“Oh my God,” I say against his lips, which then slide down to my throat and move behind my ear as he caresses the shell of my ear with his nose.
“I agree.” The vibration of his lips behind my ear earns him a full body shiver.
“A bad play gave you a hard-on?” I whisper, coquettishly.
“You fucking give me a hard-on. I want you, bad. I want you in my bed tonight.”
I straighten and pull my lips tight. “Oh my God,” I whisper. I’m such a jerk. “I can’t,” I blurt. “I’m such a jerk.”
And the look in his eyes, it hurts to see the flash of disappointment. Because I don’t want to disappoint him. I want – very, very much to make Killian Coulter the exact opposite of disappointed.
I bury my face in his chest and breathe hard. “I’m sorry. I just… I can’t yet. That shit with him isn’t even over.”
He lets out a long exhale and I find myself looking at the sexy column of his throat as he puts his chin on top of my head and just holds me for a second.
And it feels amazing the way he’s holding me, the cold air swirling around us, picking up speed and sending a chill through me. Because I feel alive right now. More alive than I’ve felt in a long while.
And then his phone is ringing. He sighs before he takes a half a step back to reach into his pocket for it and I note that his lip is curling as he angrily lifts the screen toward his face.
“What is it?” he asks impatiently.
And immediately after he does, his eyes change. He frowns.
“Frisk him. Watch him like a fuckin’ hawk. My office. Fifteen minutes.”
He tugs my hand so he can get me away from the door enough for him to open it and guide me inside.
“Back to Genesis we go. Apparently Raymond Iadanza is waiting there to see me.”
“What?”
“One sec.” He closes the door, rounds the car and gets in, turning to me.
“What?” I repeat.
“I want you. Very much. You’re not a jerk. Okay?”
I nod but not very convincingly.
“I’m not gonna push you to do something you’re not ready to do. Okay? Please, baby, trust me to handle this meeting with him. Let me do the talking, however it goes. I will not let anything happen to you.”
I nod some more.
“You believe me?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Trust me,” he says.
I nod again, this time with more certainty. “I do.”
He grabs my hand and pulls it to his mouth for a brief kiss.
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
I pull my lips tight and stare straight ahead.
He makes a call and puts his phone to his ear.
“Sorry, man, I was in a theater. Just heard he’s at Genesis. Any clue what’s up?”
He listens for a minute and then shakes his head. “Right. Not a shock. Okay, yeah. I’m fifteen minutes out.” He hangs up.
I’m in a daze for the entire ride, thinking holy crap.
Ray showing up early? Ahead of his deadline? What could this mean? This isn’t like him. Either he wants to plead his case and work something out for more time or he’s somehow managed to come up with the money.
No. No way.
“What does he owe you?” I ask.
“Just over fourteen k with the vig.”
“There’s no way,” I say. “No way would he have that money.”
“We’ll see.”
“What if he does?” I shake my head in astoundment.
“Remember, you said you’d trust me?” Killian asks.
I nod.
“Then trust me.”
44
Killian
He managed to give Wes the slip for two hours this morning. Wes apologized profusely and I was fuming, I drove over and sat outside Violet’s office building myself until he re-surfaced, watching to see if he would show up while checking all surveillance – Violet’s apartment, Violet’s job.
Wes caught the slippery fuck coming back with the old lady from the building early this afternoon before he went up to the apartment and did nothing, other than fuck around with a new cell phone he had. It was a throwaway, and Wes said he’d need more time to get details on it.
Iadanza also spent a lot of time in the bathroom, where we didn’t have a camera. This led me to the conclusion he suspects the apartment is bugged.
I should’ve put cameras into the old lady’s place the day before. Or even the day before that. He’s been there a lot, sitting with her. Drinking coffee with her. Took out her trash once and changed another light bulb the other time.
Whatever he’s pulled, he did it before Wes got those cameras in today. And I have a feeling he’s played that little old lady into emptying her bank account.
Fucking ass-wipe piece of shit.
***
I lead Violet into Genesis and it’s still busy. I get greetings from staff as we enter, but I nod and breeze by them with Violet, heading directly to my office.
Tony is sitting behind my desk, arms folded, eyes on me as I enter. Raymond Iadanza is sitting there, too, dressed in the suit he wore the night of the opening of Numbers and looking cucumber-cool as we enter.
He rises and holds out an envelope.
I take it. Tony moves away from my desk.
I sit down in my chair, taking Violet by the hand and keeping her behind the desk with me.
Her eyes are on the envelope.
I count the money. Quick flip and it looks like it’s all here.
“And it’s not fake?” I say, holding one of the bills up to the light.
Ray snickers. “That’d be ballsy of me, wouldn’t it?”
His eyes move to Violet.
And I pull her onto my lap.
She squeaks in surprise, but doesn’t pull away.
Clearly, I’m feeling proprietary.
“Now, I suppose our business is done, then, “ I say.
“Guess so. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make things right, Killian. I appreciate it.”
He’s smiling but I see his unease at her being on my knee. The smugness about him makes me wanna flip my desk over and lunge at him.
Fucker thinks because I let him off when he showed up at her work, when he showed up at my club with a fucking gun means he’s got no real call to be afraid.
He’s very, very fucking wrong.
“Babe.” Raymond crooks his finger at Violet, gesturing for her to come to him.
She stiffens and doesn’t move.
“I have a proposition for you, Raymond,” I say, instead of ripping his face to shreds like I wanna do.
He looks at me. He’s about to refuse. I can see the writing on the wall. He wants her back. Badly. Well, he can’t fucking have her.
“Before you decline, I insist you hear me out.”
“Okay.”
“Pick your game. Blackjack? Best odds for you, right? Double or nothing? Or…”
Her body is tighter than a bow string.
“Or?” he asks.
And now I feel her tremble.
“What about instead of that ten grand you tried to wager if you got her down the aisle, I give you twenty to fuck off? Then I marry her instead of you?”
I wrap my arm around her waist and cup her hip. I squeeze, reassuringly.