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Chapter 5

SCARLET

The drive to Thane’s penthouse seems longer. Anticipation prickles in my body as the lights race by my window. He’s a giant ball of stress. Whatever happened tonight must have been bad. He cruised through the shooting at Mrs. Abashin’s house like it was something he did every day. Who knows, maybe it is. But tonight, he oozes anger with a ribbon of sadness wound throughout his being.

“What made you decide to be a nurse?”

His question startles me. We’re sharing now? “Um. My family was killed when I was a baby. The policeman told my grandmother that if help had gotten to them sooner, my brothers might have survived. I’d like to be that for someone.”

“You were good with Mrs. Abashin’s wound.”

“That was simple. I want to be able to handle serious traumas.”

“My brother’s future wife is studying to be a doctor. She saved him tonight.”

My head snaps to him. “What do you mean?”

“He was shot, and she saved him.”

Another shooting, damn. You’re some kind of violence magnet. “You guys don’t do the hospital thing, do you?”

He guffaws. “No. Too many questions.”

I nod. “But he’s okay?”

“Yeah. She had to dig out the bullet, and it nicked his lung so she put a tube in his side. By the time the dentist got there, he wasn’t really needed.”

I mumble under my breath. “I remember the dentist you talked about. You’ve got a weird family.” His phone beeps in the cup holder, and his jaw tightens. Yep, definitely bad tonight. “Was anyone else hurt?”

There’s a pause that answers my question before he shrugs. “Yeah, but none of my family.”

“Well, that’s good anyway. Is there a risk to you or me?”

His face softens. “No, Red. I’d never let anything bad happen to you because of me.”

My heart believes him, but I have to admit I’m a little nervous. “Um. You don’t need to be around to help him?”

“No. I’m kind of in trouble.”

My brow creases. “Why?” I cringe, realizing I shouldn’t ask personal questions, but he shrugs again.

“I was disrespectful to my brother’s girl.”

“How?”

He turns and stares at me until someone behind us honks. “I didn’t think she could handle my brother’s injuries, and I was angry. Well, disappointed in myself for not realizing what was going to happen.”

“So, you have a crystal ball?”

His head pivots to me. “What?”

“A crystal ball. You know a way to see the future.”

“Yeah, I understand what it is. No, I don’t. But I should have known. I was too busy being a bitch and pissed off with the job he gave me to be close enough for him to tell me what he was doing. I would have known it was a setup.”

“Oh. Sounds like you realize you made mistakes. You’ll get another chance. They’re family.”

His head slowly moves back to me with a look of surprise. “Yeah. I guess.”

“So, this breakfast thing better have waffles.”

He smiles a killer smile. “Waffles, huh?”

“Yeah. Waffles.” My heart swells with the look of appreciation he’s giving me. I’ve made his mood better, and a part of me is beaming inside.

We pull into the garage, and the usual Russian dude that sits in a car by the elevator is gone. Don’t ask Scarlet. Just let it be. He walks around to open the door behind me to take out the box. Then he opens my door and extends his hand. “Let’s go, Red.”

I look down at myself realizing I’m still in just a thong.

He grabs the sweat shirt I have in the top of the box and hands it to me. “It’ll cover you. You’re so damn tiny.”

I slip the oversized hoodie over my head. “Petite. I’m petite.”

“You’re a damn fairy.”

Fairies are pretty. I’ll take that. He wraps his arm around me as we walk to the entrance.

THANE

She walks through my door ahead of me. The hoodie barely covers her beautiful ass, and my hands twitch with the anticipation of getting my hands all over her. Cracking my neck, I sigh as I set the box down on the table in the entry. “What do you need before we start?”

She turns. “A shower.”

“Make yourself at home. I’ll join you in a few.”

She sashays down the hallway, making the turn into the primary bedroom as I take out my phone, dialing Saxon.

“Hello?”

“Hey. How’s Cynric?”

“He’s good. Safe with Izzy at a safe house. Papa’s pissed.”

“Yeah. I know. Arturo should be calling him today.”

“How do you know this?”

“I called him to find out who knew Jose was going to start the shit.”

“Papa curbed your ass. Unless you want this banishment to be permanent, you’ll cool it.”

“I will. Look, I’m sorry about what happened.”

Saxon blows out a breath. “Thane. The ambush wasn’t your fault. Cynric is notorious for not sharing what he’s doing. Papa railed on him about it. Just be sorry for how you treated Izzy. Cynric’s pissed about that, too.”

“I understand. I’ll check in with him in a few days. Tell him I asked about him.”

“Sure. Be safe, Thane.”

I end my call as I strip my clothes, walking into my bathroom. Red’s standing under the spray, letting the water cascade all over her luscious body as I slide into the shower behind her. I lean down and whisper. “I’m going to fuck you so hard for arguing with me.” She stiffens, and that’s all I need. I push her to the cold shower tile and bring my hand back to smack her sweet ass.

“Ow.”

I laugh. “You’ll think ‘ow’. You don’t argue with me.” I smack her ass again and rub the spot after the loud crack.

“Fine. But I’ll need to get a new job.”

I lean my body into hers. “No, you don’t. I’ll pay for your school.” She wiggles to turn around and I step back, admiring the confusion on her face. “I don’t want you stripping anymore. It bugs me.”

Her brow raises while her face softens. “Why does it bother you?”

I shrug, pushing my face into the water. I grab the shampoo and wash my hair as she squirts body wash on her hands and rubs my torso. My body wars with itself. My heart wants to feel her hands worshipping my body, but my dick wants to be inside her, making her mine again. Her hands dip down to wash my legs and her hand cups my balls and shaft with a sudsy grip. I moan as she smiles. Sex wins, and I grab the hand wand to rinse off the soap. Soap runs down our bodies until we’re clean. I put the wand back on the wall and wrap my hand around the back of her neck, holding her in place to devour her mouth. Her moan sets my soul on fire. I grab her and pick her up against the wall, slipping between her legs. She shimmies down as my length finds her warmth.

“Oh.” She shudders as I fill her. “Wow.”

Her words drive my insane need to possess her. Thrusting my cock inside her while my only thought is to make her come. Her hands rest on my shoulders as I press her against the shower wall. “God, you feel good.” I’m lost in the lust. Her nails push in to my skin as she tightens around me.

“Yes!” Her orgasm is enough to send me into a mind-blowing climax of my own. Panting we both come down off the spectacular high. She giggles. “Well, we’re dirty now.”

I laugh as the tension from the day rolls off me like the water dripping from my skin. I set her down and move us back under the water, grabbing the wand as she gets the body wash.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re both naked in the kitchen as she’s grilling cheese sandwiches on my gourmet stove. She turns with the spatula in her hand. “This stove looks like it’s never been used.”

I sip my beer as I admire her spectacular ass. “It hasn’t. I don’t cook.”

“Huh.” She slides the sandwich onto the plate and uses the spatula to cut it in half. “If I had a stove like this, I’d cook all the time.” She cringes and my heart clenches at her discomfort in confiding her thoughts to me.

“You can use the stove anytime. I wasn’t kidding when I said this is your home.”

She slides up on the stool next to me. “Why is that?”

I savor the first bite of the sandwich. Note to self: get more groceries so she can cook me more food. I cock my head. “I like you. You make my day better. And this sandwich makes me sure you should stay here.”

She scoffs. “It’s a grilled cheese with Italian spices on the bread.” She takes a bite from her half of the sandwich. “It’s a good thing processed American cheese doesn’t go bad.”

I nod. “Yeah. I don’t get groceries. I could. There’s a housekeeper that comes in twice a week. She could grab food.”

She swings her head. “Maybe you could just shop for yourself.”

The smile slowly moves up my mouth. “Or we could shop together tomorrow after class.”

She stops chewing. Her startled look makes my smile broader. She’s dumbfounded at my suggestion. She murmurs. “You’re serious about me staying here?”

“I am.” My heart waits for my head to list reasons why I shouldn’t be happy with this new idea and dread never comes. “You need to call your grandmother and tell her you’re moving in with me.” Her mouth falls open as I pick up the empty plate. She doesn’t say anything as she takes a swig of beer from my bottle. She grimaces at the taste and I smile.

“What’s this between us?”

I pick up my drink and let the question float around before I finish my beer and answer. “We’ve been spending time together for a couple of weeks and I want more.”

“More?

I pull her into my arms and rest her on my lap. “More. We’re good together and not just in bed. Though, that is the very best. But I digress. You mean something to me. I didn’t expect to want someone all the time.”

“So, is this a relationship?”

My heart rate skips a beat. “I don’t know how to name it. I love having you here. Is that enough for you to agree to stay here?”

She nods, and I can see the wheels spinning in her mind. “Yeah.”

“Yeah?” I grab her and pull her close. “Come on. Round two.” I’ll figure out the words I need to use to convince her she matters to me later.

SCARLET

I can barely keep my eyes open. Thane kept me up most of the night pleasuring the both of us and showering me with words about why this thing between us isn’t just a stream of hookups. I smile at the way my heart speeds up when I think about him. I just can’t listen to my professor drone on in his monotone voice about mental health theory and application. Half his slides have typos or incorrect information. I’m lucky that I already got a lot of this info in my nursing certificate program I took in high school.

Tony, the guy who always sits next to me, leans in. “Is speaking in a dull, unmodulated way a requirement to be an instructor?”

I hold in the laughter that wants to bubble out. “You’d think.” I flick my wrist to notice the class is over in three minutes. Thank God. “He’s worse than Dr. Dreier.”

“Yeah.” He settles back against his seat. “Want to grab lunch after our next class?”

Thane’s broody face comes to my mind. “No. Sorry. I’ve got a date with my boyfriend.”

He offers a guttural noise. “Oh, a boyfriend?”

I shrug. “Yeah. He’s picking me up.”

“Okay. Will I see you this afternoon for practicum?”

I shake the memory of this morning’s sex with Thane from my mind. “Of course.”

The professor turns off the screen and we all collect our things to move on to our next class. Outside of the class, I quicken my pace and get out in front of the group, pulling my phone from my pocket.

My grandmother answers. “Hi.”

“Scarlet. I wondered when you were going to call me and tell me you’ve moved out.” She pauses. “It’s Thane, huh?”

I chuckle. “I’m sorry. It’s new and he’s so bossy.”

“Of course he is, honey. He’s bratva.”

I cringe and chew my lip. “I should have told you.”

“You thought I’d talk you out of Thane.”

“No. You couldn’t. But you’d try, and I don’t like to upset you.”

My grandmother pauses. “You’re a grown woman. I just hope you know what you’re getting into.”

“I love you, grandmother.”

“Love you, too.”

I end the call and slip the phone in my pocket feeling lucky that the little revelation went so well.

THANE

My phone rings when I pull away from the curb after dropping Red at the college.

“Yeah?”

“I’m in town.”

“Good morning, Marco.”

He takes a breath and softens his tone. “Ah, yes. I’m sorry. Good morning, Thane. This is Marco. I have arrived in New York.”

“Hi. I’m in Jersey.

“Ah. I can come to you.”

“Fine. Meet me at Billy Ray’s Diner near Newark Airport.” It’s a perfect location to see anyone coming from any direction.

“Sure. Twenty minutes?”

“See ya there.” So, he’s not in Manhattan. I wonder how much he knows about last night. Guess I’ll find out. I get on I-ninety-five debating whether I should call Papa to let him know I’m meeting Marco. I pull into a parking space in front of the diner. It’s a busy greasy spoon, and perfect for a meeting with a cartel lieutenant. I step inside and grab a booth at the back, near the kitchen. My mother used to call little diners like this a greasy spoon. It’s not that they’re dirty, necessarily, but they wouldn’t win any Michelin stars. I know there’s a back door if I need it.

An older blonde saddles up to the booth. “Coffee, hun?”

“Yeah. Black.”

“Know what you want?” She’s popping gum as her pen taps the tablet in her hand. The uniform she wears shows a lot of cleavage and the embroidery on the front reads, ‘Billy Ray’s,’ in a cursive script.

“Not sure.”

“No worries, hun.” She saunters off behind the counter as the bell dings for the front door. Marco and one of his men stroll into the restaurant, scanning the patrons. Marco’s face lights up when he sees me. I guess that’s a good sign. His hand raises. “Mi hermano.”

Calling me ‘my brother’, again. I respond. “Marco. ?Cómo estás?”

He plunks himself in the seat across from me. “I am well. Sad about the loss of my brother. I remember how much I loved him when we were young, but I can’t condone the things he does.”

Saying all the right things. “I’m sorry he did what he did.”

The server arrives at our table with a weathered notebook in her hand as Marco asks for coffee and a slice of blueberry pie with ice cream. Has he been here before? His man takes a seat at the far end of the counter. “We would have stopped Jose if we had known. Loyalty is everything.”

“I have to admit I was surprised he went after Cynric.”

The server returns with his coffee, setting it in front of him. He raises the cup to blow on the steaming liquid. “And Isabella.”

My heart rate picks up. “What about Isabella?”

“Si. Her father was the man who saved us all. She’s important. Jose should not have tried to hurt her.””

Shit. He’s right. Isabella’s father, Uncle Daniel, executed a man who had tried to kill us all at my ninth birthday. That man, Ivan Petrov, a friend of my father, tried again a few years later. “Isabella’s father was a hero. He was also my mother’s stepbrother, so he had a family connection as well.”

“Exactly. He took the bullet meant for me and your father. He bought our men time to get us to safety. Ivan’s men would have executed us all.”

“I’m surprised you knew my father’s ward was living with Cynric.”

He waves his hand as the server set down his piece of pie. “Of course we keep our ears open. We attended his funeral. Your family is our family.” He takes the first bite and over-exaggerates his happiness over the taste. “This is good.”

“Has Arturo spoken to my father?”

“Eh. Uncle Arturo called him a few hours ago to apologize. He didn’t mention that you and I were meeting, though.”

“Oh?” This sounds like another stupid cartel game. “Why?”

“He wasn’t sure if your father’s anger had blown over.”

I lean back, sipping my coffee. “My father’s anger?”

He scrapes his fork across the plate. “You annoyed your father last night, no?”

“I annoy my father all the time. It’s the right of the second son.” I need to let Cynric and Papa know we’ve got someone talking to their cartel. That’s the only way Marco would know what’s going on with us.

“Ha. It is.” He raises his cup to get the server’s attention, and she walks over with the pot to refill our coffees. “Your family is important to my family. Uncle Arturo sent me to make sure no more nonsense happens with Jose’s men.”

“That’s good. Though I’m not sure there are many left.”

“Eh. That’s just as well. They should have known better than to go against your family.” He pauses and stares across the table. “Uncle Arturo wondered if you wanted to join him for a little vacation. You could bring your woman.”

I’m careful to school my reaction. “My woman? You’ve been keeping tabs on me, too.”

“Just a glance or two. She dances at your club.”

“Hm.”

His phone buzzes on the table, and he turns it over to check. “I’d love to meet your woman.”

“Not sure she’s a woman I want you to meet, yet.” Need to get him off the idea of Red. I don’t trust any of them.

“Of course.” He stands and moves to my side of the booth, setting his hand on my shoulder. “Nothing like this will ever happen again. I give you my word.”

I nod. “tvoye slovo - zakon.” Your word is your bond, more or less.

“It is.”

I raise my hand to shake his. He smiles as he shakes my hand, then he turns, collecting his man, and leaves the diner.

Crazy fuckers. I take out my phone as I stand to leave, tossing a twenty-dollar bill on the table. “Papa?”

“Thane.”

“I just met with Marco Aguilar.”

“I wondered. Fingers said he just got to town.” Damn that hacker is fast.

“Keeping tabs on me or the cartel?”

“Whatever I fucking want.”

“Yes, Papa. He seems remorseful about Jose’s hit on Cynric and Isabella. We talked about Uncle Daniel.”

“Arturo was often concerned Isabella’s mother wouldn’t be the right person to keep her. He was right. I dismissed his comment because they don’t take care of their women.”

I take a breath. “How’s Cynric?”

“Angry but recuperating. You’ll need to apologize.”

“I will.”

“You’re still on my shit list.”

“I know. I’ll be scarce for a while.”

“That’s good. Contact me if Marco or any of the others reach out.”

“Yes, Papa.”

He hangs up and I stand next to my SUV thinking about the Aguilars. I wonder who’s going to take Jose’s place in New York?

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