“Give me my purse!”
He ignores me, reversing into the garage.
“You douchebag,” I scream. “Give me my fucking purse. I need to get home.”
He closes the garage just as I start charging for it. The door is down too low by the time I get to it. I slap my hands against it, hauling curses at his sorry ass. He doesn’t open it. I rush to his front door, pounding and pounding. He doesn’t answer it. Bastard. Fucking bastard.
I spin around and hurry towards the street, tears burning in my eyes. It’s not because I’m hurt; they’re more tears of frustration. My dress is torn and I have no money or phone.
Defeated, I walk until I find a main road and flag down a cab. There’s only one person I know will take the bill for me, and he’s the person I need to see most right now.
The entire ride in the cab is quiet; I fight to hold back my emotions. The man was crazy, speeding the way he did and then speaking to me like that. I don’t cry a lot, but when I’m treated like that it upsets me. We arrive at Reign’s house and I climb out, telling the cab driver I’ll get him some cash. I walk up, still shaking, to Reign’s door.
Then I knock.
I have to knock eight times before he answers. He’s wearing nothing but a pair of grey sweats, and he’s panting. His eyes scan over me and become immediately concerned.
“Tia?”
“I . . .” I begin, but am cut off when I see the gorgeous Slutena behind him, wearing one hell of a gorgeous dress. She’s leaning against his countertop, smirking at me. Her hair is all lose and sexy. Dammit.
“I . . . shit,” I say. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know . . . I just . . . I have no money and I can’t pay the cab, and . . .”
“Something happened,” he says, and it’s not a question.
“I’m sorry, you’re busy. I’ll go.”
I turn and rush down the drive, horrified that I interrupted him clearly about to have a good time. Tears finally break free from where they’ve been welling in my eyes and trickle down my cheeks as I run towards the cab. I’ll make the driver take me back to the club. Autumn will help.
“Wait!”
I turn to see Reign running down the drive with a fifty in cash. He stops beside me and leans in, handing it to the driver. “Keep the change.”
“Wait, take me home, please,” I say, opening the door and slipping in.
Reign’s hand lashes out and stops it closing. “Get out of the car, Tia. Something happened, and you’re going to tell me what it is.”
“I’m not going into your house while . . . shit . . . I just need to go home.”
His eyes harden. “No, you’re coming inside.”
I turn to him, and I know he can tell I’ve been crying. “Just let me go, Reign.”
He takes a step back, shocked to see me crying.
“Shit, Tia, what happened?”
I close the door and lock it, but I wind the window down as the cab driver readies to pull out. “Xander happened.”
Then we disappear off down the road.
~*~*~*~
It takes me more than two hours to get to sleep that night, mostly because I feel like a tool. I just threw myself at Xander without even considering that he might be an absolute asshole. It’s my own fault for acting like a bitch on heat. I didn’t even hesitate. There’s no one to blame but myself.
I finally drop off just after midnight, falling into a restless sleep. I’m woken when the bed dips beside me, and I feel a warm head against my cheek. I know it’s Reign. Part of me knew he’d come to me tonight. He’s good like that. He slides into the bed and I roll, facing him. I can smell her on him, and it makes me want to recoil and gag.
“He hurt you,” he says into the darkness.
“Get out of my bed, Reign. You smell like her and I don’t like it.”
“Never bothered you before,” he murmurs.
“Well it bothers me tonight,” I snap.
I close my eyes, struggling for calm.
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
I roll my eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me.”
I scoff. “How would you know I rolled my eyes? It’s dark.”
He snorts. “I know you. Now, tell me what he did.”
“Nothing.”
“Fuck it, Tia. You were crying. I’ve known you more than six months and you’ve never cried. Not once. Not even when your beloved hamster died.”
“She was a good hamster.”
A grunt from Reign. “What did he do?”
“Nothing. We went out and I left with him . . .”
“You fucked him?” he grinds out.
“No,” I breathe. “It didn’t get that far.”
“Why?” His voice is clipped.
“Because he’s an asshole!”
“What happened?”
I take in a deep breath and exhale slowly and loudly. “He got . . . out of control.”
“How?” he grinds out.
“He just scared me. It was stupid, really. He was driving and he was going really fast, Reign. I mean, fucking dangerously fast. I asked him to stop and he wouldn’t; he laughed at me. We got to his house and he tried to . . .”
“What?” he hisses.
“Reign.”
“What did he try to do?” he barks.
“Well, he put his hand on my leg and up my thigh. He was trying to lower my dress when I pulled back to stop him. Then I got out of his car because I was angry. He called me a cock tease, and told me that I’d get what was coming one day, then he left me there. He took my phone and purse and just left me there.”
“Fucker! I knew he was a dodgy cunt.”
Whoa.
He launches himself out of my bed and I hear him storming out of the room.
“Reign!” I yell, scurrying out and hopping into a pair of pants as I rush after him.
I catch him at the front door. “Please, don’t. He didn’t do anything bad, he just scared me,” I plead.
He turns to me, his eyes wild. “You came to my house tonight with your dress ripped, your hair a mess and tears in your eyes. I’ve never seen you cry, not for anything. You were scared, and he did that to you. Don’t tell me not to go, because for a girl like you to cry then it means he fucked up. He won’t do it again.”
Then he steps out and I’m left standing there, speechless.
How can I argue with that?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Reign got my purse back for me, and then he proceeded to fire Xander and provide him with a killer black-eye. I can’t blame him for that. Xander acted like a tosser, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that anything could have happened when he left me on the street alone. I’m thankful to have someone like Reign in my life during these times.
Since then, sex is off my mind for a while and I’m back to concentrating on Slutena. I really hate helping Reign with that bitch, but it’s what he wants and it’s what he pays me for. He claims he didn’t sleep with her the night I went to his house, but I wonder if he’s withholding information from me. Not that I understand why. Probably because he’s moving too fast and he knows it. The woman cheated on him for Christ’s sake. I don’t know how he can just get over that.
Slutena has entranced him with her perfect damned pussy.
Apparently she’s out of town for a week, so I’m back to being the best wingwoman a man could ever ask for. Reign wants to get laid and he’s called on me to help. He’s clearly struggling with things, because I can sense an inner need to get her back, even if he won’t admit it. It makes no sense to me that he can still fuck when he’s apparently in love with Slutena.
Tonight we’re at a quiet bar. There are a group of pretty, drunk women enjoying a hen’s night. We’ve been drinking for about an hour, and I’ve been keeping an eye on the girls, figuring the busty blonde in the corner will work.
“I’m going with the blonde,” I tell
Reign.
He looks over, letting his eyes rake over her tight, black dress. “She’ll do.”
“Don’t be so picky, Fabio.”
He gives me a hard stare. “I’m not being picky, but I’m certainly not fucking just anything because it’s easier, either.”
I gape. “You’re awful. What if one day you turn into a three-hundred-pound gorilla? How would you feel if no one wanted to fuck you, asshole?”
He snorts. “Then I’ll cut my own balls off and strip myself of my manhood.”
“So dramatic,” I sing, turning my attention back to the girls.
“How are you going to play this one?” he asks, leaning in close. I can feel his chest pressing against my back.
“Easy. I’m using the old ‘I cheated on you’ trick.”
“Ahhh,” he says, his voice admiring.
“You ready to get your dick wet?” I say, turning back to him, only to find his eyes on my dress.
“You goin’ home after this?”
“Why? Scared I might pick up myself?”
His eyes slide back up to mine. “Perhaps.”
“Jealous, Reign?”
His eyebrows shoot up. “Jealous? Who is it that’s getting fucked tonight, babe?”
“Eat a dick.”
He chuckles. “I’m ready. Call me in the morning, I’m taking you to lunch.”
“Ugh, why?”
“Business lunch. It’s important.”
“Can’t you go alone? Business lunches bore me.”
“No, I can’t go alone. I need the press to believe I’ve got a girlfriend.”
“Correction,” I say. “You need Slutena to believe you have a girlfriend.”
“What’d you call her?”
Uh-oh.
I swallow and look away. “Ahhh . . .”
His voice comes out clipped and hard. “She’s not a slut, Tiani.”
“Listen here, buddy,” I say, giving him a hard stare. “Just because you’re all obsessed with her doesn’t mean I have to like her.”
“You don’t even know her,” he points out, giving me an angry, over protective look.
“She cheated on you, she’s using you, and you’re smitten like a silly schoolboy. I know enough.”
“People make mistakes,” he grunts. “I’m sure you’re not perfect.”
I huff. “That’s what desperate people say.”
“If you’ve got a fuckin’ problem with her, why are you still here?” he growls.
“Don’t growl at me,” I say, shoving a finger into his chest. “I’m here because it’s my job. Now, I’m going to pick up for you so you can fuck out your sorrows with some random pussy while I go home and spend the night with my B.O.B.”
He shakes his head, and gives a deep, exasperated sigh. “Sometimes I don’t know what to do with you, Tia. There will come a time your little act drops and I see the real emotion behind your funny persona.”
I spin around, putting my back to him. “Whatever you say.”
I swallow the rest of my drink and then turn back to Reign, my act ready. “It just happened,” I say loudly. “He was there and he just . . . it just . . .”
“He was my best friend!” he barks, slamming his glass down.
“I know that,” I cry. “It wasn’t meant to happen. I can’t help the feelings that grew . . .”
“I loved you,” he roars.
The girls have all stopped turning and are watching us closely. Every time. Nosy cows.
“I know,” I scream. “But I love him.”
I hear one of them gasp. Sucker.
“What did I ever do to you?” he barks, his eyes meeting mine and I could swear there is real emotion there.
I shrug. “Nothing. You just weren’t good enough.”
I take my purse and turn, walking away. I look back over my shoulder at him sympathetically. “Sorry.”
As I get to the door, I hear the girls talking. “What a fucking bitch. Poor man. Go and see if he’s okay.”
Bingo.
~*~*~*~
“A, open up!” I yell, pounding on Autumn’s door later that night.
It takes her ten minutes to answer, and when she does her eyes are frantic. She looks like she’s on some serious drugs or something. It’s a little concerning.
“Shit, what’s wrong?” I question, scanning her face. She’s really pale.
“It’s, ah,” she whispers, looking past me into the darkness, “it’s nothing.”
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I think I did,” she murmurs, more to herself than me. As if realizing this, she shakes her head and wipes the fear off her face. “What’s up?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Okay, you did not just brush that off.”
“It’s nothing, Tia,” she says, shaking her hand casually.
“You’re such a liar. I thought we were friends; soul sisters, and what have you . . .”
She snorts. “That one time we combined blood was not enough to make us soul sisters.”
“No, you’re right. We should have sacrificed ourselves.”
She laughs softly, but her voice is strained. My friend has a secret; I wonder when she’s going to tell me what it is.
“How’d you go the other night?” I ask her. “Get laid?”
“Ah,” she says, the shaky voice back. “Yeah.”
“With who?”
She waves her hand. “No one special.”
“You’re lying again. Oh come on, who was it? You can’t leave me hanging like that?”
She walks over to her coffee machine and lifts the top, taking a bag of beans from beside it and pouring some in. When she lifts her arm, I see faint bruises on her skin. I rush over, jerking her shirt up. She’s got fingerprint bruises all up her arms.
“What the hell?” I gasp. “Someone hurt you?”
“No,” she says quickly, pulling her sleeves down. “It’s nothing, Tia.”
“Stop lying,” I yell. “You have bruises on your arms.”
“I just got into a brawl at the bar the other night, that’s all.”
“You’re not being honest,” I say, narrowing my eyes at her.
“Can you drop it? Please, just drop it.”
I swallow, but the panic on her face is telling me right now is not the best time to push this. Whatever is going on, she’s clearly not ready to talk about it.
“Just tell me one thing. If a man is hurting you . . . you’ll tell me?”
She nods, her eyes wide. “Of course.”
“Don’t let anyone hurt you, A.”
“I won’t.”
We both stand in silence for a moment before she says, “So, those bikers, do you know much about them?”
Why is she interested in them?
I shrug. “No, just that Reign hired them for security.”
She nods, looking away.
“Did one of them do that to you?”
She shakes her head quickly; too quickly. “No, no, of course not.”
“A . . .”
“I’m thinking I might go away for a while. Maybe a holiday.”
Autumn is running again.
“Are you ever going to tell me why you run so much?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I like travelling, is all. I’ve got restless feet.”
“Autumn, you’re such a bad liar.”
She gives me an innocent expression. “Seriously, I just feel like a break. Work is slow, and I’m seriously ready for a holiday, maybe the Bahamas.”
I watch her, narrowing my eyes.
I have a strong, horrible feeling she’s lying to me.
And I don’t like what that could mean for her.
CHAPTER NINE
“Wear the purple one,” Reign says, flicking through my closet.
“No, the purple one shows my ass cheeks.”
He gives me a look out of the corner of his eye. “And?”
I push past him, pulling out
my favorite black dress. “Black is better for a business lunch.”
He shakes his head. “No, black is sexy, but not professional.”
“And my ass cheek hanging out of my purple dress is?”
“You need to look sexy, understand?”
I throw my hands on my hips. “Excuse me, Sex God, but not all of us look like you.”
He sighs and turns to me. “Stop talking and find a damned dress.”
“I don’t have anything you expect me to wear, Reign.”
He pulls out a red dress. “Perfect.”
I stare at it. “Red? Seriously?”
“It means we’re fucking.”
I sneer. “It does not!”
He shoves it at me. “It does. Now get dressed. We’re late.”
He leaves the room and I stare down at the simple but sexy red halter-neck dress. Not wanting to argue, because quite frankly I couldn’t be bothered, I put it on. I slide the soft material down over my body and smooth it out with my hands. Then I let my hair down, running a brush through it before sliding a pin into one side, holding it up just slightly.
Ready.
I walk out to find Reign waiting at the door. He gives me a once-over and then nods. “Good, let’s go.”
“You make me feel so beautiful, Reign.”
He hooks his arm through mine and pulls me out of the apartment. “I’m sure you don’t need me telling you how good you look, Tia. Pretty sure you already know that.”
Well then.
Smooth.
We arrive at a local Italian restaurant downtown, and I see a group of businessmen standing in a circle, most of them with women on their arms. Slutena is here. I thought she was out of town.
I turn to Reign. “You told me she was out of town for a week.”
“I lied,” he says, his voice deadpan.
I gape at him. “Why?”
A shrug. “Because you wouldn’t come otherwise.”
I cross my arms. “How would you know?”
“Because you hate her, and it makes you uncomfortable when we’re together.”
Shit.
“Whatever.”
He helps me out of the car and we slowly approach the ground. Slutena’s eyes move over Reign and her lips purse. That’s right, bitch, you think he’s taken. I run my hand up his arm and tuck myself closer, which earns me a narrow-eyed stare from him. What? He pays me to make her jealous; that’s what I’ll do.