by Belle Aurora
A light sigh left me.
Of course it was.
As I loaded up my things into the car, I uttered, “I guess we’ll see you later then.”
But he didn’t walk away. Instead, he took one step closer then another, and when he was in my personal space, he looked down at my dress. “The other day, the dress you wore, the one with all the frilly shit on it.” He paused, watching me closely. “Liked it. Looked good on you.”
I didn’t wear it for you.
He always did like when I “dressed nice.”
As far as compliments went, that was top shelf for Twitch. I avoided his gaze, and replied clinically, “Thank you.”
“We gonna talk tonight?” His side brushed mine, and my entire body burned. When I made no move to respond, he clicked his tongue. “We need to talk, Alexa.”
Uh oh.
He only ever called me Alexa before I got a spanking.
Ah, crap.
I loved being spanked.
Nuh uh.
No. I loved when Twitch spanked me.
Ugh. Shit.
Sudden flashes of images past flooded my mind, and as I struggled to breathe, my fingers loosened and I dropped my keys. When Twitch squatted down to pick them up, those images intensified. Wide-eyed, I peered down at him, unblinking, as he looked up at me knowingly. With other things on his mind, he glanced at my crotch, and my core clenched under his watchful eye. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, my knees weakened, and I had to lock them together to hold myself up, mortified that he was evidently thinking the same thing I was.
When he spoke quietly, the air left me in a whoosh.
“I feel like we’ve been here before.”
I snatched my keys out of his hand, and the only sounds that could be heard in the street was the clip-clopping of my heels as I all but ran to the driver side of my car.
Goddamn it.
The sexual tension was building. He was making sure of that. And I was falling into his sticky web.
“Yeah! C’mon, A.J!” Twitch stood and called out before sitting back down, looking at me through wide eyes. “Look at him go.”
“He’s good.” And he was so excited, so proud, that I couldn’t help but smile. “He’s been swimming since he was two.”
“He’s not just good, Lex.” Twitch shook his head. “He’s a fuckin’ child prodigy. I mean—” He waved an arm out. “—none of the other kids are that fast.” He caught the eye of a mother glaring at him. “No offense, lady.”
Oh my God. I tilted my head toward him and whispered, “Will you stop?” Sure, he wasn’t wrong. A.J. was a great swimmer. It was as if I were seeing my son with fresh eyes. “But you’re right.” When I felt his eyes on me, I kept my own trained on our son. “He’s amazing.”
We were quiet a while before he spoke. “You did that.” I looked at him. “That’s all on you, baby.” His gaze held me captive. I couldn’t look away. “You’re a great fuckin’ mom.” When he turned back to watch our son, he uttered, “Knew you would be.”
Was I though?
I thought I was doing okay. But, recently, it didn’t feel like it.
Over the last few weeks, with every day that passed, I felt I was failing him. As a mother, as a protector, as a role model, everything I taught him, I had done the opposite of with his father. No wonder his behavior was so funky lately. He probably looked at me and wondered why he needed to follow the rules when his mother couldn’t.
I vowed to try harder for the sake of my son. I would not disrespect his father in front of him. I would not let my anger rule my emotions. And, for the sake of our happiness, I would talk to Twitch and try to figure out how to make this work for all of us.
Our family was small. Our family was fragmented. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t all get along.
A.J.’s happiness meant more to me than my own contentment, so, for the greater good, I would smile through my discomfort.
When we got home, Twitch paused by the lawn, and when I let A.J. into the house, I held the door open in silent invitation, watching him closely.
The moment his feet moved, I turned, walking down the long hall and into the kitchen before kneeling in front of the sleepy little monster. “Get ready for bed.”
But A.J., as drowsy as he was, looked to his dad. “Can I stay up?”
“No,” I answered for the both of us. “You need to get into your jammies, honey.”
With a look of sheer aggravation, A.J. put his hands to my arms and pushed lightly. “It’s not fair.”
And at that moment, Twitch let out a humorless laugh. “Whoa there, boy.” When A.J. gazed up at him, Twitch threw him a hard look. “I know you didn’t just put your hands on your mother.” Without asking, he helped me to stand and took my place, kneeling in front of our precious boy. “We do not hit women. Not in anger. Not ever. You feel me?”
A.J.’s shame was worn on his sleeve, and even though Twitch made him stew a while, he put a gentle hand to his son’s messy hair. “You’re tired, aren’t you, buddy?” A.J. nodded, unable to look up into his father’s eyes. “Say goodnight to your mom. I’ll come in, read you a story.”
Wow. He was doing to the whole “being a father” thing rather well.
It was confusing. Part of me cheered for him, part of me hoped he failed, and some small sliver of my hurt pride wished he found the job too hard and disappeared again. That same small sliver caused me immeasurable amounts of apprehension.
Without a word, A.J. shuffled over and wrapped his arms around me in silent apology. I hugged him as tightly as I could without cutting off his air supply, because I knew how it felt to be reprimanded by Twitch, and it didn’t feel good.
Having given Molly the night off, I watched Twitch walk the small carbon copy of him down the hall and into his room, and then started on the dishes. Not long after, I heard soft footfalls, and then he was enquiring, “That happen a lot?”
I knew what he was asking. “No. Only since your arrival.”
“No shit,” he said, coming to stand at my side while I continued to wash the dishes. “I’ll talk to him.”
My brow furrowed, but a small smile appeared on my lips. “I think I should give him the ‘we don’t hit women’ talk.”
In not so many words, a bold allegation was made. He was a hypocrite. How could someone like him, who very clearly liked to put his hands on women and dominate them, talk to his son about not doing what he so very much enjoyed?
A moment of silence passed between us.
“What do you think I should have said to him, baby?” His voice was smooth as silk, and when he came to stand behind me, my lungs ceased to function. Strong hands came to rest on my waist, and I blinked drowsily, drunk on his closeness. When he pressed his front into my back, my stomach clenched and a shaky breath left me. “That I don’t hit women—” His lips touched the shell of my ear and my nipples peaked. “—not unless they beg me real, real nicely?”
Oh, fuck.
Where had all the air gone?
The moment I felt his thick erection, my mouth parted in a silent moan. He pulled back a moment to adjust himself, and then his cock’s impression was resting between my yoga pant-covered ass cheeks. He thrust lightly once, twice... until my eyes snapped open with a start.
Oh, God, it physically hurt to say it, but it needed to be said. “Stop.”
But Twitch was not feeling my “stop.” In fact, he felt it was so weak a protest that he simply lowered his face to the side of my neck, gently biting the delicate skin there, and when his teeth nipped me, my entire body jerked.
“Stop.” Louder this time, but the breathy tone in which I spoke said something else.
“No.” Twitch opened his mouth and attached himself to me, sucking on the sensitive area where my neck and shoulder met. One hand slid up, over my ribs, to rest just under my aching breast. And I died.
Jesus, girl. You aren’t seriously thinking about going through with this, are you? Have you learned nothing
about impulse control? I know this guy makes you loopy with all his sex voodoo, but shit, he’s got you being the reckless bitch you left behind.
The thought was enough to force a knee-jerk reaction, and without so much as a word, I pushed back with my bottom hard enough to catch him off guard. When he stumbled back a step, I spun around, holding a hand out. My face was flushed, and I all but panted, “Stop,” and this time, I meant it.
Twitch frowned down at me, looking mildly exasperated, but he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. When he reached down and wrapped his fingers around his denim-covered cock, squeezing tightly, I thought I’d fall to my knees and beg him to feed it to me.
Luckily, I was out of breath and momentarily speechless.
My eyes firmly fixed on those deft fingers massaging his hard length. The next words he spoke were a warning. “You keep looking at me like I’m a snack, I’m gonna have you on your knees.” As I lifted my head, his hooded gaze held me fast. “And when I tell you to suck my cock, you’re gonna do as you’re told, angel.”
He left you.
He left his son.
He is selfish, a sociopath who doesn’t know how to love. He is damaged and he left you broken. Don’t ever forget that.
My glance firm, I met his eyes and told him, “I don’t belong to you.” I shook my head. “Not anymore.”
He didn’t even flinch. “Yeah, you do.” His arrogance was maddening. “The fact that you felt the need to vocalize tells me just how much ownership I have over you. I know you want me, but you’re mad at me, rightfully so, so you’re not letting yourself have what you really want. And you can fight me, baby. You know I’m into that. But when it all gets too much and you need me as much as I need you, you just gotta do one thing.” He stepped back, away from me, and I felt the loss immediately. “Leave a light on.”
My brow furrowed.
Leave a light on?
Twitch took another step back, and it took every ounce of strength I had not to follow him. “We rekindle what we lost and it all goes down well, then we’re gonna talk—” Those soft brown eyes landed on my collar and, I swear, they flashed briefly. “—about those pretty bras of yours and who you’re wearing ‘em for.”
And I watched, open-mouthed, as Twitch walked down the hall and out of my house.
***
Ling
The meet was going as well as it could, seeing I had countless enemies in this very room. At any moment, any one of those fuckers could pick up their gun, lift it high, and shoot me dead. Did that bother me?
No. It didn’t.
In fact, feeling as I felt now, looking across the room at the beautiful Turk, all I wished for was someone to do it and set this miserable bitch free.
Aslan Sadik was an illness, and I had caught him—bad. I had all the symptoms. Lack of sleep, little to no appetite, irritability, and a heavy feeling weighing on my chest.
My lip curled as I watched him laugh, grinning through his conversation with Titus Okoye, the just-visiting Liberian arms dealer.
I fucking hated him.
So when Elias Munoz, the too-young-to-looks-like-he-could-lead, American-Argentinian boss of Los Gatos Negros came to sit by me, I blinked at him. “Are you lost?”
Elias smirked at my attitude. Whatever, fucker. “You seemed like you needed the company.”
I scoffed exaggeratedly. “Elias, I never lack company when I want it.” My eyes smoldered down at his crotch, and I made a show of licking my cherry-red lips before leaning in. “There a bathroom around here we could slip away to?”
Elias was neutral. Fucking him would cause me no harm, because we had nothing to do with each other. Our borders didn’t touch, and our men rarely came into contact, but when they did, no issues arose. And even though he looked tempted, he reached out to run his thumb along my jaw, and said, “I’ve heard about you, Ling, about what you like.” He shook his head, moving to pull away. “I’m not into that.”
Before he managed to escape me, I took that large hand and held it in mine, playing with his long fingers. “I have many tastes, Elias. I’m something of a chameleon. I can be whatever you want me to be.” I grinned playfully. “I just need you to punch me in the mouth so I can come is all.”
Elias blinked at me a long moment before his lip twitched. Then, when he tipped his head back and laughed so loudly, I knew I had achieved my goal. From my peripheral vision, I saw the Turk watching me, and it took everything inside me not to look at him, to taunt him openly.
Fuck you, Az. You think you’re special? I don’t need you.
I didn’t hear Luka Pavlovic approach, but when he towered over me, he looked furious. “I know what you did, kurva.”
My eyes narrowed on him. “I beg your pardon?”
His lip curled. “We all know what you did, Dragon whore. To Julius. To his wife.” When he leant down into my face, my first reaction was to scratch his eyes out. But I maintained the picture of calm. “If this wasn’t neutral ground, I would end you right here where you sit.” He made a show of looking me up and down. “You don’t have a friend in the world, Ling, not especially in this room, so why don’t you just take your skinny little ass and walk it off a cliff?”
Luka was a well-respected man. The so-called King in these parts. The Croat held me firm with his eyes, and a tangible silence filled the room. The foreboding I felt held me weighed down in that seat, and when I looked around at the men around me, I found not one of them willing to step forward and stand with me. Not even the beautiful Turk.
Whelp, that was my cue to leave.
Although my heart was racing, I turned to Elias. “Wanna come home with me? I promise I’ll be gentle.”
But, as I knew he would, Elias shook his head slowly. “No thanks.”
I pursed my lips in dissatisfaction. “What about you, Luka?” I took a step forward and gently touched his tie. “I’ll let you punish me. I’ll even try not to come.”
Luka expression turned irate. His voice low, he spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ve never hit a woman before, but for you, tonight, I might just make a fucking exception. You repulse me, deviant.”
At his unrestrained anger, my eyes flashed. “Ooh, Luka. Don’t tease, baby. I’m already soaked.” I took his hand, bringing it towards the hem of my dress. “Wanna feel?”
When he snatched his hand away, I laughed musically, then looked around at all the stoic faces surrounding me. “Don’t even try it. Every single one of you has eliminated a problem before, and Julius, my old friend, was mine. So come at me if you need to, but don’t pull this holier than thou shit. I did what I needed to, to get myself where I am today, and I gotta say—” My eyes narrowed. “—the view isn’t what was promised in the brochure.”
Glaring at each and every one of them, I stood from my seat and maintained eye contact as I left the room. As I walked out, my gaze landed on Aslan, and when he looked away, I smirked in victory. But when I was out of sight, I pulled out my cell and dialed, putting the phone to my ear as I walked.
Tensions were rising, and I needed to get my shit together.
Chapter Sixteen
Lexi
I was sad. Saying goodbye to Manda was harder than I thought, considering we’d only just met. We spent an awful lot of time hugging and she promised to come back soon, maybe with her father. I promised to keep in touch and send her updates on her nephew. She promised to send me a video of her husband speaking in that sexy brogue of his.
We were two women brought together by chance, parted by distance, and I hated that she was now an ocean away. I truly felt she was my biggest ally at the moment.
Every time I spoke to Nikki, she asked constantly about how things were going with Twitch, when things weren’t going at all. Whenever I managed to catch Dave, he bluntly enquired when Twitch was leaving again, and it very well nearly broke me because he was only asking what I was actually thinking. When I spoke to Julius, he refused to speak about Twitch at all, and Ana was hardly a conversational
ist. I had yet to speak to Happy, and the more time that passed. the more it felt like a widening bridge between us.
It seemed hardly fair to have Twitch in constant contact while I couldn’t spare a word for a person who I would describe as my rock when shit went down.
I decided it was time for old traditions to recommence.
Tonight, we’d eat dinner together, as a family. Only tonight, we’d place an extra setting and try to avoid anyone becoming seriously injured.
Yes. That was definitely the goal. That nobody left bleeding.
I checked the oven, and the smell wafting out of it was divine. With a smile, I got to work making the gnocchi from scratch. It wasn’t hard once you knew what you were doing, and I’d learned to make it years ago, no longer needing a recipe, simply going off feel alone. I was still working away when the doorbell went off, and when I opened the door, the tall, blond man who stood there smiled down at me almost sadly.
Putting my hands on my hips, I said, “David Allen, you get over here right now.”
Dave didn’t need to be told twice. He wrapped his arms around me and I closed my eyes, not realizing until just this moment how much I missed my friend. When he pulled back, he looked grim. “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t start. I know this hasn’t been easy on you.”
Dave frowned. “Don’t do that, Lex. Don’t make excuses for me. Yeah, I got a shock, but your shock was so much bigger than mine and I lost focus of things. I’m sorry.”
I didn’t tell him it was actually easier without everyone around, butting into my business. Instead, I smiled, and stated, “Apology accepted.” I turned and made my way back into the kitchen and he followed. “So, tell me what’s happening. How are things with Happy?”
“Not great. But we’re, ah...” Dave made a sound in his throat. “Talking.”
I spoke fluent Dave. They weren’t talking. They were fucking.
My grin was hard to hide. “Well, that’s good. Isn’t it?”
Dave pulled up a chair as I went to work on the gnocchi. “I guess. I’m having a hard time with this, Lex.” He sighed long and low. “I already have trust issues. This has just rocked me.”