Koby risks losing his fucking arm if he keeps it around my girl’s shoulders any longer. I watch him take her to the upstairs bar, my teeth scraping against each other.
It’s new, this jealousy. New, irrational, and uncontainable. I trust him. I trust her even more but she’s mine.
Only I get to touch her.
Broadway catches my eye from across the room, one eyebrow raised, a contemplative look tainting his face as he checks the screens, noticing why I’ve tensed up.
“I’ll take care of it,” he mouths, motioning toward the table so I’ll get my head back in the game.
We’re almost done here, the plan for tomorrow set in stone and Dante’s approval for the bank raid granted. No guns unless we’re held at gunpoint. No force unless it’s our last resort.
Jackson’s researched the establishment through and through, so we know their particular line of business. We also know the bank owner wouldn’t take such blatant disrespect lightly. He has branches all over the States and deals mostly with the high rollers from the criminal world.
Also, bank is used very loosely here. It’s not really a bank, more like a high-security vault and money-laundering scheme.
“What time are you setting off?” Dante asks me, butting his cigar in the ashtray.
“Around noon.”
“I assume you’ll stay with me while you’re in town?”
“Preferably.”
The safe house is no longer safe. Rhett’s sending a few scouts out there tomorrow to check if it is where he thinks. For now, he’s busy planning his ambush, but word we’re in Chicago will reach him soon. I could draft in an army of men to make my loft secure, but if I’m not with Hailey, I want her under Dante’s wings.
Rhett won’t bring a war to his doorstep.
“Good.” Dante smirks, sloshing his whiskey glass. “Layla already instructed the staff to prepare the guest house for you and Hailey. I know it’s not the kind of privacy you have in mind after the safe house, but you’ll make it work.” He looks to Broadway and Ryder. “We’ve had the spare bedrooms in the main house made ready for you two and Koby as well.”
“Stopping at your loft on the way here wasn’t smart,” Jackson pipes in. “You’re lucky Rhett’s too single-minded to set up surveillance outside.”
He’s not wrong, but we took the necessary precautions. “Ryder wired my place years ago and hacked into the city surveillance before we left. We monitor it daily. It’s good.”
“For now,” Nate drawls. “Don’t underestimate a desperate man, Carter. Sloppiness doesn’t become you. Now you’ve brought Hailey here, it’s only a matter of hours before Rhett knows she’s in Chicago.”
“Which is why we have everyone on high alert and the mansion secured with more men than necessary,” Dante says, pinning me with a pointed stare. “She’ll be safe while you’re gone. You have my word.”
“That’s all I can ask for. The trip shouldn’t take more than ten, twelve hours tops and Koby’s sitting this one out.”
Dante cocks an eyebrow, the unvoiced question clear as day.
“Everything she knows about you came from Vaughn,” I explain. “She’ll feel more comfortable if Koby’s with her.”
My eyes swing to the screens, zeroing in on Hailey and Koby at the upstairs bar. He’s not touching her anymore… but they’re not alone.
Fuck.
Pamela’s there with Layla, and the latter looks mighty pissed off, which never bodes well.
“Are we done here?” I ask, my attention laser-focused on the screen.
Hailey doesn’t seem alarmed, neither does Koby, but Layla’s body language tells me something’s off. Given Pam’s love for confrontation and unrelenting willingness to spread her legs wide open for me, I can make an educated guess as to what’s going on.
“Go.” Dante flicks his wrist, watching the screen along with me and everyone else in the room. “Tell Layla to come see me.”
I suppress a smile when his tone slips from the ever-present control he exudes around his men to unmistakable desire.
He loses his fucking head when Layla’s catty side comes out to play. Given how turned on I get by Hailey’s defiance, I can relate. I bet the boss won’t be joining us for a drink until he fucks that attitude out of his wife.
We leave Dante alone in his office and my feet carry me quickly to the bar. Koby catches my eye, a warning in that look, though it’s hard to guess what he’s warning me about.
“It was uncalled for,” Pam mumbles, nervously twisting her fingers. “I’m sorry.” Her eyes flicker to me when I stop beside Hailey. “Carter… I—”
“Zip it,” I clip, then flick my eyes to Layla. “Dante wants to see you in his office.”
A smile tugs her lips, the reason behind being summoned as clear to her as it is to me.
“Next time, take the trash out before inviting your girlfriend to the table,” she announces, with the cheekiest smirk, then saunters away, the rhythm of her clicking heels fading into the music blasting all around.
I turn to Hailey, perfectly aware Pam’s still here, fuming at Layla’s comment. “What happened, pretty girl?”
I expect that liquor filling of hers to take center stage. A dozen retorts to her possible scathing quips form in my head, but Hailey doesn’t say a word.
She takes a step forward, grabs the collar of my shirt, and yanks me down, her soft lips connecting with mine.
I pause for what must only be a second, but wars could be fought and lost in that time. One is. The war between what I’m desperate for—Hailey’s lips—and what I should do—push her away.
The war starts, ends, and I seize the moment, thrusting my tongue inside her sweet mouth, both hands snapping around her to drag her closer.
I’ve been denying myself those perfect lips for weeks. I’d still deny myself if it weren’t that pushing Hailey away right now, while Pam’s watching, would create more problems than it would solve.
Hailey’s marking her territory, as possessive as I am. Fuck that’s hot.
I bite her lower lip, swallowing her soft gasp, half-oblivious to the onlookers. Half-blind to our surroundings, focused solely on my girl melting in my arms.
God, I’ve missed her so fucking much.
I could do this for hours and not quench my craving. Dipping her head down, she ends the kiss, mischief shining in her eyes as she answers my question.
How does she remember? I haven’t the slightest fucking clue what I wanted to know.
“Nothing much. Pam’s apologizing for—” She halts, one eyebrow raised and little torches swimming in her eyes when Pam latches onto my arm.
“I’m sorry, Carter. I didn’t mean to spill the tea, but in my defense, I did it with good intentions, you know? I was looking out for her.”
Hailey glares at Pam’s long nails wrinkling my shirt, her whole demeanor changing from somewhat relaxed to combat-ready. And the domineering look on her gorgeous face… that pure territoriality makes my cock swell.
She might not trust me, but she sure as fuck loves me.
“Let go,” I seethe at Pam. “Let go of me before my girl drags you away by your shitty extensions.”
Koby swallows a snort, hiding his grin behind a half-full glass of whiskey. I forgot he was here.
Pam steps back, hands falling to her sides. She looks ready to add something, explain more, but for once she thinks better of it and retreats.
“Layla’s right, Boss,” Koby says, slapping his hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t think this through. Good job Hailey knows what she’s worth, or you’d be in trouble.”
He leaves us alone, following Pam back to our table, and I grab Hailey’s waist, dragging her closer. The lust burning her from inside out a moment ago is gone, replaced with a seething annoyance.
“Why did you bring me here?” she clips, her fighting spirit hissing away with every word. She’s desperately trying not to let her insecurities take center stage but they’re pulling her under fast. “You know what? Never mind.” She storms off, leaving me with a litany of curses pouring out of my lips.
Every day she takes tiny steps further and further away from the effects of Alex’s grooming. She’s growing more confident and realizes she’s worth so much more than he led her to believe. She’s still not out of the woods though, and it’s my fault those insecurities raised their ugly heads tonight.
Pam and the other women at the table—all staring right at me—didn’t even enter my mind when I decided to bring Hailey here. They’re so insignificant I don’t think about them at all.
This time, I should’ve.
I catch up with her as she slides into her seat, arm-in-arm with Broadway, glaring straight ahead.
Words won’t fix anything, so instead of dragging her out of here to apologize, I point my finger at Pam. “You.”
She cocks an eyebrow when I move around the table, singling out the other mistakes I made over the years.
“You, you, and you too. Get the fuck out.”
The collective gasp that fills the air brings a smile to Hailey’s face. She’s still pissed off, understandably, but she’s also pleased with how things are turning out… and that pettiness on her pretty face makes my hard-cock situation even worse.
My knee bounces as I sit, torn between leaving right now and letting Hailey cool off first. Before I finish my drink and make my mind up, Layla emerges from Dante’s office, cheeks flushed and eyes glossy from however many orgasms Dante wrung out of her back there.
Lucky fucker.
“Come on, Hailey,” she says, holding out a manicured hand to my girl. “Let’s have a drink at the bar.”
Looks like we’re staying a while longer.
