“Those would be?” I pushed.
“They would be for you to ask Creed, Sylvie,” he stated. “You got it in you to put that shit behind you, you gotta get to know your partner. I’ll tell you this, it’s f**ked how shit works but he’s you except male and maybe a little scarier. The shingle says PI. The word says his resume has a lot of blank spots and his skill set is varied. He doesn’t take the job if he doesn’t believe in the mission and like or respect who he’s workin’ for.” Knight grinned. “But he charges a f**kuva lot more than you do.”
My eyes went back to the window to take in the empty club and I muttered, “He’s got kids to support.”
Knight was silent.
I let this stretch then threw him a grin and started toward the door, saying, “Got shit to do.”
I had my hand on the handle when Knight called my name and I turned back.
“You need to bail, do it,” he stated. “You’re still mine, I’m still yours. Nothin’, woman, not this shit, not you needin’ to protect yourself from history in your face, not anything comes between you and me.”
That meant the world but he knew it so I didn’t have to say it.
I jerked up my chin but assured him again, “I’m looking forward. It’s cool, Knight, trust me.”
“You may be lookin’ forward, babe, but that direction right now means most of what you see is history. You can’t deal, you can’t. Understood and it’s all good.”
Seriously, I f**king loved this guy.
Still, I griped, “Jeez, man, it was sixteen years ago. I’m totally over it.”
“Anya left me or I lost her, I’d never get over it so don’t bullshit me,” he shot back. “There’s only one, we both know it, and Tucker Creed was your one. So you aren’t over it. That doesn’t mean you can’t cope. But you won’t cope if you deny that somewhere inside you can’t.”
It kinda sucked he was hot, rich, cool and smart.
“Heartfelt, badass lecture over?” I asked and his lips twitched.
“Yeah.”
“Terrific. Got shit to do,” I muttered and threw open the door.
“Sylvie,” he called and I whirled on a snapped, “What?”
“Bottom of my soul,” he whispered across the room, eyes locked to mine.
I sucked in breath through my nose before I whispered back, “Bottom of mine.”
Then, before he could really get to me, I took off.
Chapter Four
Orange Sherbet Push-Ups
A cold, dark night in the hills of Kentucky, twenty-eight years earlier, Sylvie is six, Creed is eleven…
I stared up in Tucker Creed’s pretty blue eyes that I could see were a pretty blue even in the dark.
Everyone in town knew Tucker Creed, his Momma and his dead Daddy. I’d even heard about them, all of them.
When his Daddy died, my Daddy told me the whole town went to his funeral. This was because he was a hero. He had the medals to prove it and everything.
My Daddy didn’t talk about Tucker’s Momma straight to me but I heard him talking about her.
What I heard was him saying, “Winona Creed is a slut, a total f**king whore. If Brand Creed was alive today, he’d beat her bloody and the bitch would deserve it.”
I wasn’t certain sure what “slut” and “whore” meant but obviously they weren’t good. And I wasn’t certain sure Brand Creed, Tucker’s Daddy, would beat his wife bloody. That didn’t seem like what a hero would do at all.