14. Claudia

Chapter 14

Claudia

E verything aches. My back, my knees, my feet. I'm an ugly, sweaty meatball when I finally make it to my apartment at the end of my shift. In a sleepy daze, I count my tips, stuff them into my pillowcase, then grab a quick shower. I keep thinking about Angelo and Tommy, and keep seeing myself crushed between them as they slowly try to strangle each other.

There's a knock at my door as I get dressed in sweats. The knock's hard, insistent, and I know who it is. "Go home, Rodney," I call out, not in the mood for this shit. "I'm going to bed."

No answer. Only more knocking.

"You drunk asshole," I say, fed up with his crap as I storm over. "I'm serious. I don't care that you're my uncle. This is too much. Just go home, get sober, and we can talk tomorrow if it's important. I mean it."

No response. He knocks again, softer this time, and now I'm frowning.

Rodney would be shouting at me through the door by now.

Tentatively, I open up, leaving the chain in place.

Angelo Bianco's standing in my hallway looking like a god. His hair's got that sexy, messy thing going on and his stubble is somehow more perfect than usual. He's got a serious look on his face like he's trying to burn a hole in my chest with his mind, and he's leaning against the wall. The definition of cool and casual. I hate him so much.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, struggling to keep my voice calm.

"Your text. We couldn't talk at Cage, but you sounded like it was important."

"You followed me home?"

He shrugs, head cocked. "I gave you time to shower."

I sigh and I'm very tempted to slam the door in his face. But unfortunately, I really do need to talk to him, and against my better judgment, I let him inside.

Serena once told me something. She said never go see a man past one in the morning unless you're okay being his human fleshlight. She said late-night calls are never good. And I am absolutely positive she's right about that.

Angelo doesn't fit in my shabby apartment. He's chic and smooth, expensive but also rough. While my place is falling apart. He looks around the living room then pokes through the kitchen, glaring at the empty refrigerator and the equally empty cupboard, before finding an old bottle of gin in a corner behind a box of Cheerios. He pours two drinks, cuts them with water, adds ice, and sips.

I don't touch mine.

"Tommy called me into his office," I say, leaning against my counter. "Are you done judging my place or can I tell you about it?"

"I wasn't judging." His frown darkens. "But maybe use that money I gave you to buy some food."

"Asshole. Can I talk now?"

He gestures, which annoys me, but I tell him what happened, beginning to end. His face gets more and more frustrated, and by the time I'm finished, he's pacing back and forth.

"This might not be a bad thing," he says, glancing up at me. "But you're going to have to lie to him."

"Maybe I'm lying to you." My eyebrows go up. "Did you consider that?"

"Not really. Tommy won't give you what you want, which is your sister back. I will."

Bastard figured that one out pretty fast. "What do I do? I'm not a freaking spy. I can't play both sides."

"You'll be fine. All you have to do is tell him the truth, but leave out the parts where you're telling me things you shouldn't."

"This is so easy, right? But Tommy's dangerous and he's got my sister under his thumb. If I mess up, he might hurt her. And he'll kill me."

Angelo stops pacing and looks at me. His gaze is hard, intense, almost painful. "Tommy won't touch you. I swear he won't."

I look up at the ceiling. "That's not the point," I say, blowing out a breath. God, this man's possessiveness is sexy, but also a pain in the ass. "Serena's the issue."

"I'll take care of her too." He resumes pacing. "No, we can do this. We'll play up the fling aspect. We'll make him think this is sexual between us, like I'm totally obsessed with you and can't help myself. Then you'll use that against him."

I rub my face with both hands. "This'll never work. He won't believe it."

"Why not?"

"Because, look at you." I gesture at him then point to myself. "And look at me. You're rich and powerful. You can bang any girl in the city you want. Why the heck would you be into someone like me?"

He steps toward me, and I am very intensely aware of how small my kitchen is, and how much space he takes up.

All the air gets sucked from my lungs when he brushes his fingers across my arm. "You don't think I could be into you?"

"I just mean, I don't know, it doesn't feel, you know, believable." I'm stammering. One touch and this man's got me puddling. Holy hell, this is really bad.

"You're a beautiful woman, Claudia. There's a reason Tommy puts you in that cage. Half the men in the club can't take their eyes off you when you're up there." He leans in closer. "It drives me fucking crazy."

"Serena's the pretty one," I say, feeling miserable and thrumming with lust. "I'm just the hard worker."

"You don't see yourself clearly at all, baby."

I chew on my lip. The way he's staring at me, I wonder if he's right. Because he's definitely looking at me, he's definitely seeing me.

"If we do this, that means we'll have to flirt. We might even have to go up to a room again."

"That won't be a problem."

"What if it's a problem for me?"

"You came in my lap last night, baby." His hands press against my hips. My breath hitches in my throat. "You think you can't act like you want me? You're breathing hard right now. You look like you'd rip off your clothes and let me lick, suck, and fuck every inch of your gorgeous body."

I stifle a groan. He's absolutely right about that.

"This is a risk," I whisper. "If I screw it up. If Serena gets hurt?—"

"I'll kill Tommy if it comes to that." His jaw works and one hand brushes across my cheek and rests in my hair. "I don't want to do that. It'll be extremely inconvenient for me. But I will to protect you and your sister."

"You'll kill him? When this is all over?" Hope blossoms in my chest. I never really thought we could get Serena away from Tommy, but if he's dead?—

He nods slowly. "That's part of the plan. That doesn't bother you?"

I put my hands on his chest and stare into his eyes.

"Fuck no, it doesn't."

I get up on my toes and kiss him.

He seems surprised. For a half second, I linger there, lips on his, wondering if I just crossed a line and screwed up and totally misread this situation?—

But then he crushes me back with a hunger, lips parting, tongue invading my mouth, and god, that's a kiss, that's a kiss to wipe away all other bad kisses. It's better than the one in room 33, better than the kiss I dreamed about early this morning. He kisses me like he needs me, like if he doesn't get to taste me, to touch me, he won't wake in the morning. And the only reason he wants to wake is to taste me some more.

All the lines are blurred. We're having a fake sexual relationship, but it's also very real. I'm working for Angelo, but I'm also working for Tommy. I'm doing this for my sister, who doesn't actually want to be free.

I'm trapped in this situation. And all I really want is to keep kissing this man.

I whimper when his hand grips my hair. I want him to keep going, to undress me right here in my kitchen and show me what it would feel like to have his skin on my naked body.

But instead, he stops and pulls back, breathing through his nose like a bull.

"Why are you stopping?" I ask and I hate myself for saying it.

"Because if I don't, I'm going to be here all night, but I have a job to do." He's gritting his teeth. "Fuck. I have to go."

Pathetic. So pathetic. He's already making excuses to ditch me. I nod a little as he steps back and try my best to gather what dignity I have left. "I get it. This was last minute. And hey, we're just faking the whole sex thing, right?"

The looks he gives me sears every inch of my body.

"I'm not sure I can fake anything with you," he says and walks away.

"Great line!" I shout after him. "But save it for Cage next time! You know, so Tommy gets the good stuff!"

My front door slams shut and I feel like a moron.