life. And would need to leave her out of all his decisions.
All she could do was trust him.
As the sun came up every morning and a new day started, soon her problems would be over. Either Askook would get what he wanted—her, or Paco would succeed at killing him. There was no middle ground.
Could she handle the responsibilities of him taking another life?
He was okay now, but what would happen when he fell victim to drinking or drugs again?
She wasn't sure if she was strong enough to lose more of her heart.
Chapter 23
Paco
Josie wrapped her legs around him. He cupped her ass and carried her into the bedroom. For the next twelve hours, he planned to drown himself between her legs.
"I thought you had club business." She kissed him deeply, squealing when he let her go, and she plopped onto the mattress.
Taking off his vest, he folded it in half and set it on the dresser. "Change of plans."
"Selfishly, I'm glad." She pulled her short, skimpy nightgown over her head. "Are you upset?"
He took off his shirt and leaned over to remove his boots. "Not a bit."
She popped up on her knees and crawled to the edge of the mattress before plunking down on her butt to undo his belt. "The bathtub is half full of water."
"Huh?"
"I heard your motorcycle when I was in the bathroom filling up the tub. I shut off the water to answer the door." She undid his zipper and looked up at him. "Do you want to take a bath?"
He leaned over and kissed her. "You take one. I'm going to watch."
"Take one with me." She stood and pulled his hand.
"I'm not going to fit in your tub." He followed her into the bathroom with his jeans hanging off his hips.
Tilting his head, he checked out her ass as she started the water to finish filling up the tub. Curiously, he took in the way she added bubbles under the stream.
If he'd ever taken a bath, he couldn't remember. His memories started around eight years old. By then, he was taking showers when forced to bath at all. Though, he remembered his sister locking herself in the bathroom and taking long soaks when they were teenagers and living in the same foster home.
He remembered the yelling and grumbling afterward when their foster dad complained about the water bill and not being able to use his God damn bathroom when he got off work. After one of his outbursts toward Penny, Paco had knocked him out with one punch.
They both were moved to another family after that. Constant moving became normal the last three years until they were split up when they were seventeen and forced to live apart for a year before he aged out of the system.
"Paco?"
"Yeah?" He lifted his head.
She'd stepped into the water and watched him. Shaking off the past, he sat on the lid of the toilet beside the tub.
"I asked if you'd hand me that hair clip on the counter." She held out her hand.
He grabbed the hair thingamabob and gave it to her. She made quick work of pinning up her hair. Then, she lowered her body into the water and sighed.
Her obvious pleasure sent a shiver up his spine. He needed to get a grip. His relationship with Josie would work out. The things that had happened to his sister wouldn't happen to her. He wouldn't allow it to happen.
Josie took the washcloth from the tub's side and rolled a bar of soap in the material. Seeing her intent, he took the cloth from her and leaned toward her.
Starting with her shoulders, he took his time washing her. She let her head fall back to the edge of the tub and closed her eyes.
"I've never had someone else give me a bath," she murmured. "Except for my mom when I was little."
She never talked about her parents. The only thing he knew was what she'd shared in her journal about her dad and during her breakdown when he'd confessed to reading her private thoughts.
"Where is she, sweetheart?" he asked.
"On her journey." She opened her eyes. "Breast cancer. I was six years old."
His hand stilled before he dipped the washcloth in the water to warm it up. Her father had been the only parent in her life, and he'd betrayed her.
He drizzled the water over her chest. Never good at dealing with death, he cleared his throat. "You had her for too short of a time."
She turned her head.