I thought it best to carry on with breakfast. The toast in the toaster had long since come up and wouldn’t be hot anymore so the butter wouldn’t melt. I hated non-melted butter on toast. I decided to let Luke have the non-melted butter ones, exchanged toast for bread and pressed down the lever.
“Ava,” Luke said from behind me.
I turned. He was now sitting on the counter, eyes on me.
“Come here,” he said softly.
Don’t ask me why, but for some reason, I went. He opened his legs and I walked between them. He closed his thighs against my sides, wrapped a hand around the back of my neck as I tilted my head back to look at him and his face came close.
“You’re lucky,” he told me.
“I am?” I asked.
“Yeah. You’re lucky I’ve f**ked you. You’re lucky it was mind-blowing. You’re lucky I think it’s f**kin’ sweet-as-hell that you would nestle into me and fall asleep with me inside you. You’re lucky I like you movin’ around my kitchen wearin’ my sweatshirt. You didn’t have all that, babe, I gotta tell you I would likely be pretty f**kin’ pissed Zano assigned one of his thugs to be your bodyguard.”
“Well, I didn’t –” I started to say in my own defense (really, I didn’t, it wasn’t my idea for Ren to give me a bodyguard) but Luke’s lips touched mine and I stopped talking.
“Don’t try your luck,” he warned.
I thought about trying my luck. I did this while looking in Luke’s eyes. I decided not to try my luck.
“You want toast or what?” I asked kind of bitchy.
He did a half-grin, his hand slid in my hair and he gave me the kiss he meant to give me five minutes before.
In the end, my toast had non-melted butter too.
* * * * *
Luke and I went to the hospital to see Bobby.
Santo Mancini followed us in a black Volvo. Glancing out the back window of the Porsche, I noticed he was one of my kidnappers, the driver. Well, at least it wasn’t the other guy. I didn’t think the other guy liked me.
My phone rang on the way to the hospital. It said “Sissy calling.”
I flipped it open and put it to my ear. “Yo,” I said.
“Some big, beefy guy is here,” Sissy informed me, sounding kind of breathless. “Says his name is Lucky and he’s my bodyguard. He doesn’t look like one of the hot guys. I just screamed in his face and closed the door. He’s outside, standing by his car. What do I do?”
Damn, damn, damn.
“Ren set it up,” I told her. “He’s not one of the Hot Bunch. He’s one of Ren’s um… people.”
“Oh. So he’s okay?” Sissy sounded less panicked.
That was a question I couldn’t answer. “I think so,” I said.
“Did they find the Hot Bunch guy that was missing?” she asked.
I bit my lip and watched Luke drive for a few beats.
“Ava?” Sissy called in my ear.
“Luke and I are going to visit him at the hospital now.”
Silence then quietly she said, “Shit.”
She could say that again.