Taking a chance, I slide my hand between us, finding the warmth between her legs over her jeans. “Here?”
“Y-Yes.”
“I can make it better.” I tug at the button and then lower the zipper. “I’ll kiss it all better.”
“Ford,” she murmurs. “We…I…You…”
I leave her to her mindless stammering as I kneel. With as much tenderness as I can muster, I ease her jeans and panties down her thighs. Her pussy—waxed smooth—makes my mouth water for a taste. I run my thumb over her slit and then pull aside one lip, exposing her pink bud. With a grin, I lick the small nub, loving the way she whimpers in return.
Her fingers tangle in my hair and she gasps when I suck her clit into my mouth. I want to rip off her jeans completely so I can spread her thighs. I’m starved and want to feast on her sweet-tasting pussy. To get my face all up in her slickness, sucking off all the juices of her pleasure I can find. I ache to tongue her tight hole, licking away the soreness of the hurt Scout inflicted.
A growl rumbles from me, loud and needy. I’m about to start ripping away her clothes completely when she stops me with a smack to the head.
“Oh God. No. Quit. We can’t do this here.” Her voice raises an octave, panic laced in her tone. “My dad.”
Though I’d love nothing more than to keep going, I know she’s right. He’s a bastard who hits his own daughter for fucking nothing. I can’t image what he’d do if he found out we were doing this.
“I really, really want to apologize to your perfect pussy,” I rumble, running my nose along her slit. “But, you’re right. The things I want to do to you will take hours.” Glancing up, I wink at her. “One orgasm just isn’t enough. It’s gotta be all or nothing, honey.”
Her smile, though she tries to hide it, peeks out. Maybe I’ve been forgiven for my brother’s sins. I’ll make it up to her over and over again when we have the time and privacy, that’s for damn sure.
“I have to go check on my father,” she says with a slightly disappointed sigh. “I’ll see you Monday.”
She jerks her clothes back on and slips out of the bathroom, leaving me unsated and with a raging erection. I stand back up, wash off the scent of her pussy, and manage to cool the blood that was making my dick hard.
Maybe I fixed shit with her.
I find Della in the classroom trying to con Heathen to come out from beneath a table. Heathen hisses at her but she doesn’t hear. Walking over to Della, I playfully thump her on the head.
She signs something vicious to me, but I don’t know what the fuck it means. Lifting a brow, I point to our usual spot where we work.
“Playtime’s over.”
She cocks her head, frowning. I say it again and gesture at the cat. With a huff of understanding, she abandons her efforts and walks over to the desk. Once she’s seated, she signs slowly to me. We don’t discuss the fact that I don’t know ASL, but she’s not stupid. For some reason, she plays along. Probably using me for the damn cat.
It takes me a minute to decipher what she’s saying.
Dad got beat up.
Playing innocent, I say back to her, “He did? How terrible.”
She grins and shrugs before signing something I don’t know. Then, she takes the time to spell it out for me, k-a-r-m-a.
“Karma?”
Yes. She folds her hands in her lap and waits patiently for our lesson to start as though she’s a sweet little cherub and not the little devil herself.
I like this kid.
And Alexander definitely had that shit coming.
A sudden realization hits me right in the gut. The smile I’d returned to Della fades. If Alexander hits Landry, I wonder if he does the same to Della.
Karma.
I’ve seen the way she looks at him—with barely hidden hatred. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask her if he hits her too. In the end, I keep my mouth shut. Deep down, I know the answer. He does.
It makes me want to beat his ass all over again.
Chapter Twenty
Sparrow
Normally, I’d be completely fine with attending an event where I’m required to wear a nice suit and flash my charming smile. I’m good at it. I actually like it, unlike my brothers.
Not tonight.
Tonight, I’m buzzing with anger and frustration. I am stuck in fucking Boston of all places. Bryant wants me to attend some real estate dinner and bid on some properties. Basically, he wants me to rub elbows with people in the biz, learn a thing or two, and then somehow use it against his enemies.
Maybe Sully was right. This is bullshit. Our lives. How we’re chained to the Morellis, specifically Bryant, and have no hope of doing anything else.
Rather than sulk like my brother would over what I can’t do anything about right now, I focus on my task at hand.
Schmooze.
Sully will smooth out things with Landry, hopefully, and what he doesn’t fix, I’ll manage myself.
After dropping my car off with a valet driver, I make my way into the building that’s bustling with well-dressed people. This is my element. I was born to party with the elite. I’d like to think I get that from Mom. I clean up the best of the three of us and can fake a smile that gets me damn near whatever I want. It doesn’t hurt that I’m wearing one of my most expensive bespoke Tom Ford charcoal suits. Sully says these pants give me a David Beckham ass. I think he’s just being a dick when he says it, but I take it as a compliment. The only thing I’m missing is something lovely hanging off my arm. A few women try to catch my gaze, as though in tune with my thoughts, but I’m not interested. I’m too distracted to flirt. Besides, the only arm candy I want is her. I try not to imagine Landry in a sexy, fitted dress because these David Beckham pants don’t have room for a ten-inch boner.
“Ford?”
A tall, broad guy with fuckboy blond hair and a goofy-ass grin saunters my way. I stare at him blankly because I don’t know this asshole. He’s certainly not anyone I’d willingly associate with. But he knows our alias, though.
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t tell me you’d be going to this shit.” He laughs and smacks the side of my arm. “Dude, you were right about Landry.”
I quickly connect the dots.
Landry?
This has to be Ty fucking Constantine.
“I’m always right,” I grunt, playing along. “What happened?”
“I texted her. We’re going out on a date next week. Without her daddy.”
“Her dad’s a real asshole, yeah?”
“Shit, yeah.” He leans in and whispers conspiratorially. “He still didn’t come into the office today. When he got jumped, they really must have fucked him up.”
“Hmph.”
He smacks my arm again and I swear to fuck I’m going to smack him back if he does it again. “What crawled up your ass and died today? Usually you’re not so grumpy.”
I blink at him in confusion. What kind of act has Scout of all people been putting on?
“Is it the girl you were telling me about?” he asks, frowning. “She still avoiding you?”
Did he really tell her about Ash?
“Always,” I grunt out.