Quill
I left the living room shortly after discovering it was my brother behind the car bombs. I think a part of me sort of knew with all the cloak and dagger shit Black was spouting earlier, but I had hoped I was wrong.
He went on that it was a scare tactic most likely, but I knew Dylan. I was hiding from him, and I knew at some point, he’d get tired of my hide and seek and just end it all.
Jaclyn, Leo, and Steve were sitting and talking to Black about the next step in their plan, so I excused myself to put all the leftovers away in the fridge. I could still hear them formulating plans since it was an open concept house, but I pretended to be in a safe bubble in my head.
“Quill,” Black’s voice called out, and I turned in his direction. “I know you’re upset.” Understatement. “But if you could give us a profile of your brother the best you can, it may better help us understand his motivation.”
Motivation? When did Black become creepy Doctor Loomis here? I slammed the refrigerator door and stormed into the room. Black’s eyes widened a fraction, probably from not expecting my anger, but I was livid. Why couldn’t people leave me alone?
“You want his motivation?” I asked, using air quotes. “Great, okay. Dylan is a fucking psychopath. When he was five, he got joy in burning the legs off spiders. Whenever my parents weren’t looking, he liked to smack me, lock me in a closet, and tell them I went to a friend’s house, leaving me there for hours. After my dad died, he got worse. He beat me, took my money, and dropped me at the doors of whatever ER we were near. His motivation is pain and money. He likes to inflict the hurt and take the dough.”
Jaclyn found something on her lap fascinating, and Steve and Leo stared at me like I was crazy. Black, on the other hand, slammed the folder he had open down on the glass table.
“Your brother is shitty. He did fucked up shit and is going to continue unless we stop him.” He shot up and took three steps, putting him directly in front of me. “Now, I think the Sterlings found him, hired him, and he’s doing the whole ‘two birds, one stone’ thing. I have a plan, though.”
A plan? “And what’s that, tough guy?” I couldn’t help my defiance, but confliction was poking all sorts of holes through my mind.
“I think the Sterlings are scaring you to drop the charges so as not to taint their good name.”
“Right, we know that. You want me to drop them?”
He shook his head. “No, you’re not dropping them. I have no use for justice in this city, but it’s something that bothers them, and you being hidden will frustrate them the closer we get to the hearing date.” He lifted my chin with his finger, silver eyes glinting against the roaring fire ablaze beside us. “Nothing happens to you, but I need them scared, angry, and annoyed. It’s then they will make a mistake. I can’t just go in their home and off them all, it would raise too many flags and hurt my standing with the Hart family.”
“You have standing with them?”
“I know they aren’t pissed at me, and I know they have a power that keeps this city alive. The heir has his finger on the pulse of Haven Hart, and I don’t need them cutting my cord to balance shit. I need to be the balance.”
I didn’t understand what a lot of that meant, but Black was an enigma to me and he only shared what he wanted to, even though he had shared so much with me. Truth of it was, we all had secrets and we’d all die with a few unspoken.
“What’s your plan?”
“I will use a decoy. My car will drop them, meaning you, off at the apartment where they will keep their head down, so hopefully, your brother or whoever will show up and we will grab them. One Sterling or your brother disappearing for a while won’t be an issue. But it’s the best idea right now.” He released my chin and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You have to trust me.”
“I never trust anyone completely.” I spoke on reflex, because it was true. “But I trust you more than anyone else.”
“Okay. Good.” We both seemed to be stuck in some sort of trance until one of the guys cleared his throat.
“Ginger is close to Quill’s size, maybe an inch taller, but it won’t be noticeable. We’d just need to dye his hair. What color is that?” Leo asked.
“Gunmetal gray. I can write the brand and such down for you.”
Black nodded and asked Steve to have Ginger come here tomorrow morning.
“That’s all for tonight. You three are free to go. Your replacements are outside and keeping an eye out. I don’t need internal protection while I’m here.”
They bid us goodnight and when they all left, a wave of awkwardness swept over the room.
“So,” I said. “What happens if someone takes a shot at Ginger, thinking it’s me, and he dies?”
Black whipped his head around and his braid flew from his back over to his shoulder.
“You can’t worry about such things. Every person who works for me whether in security or other knows the risks.”
“They’re expendable?” I leaned against the counter hoping it masked the shaking in my legs.
“They’re necessary.” He gave me a narrowed look as his gaze went to my legs. “Bath, let’s go.”
He walked down the hallway toward the bedroom and… did he just order me?
“Hey,” I shouted. “Are you telling me what to do?” I followed him down, wanting to maybe stop him.
“I did.” He was removing his watch when I entered.
“You’re not my dad or…”
His laughter filled the room and when he met my eyes, they were smiling.
“If I’m not mistaken, you wanted me to be your daddy.”
Oh… OH!
Excitement filled my veins. “Are we roleplaying?” I rubbed my hands with glee.
“No.” He went into the en-suite and a second later, the water started.
“So, what are we doing then?” I stood in the door frame, salivating as Black removed his clothes and pulled the tie out of his hair.
“Taking a bath, Quill. This isn’t a difficult concept. People have been doing it since 1883.”
Black started the bath, poured in some bubble bath, and soon enough, the bathroom filled with the scent of vanilla and sandalwood. “How do you know that?”
“I know things.” He waggled his eyebrows as his gloriously naked form slipped into the tub.
I had never removed my clothes so fast, I practically fell into the tub.
“Easy there,” Black rumbled against my neck as he steadied me.
The water felt amazing and I rested my head on Black’s chest. The rise and fall of his chest lulled me into a calmer state. The steam from the tub sent a relaxing aroma all around me and I could’ve fallen asleep. I almost did.
“Hey.” Black’s lips grazed over my heated skin, causing goosebumps to break free.
“Hey.”
“Let’s get some sleep. Ginger will be here in the morning and we need to be rested.”
Bed? Sleep? “Wait.” I spun in the water, pressing my hands against his chest. “We aren’t going to have sex? I thought that’s what this was all about, the tubbing and smelly bubbles and things.”
He chuckled, and damn if he wasn’t hotter when he smiled. “Sometimes it’s okay to be taken care of, Quill. Not everything ends with sex.”
“What? But…”
He rose from the water and I watched as streams ran down the contours of his muscles and crevices. He opened a large, white, fluffy towel for me, brows raised as he waited patiently. I covered myself up and observed Black’s hair routine.
I was mesmerized as I watched Black putting stuff in his hair, brushing it, and blow drying it. I stood there wrapped in the warm towel, unable to move. He did it all completely naked. His routine felt like a secret, like I was privy to seeing a side of him no one else was able to see.
“Friday, I am taking Lana to that Christmas ball I promised. She was nice enough to remind me of that today when I saw her. I will have plenty of protection for you, so there won’t be any worries.” Black spoke while he slipped on a pair of dark-gray briefs.
“Friday. That’s the day after tomorrow. If Ginger does his thing tomorrow and it all goes well, I may be fine on my own, no?” I wrapped the towel around my waist and realized I had no clean clothes. The white outfit I wore at Joker’s Sin was a mess now and the outfit Jaclyn had given me, well, I didn’t want to put it back on.
“Even if this goes well and they approach Ginger tomorrow or even early the following day, it will not be settled and I’d feel better if you were still under protection.” When he put his hands on his hips, his stance was imposing. My stomach clenched with lust and a little bit of fear.
“Well, I’m out of clothes.” I gestured to the crumpled pile on the floor. “Jaclyn had those in her car, but now I have nothing.”
He eyed the pile and I had to admit, it was adorable seeing the realization that clean clothes had completely escaped his mind.
“Shit, I’m sorry. Okay. I will get you some clothes tomorrow. Even if you’re still here, you’ll have clean things.”
I ripped the towel from my body and struck what I hoped was a sexy pose. “I guess I’m wearing my birthday suit to bed then.”
With another chuckle, Black walked out of the bathroom, but not before pinching my ass.