“No one will believe you. I’m well-respected, and you’re a drummer in a rock band who is fucking my ex-girlfriend.”
I opened the door, which took a hell of a lot. All I wanted to do was turn around and put him on his ass. The only reason I didn’t was because of Savvy. She wouldn’t like it and I liked Savvy—a lot.
No. It wasn’t like. It was love.
I probably always had, but I’d placed her in a compartment of my mind a long time ago where I couldn’t find her. Where she was safe from me. From my anger and bitterness. The hurt.
And then she’d left.
She’d left and I’d let her go.
But Savvy came back to me, and she may not have known that was what she was doing, but that was what it was. And I’d do everything I could to keep her safe.
Luke was waiting outside, leaning against the side of the car. “Do I need to call Deck?”
I huffed. “No.” If I beat the shit out of David, the police would be involved, and if the police got involved, I’d need Deck to help smooth things over. “Didn’t touch him.”
Luke’s brows lifted, but he didn’t say anything.
“Where are we with the horses? You hear from Danny?” The kid was supposed to e-mail today, but I hadn’t heard from him.
Luke tossed me the car keys. “Five minutes ago. Your dad isn’t purchasing any new horses.” Which means he’s watching his funds. “He may have something on a horse called Faith. But I haven’t watched the video he sent yet.”
I was driving as I hadn’t wanted Luke to bring the limo and draw attention. I opened the door and looked at Luke over the roof of the car. “If we go after another polo pony, my dad is going to know someone in the stable is responsible. I won’t risk the kid.”
“Danny needs the job,” Luke said.
“Then we find him something else.” Emily knew enough people in the horse world to get him into another stable. I folded into the car, and Luke hopped in the passenger side.
I drove to the warehouse where Luke had left his car.
“She’s staying here tonight,” I told Luke before he got out of the car.
Luke nodded. “I’ll call Roman. You going to tell her about today?”
“Yeah.” David would do one of two things: retaliate thinking he could, or he’d do as I asked. Either way, Savvy would find out, and I wanted her hearing it from me.
Luke left, and I went inside to shower and change before picking up Savvy.
Killian picked me up at six, well five-forty-five because he was always early. He was a perfect gentleman, even though I kind of didn’t want him to be. The most he did was a light touch on the small of my back as he guided me to his car.
He didn’t waste any time when he drove out of my parking lot when he said, “I went and saw David.”
I jerked, eyes shooting to his face. “You did?” I was uncertain how I felt about him doing that, but I wasn’t exactly angry, more surprised. But then it was Killian and he’d been pissed when David had shown up at my apartment even if it turned into a good thing.
“He won’t come near you again.” His tone was abrupt, as if he was thinking about the encounter.
“Did you…?” I glanced at his hands on the steering wheel and when my gaze shifted back to his face, his brows rose.
“Did I punch him?”
David deserved it, but he’d also not take it well and I didn’t want Killian getting into trouble because of me. “Yes.”
“No. But he will be retracting what he said about you.”
My chest swelled and I wanted to crawl into his lap and kiss him. Instead, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Killian.”
“You’re welcome.”
Five minutes later, he pulled up to a warehouse down by the docks and parked.
“Why are we stopping here?” I asked.
“My place.”
I stared at the ominous building. “The entire building?”
He chuckled. “It’s not as big as it looks.” He climbed out of his car and I followed.
I wasn’t so sure about that.
It was an industrial area, and the building was old, like one of those hundred-year-old factories. A lot of them had been converted into livable lofts, but not in the dock district as there was nothing around, and no one wanted to live here.
Except for Killian, it appeared.
He met me at the front of the car and slid his hand in mine, squeezing. “It’s safe.”
I half laughed. “You had my car taken to a wrecking yard because you deemed it unsafe. I doubt you’d walk me into a building that wasn’t,” I said as we walked across the gravel to a large metal door. “Still, it’s a warehouse.”
“I had it converted to be a living space. The building was in pretty good shape and empty. It used to be a storage place for ships’ cargo. But it’s been ten years since it was used, so I got it for a good price.”
The more I thought about it, the more I realized this was exactly where Killian would choose to live. Private. Exclusive. Different and yet simple.
He opened the heavy metal door.
“You don’t lock it?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Nothing to steal.” He moved down the hall to a cage door where he parted the gate and shut it behind us. Then he pressed a button and the elevator clunked and groaned as it made its way upward.
It jerked to a stop, and he opened the gates that led right into his place.
I immediately noticed the distressed hardwood floors and a massive open space. And I meant massive. At least three thousand square feet of floors and nothing else. A dancer’s dream. All it needed was a mirrored wall.
The walls were brick with substantial windows along the south side and looked out onto the water. The ceilings had exposed duct work and pipes, which was at least fifteen feet high.
But I didn’t have time to take in much more as he shut the gates and moved into me. He backed me up against them, and they clanged.
“Two days is too long.”
It was. I hadn’t stopped thinking about him. It didn’t help that he kept sending me dirty texts reminding me.
His hands locked around my wrists and he raised my arms above my head and pressed them against the gate. “Grab hold.”
I did.