A small amount of worry still gripped my chest and had my gut clenching.
Could I lose my chance at something good?
Would she walk away?
Country had said Court knew what our world was like, but in reality, with it right in her face, she could change her mind about me.
Fuck me. I didn’t want that to happen. If she ran, I’d chase her. I get her to understand somehow.
My hand actually shook when I twisted the door handle and pushed it open.
The smile that greeted me died.
She’d been sitting in my bed wearing my tee, but as soon as she saw me, she threw the blankets back and stood in front of me. Her hands fluttered out, only to stop and draw back in to press against her stomach.
“Is it your blood?”
“No, Court.”
Her brows pinched, her gaze slowly raking over me. She thinned her lips before blowing out a breath. “Are you able to tell me who?”
“The cop” was all I supplied as fear sliced at my insides.
She’ll run.
She’ll leave you.
She won’t like your world.
She’s too good for here.
She’s too good for you.
“Ray Bond?”
I nodded.
“Dominic, what happened?”
Unlocking my jaw, I told her, “The brothers had him in the basement. Torch searched his car last night and found out Ray was the one who killed the guy he arrested me for, and that he did it because he was a client of Lisa’s. He was jealous. We couldn’t let him get away with it, Court.”
She nodded.
“He would have come after the club again. Worse, after Lisa. We protect the girls at Polished. It’s our job. He wouldn’t have rested until he had her. Killin’ someone over her was a clear indication.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
Okay?
What type of okay was that?
“The brothers want me to take you out to dinner for a tight alibi. They got him drunk and will organize a car crash with the evidence of his murder so the cops will find it and arrest him. The brothers and I… Shit, we beat him to make sure it looked like he got roughed up in the accident.” Her gaze snapped from my shirt up to me when I’d said we’d beaten him. “I know it’s hard to hear, especially since it’s so fuckin’ soon with us. Look, we don’t have to go anywhere.” I ran a hand over my head. “Fuck, I get it if this is too much. If you want to bail on this, us, I get—”
“Shut your mouth, Dominic Miller.” She turned and went for her dress, leaving me wide-eyed and frozen. “I’ll get dressed. You have a quick shower, and we can leave for dinner. But you’re buying me ice cream for dessert.”
“What?” I choked, struggling to comprehend what she was saying to me.
She faced me with her hands on her hips. “What? Did you think I wouldn’t understand? Did you think I’d run? That man would have gotten away with murder. Like you said, he would have come at you, the club, and Lisa if he wasn’t dealt with. Now it’s being dealt with, and he won’t interrupt our lives again.” She gave me her back and threw off my tee to pull her dress on while ranting, “He’s supposed to be a police officer. Someone who saves lives. Someone people can trust.” She spun around and pointed at me. “No one can trust a person who does what he did because of a woman.” Her finger moved toward the bathroom. “Go shower, Dom. People need to see you out and about.”
Fuck me.
Fucking hell.
How’d I get so goddamn lucky?
“If I didn’t have another man’s blood on me, I’d kiss the hell out of you right now.”
Her face softened. “I’d prefer not to get anything of him on me. I’ll take you up on the kiss after.”
“You got it, little mouse. But, baby, you’ve just gone and glued yourself to me, and you gotta know that even if I piss you off, you ain’t gettin’ rid of me.”
She pressed a hand over her heart and said softly, “Dom.”
Christ, I really wished I didn’t have blood on me so I could show her how much I appreciated her support. There weren’t many good ones out there who could accept the shit of our world and then get ready for dinner to give me an alibi.
Yeah, she was mine.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Courtney
* * *
After dinner, Dominic took me back to his place. A three-bedroom brick home in a quiet area. After walking me through his tidy house, he took me to bed and showed me just how much he appreciated how I’d handled things.
However, when I woke suddenly in the middle of the night and reached for him, I found I was alone. The sheet on his side was still a little warm, which told me he hadn’t been gone long. Stretching, I flung back the blankets and sat on the side of the bed, blindly searching for the lamp on the bedside table. Once it was on, I picked up his tee and slipped it over my head. Scrubbing a hand over my face—thankfully I’d washed my makeup off already—I stood up and made my way out of the bedroom. We’d gone to bed with the bedroom door open, but it had since been closed.
Did he not want me to hear something?
Had someone come over?
I stopped in the hallway and wondered if I was supposed to go back to bed and wait for him. Scraping my top teeth over my bottom lip, I listened. There was a light on at the end of the hall where the kitchen was. But I didn’t hear anyone speaking. Maybe he just got up and needed a drink. He could have had a nightmare about being in jail.
I knew if I’d had a nightmare, I would want comfort.
Nodding to myself, I made my way down the hall and into the kitchen. I paused in the doorway when I spotted Dominic leaning against the counter near the sink on the far side of the room. He stood wearing only black boxers, staring down at his phone in his hand.
“Dom?” I said gently.
His gaze rocked up and the soft smile he shared had tension rolling off my shoulders. Tension I hadn’t known I’d been carrying.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, little mouse. What woke you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I felt you gone from the bed.”
His gaze warmed. “Come here, baby.” I did, and as soon as I was close, he put his phone on the counter, took my wrist, and tugged me forward where he could wrap his arms around me tight. I sighed into his chest, then kissed him there before I rested the side of my face against his warm skin.
“Words can’t describe seein’ you walk in here in my tee, little mouse. Knowin’ you’d been in my bed. Knowin’ only hours ago I was inside you.”
A shiver raked over my body as my pussy clenched and nipples hardened. His words were a turn-on button I never knew I had. He knew it, he felt it, and when his fingers slid into my hair and pulled my head back, I gasped, then moaned when he kissed and nipped at my neck.
That was when he said softly, “And knowin’ you’re willin’ to be here with me and becomin’ mine.”
“Dom,” I whispered.
He straightened and pressed his lips against mine while I ran my hands up and down his chest. I definitely didn’t miss the extra-hard bulge he now rocked against my stomach.