I was still mad at him and there was a divide between us; one I couldn’t get past until he’d apologised. The problem was, I wanted him to say sorry without me having to tell him I needed that. And I knew that wasn’t going to happen. And that pissed me off even more.
“Okay, babe, spit it out,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Nash, the fact I have to spit it out really pisses me off.”
“I’m not a mind reader. You’re going to have to tell me what it is.”
“You don’t need to be a mind reader for this. You just need to realise that you were an ass to me.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Fuck, is this about me not taking the instructions off you?”
“Not so much, although that did annoy me. This is because of the way you spoke to me.”
He didn’t say anything, he just stood there looking confused about the whole thing. Good Lord, men needed it spelt out to them so I did that for him. “Nash, my ex treated me like shit. He didn’t hit me or anything like that, but he bullied and belittled me. I won’t even contemplate a relationship with a man who does that. Now, I’m not saying you did that at all, but from the start, I’m being upfront and telling you what I won’t put up with. And I won’t put up with being spoken to the way you spoke to me.”
I watched as he processed that. It didn’t take him long and then he moved towards me, lifted his hand to my face and gently rubbed his thumb across my cheek. His eyes were soft; kind. Totally not how I’d expected this to go at all. My tummy did somersaults while I waited for him to speak.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a relationship and I’m kinda rusty, babe. I’m sorry I spoke to you that way. And I’m real fuckin’ sorry your ex was such a dickhead.”
He’d managed to piss me off twice already today but each time, he hadn’t hesitated to fix it. That stunned the hell out of me. Especially after being married to a man who hardly ever apologised for anything.
“Thank you.”
The divide between us was gone and his arms circled my waist. His lips met mine in a soft kiss that was so unlike most of his kisses. When he ended it, he murmured, “Fuck, baby, you bring out good shit in me.”
This was the Nash I wanted, and the more time I spent with him, the more I wanted him.
Chapter 21
I’d Come For You ~ Nickelback
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Nash
The cold wind whipped around me and the chill from it settled in my bones. June wasn’t usually this cold in Brisbane, but this year we were having record low temperatures. I pulled my jacket tighter around me and made the short walk from my bike into Blade’s warehouse. He had information for me regarding Velvet’s ex and I hoped it would be enough to get the asshole to back off and put her mind at ease. After what she’d told me about her ex this morning, that he’d bullied her, I’d do anything to get him out of her life once and for all. I’d worked out her tough image was a mask she wore for the world. Underneath it, she was vulnerable; not nearly as hard as she projected. And I kinda fucking liked that. It meant she needed me, and I hadn’t been needed in a long time. And that felt really fucking good.
“Blade,” I greeted him as I entered his office.
He didn’t stand, just indicated for me to take a seat. I hadn’t worked him out yet but Madison loved him and that was enough for me to go on. He cut straight to the chase. “James has his fingers in a lot of shit. A lot of dirty shit. If that got out, it would be the end of his political career and most likely would harm his father’s career too.”
“His father is the Minister for Defence, right?”
Blade nodded. “Yes. And James is running for a Federal seat at the next election. He won’t want any of this coming to light so this is your best bet to keep him off Velvet’s back.” He passed me a folder.
“Holy fuck.” I whistled as I flicked through the documents in the folder. Blade was right, James would shit himself if this stuff came out. Corrupt deals and prostitutes tended to do that to a politician. Especially married ones who professed to be Christian.
“Holy fuck is right. When you talk with the motherfucker, mention my name. That’ll help your cause.”
“Thanks, man.” I was still reading through the shit in the folder and had no idea how or why Velvet would have mixed herself up with someone like James Worthington.
Blade changed the subject. “Black Deeds giving you any grief these days?”
“Not that I’m aware of. Their new president seems to be keeping them in line.”
“Good.” He paused before continuing. “I think Marcus has some shit planned; you need to keep your eye on that.”
My head jerked up at that. “What do you know?”
“Still confirming information but my contacts tell me he’s looking to get back into drug distribution. In a big way.”
“Yeah, it’s what we suspect too.”
“And Scott’s on board with that?”
“Fuck no.” My voice reverberated around the room.