needed, but could he actually leave Zane somewhere else?
“I don’t know, Czar,” he said reluctantly. “It’s probably a little too soon for Breezy to be that far from Zane, and no way is she going to like me going to a party without her, especially after the disaster when she first arrived.”
Czar nodded. “I thought you might say that. Alena has a room right off the kitchen in the private wing. Darby could watch him there. It’s completely closed off and protected. There’s a security alarm, and all of us will be here. We could move a crib in and get it set up for this evening. You and Breezy could sleep in your room when you get tired or take Alena’s room, and I’ll get Darby home.”
It was a perfect solution. Steele nodded. “We’re in. We’ll get everything and come back. I’ll bring Breezy early. She’s going to want to help the girls get the food ready.”
NINETEEN
“You’re not making any sense, Steele. None.” Breezy swung around and glared at him. “It’s been the best time. We have such fun together. You. Me. Zane. Even Maestro and Keys. And then you act like this.”
“I act like this because you’re sneaking around—”
She cut him off. “What do you think is going to happen if I get up and go to the bathroom without waking you up and telling you first? You always wake up anyway. Do you think I’m sneaking out to meet someone?” Breezy threw her hands into the air. “Enough is enough.”
Steele knew it was enough. He knew he was acting crazy. He’d woken the moment she moved. She slid from the bed, out of the protection of his arms. He’d watched her go out the door, but she hadn’t headed to the bathroom.
“You didn’t go into the bathroom.” He knew he sounded like a nut. He knew it. Still, he couldn’t stop. The words kept tumbling out of his mouth no matter how hard he tried to be calm and sane. He had no idea what was happening to him, but he knew Breezy couldn’t be a saint forever. She’d had more patience than any woman would have under the circumstances.
“Because I was checking on Zane. You have your app. Look at it.”
“I shouldn’t have to look at the fucking thing. You should tell me where you’re going,” he snapped. His chest hurt liked hell. His skin felt clammy, but he was sweating. It had started the moment she’d slipped from the bed.
He was getting worse. The physical symptoms were becoming as bad as the mental—or emotional—ones. The monster, always so close, always so ready to protect him, opened his eyes and stared at his woman. Furious. She had no right to be upset, not when she insisted on doing the bullshit things she did.
“How the fuck do you think I know what you’re doing when every time I turn around you’re doing some bullshit move to protect your man?”
He watched her face, there in the moonlight. She was gorgeous standing in nothing at all but her bare skin. He loved her like that. Her breasts were round and full, high on her body so that the temptation to cup them and feed on them was always present. She’d shed the silk kimono he’d gotten her when she’d returned to their bedroom. He didn’t like her sleeping in clothes and the few times she’d tried, saying it was more convenient, he’d just stripped them off, rolled her under him and forestalled any argument.
There wasn’t going to be putting this one off, and he didn’t want to. She had a look on her face that told him, nearly for the first time ever, she was ready to battle with him.
Breezy jammed her fists on her hips. “What are you talking about? I thought we put that to rest. I didn’t tell you about Bridges beating me and I should have. I’ve admitted that. Are you going to keep bringing it up every time you get upset over something stupid, so you have something else to divert attention from the fact that you’re acting crazy? Because you are.”
He took a step toward her. Savage was right. She wasn’t getting the message no matter how much he talked to her about it. A jackhammer began pounding at his brain, a terrible thudding that wouldn’t quit. “You can insult me as much as you want to, Bree. I get that’s your only defense, but you don’t get a pass on this. I’m