like that would do it.”
I heard the words, but I knew you didn’t visit friends in the middle of the night bearing weapons.
“Ah, Twitch,” Luka groaned. “You dumb fuck.”
I couldn’t help myself. “Hey.” When the irritated man’s eyes snapped to mine, I was suddenly self-conscious. I pressed myself into Twitch’s side more out of fear than a show of support and uttered a weak, “Don’t talk to him like that.”
To my absolute surprise, Luka’s shocked expression transformed into a wide smile, and when he looked to Twitch, the man at my side pressed his lips to my temple. I felt his smile against my skin. “See?” The softly spoken word warmed my skin. “Solid.”
It took a moment, but Luka’s smile fell. “If I need you, I’m calling it in.”
I didn’t like the tone he used. It sounded like an order, and that concerned me. Unconsciously, my hand came up to rest on Twitch’s broad chest and my face turned solemn.
“I’m out, Luka,” was all the response the man got.
And as he walked backward to his car, I saw the danger in Luka Pavlovic when his face darkened, and he told my man, “You’re out when I say you’re out.” He grinned then, but it was warped. “Didn’t you hear, brother?” That grin vanished, and he muttered severely, “I’m the fuckin’ king now.”
The car rolled away, leaving us in the street with me clutching at Twitch, feeling as though I was about to lose the man I just got back. And I was stunned to realize I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
Not willingly.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Twitch
“Need you to call your boy for me,” I said as Molly sat at the dining table with her ankle resting on her knee, sipping at her coffee.
Her face bunched. “What boy?”
C’mon, Molly. Let’s not play this bullshit right now.
I rolled my eyes then sighed. “You know which boy. The huge Maori fucker.”
Her eyes landed on me, and those overfull lips of hers parted slightly. A moment passed, and she shook her head. “No.”
Coming to lean against the wall, I scratched at my prickly jawline and drawled, “Wasn’t really a request.”
“No,” she stated more firmly before standing and attempting to rush out of the room.
She was quick.
I was quicker.
My hand shot out, gripping her upper arm tightly, stopping her in her tracks. Her deadly stare landed on my hand before she slowly looked up at me, her lip curling, and I smiled as she shot me full of ice.
“Take your hand off me.” She was a bitch, our Molly. And that was good. It would serve us well. She tried to pull out of my hold, and spat, “He let his brother rape my sister.”
Silly little sparrow. “He didn’t do shit and you know it. What happened had nothing to do with Tama, but you’re hurt, so you wanna make him the enemy.” My hold loosened on her, but she didn’t run. I watched her face fall as she listened to the words I spoke. “You both lost someone important to you. You’re both upset, and if you talk about that, you’ll realize you both have something to be sorry for.” I released her then. “But neither of you are to blame.”
“I killed his brother.” Molly blinked away tears, refusing to let them fall, and I respected her for that. “He’ll never forgive me.”
That was when Lexi’s quiet voice penetrated the silence. “Oh, sweetie.” My woman’s face was desolate as she moved instinctively to Molly and wrapped her arms around her from behind, resting her temple on her head. “I didn’t know.” Lexi’s eyes closed as she dealt with what had just been revealed to her. And solid as she was, she squeezed Molly tightly, and muttered, “I’m so sorry.”
Molly spun in her hold and allowed Lexi to mother her, and it did something to me. Both of these women were important parts of my past. It was funny how the past kept repeating itself, bringing us together, forcing us together as if we were all to play a significant role in one another’s future.
Lexi pulled back, her eyes sad, and peered down at Molly, keeping her arms around her. “You don’t have to call him, okay?”
My face screwed up.
Um, yeah. She did.
But, my beautiful angel, she surprised me when she added, “But I know Twitch wouldn’t ask this of you if it weren’t important, honey. So—” She ran her fingers down the side of Molly’s soft cheek. “—you don’t have to, but—” Her eyes landed on me a moment before she went on gently. “—we’d like it if you did.”
Almost immediately, Molly uttered a hoarse, “I’ll call him.”
And Lexi leaned in, pressing her lips to the petite girl’s forehead. She closed her eyes and held them there a long time before she responded a heartfelt, “Thank you. I know this isn’t going to be easy, but I’ll be right here with you, okay?” Molly’s dejected eyes lifted to hers, and Lexi smiled warmly at the little woman. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Molly nodded, her expression one of desperation, and the childlike look in her eyes forced a protective streak out of me that I hadn’t felt with anyone apart from my son and his mother.
“Call him,” I uttered as I pushed myself off the wall. “Tell him to come alone.”
I had a bad feeling. A feeling that told me some people would need to be sacrificed to keep my family safe. I walked away, needing to get a grip on my inner turmoil. Because I couldn’t protect everyone.
The silence was thick, sticky, holding the four of us in place as we sat at the table. And when my eyes drifted from the huge monster of a man with the tattooed face to the tiny, petite willow of a woman with pouting lips, I couldn’t help but smirk inwardly, because in the ten minutes we’d been here, they only had eyes for each other.
As Lexi remained seated by Molly, she threw me a look that said “Oh my God, this is so awkward,” and I heard that shit whispered into my ear. Clearing my throat, I turned my eyes to the man and held them there. “What do you know of The Dragons?”
Tama’s dark gaze didn’t leave Molly as he drawled, “The price of this chat is gonna co
st you.”
The soft way he said it made me realize he wasn’t talking to me. My eyes narrowed on Molly, and I watched the panic set in.
I decided to let it be known that, “Molly doesn’t work for you, Tama. She works for me, and I don’t have any plans to let her back into the fold.” He turned to me, and if I wasn’t who I was, having seen the shit I’d seen, I’d think he was a scary man. Fortunately, his intimidation tactics didn’t have shit on mine. “Especially not after the shit you pulled the last time you called her out.”
His deathly stare landed on her once again, and his response was rough, low. “Never said I wanted her for work.”
My stomach clenched with anger, painfully tight. “Not about to make my girl turn tricks for you either, so if that’s the plan, you can take this opportunity and get the fuck on out of my house.”
Tama didn’t speak for a long while, but I noticed the way his hands clenched into fists, then released constantly, before he said, “What opportunity?”
I internally grinned.
Got him.
“I hear you got a guy. A guy who runs surveillance. And I hear he’s good.”
“Amoho.” Tama chest puffed out with pride. “He’s not good. He’s the best.”
His confidence spoke volumes. “I need him to keep an eye on Ling Nguyen.”
But Tama was already shaking his head. “Nah, bruh. We don’t fuck with The Dragons.” He blinked down at the table. “They’re mental. No rules apply. That queen of theirs has a screw loose upstairs. Let’s ‘em run rabid.” His lip curled. “Disgusting. Shameful.” He took in a deep breath before shaking his head once again. “I won’t have my men killed for you, and that’s what will happen if we take this job.”
“Not if I kill her first,” I drawled, and damned if that didn’t get his attention. “The Dragons are a pain in everyone’s ass, and I plan on forcing ‘em to disband.” Oh, yeah, he was listening, all right. “You help me out here, their territory is yours.”
It was prime territory. A city spot that no one other then The Lost Boys held.
Yeah. Tama was listening.
I don’t think he understood how this worked because the cocky fuck felt the need to negotiate. “I still want Molly.”
A short bark of a laugh left me. “You can’t have her.” My mirth faded to nothing and I laid it down. “You get the territory or you get nothing. But greedy fuckers get a parting prize too,” I told him. “A free hole in the head.”
At that, the giant man actually cracked a smile. He seemed to contemplate my offer, and he did this a long while before he stood, and said, “I’ll talk to my men. Get back to you.” I stood and walked him out of the kitchen, but when he suddenly twisted back to face Molly, he paused a second, then muttered, “Coming?”
To say she was stunned was an understatement. Her brows creased, looking like she was in a huge amount of pain, and her mouth parted in disbelief, but she didn’t move.
The giant Maori watched her a moment before his lips thinned, and he nodded in understanding before continuing out the door. What he didn’t see was Molly move to stand.
I stopped her with, “You’re not going.”
She looked completely rattled, as though she was being pulled in all different directions and she wanted to follow them all.
“Molly, you’re twenty-two. He’s my age,” I said sternly. “You can’t go with him.” When her eyes narrowed on me, I fought a chuckle but shook my head, muttering, “I’m not allowin’ this, girl. Sit your ass down.”
And when her eyes flashed and she snarled, “Fuck you!” she rushed to her room a moment before returning with her bag.
I forced out a long sigh. “Get back here, Molly.”
But she ignored me, running after him. “Tama!”
The front door slammed shut, and from the window, both Lexi and I watched on as Tama turned just as Molly launched herself at him, and the second her caught her, their lips met in a hard, desperate kiss that had me grinning in victory.
By my side, Lexi sounded irritated. “It’s not up to you who she’s with, Twitch. She loves him and—” When she faced me, her big blues narrowed down at my lips. “Why are you smiling?”
My baby.
God, she was beautiful.
Gently moving her hair behind her ear, I continued to smile, as I stated, “I don’t pretend to know much about women, but I do know one thing. They do not like when you tell ‘em what to do. Or to stay away from somebody they want.”
I saw the exact moment she caught on. Her eyes widened and she dipped her chin to hide her smile, and when she finally looked up at me again, her eyes were full of mirth. “You sneaky shit. You did all of that... said all of that on purpose, knowing she’d go to him.”
Tama carried Molly to his car, kissing her like she was air and he was dying to breathe again. Fully deadpanned, I uttered, “Oh no. Molly, come back.”
Lexi tipped her head back and laughed out loud, and I grinned down at her flushed and smiling face before my heated gaze landed on her full lips. “I need that mouth, Mama.”
Her eyes flashed a moment before they turned lusty, and I loved how after all this time, we were still as affected by each other as we were in the beginning. “Just my mouth?” She sounded disappointed.
I shook my head slowly as I took her hand, pulling her close. “Every journey needs a starting point.”
A choked sound left me as her greedy fingers came out to rub my cock through my jeans. Her voice breathy, she let out a hushed, “Aren’t you going to tell me off?”
She wanted to be told off.
Fuck me. She was perfect.
But today, I just wanted my smiling, sweet angel. Just her. And I wanted all of her. “Touch me.”
Walking her backward down the hall, I kept my eyes on her, and she kept her small hand on my straining fly. When I lowered my face to kiss her, she backed away playfully, smiling as she avoided my lips, and my heart did this weird kind of jittery thing.
Huh.
That was different.
Whenever I was around this woman, I couldn’t seem to keep my hands off her or my pants on.
The second we were in the bedroom, I put my hands to the bottom of the cotton dress she wore and whipped it off, and the sight of her in her tiny lace panties and matching white bra...
***
Lexi
He’d been standing there a long time. I was beginning to get self-conscious.
“Honey?” My brows knitted lightly.
What was wrong with him?
Suddenly, he frowned and swallowed hard then blinked and he was back. But when he pulled out his phone and pointed it at me, I lifted my hand with a gasp, almost knocking the cell out of his hands.
“Do not take photos of me.” Totally outraged, I hissed, “Not like this.”
He had the gall to look annoyed. “Why not?”
“I’m...”
Oh, no.
My eyes shut tightly, and the insecurities I’d fought since I had A.J. returned wholeheartedly. I covered my stomach pooch with a splayed hand, completely embarrassed, and then I whispered, “I’m not the same.” I said this in a way that he couldn’t misunderstand my meaning.
And he got me.
Taking a step forward, his hard length pressed into my hip. Looking down at me with meaning, he uttered a rough sounding, “That feel like disappointment to you?”
No.
It felt like my ruin.
Unexpectedly, my mouth opened and all the words flew out. “I’m not as thin as I was.”
“I like you like this.”
“I have a gut.”
He scoffed. “It’s hardly a gut.”
“My butt is bigger.”
At that, he grinned, sliding a hand over my hip to squeeze a rounded cheek. “I know.”
Asshole.
Feeling direct, I went on, “Pregnancy made my tits huge. Look.” I pressed my arms into them to make my point, and when the globes protruded obscenely,
I blinked up at him. “See?” His eyes were on my boobs, and when I ran a hand through my hair, sighing in irritation, I said, “It’s so not fair that I look like this when you look like—” I threw an arm out to his entire being. “—that.” I went on, “I work out. I run. I yoga. It doesn’t matter what I do; these curves do not want to leave me.” When his eyes crinkled in the corners, I revealed sadly, “They’ve made themselves at home and, apparently, are not going anywhere.”
“Good,” was the cool response he gave.
My eyes narrowed. “Have you even been listening to me?”
He sighed. “I’m listenin’, angel. I just don’t give a fuck is all.” Just as a heated gasp left me, he smiled that beautifully crooked smile, and uttered, “I hear your concerns, but I’m a man. I love curves. Curves on you though?” A rumbling growl sounded low in his throat and his eyes hooded. “Boom.”
Well, shit.
Boom.
I liked that.
“I’m just a little insecure is all, and—”
He leaned in and cut me off, capturing my lips in a firm, potent kiss that made me positively heady, and when he pulled back, his eyes were warm, as he quietly uttered, “Shut up, baby.”
“Okay,” was my breathy reply.
With a gentle push, I landed back on the bed, and he was climbing over me. My eyes widened as I glanced down the bed at my bright yellow slippers. “You want me to leave the Pikachus on?” His lips landed at the side of my neck and I smiled softly, releasing a small shrug. Okay. “Whatever you’re into.”
“I’m into you,” was definitely the correct response, and I felt those words deep in my soul as he sucked at the delicate area where neck met shoulder, marking me.
My eyes closed in bliss and I lifted my hands to the back of his head, needing this gorgeous man to leave me another love letter branded on my skin, lest I forget how he felt about me.
With every kiss, with every gentle touch of his tongue to mine, he sent stealthy messages. Secret messages meant only for me.
You are the reason I breathe.
I would do anything to make you happy.
I love you.