“Who’s this?” Lia asked quietly from behind me.
“Get in the fucking bedroom,” I snapped. “Now. Stay there until I tell you otherwise.”
Lia grumbled something under her breath before she walked away from me and into the bedroom.
“You do like to play ‘Mister Elusive,’ don’t you?” Agent Trent had somehow managed to get my phone number and the location of my apartment. The annoyance I had been feeling toward the situation with Lia coupled with Odin’s impending fatherhood began to boil into something far more heated.
Fuck a duck.
“I don’t like people showing up unexpectedly,” I replied. “What do you want, Trent?”
“I expect regular updates,” he snapped back at me.
“Well, I didn’t see that in the fucking contract!” I yelled at him. “As I recall, my instructions were to get you something on Gavino Greco that could put him away. That’s going to take some fucking time, so get off my dick!”
“Listen, you little shit,” Trent growled. “You need to remember who is calling the shots here. If I don’t think you’re performing up to standards, I’ll pull this deal, and your ass goes straight back to jail. Considering you’ve already put a couple of Moretti’s guys in the river, I don’t think he’ll be inclined to help you out. He’d probably be more inclined to take it out on that pretty little brunette’s cunt.”
I tightened my fingers around the phone still in my hand, tight enough to make my knuckles go white. My teeth crushed against each other, and my eyes began to burn behind their lids. I barely stopped myself from killing him right then and there.
“Don’t say another fucking word about her,” I hissed through my teeth.
“Hey, bitch!” he yelled out, still smiling. “Maybe you ought to check into the asshole you’re living with!”
I stepped closer and shoved him farther into the hallway.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I warned.
“Sore spot, huh?” I could see the laughter in his eyes. “Is she nice and tight on your cock, huh? Don’t wanna share? Then you better fucking listen to me.”
“Don’t push me,” I warned. It was taking everything in my power just to control my breathing and not crush the phone at the same time. “I said I’d do what you wanted, but don’t fucking push me.”
“I want updates,” Trent repeated. “I’m assuming those two dead bodies got you into Greco’s outfit?”
“Not yet confirmed,” I replied, “but that should do it.”
“You tell me when you’re in,” he ordered. “Tell me immediately.”
He turned around and stomped down the hall to the elevator. I slammed the door shut and then threw the phone across the room, shattering it against the wall.
How the fuck did he figure out where we were, anyway?
“What was that?” Lia asked as she came out of the bedroom and looked at the phone debris on the floor next to the wall. “What happened to the phone?”
“I dunno,” I snapped back at her. “Maybe there’s a problem with the fucking battery.”
“You’re resorting to sarcasm?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Only when you insist on asking stupid-ass questions.”
Lia’s eyes blazed, and she placed her hands on her hips as she started in on me again.
“I’m sorry if smashing phones and threatening the neighbors is something that’s so commonplace with you, but it’s still a bit of a shock for me. I suppose I should also get used to having to lie for you as well? Do I need to learn to use a gun in case I need to kill for you?”
“Now who’s fucking sarcastic?”
“Am I?” Lia fumed. “I don’t know. I have no idea what you expect from me!”
I didn’t know either, but I wasn’t about to say it. I stomped past her and into the bedroom. Eating was no longer important, and I just wanted the day to end. Lia continued to go on, but I stopped listening to her as I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the shower while she was in mid sentence.
The hot water didn’t improve my mood.
Lia was sitting on the edge of the bed when I walked out wearing just a towel around my waist. Before she had a chance to say anything, I flipped on my electric toothbrush and acted like I couldn’t hear her. Unfortunately, that activity didn’t last very long, and when I turned around, she had her arms folded across her chest and her eyes focused right on me.
I marched out of the room and poured myself a scotch on the rocks before going back to the bedroom. Attempting to ignore Lia’s glaring eyes, I stared out the window and sipped the drink. After a minute, I glanced back to her, but she was still obviously pissed.
“You done with the avoidance tactics?”
How did she understand me so well?
“I could go with distraction,” I countered as I lowered the towel a little. Lia continued to glare with her arms crossed.
I sighed and copied her gesture.
“Why did you threaten that woman?” Lia demanded. “Why was that necessary?”
“It was necessary to shut her up,” I answered. “I did it to keep you from seeing a side of me you really don’t want to run into.”
“Do you get bigger muscles and turn green?” she asked.
“Nice.”
“I wasn’t raised like this, Evan! In my house, you didn’t threaten people when you were angry, and you didn’t lie. And you certainly didn’t kill people for money!”
“You wanted to know!” I slammed the glass down onto the windowsill and then shouted at her as I moved toward the bed. “You wanted to know what all this shit was about. I didn’t want to fucking tell you, and I told you once it was out, I couldn’t take it back, but you still wanted to know!”
“Knowing doesn’t mean I’m okay with it!” she yelled back. “It definitely doesn’t mean I’m going to participate in any of it!”
I took another step forward, and Lia pushed herself backwards with her hands and the heels of her feet until she reached the center of the bed. I didn’t know exactly what she meant by not participating, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the details. I just knew that if she kept talking, I was going to get really pissed off, and I had to get her to stop.
“You need to cut it out,” I told her. My knees bumped up against the bed. “Just drop it.”
“No,” she said firmly. “I’m not going back to doing whatever the hell my boyfriend tells me to do. I’ve lived that life—not anymore.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. In frustration, I moved forward, grabbed both her wrists in my hands, and held them up above her head as I pushed her into the mattress. Tossing one leg over her torso, I straddled her and leaned in close, which caused the towel around my waist to fall off to the side of the bed.
“You are pissing me off,” I growled.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Lia’s jaw was set and her eyes tight—almost daring me. I wasn’t sure exactly what she was daring me to do, but the feeling was still there.
“I don’t know yet. I’m not used to this shit.”
“What ‘shit’?”
“Having someone around who is questioning what I do or say.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe you need it,” Lia said. She tilted her head to one side a bit and twisted her hands. I didn’t release her wrists—I tightened my grip a little instead.
Having her lying there beneath me—even though she was clothed—was getting me obviously hard. I watched Lia’s eyes glance down and dilate slightly at the sight of my cock lying on her stomach and growing by the second.
I pulled her wrists together and gathered them in one hand before reaching down and taking my cock with the other hand. I wrapped my fingers around the shaft and stroked it a couple of times.
“Maybe you need to keep your mouth shut,” I suggested as an alternative. “Maybe I need to give you something to fill it up for a while.”
Her eyes narrowed again.
“You think I’m really in the mood right now?”
“I think you’re usually in the mood for my cock, yes.”
“I’m mad at you,” she reminded me. She twisted her hips a bit but stopped as I tightened my thighs against her body.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” I informed her.
“What? Am I your prisoner now?”
The images I had of her restrained in my bed entered my head again, and they were accompanied by thoughts of me holding her legs up against her chest as I fucked her. However, as I looked down her body and then up to her face, I could see she wasn’t sharing my fantasy at the moment. Her eyes went from flashing anger to somewhat fearful as she looked away from me.
It pissed me off.
“I don’t like this,” I fumed at her.
“Don’t like what?”
“Arguing with you.”
Lia’s eyes narrowed at me.
“So stop it,” she suggested, “and be reasonable.”
“I don’t want to be reasonable.”
“Well, what do you want then?” she snapped back.
I let go of my cock long enough to use that hand to unbutton Lia’s blouse and pull it open. Her bra hooked in the back, so I reached inside the cups and pulled her tits out where I could see them. I glanced back at her and saw her lip sucked into her mouth and her throat bob up and down. Her eyes were wary.
“You afraid of me now?” I asked.
“A little,” she admitted.
“I told you I would never hurt you.”
“What exactly are you doing now?”
“Are you in pain?” I asked. I already knew the answer was no. I wasn’t holding onto her tightly—just firmly so she couldn’t move. She was barely struggling underneath me, which was actually serving to turn me on even more.
Lia shook her head.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said. “I do want to fuck the ever-loving shit out of you, though.”
There it was—the slight parting of her lips, the rush of blood to her face, and the increase in her breath as her eyes darkened. The fear and hesitation were quickly replaced by additional quick glances at my cock and the sight of her tongue reaching out to moisten her lips.
I didn’t ask her if she wanted it. I didn’t need the confirmation. I only needed her to lift her hips a little so I could drag her shorts down her legs, which she did without much prompting. Her panties were still around her knees, and her bra and shirt were still partially on, but it was enough for my tastes. I ran my hand up her body, pinched her nipples slightly, and then ran the back of my hand up her neck.
I took two fingers and pressed them against her lips until she parted them. I slid them inside her mouth.
“Suck.”
She complied, and the feeling of her tongue over my fingers made me realize I’d never had my dick in her mouth. I only half considered straddling her face and fucking her mouth, but I knew I was still angry and pounding her pussy was a much better option.
I pulled my wet fingers out of her mouth and then reached down to run them over her pussy lips. One of them found her entrance, invaded it, and was quickly joined by the second one. I decided she was as ready as she needed to be, pulled my fingers out of her, grabbed my dick by the base, and lined it up.
In one quick movement, I was deep inside of her.
Lia jumped and cried out with every thrust as I slammed into her—quick, hard, mercilessly. I gripped her wrists in both hands as I leaned over her, my heart pounding in my chest and my breaths coming in rapid gasps. Sweat quickly collected over my skin, but I didn’t slow down—I just fucked her harder.
Her body rocked beneath me, causing her tits to shake and bob deliciously, but I could only feel where we were connected. Her body hugged my dick, stroked my shaft, and gripped down on me as she pushed her panties the rest of the way off and wrapped her legs around my waist. She cried out again with a shudder.
With a long, loud grunt, I emptied into her but didn’t stop pounding my cock into her body until I had completely finished coming in her. Even then, I stroked my softening dick in her a few times as the muscles in my arms began to shake.
A bead of sweat trickled from the back of my neck and dropped onto her skin, right above her heart. I watched it travel over her flesh and down the side of her body, leaving a wet trail behind it as her chest rose and fell.
I couldn’t hold myself up any longer and didn’t want to crush her, so I rolled to the side and collapsed against the mattress with Lia next to me. I kept my arms around her and held her to my chest as I continued to gasp for air. Lia’s fingers wrapped around my upper arm, but I didn’t look at her.
I felt shredded inside of myself—like someone had literally gone into my guts with a set of knives and rotated them around for a while—and I didn’t understand why. It was nauseating and suffocating. I didn’t know what to do to make it stop.
“Wow,” Lia sighed. “That was like the fight and the make-up sex all rolled into one.”
I couldn’t find the humor at the moment and pushed away from her without speaking. I jumped out of the bed and crossed the room.
“What’s wrong?” Lia called out.
I glanced over my shoulder to see her sitting in the center of the bed with the sheet pulled up to her chest, and I wondered why chicks did that. I’d just been inside of her, and now she was shielding her tits. What sense did that make?
“I just need a drink of water,” I said as I opened the bedroom door. “You want anything?”
“No, I’m fine.” She looked like she was about to say something else, but I left before she had the chance.
I wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Out in the kitchen, I poured myself some water from one of those filtration pitchers. I’d never used one before, but Lia had it with her stuff. The water felt cold on the back of my throat as I drank it down and then quickly poured another one. As I put the glass down, I glanced toward the balcony doors.
There was someone out there.
Instinct took over. I dropped to the ground and rolled backwards to put the kitchen island between me and the glass door. I was completely naked, and the closest gun was in the closet by the door. I could make it, but if whoever was out there was going to shoot, I wouldn’t have much cover.
I decided to make a run for it, crashed into the closet, and knocked over a little decorative table next to the front door in the process. Fighting hard against the panic growing inside of me, I ripped open the closet door and grabbed my Beretta. I hadn’t heard any shots yet, but I still dived back behind the couch as quickly as I could.
I checked the magazine, clicked it into place, and wrapped my hand around the grip. I positioned myself at the edge of the couch and was about to turn and start firing when I heard movement inside.
“Evan?”
“Get back in the bedroom!” I screamed at Lia as she appeared in the doorway.
“Evan! What’s happening?”
I moved back around the couch where I had better cover as well as a better view of the balcony. It was also a little farther from Lia, and I would be able to draw fire away from her. I came around the far side and raised my gun again. From there, I could see the figure on the other side of the glass—a small, thin person with white, sand-covered clothes.
It was the kid.
He just stood there—tears coming out of his eyes—and looked at me.
My hands started shaking. I couldn’t hold the gun straight any longer, but I also wasn’t so sure I was actually pointing it at anyone who was there.
“Not fucking real,” I whispered.
“Evan?”
“Look out at the balcony,” I told her.
Her head turned briefly toward the glass before looking back to me. There was no shock or fear in her eyes, which there certainly would have been if she had seen what I had.
“There’s no one there, is there?”
“No.” Lia looked again, this time tilting her
head to the side for a better angle, but her answer was the same. “There’s no one there.”
I squeezed my eyes shut before I looked again.
There was nothing there.
“Fuck.” I dropped down on my ass and leaned against the side of the couch with my elbows up on my knees and the Beretta dangling there with no purpose.
Lia was beside me a moment later.
“Are you all right?” She reached to touch my arm, but I shoved her hand away.
“I’m fine,” I snapped.
“Who was out there?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“No one.” I rubbed my forehead with the back of my hand and laughed at myself. “We live on the fifteenth floor, for Christ’s sake—how would anyone get there?”
“I understand that,” Lia replied quietly. “Who did you think you saw?”
I looked over to her, crouched on the floor a couple feet away from me like she was trying to coax some wild, wounded animal out of a cave. To top it off, she was as naked as I was. I shook my head at the ridiculousness of it all and pushed against the carpet to stand myself up.
“Come on,” I said as I reached my hand out for Lia’s, “let’s go back to bed.”
She took my hand and followed me back into the bedroom and under the sheets. She was tentative to touch me at first, given how I had reacted in the other room, but I wrapped my arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around my head.
We both relaxed with a long sigh.
“Are you going to tell me what you saw?” she asked.
“Just a kid,” I replied with a shrug.
“You were going to shoot a kid?”
“I shot him before.” I tilted my head up to see her better. “He was wrapped in explosives and headed for our base. I took him out from two kilometers away six years ago, and he shows up on my fucking balcony now. What’s up with that shit?”
“I don’t know,” Lia replied. “Have you ever talked to your psychologist about him?”
“No. Didn’t see any point.”
“Maybe he can help you figure out what the point is,” she suggested.
I looked at her for a long moment as I tried to come up with a way I could even begin to convey everything that had happened over there. I couldn’t possibly talk to Mark about every little detail, and I didn’t know how to put it into words that would make any sense. Besides, I knew exactly what Mark Duncan would say—seeing this kid was somehow important.