I was getting sick of all the fucking waiting. I never went back to our rental after Lake left me in the middle of the night again. I figured she’d want her space to think, so I forced myself to stay behind in Nevada, only to find out through Dash she never left and was bunking with them. I went after her, forgetting my agreement to give her space, but then Dash convinced me to let her do this in her own time and that my need to control her was what was driving us apart.

This morning, I got a call from Jesse about an impromptu meeting with one of our clients that wanted to renegotiate the price of their contract. I’d been halfway back to California when I got a call from Dash.

“Where are you?” he screamed into the phone.

“Why the fuck are you screaming?”

“Willow and Lake were attacked a few hours ago. I just got the fucking call. It was Esmerelda. She knocked Willow unconscious and took Lake.” I swore and sped up, already knowing where she would go and what she was after. The only thing keeping me from completely losing it was that I knew I was hours ahead of them. I’d intercept her at Di’s apartment.  

“Is Willow okay?”

“For now. She went into labor on the way to the hospital, but they stabilized her. Someone found her alone on the ground,” he growled. Dash rarely ever lost control, but right now, he seemed to barely hold onto it. “This is the second time she’s fucked with what’s mine. I want that bitch dead.”

Well fuck.

I hung up with Dash and made it to LA with about six hours to spare. When Di opened the door. I didn’t bother with a greeting and shoved my way inside. “If you’re looking for your girlfriend again, she’s not here, and I’d appreciate more than just a knock the next time you show up at my door—you know…like a hello?”

“You’re mother is coming and she has Lake.” Her mouth opened and closed, but then she chose to remain silent. She closed and locked the door as if she didn’t know the real danger wasn’t already inside.

I heard the catch in her throat. “How did she find me?”

“She needs Lake to lead her here.”

“Lake won’t tell her where I am.”

“I know. That’s why I’m going to tell her to.” It was highly unlikely that she would still have her phone, but I sent the message anyway just in case. If she got it, she’d follow her instincts.

“She’s not after me. She’s after the money, you know.”

“I know.”

“What are we supposed to do when she finds out that most of it is gone? Keenan and I spent it years ago. He built his shop, and I made daddy pay me back for each time he made me spread my legs.”

“She’s not going to ever get to the money because she’s not leaving here alive.” I hated waiting, but it was all I could do. There was a lot of highway between here and Nevada.

“You can’t kill her.”

I faced her and saw that she was completely serious. “Why not?”

“She’s my mother?” she answered sarcastically.

“She was an incubator, not a mother, and there are a lot of people who want her dead.”

“I don’t care. I can’t watch my mother die the same day I meet her.”

“She kidnapped my girlfriend and attacked her friend for the second time, and you expect me to let her live?”

“I’m not saying she has to get away. We could just call the cops.”

“I’m not calling the fucking cops.”

She was starting to piss me off and I actually began to debate killing her as well as I wondered if Di was really friend or foe. Her mother likely came to do her harm, yet she wanted to protect her.

“Are you going to be a problem?” The conversation had taken a dangerous turn.

“Really? You’re threatening to kill me?”

“I’m asking you if I need to.”

“Look, Lake’s my friend, and I don’t want her hurt, but I don’t think I can watch you kill my mother. You killed yours and look how screwed up that made you.”

I pulled out my gun and pointed it at her head. She maintained eye contact even as I threatened her life.

“Answer me.”

“No,” she shouted. It was the only crack in her tough exterior. “I just can’t do this.”

“Then leave.”

“This is my apartment,” she argued.

My patience had run out so much that the threat I spewed next took us both by surprise. “Get the fuck out, or I swear I will bury you beside your mother.”

Fortunately, she was smart enough to know I was completely serious and left.

Six hours later, a knock on the door pulled me away from the window I kept watch through. With my gun at my side, I answered the door to find Esmerelda alone. “Hello, Esmerelda.” Her eyes widened with panic, but then she recovered just as quickly and attempted to pull her gun. I caught it and slammed it against the molding, causing the gun to drop and then threw her inside the apartment behind me. I then slammed the door shut and locked it.

“Why are you here? Where’s my daughter?”

“Your daughter couldn’t watch you die so I sent her away.”

“You’re not going to kill me,” she challenged and smiled. Her eyes shifted wildly around the apartment as she stood to her feet.

“Why the fuck would you think that?”

“Because you’re a slave, and I order you not to. I’m also the closest thing to a mother you have. Can you watch me die?”

Her attempt to mind fuck me was not lost. “Think again. Where’s Lake?”

“She’s secure and alive, but she won’t be for long if you kill me.” Her smug smile was misplaced. She thought she had me until I pointed the gun in her direction and shot the floor next to her knee.

“The next one takes out your knee.”

“Okay!” She held up her hands as if it could stop me and slid away. “She’s in the car. I tied her up and left her there.” I could have killed her right then, but my ringing phone saved her life.

“What?” I snapped without checking the ID.

“You need to get out of there,” Di warned. I was ready to hang up on her when she added, “I called the cops.”

“Why the fuck would you do that?” I growled into the phone. The next moment, I heard the melodic—yet frantic—sound of Lake’s voice.

“Keiran, get down here now,” she ordered. I smiled into the phone, despite the nefarious situation, because she thought she could command me.

“Are you safe?”

“Yes.” Her voice had softened, and silence then filled the empty space between us. “Is she dead?”

“No.”

She sighed into the phone, and I wondered if it was relief or disappointment that caused the sound. “Good. Don’t kill her.”

“I can’t leave her alive.”

“And if you kill her now, you’ll go to prison.” She fell silent again, probably to let me work it out on my own. Esmerelda watched me—her smugness had returned full force.

“Very well,” I finally answered and aimed the gun at Esmerelda. I had the pleasure of seeing her smugness wiped from her face just as she collapsed.

 

* * *

I heard the sirens and made my way down the hall and three flights of stairs to the parking garage. I opened the door to find Lake pacing angrily and Di crouched against the wall staring at the ground. Lake spotted me first and turned on me.

“What did you do?” she hissed.

I ignored her and closed in on her space until I had her face in my hands. “Shut the fuck up. If it’s not to tell me you’re okay, I don’t want to hear it.” She glared and then her body jerked. I looked down confused and realized she had been trying to knee my dick. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t talk to me like that. Don’t ever talk to me like that again,” she repeated with force.

“You could have died, but you’re worried about how I’m speaking to you? I was scared shitless thinking about what could happen to you.”

She blinked once and then her shoulders relaxed and she sighed.

“I’m fine.”

She didn’t elaborate so I nodded and kissed her lips. “I didn’t kill her,” I admitted. I didn’t have the chance to say more because it sounded as if the entire Los Angeles’ police department flooded the outside streets with sirens and lights. “We should go handle that,” I directed to Di, who was now staring at the closed door as if it were a foreign object.

“Di, are you okay?”

“I never even got to see her,” she croaked. “I wonder what she looks like.”

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She was mourning a woman who would sell her daughter’s soul for her own personal gain. Her mother was no better than her father, but she’d never know for sure. Maybe it was better that way.

“She’s not dead,” Lake offered when I only continued to frown. “He didn’t kill her.”

She finally turned around, appearing hopeful. “No?”

“I shot her in the leg.”

She looked surprised but recovered quickly. “Thank you.”

I couldn’t acknowledge her gratitude because I wanted to kill Esmerelda and would have if it weren’t for Lake—police be damned.

“Let’s go.”

Everyone in the building had already evacuated and huddled in the street leading to the front entrance. I thought it was a little dramatic for one shot fired but shrugged it off and found the nearest police officer.

“Sir, you can’t cross the line.”

Just then, a screaming Esmerelda was brought out of the building on a stretcher and put inside an ambulance. She was then hauled away with two police cars leading and trailing it. “Check your database. She’s a wanted woman, and I’m the one who shot her.”

The officer, who I quickly figured out was a rookie, pulled his gun with shaky hands, and ordered me to put my hands up. I briefly saw my entire life as I lifted my hands slowly. It wasn’t the possibility of prison or the gun that made me afraid, but the terrified man behind the gun. I fell completely still once my hands were up and prayed Lake stayed back. If the wind blew, he’d panic and blow me away.

Another officer cuffed me, and I gritted my teeth.

“Officer, it’s my apartment and she intruded. She would have killed me, but he saved my life.” Di continued to lay it on thick for my benefit, but I caught none of it. My attention was fixed on Lake. To the untrained eye, she was a picture of calm, but I could tell she was trying to keep it together.

She was learning to keep her fear below the surface. 

I never even noticed when the officer took the cuffs off. I didn’t hear a word he said after. I just kept watching Lake.

“Sir. Sir?” I finally tore my attention away from Lake with a growl and fixed my gaze on the rookie. “C–could you come down to the station and make a statement?”

I wanted to say no but knew I didn’t exactly have that option. It was late, and I wanted Lake alone so I could erase the past couple of months, including these last few hours.

We all gave our statements and bunked in a hotel for the night. When Di slid her key in the slot, I stood in the hallway with my arm around Lake and stared even after her room door closed.

“Keiran?”

My head whipped around at the sound of Lake calling my name. “I need to talk to Di.” I handed her the key card and nudged her to our room three doors down. “Go inside and wait for me.” She nodded silently and turned away, but I gripped her arm to keep her there. “We will talk tonight,” I warned. She didn’t respond. She pulled her arm away, and I watched her disappear into our room.

I knocked on Di’s door and waited until she yanked the door open. “This isn’t that kind of party,” she greeted. I scrubbed my hand down my face, still unused to her snarkiness twenty-four seven.

“I want to talk to you.”

“Why?”

I shoved my way inside and slammed the door close. “Because I said so. Come on.” I gestured to the bed and took a seat in the chair directly across from it. I had to turn my glare on full force to get her to obey. She huffed and sat on the bed but not before shooting me a hateful look. I decided to start with that. “Do you hate me for what I did?”

Her eyebrow raised and she said, “Why would you care? That’s not like you.”

“It matters because I need to know if I can trust you. Lake considers you a friend and so does Keenan. Will your mother make you forget that?”

She looked wary now and dropped her arms she had crossed. “I wouldn’t hurt them, and I don’t hate you—heavily irritated maybe, but I don’t hate you.”

“Your mother is not who you hoped she might be. I knew her growing up. She’s cold and calculating. She won’t love you, but she will sacrifice you first chance she gets.”

“But I’m her daughter.”

“You were Mario’s daughter, and he sold you to how many men?”

She stood up with her fists clenched and snarled. “Fuck you.”

And just like with Lake, I was fucking this up. This is why Dash handled what needed rationalizing. He had a gentler approach that I attempted to channel now.

“I’m sorry.”

It was the first apology of the night. It seemed like I would be adopting them a lot before the night finally ended.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I guess I’ll never know for myself because she’s gone again.”

I considered my next words carefully. “I know you’re curious about your mother, but she’ll hurt you, Di, and I can promise it will hurt much worse than when you didn’t know her.”

“I already told you,” she laughed dryly. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Can you go please?” I sat there for another minute, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. She appeared lost as she fixated on a spot on the wall. I reluctantly left the room and crossed the hall to enter my own. The room was completely dark as I shed my shirt and searched out Lake through the darkness. She sat against the headboard with her knees to her chest.

“Hey,” she greeted softly,

“You waited.” I flicked on the lamp by the bed and her eyes immediately found my bare chest and traveled down to where I was unbuckling my belt. I heard her suck in a breath and hid the grin that pulled at my lips. I needed to remain serious for this.

“You told me to.”

“I did, but I think you and I both know following directions is no longer something you can do.”

“I don’t want to fight with you,” she whispered, and I saw what she refused to show down the street with the police. I didn’t want to scare her, and the slight shiver that wracked her body told me I did exactly that.

“Then what do you want?”

“What do you mean?”

“You keep running away from me every time we have a problem. I’m not… going… to hurt you,” I gritted.

“Maybe not.” She looked away, and I didn’t like that shit. “But I’m starting to think we can’t trust each other.”

My heart skipped a beat and then began a pounding rhythm that created an ache in my chest.

“You don’t trust me?”

“I—” She started to answer, but then her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know.”

I couldn’t rely on my legs to hold me up anymore, so I shed my jeans and positioned myself against the headboard beside her. “You’ve been lying to me for almost a year.”

“You lied to me for five,” she defended before I could finish.

“My point is, I still trust you more than anyone.”

She replied, “I don’t know what I feel, Keiran. I’m pissed at you for manipulating me and causing my best friend to leave, but I can’t deny this last month has been hell. I don’t think I can be without you.”

“I know I couldn’t let you. You may see it as controlling and maybe it is, but it’s what you do to me.” She shook her head and turned her body to face me, giving me a full view of how serious she was about her next words.

“You make me feel things I’m not always proud of either, but it doesn’t excuse the decisions we make. I don’t want you to ever manipulate my life like that. We have to do what’s right for each other. Together,” she added. 

“As you wish,” I answered and grinned when she flinched with surprise.

“You’ve been watching Princess Bride,” she accused.

“I’ve been living with a four-year-old for the last month so I could be close to you. Kennedy convinced me to do a lot of things I’m not proud of.”

“You know she practically owns your ass, right?”

I snorted. “Keenan’s got it worse. He let her put Sheldon’s lip gloss on him.”

“No way!” She doubled over and clenched her stomach as she laughed. “She has totally turned you into pussies!”

My eyes narrowed which she caught just as I lunged. I flipped her over and flattened her on the mattress before bringing my fingers to her ribs and tickling her.

“Wait,” she gasped and screamed.

“I couldn’t quite hear you before. I’m a what?”

“A pussy,” she blurted and wiggled to get away.

“I see you think you’re too tough. I’ll have to show no mercy.”

“No mercy! No mercy!” she mocked and screeched.

“As you wish.” Her t-shirt had risen to reveal her lace panties. My mouth salivated when I lowered my face and kissed her through the material. Her breath caught and back bowed as I kissed her again, using my lips and tongue to coax her arousal to a fever pitch.

“Mercy, please! Mercy!” she begged but then lifted her hips for more. I used my teeth to nudge aside her panties and flicked her hot pussy with my tongue.

Fuck yeah.

I stood to push my boxer shorts down, slid her own panties down her amazingly long legs, and climbed on top of her. Her legs spread to accommodate me as I settled between them.

“You want relief, baby?” I pushed inside her before she could answer, but it didn’t matter because she gripped me tight and pleaded with her gaze for me to fuck her.

For too long, I’ve waited to get close to her like this. The initial withdrawal drove me crazy, and lonely, cold nights I spent with my dick in my hand pissed me off. 

When I thrust deeper at the reminder, her hands flew above her head to grip the sheets. My attention fixated on her hard nipples poking through her t-shirt. With a groan, I tore her shirt from her body, leaned down to suck her right nipple in my mouth, and slammed inside her. Her body slid up the bed from the force, and I followed, pounding out my past frustration on her body.

She came shortly after. The aftershock of her orgasm caused her pussy to spasm around me. I didn’t want to come yet. I wanted this to last. Her top half rose from the bed so she could dig her nails into my throat and kiss my lips softly. I groaned in response.

So. Fucking. Good.

It was the last cognizant thought I had before I forced myself from her hot pussy and came on her belly. She stared up at me with confusion marring her beautiful face.

“Mine.” It was all the answer I had given before I rubbed my come into her skin, marking her.

“So barbaric,” she mumbled. I dropped beside her, already feeling sleep trying to overcome me when I noticed my belt lying on the bed. I leaned away to remove it but then hesitated.

“Why are you still holding your belt?” she asked curiously.

“I was going to tie your hands together so you couldn’t leave in the middle of the night again.” She shifted, ready to run, but I caught her hand and threaded my fingers through hers and pulled her close. Her entire body was tense, and I couldn’t stand the thought of my touch being the cause. “But I have a better idea.” She turned her head enough to look me in the eye.

“What?”

“If you can stay the night without running, then I’ll know I can trust you and vice versa.” I gave in to my body’s demand for sleep. My last conscious thought was that I hoped she wouldn’t run.