Her breath came out in soft pants as I thrust two fingers into her drenched pussy. “I-I think I can live with that.”
I licked her bottom lip then moved to her ear. “It means if someone touches you, I’ll fucking kill them,” I breathed in her ear.
“Does that mean I can scratch up any girl’s face who tries to touch you?”
“Baby, there will be no other girls. Ever. Not as long as I have you in my arms.” I rolled her onto her back, my cock nestling right between her wet pussy lips.
“But if they do, I can, right?” she persisted with a pout.
I kissed the pout away. “Chick fights are hot.”
She smirked up at me while her nails sank into my ass, urging me to become a part of her. “I don’t usually get all territorial, but I would seriously beat someone’s ass over you.”
Laughing, I grabbed a condom and sheathed my cock. We both groaned as I slid into her tight heat. She felt so fucking good, and neither of us spoke again for a long, long time.
--
There was nothing to eat in my apartment, so I took Amara out. Something I realized about her that was endearingly cute and scary at the same time—she got cranky as fuck when she was hungry.
Adjusting her long-sleeved shirt that she’d kept on since I’d picked her up the day before, she gave the waiter a scathing glance before grabbing for a few of the cheese fries we’d ordered as an appetizer. “Thanks,” she grumbled.
“Your entrees will be out shortly,” the guy assured us and made himself scarce when she only glared through him again.
Chuckling, I dipped a fry covered in cheese and bacon in ranch and stuffed it in my mouth. “We’ll go grocery shopping later. I’m not sure I want to chance being along with a hangry you.”
Her lips twitched for a second before giving way to a full-on grin. “I’m sorry. It’s low blood sugar. It makes me irritable.”
“And it’s something I’ll make sure not to allow to happen again.” I caught her free hand and brought it to my lips, causing the sleeve to drift down a little. Something dark caught my attention, and I pushed the sleeve back so I could examine her wrist.
She jerked her hand away, keeping it in her lap under the table.
“What the fuck, Amara?” My voice was harsh with concern for her. “What happened to you? Did I do that? If I did, I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to be so rough.”
She looked at something over my shoulder, keeping her gaze locked on it. “It wasn’t you.”
“Then who?” I demanded, rage burning like an inferno in my blood.
“It’s nothing. I’m okay.” She gave me a tight smile, but I wasn’t buying it.
“Is that why you kept your shirt on? I didn’t even think…” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Baby, tell me who did that to you.”
“It’s nothing, really.” She stuck another fry in her mouth. “It won’t happen again. I swear.”
“Who, Amara?”
She sighed and leaned forward. “Look, it’s nothing. I’m serious. Nothing is broken, and other than my wrist being a little sore, I’m completely fine. Can we change the subject, please?”
The “please” killed me, but I couldn’t let it drop. Someone had hurt her, and she wasn’t telling me who. It was already driving me crazy thinking of someone putting their hands on her with enough violence to bruise her. I needed to know who did this so I could find them and beat the fuck out of them. “Just tell me who, and I’ll drop it.”
She exhaled heavily, and I could see the inner struggle she was having. I sat there, patiently waiting for her to answer me.
“My stepdad,” she finally whispered, dropping her eyes to the table. “He’s an asshole, and when I went to see him and my mother Sunday night, he was pissed I wouldn’t comply with his demands. So, this was my punishment.” She shrugged like it was nothing. Like it was completely normal but shameful. And her acceptance only pissed me off that much more.
Whoever this bastard was, he liked hurting those smaller than himself. Instead of protecting someone as precious as his own stepdaughter, he had hurt her. But this was the last fucking time. The motherfucker wasn’t going to touch Amara ever again. I’d make sure of that.
“But he’s out of my life now,” she went on, her jaw clenching as she lifted her head. “He really wanted me to do something for him, but I refused. And he threatened to cut everything off. No more rent, no more college. He even took the keys to my car.” She laughed, and there were relief and actual joy in the beautiful sound. “And you know what? I’ve never felt so free in my life as I was when I told him to take it all and go to hell.”
I was out of my seat and moving around to her side of the booth in a matter of seconds. She slid over, welcoming me beside her. Carefully lifting her injured wrist in my hands, I brushed my thumb over the biggest of the bruises. “Does he do this shit often?”
She shrugged. “Growing up, it was a regular thing. But it doesn’t matter anymore, Cash. He’s out of my life. And as soon as I get a job, things will be even better. Until then, I have enough money to get myself by.”
“Or…” Fuck, I couldn’t believe I was even thinking about this, let alone feeling excited about her actually saying yes. It was far and away from my norm, but nothing about what I was feeling for this chick was normal.
She narrowed her eyes on me. “Or, what?”
“Or, you could just move in with me, and you never have to worry about anything ever again.”
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head and pulling her hand away. “I can’t, Cash.”
Unable to let her get away, I took her other hand and kissed the back of it. “Why not? It’s not like you’re going to be at your place much now anyway. And if you fucking think I’m going to spend very many nights away from you if you don’t move, you’re out of your mind, Dreamer.”
“It’s too soon,” she argued. “And I really want to try this on my own. I’ve been under my stepdad’s thumb for so, so long. Now that I’m not, it feels amazing. I want to get a job and fend for myself. It’s not your responsibility to take care of me.”
I entwined our fingers and leaned in to kiss her lips. “Maybe I want to take care of you.”
She smiled but shook her head. “You’re so cute when you pout like that. Please understand, babe. I need to stand on my own two feet and prove to myself I can do this. That probably doesn’t make sense to you, but this is important to me.”
She was wrong. I understood exactly where she was coming from and how she was feeling. When I moved to California with the band, I had to get a job waiting tables. It had been tough, fucking hard as hell at times, but it had also been something I needed more than anything else in the world at the time. It made getting our record deal all the more satisfying. I’d proved to myself that I could stand on my own and succeed while still going after what was important to me.
“Yeah, okay. I get it. But you’ll still be staying with me more often than not, right?”
She lifted her lips in a coy smile. “Every chance I get.”
The waiter appeared with our food and set it in front of us. Once he was gone, Amara changed the subject. “How was your grandmother?”
My fingers tightened around my fork and knife as a wave of guilt hit me square in the gut. I didn’t like thinking of Gigi when I was with Amara, didn’t want to consider what would happen if she ever found out what my grandmother had asked of me. If she knew what I was capable of, the kind of bastard I could be when the situation called for it, she wouldn’t look at me the same way.
“She’s doing better,” I told her, pushing down all the thoughts of what I’d done the day before out of my head. “Still refusing the chemo, though.”
“I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “Is there anything I can do?”
I kissed her temple. “Just having you beside me is enough, Dreamer.”
Chapter 9
Amara
A month without a single job prospect was annoying. I wasn’t pa
rticularly worried about money in general, but I was tired of sitting around on my ass doing nothing while my friends were out doing their own things or working.
Which was why I was so curious as to why Emmie Armstrong had texted me out of the blue the day before. I had no idea how she had gotten my number. Both Cash and Riley said they hadn’t given it to her, yet she’d texted my phone directly, asking me to come to her office for a “chat.”
She owned floors five through eight in a building downtown. Riley dropped me off on her way to work. It took a little time to get through the rigorous security—first, in the lobby, and then on the floor Emmie had told me was her office, but as soon as I was past the last guy, Emmie’s assistant was there to meet me.
“Hi, you must Amara,” the woman greeted with a professional smile. “I’m Rachel.”
“Hi,” I murmured, glancing around at the bustling people.
She turned, leading me toward Emmie’s office. “Can I get you something to drink? Tea, coffee, a bottled water?”
“No, thank you. I’m good. Just curious as to what Emmie would want to see me about.”
Rachel lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “Sorry, can’t help you with that one. The boss is mysterious at times. It could be anything, really.” She stopped and lifted her brows at me. “You didn’t do anything to piss her off, did you?”
That stopped me in my tracks. Piss Emmie off? I couldn’t remember doing anything to make her mad at me. Unless… Unless she didn’t want me dating Cash.
My stomach began to toss and turn at the possibility that my relationship with one of her clients would make me her enemy. Was she going to ask me to break up with him? Because as much as she was a mentor to me and I looked up to her, I couldn’t do that. Just the thought of giving up Cash was making my heart race with panic.
Rachel touched my arm reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it. She’s in a good mood today, so whatever it is, she’s not going to eat you alive. At least, most likely not.”
Gulping, I followed her the rest of the way to Emmie’s office, where she knocked once and then opened the door for me. “Here she is,” she announced to the redhead sitting behind her huge desk.
Emmie’s head snapped around from her computer screen where she’d been deep in thought. Seeing me standing beside her assistant, the frown smoothed out and she stood. “Amara, hi. How are you, sweetie?”
Rachel closed the door behind her just as Emmie surprised me by wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. For a moment, I lost the ability to speak. My throat closed up, and I found myself seconds away from tears. No way was I going to embarrass myself in front of the coolest person I’d ever met by falling against her sobbing.
Blinking away the sting in my eyes, I cleared my throat. “Um…okay?” I wasn’t even sure right at that moment. This was all a little surreal for me. Honestly, I figured this woman would have forgotten all about me the moment I was out of sight after the weekend at the festival.
Stepping back, Emmie scanned her big green eyes over me as if looking for something important. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting the full mom-treatment. Her eyes took in everything I didn’t want her to notice about me, and I could see the clouds already forming in her gaze. When they landed on the fading bruises on my wrist, she pressed her lips firmly together for a moment. “Let’s have a seat,” she muttered distractedly and waved her hand to the two chairs in front of her desk. She surprised me yet again when she took the one beside me and turned to face me. “How long has it been going on, Amara?”
My stomach bottomed out. “Cash and I have only been dating for about four weeks now,” I started, but she shook her head.
“No. That’s not what I meant. I know Cash would never do anything like this.” She touched a gentle hand to my fading bruises. “I’m talking about your stepfather. How long has it been going on?”
Hurt and shame burned my cheeks, and I jerked to my feet. “Cash told you?” Tears stung my eyes all over again. How dare he tell anyone what I confided in him? I thought I could trust him, that I meant more to him than to gossip to his fucking manager about me.
Emmie stepped in front of me before I could reach the door. “No. He doesn’t tell me shit. None of those boys keeps me in the loop about what’s going on in their life at any given moment. They rely on themselves and each other to fix their issues. Which is admirable but causes me nothing but grief and frustration in the long run because the shit I have to fix when it’s all said and done could have been minor compared to what it blows up to be in the end.”
I glared at her, the hurt fading, but my confusion was only skyrocketing. “Then how do you know about Malcolm?”
She grimaced and waved a hand back to the chairs. “Maybe you should sit down. I’d like to explain myself.”
Curiosity had me retracing my steps until I was sitting once again, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at her as she cleared her throat. “I should start by saying, when I met you, I saw something in you that reminded me of…well, of me.” That had my head jerking up to meet her gaze. “Let me back up and tell you something about myself. It’s not public knowledge, but my mother was a drug addict. And when she was high, I became her favorite game. How much pain could she inflict on her terrified little girl? What bones could she break this time?”
My stomach churned at the anguish that openly crossed her face, my own bones aching with the remembered pain she was telling me we shared. “Nik and the other Demons, they saved me. Without them, I probably would have ended up dead or in foster care. Which, really, are both equally bad in my eyes.”
“I-I’m sorry that happened to you,” I whispered.
She shrugged it off. “Growing up like that, it’s made me a pretty good judge of character, and sensing when someone else is or has experienced physical abuse has become kind of like a superpower for me.” Her gaze fell to my wrist. “And the moment I met you, I felt it. That’s why I told you if you ever need anything, to come to my office.”
I frowned. “That doesn’t explain why you asked me to come here now.”
She licked her lips almost nervously. “I was curious about you, intrigued. So, I had the security company I work with do a background check.” My eyes got so huge I was sure they were going to pop out of my head. My heart sped up, my hands growing clammy. “It was presumptuous of me and invasive, but I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not sorry I did it.”
“You had no right to invade my privacy like that.” But my tone wasn’t nearly as strong as I wanted it to be. Tears I no longer had any control over were clogging my throat as I pleaded, “Don’t tell Cash what you found out. H-He doesn’t know, and I-I…I don’t know how to tell him.”
“Girl, I haven’t even told my own husband about that file, let alone Cash. This is between you and me.” She sat back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other as she looked straight at me. “I was surprised as fuck when I found out Malcolm McIntire is your stepfather. I thought maybe I got it wrong about you. That my superpower was losing its juice. Those bruises, though, they tell their own story. So, I’m asking you again—how long has it been going on?”
“From the moment I moved in to his house,” I confessed, my voice choked.
She muttered a savage curse under her breath but then gave me a tight smile, as if she was trying to reassure me everything was going to be okay. “And now he’s cut everything off?”
“Did your background check tell you that as well?”
“Seller’s team is always thorough. I know that the Monday after the festival he sent out a warning to any and all people who could possibly offer you a job, threatening them with the usual ruination if you were hired. Blah, blah, blah. The usual pompous jackass who thinks he rules the world speech.” She rolled her eyes. “I know who Malcolm McIntire is and the power slash drama that comes with him.”
I shifted in my chair, my heart trying to beat my lungs to death with how hard it was pounding. Fuck, I just wanted to ge
t out of here. I wanted to go home and hide away from Emmie’s kind, knowing eyes. Her gentle, motherly touch to my still achy wrist. This was all new territory for me, having a woman care about me. “Look, I really don’t know what this is all about. If you just wanted to bring me here to talk smack about my stepdad, I’m all for that, but this is really weird all around.”
“I’m getting to that. Patience, girl.” She grinned, making her nose scrunch up and the stud in her nostril sparkle in the overhead lighting. “The same warning wasn’t issued to me, but even if it were, I really don’t like being told what I can and can’t do. And that goes for pretentious assholes who try to rule the world. I rule my own world, and not even that motherfucker can dictate what I do.”
“What?” I wasn’t sure I was understanding her correctly. “Are you…offering me a job?”
“Yes.” A simple answer, but it felt powerful.
“Wait,” I breathed, shaking my head, trying to wrap my mind around everything. I felt like I’d been sucked into the middle of a tornado and tossed into another universe. “Just give me a minute, okay?”
“Take your time.”
I inhaled deeply, trying and failing to calm my racing excitement. This wasn’t real. It was a dream or an alternate reality. I’d wake up back at home soon and be right back in the middle of my old, normal life. One where the one woman I admired the most in the world didn’t give a flying fuck about me. “I don’t even know what kind of job you could possibly offer me, Emmie. I was studying microbiology. My career path was supposed to be in pharmaceutical research, which was what Malcolm had planned out for me from the moment he realized I had a brain he could exploit.”
“Ah, yes. Let’s talk about this brain of yours.” She stood, her hair falling over her shoulder, and grabbed a piece of paper lying on top of her desk. Pushing the hair out of her face, she turned to face me with a lifted brow. “Between your IQ and this eidetic memory of yours, I think we can find something for you almost anywhere here. I have an opening in my accounting department. But you have a face that would work perfectly in personal relations. I suck balls at that shit, and it’s usually Annabelle who handles all our media needs. But she’s mainly in Tennessee with Zander and their kids.” She pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. “Or you can start by shadowing me, and I can train you to become one of our road managers. I’ve been short-staffed, and just between you and me, tours suck the life right out of me.” She shuddered as if unable to ward off a bad memory. “I haven’t been able to replace my best RM, so you would kind of be saving my life if you took that one.”