Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,91

You split us up on purpose. And Alaric… Where do I even start? You knew I liked him. A lot. At least with James and Gideon, you gave them a consolation prize, but you ruined Alaric’s life!”

“I tried doing it the nice way first. Why do you think he got assigned to the overseas art squad? But he just kept coming back. And…” Black’s turn to compose himself. “And I kept asking myself, what did he have that I didn’t?”

“Nothing. He had nothing that I wanted more than I wanted you.”

I tore a hand through my hair. A clump snagged on wedding ring number two and ripped out from the roots. Ouch, fuck. Alaric was an amazing guy, but if it had come down to a choice between him and Black, it would have been Black. Always Black. Except maybe today.

“There must have been something,” Black said, a dog with a damn bone. “I remember the way you looked at him.”

“Fine.” I narrowed my eyes, irritation getting the better of me. “You’re really that desperate to know? Then I’ll tell you. Alaric was the master at giving it to me up the arse. The king of anal. Is that what you wanted to hear? Oh, and he didn’t take himself so fucking seriously all the time either.”

Black’s eyes glittered, and I wondered if I’d gone too far. Winding him up was like poking a sleeping bear with a really big stick. But I just couldn’t stop.

“And above all, he was a friend. Newsflash: I have lots of friends. You never get jealous when I go out with Sofia, and I hate to tell you this, Chuck, but if I was gonna fuck around behind your back, I could just as easily do that with a woman. So it’s the dick, right? You got scared in case Alaric had a bigger fucking dick than you.”

“Emmy, shut up.”

He sounded annoyed. Well, I was pissed off too. Pissed off that Alaric’s life had been ruined, and angry that I hadn’t realised Black’s role in the affair sooner. How could I have been so blind?

“Screw you.”

“Really? You want that? I’ll show you who’s got the biggest dick.”

He spun me around, reaching for my zipper, a move he’d pulled a hundred times before. But today, I batted his hand away. He growled and fisted a handful of fabric, and my dress tore as I sidestepped away from him. Top to fucking bottom, and Black was left holding the remains of my outfit. A fine piece of Italian workmanship that turned out to be.

“Get the hell away from me. You’re not fucking your way out of this mess.”

“We can talk about this.”

Now he grabbed my arm. I tried to unpeel his fingers, but he wouldn’t let go, so I did what came naturally. Hit him with a right hook. He staggered backwards and fell against the side table, but his eyes quickly focused again, and he didn’t flinch when the vase wobbled and crashed to the floor. Quick as a flash, he threw me backwards onto the sofa, but I kicked his legs out from under him on the way down. It only took me a second to roll sideways and get into a fight stance, but what was left of my bra pinged open and sagged around my chest. I flung it at Black as he scrambled to his feet. Of course, he ducked.

“Diamond, what are we doing?”

Black was looking for an opening, a way to subdue me, but I was in no mood to listen to his bullshit. When he dropped his gaze for the merest fraction of a second, I knew he was going to go for my legs. Getting me flat on the floor was his best option. So I ducked under his guard before he could make a move, grabbed his shirt for leverage, and kneed him in the bollocks. Normally, that would have been counterproductive, but today I didn’t care. Buttons flew everywhere as his shirt ripped. Black gave a satisfying grunt, then tried to tackle me but missed when I leapt back.

“I’ll tell you what you’re doing. Proving you’re the world’s biggest dick.”

When he began to straighten, I raised one foot, not bothering to temper my fury as I booted him in the chest with a stiletto. He fell back onto another sofa, and this time, he didn’t get up. My spiked heel had left a red mark on his chest, right over his traitorous heart. Good. He deserved