“I’m too much of a liability and I’d never risk Lily like that, but thank you.” I press a soft kiss to his lips before pulling away.
“The thought of you out there alone—”
I cut him off. “Don’t start doubting me now.” I start to climb off his lap, but he grips me tightly.
“I’m not ready to let you go,” he admits quietly as he presses his face into the crook of my neck and breathes me in.
“I’m not yours to hold onto, Cash, and truthfully, your lips are not the only ones I’ve kissed lately,” I warn him.
He tenses underneath me for a second before he sighs and his whole body relaxes. “I’m not jealous, I have no right to be. You’re not mine, even though I’d have been honored if you wanted to be. But having allies in your corner is smart.”
I shove him in the chest and growl. “I’m not fucking for favors. I won’t be using my pussy as a bargaining tool,” I snap, moving to climb off him again, but this fucking dress makes it impossible. He circles my wrists with his hands and pulls them behind my back, gripping them tightly as he tugs me so close his lips are a hairbreadth from mine.
“I was talking about your heart, Viddy, so retract your claws. I see what you try to hide, smartly too because you’re right; nothing is a bigger liability than the ones you love. Most people in our situations choose to avoid attachments for this reason, but there is something about you that makes grown men, dangerous men, gangsters, and murders, lose their fucking minds around you.”
My breath comes out in quick, rapid pants at his words, but he’s not done.
“I should have snapped your pretty little neck the second you found out about Lily and yet here you are. Your hot little pussy, inches above my cock and all I can think about is fucking you, possessing you, owning you. It’s like you weave magic wherever you go.”
I laugh, my breath blowing against his face.
“I’ve seen what I look like, I know the effect this face has on men. It’s not my fault people are too fucking shallow to look beneath the pretty to see the dark and ugly that swirls beneath it. It’s what makes me a good predator. I don’t have to chase my prey if they seek me out themselves now, do I? It’s always the same, this body, this face, I might look like I’m made to sin, demanding attention whenever I go.” I lean back a touch, and when he lets go of my wrists, I lift my hands to cup my breasts. His eyes zero in on the movement, his tongue trailing over his bottom lip.
“But years ago, before these came in, I was the prey. I’ve been torn apart in more ways than you can count. I put myself back together piece by bloody piece, and I decided this body that men so desperately coveted, the one they turned into a weapon they used against me, should be used to bring them down. Seems kind of poetic, don’t you think?”
“You could leave, run far away, hide—” I press my fingers over his lips.
“I spent most of my life in the shadows with the bogeyman nipping at my heels. I deserve more than that. I’m not running anymore, Cash, it’s my turn to hunt.” I finally break free and slide off his lap, pulling my dress down and sitting beside him with my legs crossed as if the last five minutes didn’t just happen.
“Look—” Whatever he was about to say is cut off by the reappearance of Jen and Lily.
“Sorry, she wants her daddy,” Jen apologizes as she walks over to Cash and hands Lily to him.
“It’s fine, Jen. You’re off duty now unless I get called out for something, but it should be fine.
“Okay, thanks. It was nice to meet you,” she tells me softly before turning and leaving.
“She seems nice,” I point out, watching Cash make faces at Lily, smiling when she giggles loudly.
“She’s great with Lil, been with us since the beginning. I’d be lost without her to be honest. I had interviewed a hundred nannies before she turned up, and Lily just took to her straight away.”
“Where’s Lily’s mom?” I ask, knowing it’s none of my business, but unable to stop the words from spilling out.
“She OD’d two weeks after Lily was born.” He looks at me then, his