as soon as we got inside, dropped to her knees, ripped open my jeans, and took me in her mouth without saying a word. I pride myself on being able to last pretty fucking long in the bedroom, but last night, it was downright embarrassing how quickly her lips and tongue brought me to completion.
As I stand here remembering the feel of her hot mouth wrapped around me and wonder when I can kick Finn out so I can get her naked again, there’s another knock at the door. It’s like Grand fucking Central Station here this morning. Since Finn is the only person who knows where Layla is right now, and I’m not expecting anyone, I quietly move to the door to look through the hole again.
Oh you have GOT to be kidding me.
I step back and open the door with trepidation, staring down into the face of Layla’s mother. Unlike Finn, she doesn’t wait for an invitation. She just barges right past me and into the living room.
“Sure, come right in,” I mutter to myself as I close the door behind her.
She stands in the middle of my living room doing a slow circle, taking in her surroundings. I don’t miss the look of revulsion on her face as she wrinkles her nose before turning back to face me and quickly replacing that look with a smile.
“Let me guess, you followed Finn?” I ask her as I stay in the foyer and slide my hands into the back pockets of my jeans.
“Of course I followed Finn. He said he spoke to Layla and he knew where she was and that she was safe. I just needed to see for myself.”
She looks around quickly again, and I can tell it’s really taking some effort for her to not cringe. My place is small. I know that. But it’s clean and it’s mine. It’s a place to lay my head at night, and it keeps everyone inside of it safe. That’s all that matters. She can just take that stick right out of her ass because I’m not a millionaire and I never will be.
“Layla is fine. Shaken up, but she’s fine. She’s a very strong woman,” I tell Eve. Maybe if I say it enough, her mother will actually believe it. She doesn’t know the specifics of what happened yesterday. She only knows that Layla received another threatening note. It’s none of her business that the note was printed on a picture of the two of us in a very compromising position.
“Well, that’s good. That’s very good. Actually, I didn’t just come over here for Layla,” she admits.
Surprise, surprise. The she-devil must want something.
“I wanted to apologize to you.”
I quickly glance out of the window in the living room, checking for flying pigs, before I turn back to face Eve.
What the fuck is she apologizing to me for?
“I have to admit, I didn’t hire you with the best intentions in mind. I really didn’t believe Layla had an actual stalker. I’d heard about your reputation, and I figured you would come in here, not really do much, and then go. I could show the media that I really have Layla’s best interests at heart, and it wouldn’t turn into a huge circus that could harm anyone publicly. If I were to hire some big-name investigator, it would quickly get out that Layla had been receiving threats like that for years and I never did anything about it.”
I can do nothing but stand there staring at the piece of work in front of me. She’s actually telling me that she only hired me because she most likely thought I’d be drunk the entire time and not give a rat’s ass about my client’s safety.
“Let’s cut the bullshit, shall we? You’ve never had Layla’s best interests at heart or you wouldn’t be forcing her to do something she doesn’t love. Why the hell admit this to me now when we’re close to catching the stalker? To ease your guilty conscience?” I fire back angrily.
“I know I’ve made mistakes where Layla is concerned, believe me. And I’m not doing any of this because I feel guilty. I will never apologize for the decisions I’ve made because they’ve got me to where I am today. But I would like to apologize to you for underestimating you. You’re very good at your job, Mr. Marshall,” she tells me with a confident lift of her chin.