Still I wasn’t ready to go there just yet.
“Take it back that you feel responsible,” I said instead.
“Tell me you belong to me,” he demanded.
“Take it back first,” I countered.
The roaming hands were getting serious so mine started to roam too just because I didn’t want to be left out.
He kissed me gently then against my mouth he said, “I’ll wait. You can say it when I’m inside you.”
“Seriously, you can be so annoying,” I told him.
“Babe,” he said as he smiled against my mouth.
For your information a lot later, when he was deep inside me, I gave him what he wanted.
I mean, this was Luke. I was his woman.
And I did belong to him.
For as long as I could remember.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gonzo
Luke and I walked into the Nightingale Investigations offices and everyone was in the reception area waiting for us.
When I said everyone, I mean everyone.
Lee and Indy, Jet and Eddie, Hank and Roxie, Vance and Jules, Sissy, Ally, Daisy with a tall, dark-haired, handsome man I did not know standing at her side, Shirleen, May, Tod and Stevie, Mace, Matt, Hector, Darius, Tex, Duke, and some big black dude I’d never seen before in my life.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
Luke’s mouth got tight.
Everyone stared at me and I knew why. I didn’t look good. I got a good look at myself in the hotel mirror that morning, my lip was torn and my eye was bruised and blackened (and that didn’t count what they couldn’t see and that was the headache to end all headaches). Not to mention, these people talked, no way to keep a secret in this group, news spread like wildfire.
Shirleen was the first to break out of the Group Stare. She walked up to me and pulled me into tight hug.
“Child,” she said low, a tremor running through her voice, a tremor that communicated itself to my body.
“I’m fine,” I told her, putting my arms around her and giving her a reassuring squeeze.
She just held on tight.
After a few beats she leaned back and looked at my face close up. As I watched, sweet, soft, gentle Shirleen morphed into hard, angry, pissed-off Shirleen.
“No one messes with my girl,” she said quietly, eyes still scanning my face. She stepped back, let me go and looked towards the male contingent of our audience. Then she repeated, “No one messes with my girl.” This time she said it louder, angrier, it sounded like an order and the tension in the room, already high, climbed higher. Nobody seemed prepared to do a thing about it, in fact they all seemed to be feeding off it.
Not good.
Before I could intervene, Shirleen looked at Darius. “You got me, son?” she asked.
“I got you, Aunt Shirleen,” Darius said and my surprised gaze swung between Shirleen and Darius. I didn’t know they were related.
Then Shirleen, not quite done, looked at Lee. “Do you got me?” she repeated.