Gone - Anna Brooks Page 0,59
take a breath. “I used to think so, but since being at Royal, I know that family isn’t blood. It still stings sometimes, but I am who I am, and if they can’t accept that, then there’s nothing else I can do.”
“That’s pretty admirable.”
“Not really.” I hate this conversation, in general, but there’s one other thing I want to tell her. “I don’t want to go down this road, but I want you to know that Gio said some things to me about being a player, and if it ever got to you, I—”
She lifts her hand and curves her fingers against my lips. “Stop. The past is the past. I trust you, and I don’t care about who you had before me. I can imagine that with what you went through, you had a hard time trusting women, so you dealt with… encounters how you felt best. I’m not one to talk about past mistakes, so let’s just focus on the future, okay?”
“Sounds good to me.” She leans over to kiss me, but I pull back. “One more thing. When I came home on the day of the party, you must have left the back door unlocked because Laila was here.”
Her torso flies back, and her neck snaps straight. “What?”
“She just got lucky that the door was open, I guess, because she was sitting on the couch… naked.”
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”
I wasn’t expecting an apology… yet another reason this woman amazes me.
“Why would you be sorry?”
“Because I left the door unlocked. My mind was just so boggled that day. It’s my fault she got in.”
“You’re not going to ask me what she wanted?”
Izzy shakes her head. “I know what she wanted, and I believe you owe me some money.” She holds her hand out and wiggles her fingers.
I dig into my back pocket for my wallet and pull out a twenty, then shove it into her waiting palm. “Here.”
“Thank you very much, loser.”
“Just so you know, I kicked her out right away. Barely gave her time to say why she was here.”
“I figured that’s what you would do. We might not have known each other for long, but I know the kind of man you are, and I know that I’m yours just as much as you’re mine. I trust you, Damien. And I sure as hell hope you feel the same way about me.”
I push my chair back and lift her up, tossing her over my shoulder, then smack her ass. “I’m about to show you exactly how I feel about you.”
Izzy
I’m a little sore between my legs as we walk up the steps to his grandma’s house, and once I reach the top, Damien smirks.
“You’re real proud of yourself, aren’t you?”
He shrugs and opens the door, motioning for me to precede him. As I pass, he bends down and whispers in my ear, “You can still feel me, but I can still taste you.”
A shiver runs down my spine, and he smacks my booty as a reminder and then ushers me forward with a hand on my lower back.
Grandma is in her sitting room, and when we walk in, she welcomes me with open arms. Before Damien and I can even sit down, she tries to stand. “Let’s go outside. It’s a beautiful day.”
“I was surprised you weren’t out there already.” Damien helps her out of her seat.
She holds his strong arm as she rises on shaky legs. “I wanted to catch a nap before you got here.”
“I saw the lemonade mix you had out on the counter. Would you like me to make it and bring it to the porch?”
“That’d be nice, thank you.” When she smiles at me, I realize that Damien was right, and she doesn’t care about my outburst at dinner the other day. “There are fresh lemons in the fridge. I always cut a few of them and add them to the mix. Oh, and lots of ice.”
“I’ll be sure to do that, as well.”
Damien winks at me as he escorts her outside. I go to the kitchen to make the lemonade. I’ve managed to use the tips of my injured hand’s fingers to hold the lemons enough to cut two of them. I’m about to start on the third when I sense movement to my left. I raise my head, and the fruit tumbles to the floor when I see Jordan, leaning on the wall just watching me.
“What are you doing here?” I didn’t see another car anywhere around.
He