Damaged Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,29

asked.

“What?”

Talon smiled and moved toward the window.

I hated that I had to stop him.

That’s what he wanted.

So I played into it.

I hurried to the window and stopped him.

“Wait,” I said.

“What?”

“What’s wrong with Noah?”

“Your Bump boyfriend is a little slow upstairs,” Talon said. “He’s had learning problems his entire life. He takes a while to read. Sometimes he sees different letters and words. Gets that shit mixed up.”

“Like… dyslexia?”

“I don’t know what it’s called,” Talon said. “I’m just saying he learns at his own pace. And Mommy and Daddy hate it. Especially Daddy. He’s doing all he can to get Noah into law school. Because that’s what you Bumps do. You never have your own path in life. It’s all decided in advance.”

“How do you know this?” I asked.

“What the fuck do you think I’ve been doing with your money, darling?”

“Keeping it.”

“Well, most of it, yeah,” Talon said with a smile. “But with some of it, I’ve had my guys snooping around. I’m not as dumb as you think I am. You have to hit them where they don’t want to be hit. All that other shit was for fun. To rattle them.”

I grabbed for Talon’s arm. “Anything you find, you tell me. Got that?”

“Shit, what am I doing, Winter?” Talon asked. He stood tall and touched my cheek. “I am almost to my favorite part of seeing you…”

He inched down, his mouth creeping closer to mine.

“Talon… Gia’s downstairs…”

“I know,” he said. “Don’t act like you don’t want it…”

I put my hands to his stomach. “Talon… this…”

“Shhh,” he said. His lips were an inch from mine. My toes started to curl. “Give me what I want, darling.”

My lips quivered.

I moved to kiss Talon first and he backed away.

“I want my money,” he said.

“What?”

He started to laugh. “Did you think I was… oh, Winter…”

“I hate you,” I said.

I moved away from Talon, touching my cheeks, feeling how hot they were burning.

There was something wrong with me.

I needed… attention.

And not from Talon.

Not from a Troc.

Never from a Troc.

I got Talon his money and watched him leave.

I stood alone in my bedroom and my mind flirted with me.

I thought about Noah, Easton, and Xavier…

Out of those three, who would I choose to fool around with?

I sat on the floor with Gia across from me.

She made the suggestion to paint our toenails.

So I went along with it.

She chose a neon green color while I chose a dark red color.

The color of blood… revenge… bitchiness…

“So… Talon…”

I was waiting for Gia to bring it up.

“Nothing,” I said. I looked at her. “Gia. I swear. Nothing.”

“He just comes in here…”

“That’s what he does,” I said. “He kind of has me stuck. He knows about my memory. And he always threatens me he’ll tell everyone.”

“Fuck,” Gia said.

I shrugged my shoulders. “This is one of those the end justifies the means things for me. And I know how to attack. I’m going to get into their heads and find their weakness, then exploit it. I don’t need to punch them in the mouth.”

“Although that’s kind of fun to do too,” Gia said.

“Oh, totally. But these guys are too powerful. And they’re obsessed with me.”

“You’re obsessed with them too. Just admit it.”

“Okay, fine. I am. I can’t get enough. But not in a bad way. I mean, I’m not going to fall in love with them or anything.”

“If you end up banging one of the guys that tried to kill you…” Gia shook her head. “I don’t know if that’s insanity or hot.”

“A little of both?” I asked, cringing.

“You want it,” Gia said.

“Change the subject,” I said. “No, wait. Talon. You have to watch with him.”

“What?”

“You were getting up in his face,” I said. “He’s dangerous.”

“A Troc?”

“Gia…”

She showed her hands. “Fine. Whatever.”

“Look, I don’t want you to get hurt in all of this. Okay? That’s what I fear. I need you here. I need you happy. I hated seeing you crying before. I never want to see that again.”

“I cry all the time,” Gia said. “Don’t worry about me.”

“I won’t. As long as you stay out of this. No stabbing tires. No getting in Talon’s face. Okay?”

“Okay.”

I looked down at my toenails and wiggled them.

They weren’t great, but they were done.

“Now, I have to tell you something else,” I said.

“What?”

“I’m meeting up with Noah, Easton, and Xavier tonight.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“They know something is up,” I said. “Not with me. At least I don’t think they do. But they know about someone following me. I