KANE (Slater Brothers, #3)

She shrugged. “I wanted to judge how you were feelin’ first. I thought you’d be pissed, but you just seem... sad?”


I frowned. “I’m not sad, I’m just overwhelmed. It’s been one hell of a twenty-four hours. I’m ready for it to be over.”

A light knock sounded on the door then and Keela growled.

“I told him to wait in the car.”

I winked. “Told you, he doesn’t listen. Just like his brothers.”

Keela sighed and stood up from the sofa. “Will I drag him along with me?”

“Go for it. I want to see how long it takes for him to get past you.”

Keela silently laughed as she stood up and headed towards my front door. She opened it and instantly pressed her hands against Kane’s chest when he tried to step foot inside my apartment.

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

Kane growled, “Tough shit. She is going to see me whether she likes it or not.”

Stubborn arsehole.

“Don’t have me call me brothers, Kane,” I called out from my sofa.

“Because that worked out so well the first time around?” he hissed back.

Keela screeched, “Don’t even think of comin’ over here and takin’ your bullshit out on her. She has been through enough already. She’s stressed to the max and your presence is not helpin’ things. Can you not just do as she asks and leave?”

“No.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed.

“What’s so damn funny?” Kane snapped.

“You,” I said still laughing. “You’re such a prick and so very predictable that it’s funny.”

“You should really—Hey! Kane! Let go of—”

I widened my eyes when my front door slammed and Kane was the one who shut it... in Keela’s face. He was going to die when she got her hands on him.

“You’re dead Kane Slater, do you hear me? D.E.A.D!”

Kane snorted as he flipped the lock on my door. “Whatever you say, short stuff.”

Keela screeched and smacked at my front door with her hands. “I’m gettin’ Alec and Nico and comin’ right back here to get you!”

“Good luck.”

I shook my head. “What was the point of that? I’ll just ignore you and when Keela gets her hands on you, she’ll kill you.”

“I’m not worried about Keela Daley, babydoll.”

You should be.

“Kane, I’ve been a wreck all day thinkin’ about this mornin’. I’m tired. I just want to go to bed and not wake up until Monday.”

I stood up and made a move to walk towards the narrow hallway that lead to my bedroom, but Kane stood at his full height in front of me and showed no signs of moving.

“Will you at least look at me?”

I grunted, “No, just get out of me way.”

“No.”

I growled, “Kane.”

“Aideen,” he calmly replied.

I balled my hands into fists. “You’re makin’ me mad on purpose. Just move.”

“Not until you hear me out.”

I threw my hands up in the air and turned my back to him. “There is nothin’ to hear out. You’re a pig just like your brothers, and just like me own brothers. You don’t respect me—”

“Bull-fucking-shit. I respect the hell out of you.”

I humourlessly laughed, “Is that why we always argue and fight with one another? Your respect for me requires that?”

“We argue because it’s just what we do. It’s our foreplay.”

I gasped, “Foreplay? You have got to be jokin’ me.”

I held my breath when Kane gripped my arm and turned me to face him. “I’m not kidding. You know good and well why we fight so much.”

“Nope, you’ll have to enlighten me.”

Kane growled, “It’s because you want me just as much as I want you.”

Sex.

It was always about sex.

“Sex with you just results in pregnancy. I’d rather be celibate, thank you very much.”

Kane placed his fingers under my chin and lifted my head until I looked at his face. My eyes zeroed in on his bruised jaw and black eye.

“Sex with me doesn’t usually result in pregnancy. I lost focus that night. There is just something about you. I couldn’t think about anything but being inside you.”

How often was he going to bring that bloody night up?

I gritted my teeth when I felt my cheeks heat up. “It was a moment of stupidity.”

Kane glared at me. “It was a long ass moment that was repeated three times in the space of a few hours.”

I turned my head away from him. “We talked about this, it is not happenin’ again. We have bigger problems than arguin’, sex, or even fightin’. I’m pregnant with your baby, Kane. This is serious.”

His face hardened. “I know damn well this is serious. Do you think I’d be here if I didn’t know that?”

I shook my head. “You’re here because you hit me this mornin’ and you feel bad about it.”

Kane’s eyes flicked down to my still swollen cheek that now had an array of dark colours on it. He lifted his hand and gently brushed his fingers over the tender area. I winced a little and it caused him to frown.

He lifted his other arm, cupped my face with both of his hands, and lowered his head down to mine. I froze because I wasn’t sure what he was doing.

“Kane?”

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