“Yeah, let’s just forget it happened. I was kinda freaked, and you were…”
She stalled, obviously not sure what I was. She wasn’t the only one.
“Anyway, let’s just, you know, forget it.” She shrugged unconvincingly. “I was most definitely distracted. You’ve done your good deed for the day.”
Okay, that successfully doused the lust still riding me. “You’re serious?” I asked, unable to hide my disbelief.
Her eyes stayed sharp and on me. “Yes.”
I shook my head. Christ, the woman was as deep in her own shit as I was. So deep, she was goddamn blind. I may not be looking for any kind of serious relationship, but I knew that what happened tonight didn’t end here. She’d just climbed me like Everest and kissed me like her life depended on it. We’d dry humped like rutting fucking animals until I was forced to cover her mouth, so her screams didn’t wake her niece, then watched her come apart for me in a way I would never forget—and she thought that was it?
She was fooling herself, but she sure as fuck wasn’t fooling me.
Her eyes kept dropping to my cock, and when they weren’t there, they were on my mouth. She wanted more, like I did, but if she wanted to pretend what just happened was a one off, who was I to burst her bubble.
“Sure,” I said. “Whatever you say, honey.” And turned away.
Good luck sleeping tonight, beautiful. I know I sure as hell won’t be.
Throwing the pillow and the blanket on the couch, I pulled my shirt over my head, tossed it on a chair, then grunted when I yanked open the front of my jeans, freeing my dick. My boxer briefs strained crudely, my cock perfectly outlined through the soft cotton. I was about to reach down and adjust it when I heard a strangled noise behind me. I turned around.
Willa was still standing by the door. I thought she’d left.
Her eyes moved over me, my chest, abs, thighs…cock.
“You change your mind, sweetheart?” I said, voice coming out harsher than I’d expected.
Her eyes flew up to mine. “What? No.”
She didn’t move.
I lifted a brow.
She spun and fled the room.
No, we weren’t done and we both knew it.
I woke to the sound of hushed voices.
“No, you can’t wake him up,” Willa whispered.
“Humph.”
“No sulking, Tilly. The man rappels out of buildings while carrying small children for a job, he needs his sleep.”
I inwardly winced. She’d obviously seen the news coverage.
Tilly giggled. “Look at his feet, they’re huge, he can’t even fit on the couch.”
The sound of Willa’s soft laugh made my gut clench.
“He’s big, isn’t he, Aunt Willa?” Another giggle. “Like the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk.”
“Uh huh, he sure is,” Willa said, laughter still in her voice.
Jesus.
“I bet he could pick us both up at the same time like we were light as feathers.”
“Yep, I think you’re right.” Willa cleared her throat. “Now go eat your breakfast.”
“Are you sure I can’t wake him up?”
“Positive. Now scram.”
Silence filled the room and I opened my eyes.
Willa was still standing at the living room door, her gaze moving over my bare chest. If it went any lower, I’d have a serious problem on my hands.
“Morning,” I muttered.
She jumped, like she’d been caught stealing from the cake tin. “You’re awake?”
“Looks like it.” I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the couch, and groaned. I’d been cramped up all night and my muscles were tight as hell.
“You sleep okay?” she asked.
I scratched my beard and stood, turning my back to her so she didn’t get an eyeful of the morning wood I already had going on—that was only getting worse with her standing there. I shoved on my jeans and yanked my shirt over my head. “Yeah, fine.”
A complete lie, even though I’d been the one to slow things down last night. I’d lain awake all night, hoping she’d come back, that she’d climb on the couch with me and ask me to make her come again.
I turned back. She was dressed in skinny jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. They were firm, hugging her curves, that lush round ass and those, tight little tits that made my gut ache from wanting to taste them so bad. “You?”
Her eyes darted away from mine. “Yep, fine.”
The woman as a bad liar. “Good.” I checked my phone. No emergencies, no need to rush to work. “I’ll talk to a buddy of mine on the force, see if we can get a uniform to swing by your place tonight. Cage will keep an eye on things from his command center, and you have my number. If you get worried, about anything, call me, yeah?”
She still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We don’t need all this fuss, I’m sure it was just some stupid kid.”
I had serious doubts about that. Willa was definitely hiding something. “We’ll know soon enough. Cage was going to go through the video footage, he should have something for us this morning.”
“You think he caught this guy on camera?”
“Maybe.” I shoved my phone in my pocket. “There’s a camera covering the front and back of the apartment, so there’s a good chance.”
She started fidgeting, looking nervous. “Right.”
I stared at her, not missing the way her throat worked, or her fingers in tight fists at her sides. “You want to tell me what’s wrong, Willa?”
I was done trying to read her mind. If they were in some kind of trouble, I needed to know.
She crossed her arms. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“If there’s something you haven’t told me…”
“Jude!” Tilly called, racing into the living room. “You’re finally awake!”
I looked away from Willa, who looked more than a little relieved at the interruption, and down at her niece. “Hey, kiddo. How you doing this morning?”
Tilly smiled. “I’m okay now. Aunt Willa told me it was just some dumb teenagers who broke our window and that you’d make sure they didn’t come back.”
I glanced at Willa. She was biting her lip again. They were still slightly swollen from our out of control kisses last night. I tore my eyes from her. “That’s right, sweetheart. Nothing for you to worry about,”
“I know.” She smiled again. “No one will mess with us, not now. If it was that stupid Johnny Clayton across the street, he’ll pee his pants when he sees you leave our house and get on your bike.” She snorted. “He’s such an asshole.”
“Tilly!” Willa said. “You know better than to use language like that.”
“It true,” she protested. “You said it yourself just last week.”
Willa blushed. “I’m an adult. You don’t use that word and you know it.”
Jesus. Now I wanted to kiss her again. “What did Johnny Clayton do to deserve such language?” I asked, biting back a grin.
Tilly spun back to me, expression serious. “He kept walking by our house with his friends while Aunt Willa was cleaning the front windows.”
“Tilly…” Willa said in warning.
“He said she had a nice ass, then ran off. That’s when she said he was a little asshole.”
“Tilly!” Willa cried again.
“Well, you did,” Tilly said.
“Go brush your teeth. The bus will be here soon. We’ll talk about this after school.”
“Fine,” Tilly muttered, then raced off to the bathroom.
I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing.
“Not a damn word,” she said to me.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Good.”
We stared at each other, the silence stretching out. Christ, I wanted her. “You want me to have a word with Johnny Clayton?”
Her eyes widened. “What? No. Absolutely not.”
I wanted to push, get her tell me
what was really going on, but I knew she wasn’t going to tell me, not yet. Not until she trusted me. “I guess, I better go then.”
“Sure.” She chewed her lip. “And ah, thanks, for last night.”
“Which part are you thanking me for?” I said, even though I knew I shouldn’t.
Her eyes narrowed, spine straightening. “All of it. Being here for Tilly, and for helping me out.”
Don’t say it. “Helping you out? That’s what we’re calling it now?”
She shrugged, but I could see the attitude was back, full force. “Don’t get me wrong, I get the job done, and done well, on my own, but it’s nice to have a helping hand from time to time…” Her eyes dipped. “Or should I say, bulge.”
Now all I could think about was Willa getting the “job done” on her own, which I could only assume was her intention. She wanted me to bite. It wasn’t going to happen. I swiped my keys from the table by the couch and headed toward her and the front door.
I stopped beside her, leaned in, mouth an inch from her ear. “Glad I could be of service, baby. You let me know when you’re ready for round two.” I straightened. “Later, Tilly,” I called.
“Later,” she called back as I walked out.
Willa Hartley had secrets, secrets that were banging on her door late at night, and now throwing rocks through her window.
The woman was stubborn as hell, closed off, and fiercely protective of her personal life. I could respect that, but she was so obviously in trouble. Yeah, I could do some digging, but that didn’t sit right with me. I wanted to win this woman’s trust. And looking into her past without her consent would be counterproductive.
For now, I’d respect her privacy, and hope like hell when she realized I could be trusted, she’d open up to me. In the meantime, I needed to make sure she and Tilly stayed safe.
8
Willa
Leaning on the bar, I sipped my soda. My lunchtime shift at Stilettos had gone pretty well, and bonus, I hadn’t fallen on my ass or anything. Also, the clientele had been feeling generous. A good thing, since I was meeting Trent in about an hour. I’d called him after the broken window incident, and confronted him. He denied it, but his word wasn’t exactly good. And since the surveillance footage didn’t catch a clear shot of who broke my window, I had no proof. Something had definitely been off with him, though. I mean, more than usual.
I told him I had some money for him and he wanted to meet as soon as possible. Hopefully, five hundred dollars would send him on his way. It was definitely more than he would have had in a while. It was more than I’d had as well. I made sure we were meeting in a public place. I refused to be alone with him, especially after our last face to face. And no way did I want him anywhere near our house and Tilly.
Now I just had to kill some time. I glanced across the club, Steph was at one of the tables on the other side of the bar, giving a lap dance. The suit she was with came in almost every day. He didn’t look at anyone else, didn’t want anyone else, paid for his dance, tipped Steph huge, then left.
His eyes were dark, almost black, and intense. His suit was expensive, but somehow, he still managed to look dangerous. He had tattoos on his hands, and he always kept them at his sides. He never tried to touch her. Steph looked as defiant, as she always did when she danced for him, but she also looked flushed. Flustered. I’d seen her give many lap dances since I started here. She was good, she always was. But when she danced for Mr. Suit, she gave him everything, like she was trying to push him, get him to break out of that stoic exterior. I don’t know, I just knew there was a hell of a lot more going on there.
Steph was a few years older than me, and what I did know about her life, was that it hadn’t been a picnic. She was divorced, the relationship had been bad, and she wasn’t in a hurry to date. She never talked about Mr. Suit, and she’d made it clear she didn’t want to when I broached the subject.
I was fine with that. She didn’t want me in her business and I didn’t want her in mine. Still, I couldn’t help waving Reggie over from behind the bar. “Who is that guy? The one that comes for Steph nearly every day?”
His brows rose. “You seriously don’t know?”
“I wouldn’t be asking if I did.”
He leaned in. “Tomas Mendoza,” he said, under his breath, like he was afraid the guy would hear or see his name spoken across a loud, dark, and smoky room.
I chuckled. “Christ, Reggie, the guy isn’t Voldemort.”
Reggie straightened and shook his head. “Smartass.”
“What? Is he a hitman or something?” I said jokingly.
Reggie leaned back in. “Not that I know of, though, people that cross him have been known to disappear. The guys into a lot of bad shit. His businesses, on the surface, look legitimate. My guess, money laundering. He’s a dealer, a loan shark, a pimp. You name it.”
I glanced back across the room at him. “You know this for a fact?”
Reggie looked a little sheepish. “Well, I’m not sure if he’s pimp, or a dealer, or about the money laundering, not for sure. I mean, I’ve heard stuff, but I don’t have any proof. I do know he loans money, though, because my stupid cousin Dwayne borrowed from him when he got into some trouble. The family had to bail him out when he couldn’t pay it back. It was either that, or one of Mendoza’s men were going to pay him a visit, and you know what that means.”
I frowned. “What?”
Reggie leaned in again. “Broken legs, concrete shoes…horseheads in your bed.” He shook his head. “Steer clear of him, Willa. The guy’s trouble,” he said, then went to serve someone.
Christ. I didn’t know if Reggie was being dramatic, but either way, he had nothing to worry about on the front. I didn’t plan on going anywhere near Tomas Mendoza. I watched as the song finished and Steph stepped back. Mendoza stood in front of her, looking down at her. Steph seemed to freeze, her lips parting. They stayed motionless like that for several tense seconds. Mendoza’s hand jerked at his side and he started to lift it, like he couldn’t resist any longer, like he had to touch her.
My breath caught in my throat.
But then he dropped it again, slid a stack of bills from his pocket and placed them on the table beside them, turned, and walked out.
Steph let out a shaky breath, her eyes not leaving him until he’d disappeared out the door.
I quickly looked away. I didn’t want her to catch me watching her. Clutching my bag to me, I headed for the door. I had my own drama to deal with.
One of the bouncers walked me outside and hailed me a cab. This was normal protocol for the dancers at Stilettos, but Raul had beefed up security after we’d heard a dancer in the city went missing. She wasn’t the first. Someone had been targeting strippers and prostitutes the last couple of months. We’d heard about it, of course—it was on the news—but so far, whoever was going after these girls had stuck to a certain area in the city. I guess we all felt kind of safe here in Brooklyn. But the latest girl, Fiona, used to work for Raul before she left for a bigger club, and he was taking it hard.
I waved goodbye to him and headed to the diner where I’d asked Trent to meet me.
It was close to four. I’d told Fay I had to pick up a few things after my shift and she’d agreed to watch Tilly after school for me until I got home.
My cab pulled up and I climbed out. I was dreading this exchange. I didn’t even want to breathe the same damn air as that bastard.
I was heading for the door, when someone grabbed my arm. I spun around and came face to face with Trent.
“Let’s go,” he said, and towed me toward a car.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I tried to pull my arm free.
“I have a friend watching your place. Tilly’s with that old bitch next door, right?” he said, making his threat impossible to miss.
I had no choice but to go with him. He shoved me into the passenger side, climbed behind the wheel, and took off. Trent couldn’t afford a car; I had no idea who
this one belonged to. Christ, it was more than likely stolen. “Where are you taking me?”
“We need to talk,” he said, sniffing and dragging his hand across his nose.
His hands were gripping the wheel, but I didn’t miss that they were shaking. “You’re using again,” I said.
He glanced at me. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He chuckled. “So you can get me drug tested and get yourself off the hook. I’m not using. I’ll admit I like a drink or two, but I haven’t used since I went to prison.”
I didn’t believe him, but if I got child protective services involved and he was telling the truth, it could hurt me, and if Trent decided to go ahead and try to get Tilly back… Well, it could put a spotlight on me and Tilly—on what I was doing to earn money.
“Where are we going?” I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.
“Like I said, somewhere we can talk.”
“We can talk here. Stop the car.” Oh yeah, I could hear the panic in my voice now, which meant he could too. I took several deep breaths in an attempt to regain my composure.
He ignored me and carried on. We drove for a while, twenty, maybe thirty minutes, until we were in some part of the city I didn’t recognize. He stopped the car. There were a lot of shipping containers, like the place was used for storage or something. The buildings around us looked to be rundown or empty.
I turned to him. “What are we doing here? Take me the hell home.”
Trent made a tutting sound. “You don’t get to call the shots, Willa, not anymore. You always did hate that you couldn’t control Rebecca, that she chose me over you.”
I stared into his eyes, at the hatred that was clear to see. Well, I hated him as well. Anger fired though me. “You’re the one who got her addicted to drugs. You’re the reason she’s dead, the reason Tilly doesn’t have a mother anymore. It’s your damn fault, Trent.”
His hands shot out and he fisted my shirt, shoving me against the car door behind me. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Do the right thing for once in your shitty life. Walk away, leave Tilly alone. She’s better off without you, we both know it, Rebecca knew it…that’s why she kept trying to leave you. It was the drugs that kept her coming back, not you, never you…”
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