The First Taste (Slip of the Tongue #2) - Jessica Hawkins Page 0,107
all the way to Hoboken? You’re a thug.”
I take a menacing step toward him. “I’m a thug? I’m not the one trying and failing to intimidate everyone in his path.”
“Whatever Amelia told you, it’s a lie.”
His comment comes out of nowhere. I was referring to myself, not Amelia, although it applies. “What was a lie?”
“All of it. She’s spun quite a tale with you and her therapist. She and I were happy. I never hurt her.”
I lift my chin. If he really believed I was just a fling, there’d be no reason for him to assume Amelia would tell me any of what she did. “She didn’t say you did,” I lie.
He shakes his head like he’s chastising a child. “I have an offer.”
An offer can only mean one thing—some way to convince me to stay away from Amelia. I don’t believe for a second that he’d go head to head with me like a real man. “You better think carefully about how you proceed,” I say slowly, since he seems to have issues with comprehension. “I’m no thug, but I have no problem trying the title on with you.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Is that a threat?”
“You’re goddamn right it is. Caught me on a bad day. Keep talking, and you’ll save me a trip to the punching bag tonight.”
He raises his palms. “Message received. You’re bigger than me, and I’m not an idiot. Muscle over brains, and all that. I’m not here to get violent.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a checkbook. “Let me talk in a language you understand. This’ll be the easiest money you’ve ever made.”
I’m barely able to unclench my teeth enough to get the words out. “You’re going to pay me to stay away from her.”
“Break up with her, and stay away. Simple. Everyone gets what they want.”
Break up with her. He doesn’t realize it might already be over. “And what do I want?” I ask.
He glances up at the sign of my shop. “Money, I guess. I’m sure you have no trouble finding women in your part of town. Money’s not as easy to come by, though.”
“And what does Amelia want?”
“She doesn’t know. She may think you’re meaningless sex, but she’s a woman. They always get attached.” He leans in as if we’re old pals. “Trust me. I almost had to change jobs because of the crazy bitch I cheated with.”
My hands shoot out to grab him, compelled by some force outside my control. This time he doesn’t anticipate it, and he sucks in a breath when I catch his lapels. He darts his widened eyes over my shoulders. I sense Pico and Randy at my back. “You gutless asshole,” I grate out. “Get in your foreign car and drive yourself back to the city. Go up to your pretentious apartment, clean the shit out of your pants, and stay the fuck away from us.”
“Ten grand.” His voice breaks, and he has to clear his throat. “Ten grand, clear and simple. I write the check, you stay on your side of town, and it’s done. Free money.”
My hands shake, and the loose skin under his chin jiggles. “Fuck you.”
“T-twenty,” he says. “Name your price.”
As always, when I feel threatened, Bell pops into my mind. Amelia is there too, morning-after disheveled, unguarded on her bed. Women are objects to this man. Something to show off. Something to control. I’m so angry, my mouth won’t open so I can respond. I need to let go. For Bell. For Amelia. I’m no good to them if I get arrested for pummeling him.
“You can shove your checkbook,” Randy says from behind me when I don’t answer. “Better yet, I’ll do it for you. You look like you got a tight asshole. That’s my favorite kind.”
Reggie’s face goes white as a sheet. “Are you fucking insane? It’s twenty grand. You don’t even have to do anything.”
Then I hear it. “Daddy?”
My heart stops, and my burning rage runs suddenly cold. I release Reggie and take a step back, inhaling through my nose. Bell and Sammy stand ten feet away.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, looking at all of us.
Reggie’s mouth curls into a smile. “You must be Bell. Your daddy and I were just playing around.”
She scowls. “My dad doesn’t play like that.”
“Don’t look at my daughter,” I say evenly, under my breath, and Reggie turns back to me. “Pico,” I say over my shoulder, “take the kids for ice cream.”