“The Cardinale’s got their private jet to take me. May I see you in the hall, please?”
Johnny goes to leave, but I reach for his hand, holding him back. He turns a surprised look at me, but I just smile and lay a kiss on him. Like he claimed me at the underground fight nights that first evening, I’m claiming him now. Johnny’s mine.
When I pull away, his gaze darkens. He turns without another word and closes the door securely behind him after his dad exits in front of him.
Fuck me.
I sit on the bed, silently seething. I want to punch something in the worst way. Instead, I move to the dresser in the corner and look through the drawers until I find something to put on. I pull on a pair of gray sweats, giving them the same treatment as the joggers yesterday, and then I tug a white shirt on next, taking the extra fabric bunched at my hip, pulling it out, and tying it in a knot. At least it won’t look like I’m walking around in a potato sack.
The last thing I want to do is disturb Johnny and his dad, so I stay where I am. My stomach growls for at least fifteen minutes before Johnny comes back in. I’d been staring out the glass doors, so I get up. Instead of saying anything, he walks right to me, throwing his arms around me and whispering, “You have to be careful, babe. Don’t piss my dad off. Whatever you do, don’t do that.”
I grip him tighter. “I wasn’t the one who doesn’t know how to knock.”
“He’ll do far more than that.”
“Like punch you? Like give you a black eye?”
A growl rips from his throat. “I defied him, and he made me pay for it.”
“That’s not a father, Johnny,” I whisper.
He holds me tighter. His arms are so tight they’re like a boa constrictor around my ribs. Finally, he kisses me just under the ear. “I have to go. We’re taking the asshole to the tower where we can properly interrogate him. I thought you might like to stay here. I’ll be back tonight. Absolutely no one knows where this place is, so you can have it to yourself while we deal with the problem.”
I nod into his neck, breathing him in. I hate to let him go, but a reprieve from being thrown back into the Heights world so soon sounds like heaven.
“The kitchen is fully stocked. Netflix, Hulu, cable, whatever you want to watch. There’s a hot tub out back. Think of it as a spa day, but not the Kardashian kind.”
I grin, chuckling into his embrace. “Sounds perfect.”
He pulls away. “I’ll be back.”
He pecks me on the cheek and strides from the room. I go out onto the back deck off the master bedroom and watch as they all get into cars. A black sack sits over our prisoner’s face again as they load him into an SUV. Johnny, Mag, and several other bodyguards get into one vehicle while K strides toward another. He pauses near the passenger door, and I must catch his eye because he gazes up at me.
I’m tens of yards away, but the anger in his face is unmistakable. I may have just made an enemy out of K for something so damn stupid. Or maybe it’s a few things compiled on top of one another because he’s definitely not smiling anymore. I doubt he’d lift his glass to me at a dinner anymore either.
I raise my hand and wave, giving him a clueless smile.
He inclines his head and then gets into the waiting vehicle.
A few seconds later, they’re pulling away, and I can’t help but think, Game on, motherfucker.
15
Like Johnny said, I pamper myself, using the hot tub for the majority of the day. Since no one is around, it didn’t even matter there were no bathing suits to be found in the house. After breakfast, I sank into the heat of the water and stayed there, watching the birds fly from tree to tree and chirp their cheerful melodies.
I could get used to a place like this. It’s so apart from everything else happening that it makes for a good separation. Even K’s appearance earlier left with him instead of lingering in this peaceful place.
When my skin is thoroughly pruned and wrinkled from the water, I amble out of the hot tub, letting the brisk air coat my body in goosebumps before returning to the bedroom and