Of course, that might not be a bad thing. Sadie needed to learn a lesson about respecting my fucking privacy. Taking the steps two at a time, I pounded on the door and then shoved it open hard enough to bang back against the wall.
“Everyone but Talia out.”
Four sets of glassy eyes blinked at me. They’d been painting their toes, the nail polish fumes so heavy I couldn’t believe they hadn’t lost consciousness. Fuckin’ ridiculous. Talia offered a cloying smile.
“Looks like someone needs to get laid,” she announced with a giggle. “They can hang out here, baby. My room’s got plenty of privacy.”
Baby. I hated it when she called me that. Not just the word, but the way she said it with a breathless little-girl voice. Made me feel like a damned pedophile.
“I said get the fuck out,” I repeated, pitching my voice low and hard as I dropped my hand to the hilt of my knife. Suddenly, the girls couldn’t stand up fast enough. Thirty seconds later it was just me and Talia. I locked the door behind them, then started walking toward Talia with slow menace.
“What’s wrong with you?” she demanded, hands on her hips. “Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here like this?”
“I’m the man who owns your ass,” I reminded her. “And usually I’m pretty easygoing. I don’t care what games you play, because I like the way you suck my dick. But this morning you fucked up, even though I warned you to stay out of my business. You went in and scared the shit out of my landlady like a jealous, insecure little bitch. Now I gotta worry about losing my place and my job. Did you think for one minute that your snatch is worth losing my apartment?”
Her mouth opened, then closed again, thoughts racing behind her eyes. God, she was transparent—I saw the exact instant she decided to pull her power play.
“You apologize or it’s over,” she said. “I won’t eat shit from you.”
“The only one who ate shit today was Tinker Garrett,” I said, cracking my knuckles slowly and deliberately. Her eyes widened. Yeah, you should be afraid, bitch. “Listen to the words coming out of my mouth, because I won’t be repeating myself. Tinker Garrett is nothing to me—we covered this already. Now promise you’ll let it go or we’re over. Period. Life is too fuckin’ short.”
Angry eyes narrowed, and for a minute I thought she’d kick me to the curb. God, that’d be a relief in its own fucked up way. Then the facade crumpled and I swear, her eyes started getting red.
“Crying changes nothing.”
“I’ll leave her alone,” she said finally. “But only because I believe you aren’t into her. I don’t trust her, though. She chases after men like you wouldn’t believe. You remember the video—”
Oh, I remembered. Vividly.
“Like I care about a goddamned video?” I asked. “You don’t get it, Talia. You’re young, you’re hot, and you suck my cock like a goddess. You wanna make this work, I’m with you. But I am not down with you fuckin’ everything that moves and then crawling up my ass just ’cause I got horny when you weren’t around.”
“So what you really want is an exclusive relationship?” she asked, sounding hopeful. Christ. Time to take another one for the team.
“Not if you’re gonna bitch at me twenty-four/seven,” I reminded her. “And not if you fuck up my job. You want to give things a try, I’m up for it, but you make another move on Tinker Garrett or pull any more manipulative bullshit like that fight the other night? Yeah, we’re over.”
“But otherwise, that’s what you want?”
Delusional. She didn’t even care about the damage she’d done, or who she hurt along the way. Sound like anyone else you know? I asked myself, and I didn’t like the answer.
Just get through it. Do it for your brothers—they’ve risked their lives for you, they’ve served time for you. Now suck it up and do what you have to do.
“Sure,” I said, letting a slow smile slide across my face. It was sexy—I knew this, because women fell for it every time. Talia did, too. So fucking predictable. She licked her lips, then reached down to cup one of her tits.
“Why don’t you come over here and let me show you exactly how I feel?” she whispered.
“Can’t,” I said, and while I tried to inject a hint of regret into my voice, it wasn’t easy to