“So you’re not even going to try?” he asks. “I never figured you for a quitter, Katie.”
“I’ll give you a week. One week to show me whatever this is between us, and to convince me that you really do have my and Beth’s interests at heart.”
“That seems like a lot to accomplish in a week.”
“Are you not up for the challenge?”
“I didn’t say that, sweetness. We need some ground rules, though. First of all, you’ll not try to run away. If we can’t have that trust between us, I can’t let my guard down around you and vice versa.”
“Done.”
“That was awful easy.”
“Done, for one week only,” I qualify.
“We will be in Kentucky in a week.”
“I’m not opposed to going to Kentucky, but I’m not about to give Beth the okay until I know it’s absolutely safe.”
“Okay, then. One week. Next, you do whatever I ask of this body. You trust me to take control and give you exactly what you need.”
“Umm… are you about to get freaky on me? I watched that movie, you know. The one with the red room.”
“I can promise you, however freaky I get, you’ll like it.”
“I want a better safe word than the lame one they used.”
He seems shocked at my reply, but smiles. “That’s doable. What word?”
“Bastard.”
“Bastard?”
“It’ll be the easiest word to remember if you piss me off.”
“Fine, whatever. It’s not like you will use it, anyway. So, are we making a deal here?”
“Do we seal it with a kiss?”
“Well, we can start with a kiss,” he says, taking my mouth.
I hope I didn’t just let my hormones make a huge mistake.
“I want to know where Beth is.”
I wince as I hear Skull’s voice. He’s pissed. He’s more than pissed.
“I’m not telling you,” says Katie. “Torch says you won’t hurt my sister, but I don’t trust you.”
“You will tell me what I need to know.”
“Not ‘til I know for sure that you’re safe. I have my sister and my niece to look out for.”
“Listen, perra…”
“I’ve been called worse. But I’m not the fucker who gave the woman who loves me a pile of cash and told her to get lost with my child. So you can back the fuck off. I’m already regretting agreeing to this,” Katie growls, throwing the phone back to me.
I make a judgment call. I hope I’m doing the right thing. “Sweetness…”
“He’s such an ass. I have no idea why my sister loves him.”
“She loves him?”
“Don’t be an asshole. Of course she does.”
“Two years is a long time.”
“It’s been longer than that, and of course she does. She hardly gives anyone but me and Gabby the time of day. Men throw themselves at her and she’s oblivious. When she got his note that night in the hospital, it almost destroyed her.”
With that, I carefully turn the phone off without drawing attention from Katie. “Let’s talk about something that doesn’t make you so tense. I have plans for you today.”
“Plans? That doesn’t sound cryptic at all.”
“Nothing for you to worry about, remember?”
“It came back to me when you demanded I not wear underwear and put on a skirt this morning.”
“You look amazing.”
“I’m not used to men telling me what to wear.”
“You’re not used to having a man around at all. I’ll make you like it.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I’ll prove it,” I tell her, pulling into a parking lot.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she says, finally seeing where we’ve pulled into. “A dildo shop?”
“Shame on you. It’s adult novelties,” I correct her. “They sell much more than dildos. Of course, if that’s what you want, I’ll be glad to get one of those, too,” I add with a wink.
“I am not going in that store with you.”
“I never pictured you as a prude, sweetness.”
“I’m not. I have toys. I just tend to order them.”
“You have toys? I didn’t see them in your things.”
“I planned to buy more when I got settled.”
“Then we can pick them out together because, sweetness, I’m definitely the only man who will use them on you.”
She turns away from me, but I can see the way her breasts harden under her shirt. That tells me all I need to know.
Time to go shopping.
I listen to the woman—Beth’s sister—blather on until Torch obviously turns the phone off. I look at my cell for a minute, then hurl it across the room. I take no pleasure in the way it shatters. Fucking hell, I’m so tired of going in circles. Torch called me earlier to tell me about the traitor I have in my crew. The only drawback is, no one has given me a fucking name. My gut tells me it’s Pistol, but I can’t be sure. He took a bullet to protect Beth. Maybe… Shit.
I’m so fucking tired of going around in circles. My life has been a fucking mess since I found out Beth is alive. I hate her. I puta la odio! Yet, I still want her. She’s a poison in my veins and nothing I do has gotten rid of her. I get her back in my hands and—Christ! I have no idea what I will do. I just know I want to take every minute of the hell she has put me through out on her. I want to make her suffer.