Chapter Twelve
Stacey’s eyes burned bright with hatred for him. That shouldn’t have bothered him. In his line of work, hatred was a commodity, and he should have been used to it, but he wasn’t from her.
She’d formed a shell to protect herself from him. It bugged the hell out of him because he liked her soft, willing, and available.
She hadn’t realized when she’d dressed in the little black dress that the other dress in the cupboard was meant to layer over the one she was wearing, hiding her delicious curves. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and through the fine material, he could see the outline of her breasts. His cock stirred.
He wanted to kiss, lick, and arouse her, make her spread her legs so he could fuck her. He wolfed down his breakfast thinking about it. When he took on a mission, he killed his adversary. Simple. Making Stacey miserable was giving him a case of blue balls, when he could be happily fucking her.
It sucked big time.
His cell phone rang. “Yes?”
“You asshole.” Lizzie’s voice came through loud and clear.
Stacey put down her knife and fork and stared at him.
“Where the hell are you?” he demanded of his sister. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?” He stood and strode onto the veranda, aware that Stacey was hot on his tail. Below him, the gators stirred. Stacey gasped.
“Because I need some space without you, Dad, or the brothers interfering with my life.”
“Interfering? Lizzie you disappeared. Snake and the brothers are about to form a posse to look for you. I’ll make Animal pay if he’s harmed a hair on your head.”
“Brian is the kindest, sweetest man I know. How dare you threaten him!” Lizzie said.
Stacey folded her arms and glared at him.
“Hell, Lizzie, I didn’t know whether you were dead or alive. Why didn’t you come to the phone right away?”
“I was out walking. I’m fine, so why don’t you mind your own business and go back to your life?”
It was rare for Lizzie to get riled. Something was up. Something bad. But at least Animal hadn’t hurt her.
“Because I’m worried about you,” Troy countered. “Your apartment was trashed. You gave your boss no word and left your job.”
“Ask Snake why that is,” she said, spitting out his name.
“Huh?”
“Snake didn’t happen to mention that I caught him with that club whore, Gabriella, three days ago, did he?”
Troy groaned. His instinct for danger and trouble were good. Just seemed it had been aimed in the wrong direction. “No.”
“Thought not. I threw everything in my apartment at Snake until he left. Bet he didn’t tell you that, either.”
“No,” Troy said. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have beaten him up for you.”
“It won’t make me feel better seeing him in pieces.”
“But Lizzie, he deserves it.”
“Troy, I don’t like the way you handle things with violence. You’re getting too much like Pa. I don’t need rescuing. I don’t need contacting, and if you touch one hair on Brian’s head, I’ll never forgive you. He’s been good to me. He lets me talk without offering to smash Snake’s head in. That’s what helps me.”
“Okay,” Troy said quietly, glancing at Stacey.
Lizzie gulped over the phone. “I’m heartbroken, Troy. Snake was the man I loved. I don’t want him beaten. Violence doesn’t solve anything. Promise me you won’t harm him.”
“Fine. Have it your way.” Troy didn’t get women. “But Lizzie, Pa’s mad. He wants Animal wasted.”
She bit back a sob. “The reason this happened at all is because Pa agreed to guard the brothel. It’s his fault for taking that contract. It’s thanks to him Snake strayed. We were happy before he ordered Snake to mind those whores.”
“Maybe. But Animal shouldn’t have taken you away. This is family business.”
“Like hell. This is my business. Not yours. Not Pa’s. Mine. I begged Brian to take me away for a while.”
“Shit.” Stricken, Troy glanced at Stacey, who stood watching him with her smug, I-told-you-so expression.
“Is Stacey okay? Brian’s beside himself with worry.”
“She just fainted. I need to go, Lizzie.”
“What did you do to her?”
“She’s not hurt.”
“Did you hang her out like bait for that alligator?” his sister demanded. “Brian said he heard her screaming.”
“You didn’t answer my calls,” Troy said defensively. “He wasn’t talking. I needed to get results.”
“You’re a real bastard, Troy. Every mission you go on is destroying you more and more. You’d better make it right with that girl.”
“Sure.” He glanced at Stacey again. How the fuck was he going to do that?
“Promise me,” Lizzie insisted.
“Okay. But you have to promise me something, too. Call Mom.” At least that would get Mom off his back. It was his job to protect the women he cared about. But now he had to deal with Stacey and that haunted expression in her eyes.
“I will,” Lizzie said. “But give me a couple of days, or I’ll be crying all over Mom on the phone, and that’ll just upset her more.”
“Fine. I’ll let her know. But listen, you have to take some responsibility for this mess. Next time you decide to disappear, answer my damn calls.”
“No, you listen. I need time to think. I don’t want my family phoning me—especially not Pa. I blame him for ruining my life. You might as well know, I’m not sure if I’ll even come home. I’m not risking Brian’s life, not after all he’s done for me.”
Troy groaned, knowing how badly this was going to go down with Pa. “I have to go, Lizzie,” he cut his sister off, hung up, and clenched the phone as he stared at Stacey.
“Brian didn’t hurt her, did he?” she said.
“No.”
“You should have trusted me.”
“In my business, trusting people gets you killed.”
She placed her hand over her heart. “We’re not at war. We never were. But you refused to listen to one word I said. You knew I had a thing for you. I respected you for helping Dad, and thought you were a good man. But I realize I built up a rosy picture of you in my mind because I was vulnerable. I thought you were some sort of hero coming in at a time when Brian and I were miserable.”
“You were telling the truth about Animal, I should have trusted you,” he conceded. He moved to take her in his arms.
“But I shouldn’t have.” She butted her palms against his chest to keep him away. “I believed you when you said you wouldn’t hurt me. You are a heartless bastard. Those feelings I had for you were all in my imagination. I can see that now. I loved my Dad. I was so sad, and there you were, helping us when I didn’t have anyone except Brian. God, Troy, you were like an angel, walking in with those damned cancer drugs. I honestly thought you cared about us. That you were a good guy. Special. How could I have been so wrong?”
“Come on, baby, don’t be angry. Let me make it up to you.” He went to put his hands around her waist.
Her expression turned incredulous. “How can you possibly do that?”