“Thank fuck for that because I’m definitely not done with you either, Zepp.” I emphasized my point by kissing him, but that one taste wasn’t nearly enough. I moaned his name as he deepened the kiss, holding me tight as he maneuvered us to the floor.
Screw our bridge rebuilding project. It could wait until after sex. Pillow talk was always the most honest conversation, right? Right.
twenty-five
BILLIE
“Am I interrupting something?” Jace asked in a heavily sarcastic voice, making me jump out of my skin and headbutt Rhett in the process.
“Yes,” Rhett snarled. “You are. Fuck off.”
He wasn’t joking. He’d literally just pushed his fingers inside me, so yeah, the timing couldn’t be much worse. Okay, it could be a bit worse.
“Mm, nah, I think I’ll stay.” Smirking, Jace sat his ass down on the floral armchair and snatched up our forgotten bottle of whiskey. We hadn’t had a lot… just a little.
Face flaming with embarrassment, I wiggled out from under Rhett and tugged my pants into place. “We didn’t expect you back so soon,” I commented, smoothing my hair. Fucking hell, Jace.
Jace’s gaze was dark as he stared at me, then gave a slight shrug. “There was a little gas station not too far away; I managed to plead a free phone call from the cashier. Luckily, I had Brenda’s number memorized.”
That hadn’t even occurred to me. Good to know one of us was thinking, though.
“So? What did she say?” Rhett adjusted his pants, not appearing to give any shits that Jace could see his hard outline. “She coming to get us?”
Jace shook his head. “Not yet. She knows the owner of this house, though. They’re on an extended vacation in Spain right now, so we’re safe to stay here a little longer while she sorts out what we do next.” He paused, his expression saddening. “She’s pretty upset about Flo.”
Rhett cleared his throat, his eyes downcast. “Yeah.”
He didn’t need to say it. Everyone was upset about Flo, and we were all largely trying not to think about it. We could process and grieve when our lives were no longer at risk. Or maybe that was just easy for me to say when I hadn’t been close to her like they all had. She was family to them…
“So, chill here?” I asked, giving a weak attempt at shifting the subject.
Jace nodded. “For today at least. She’s been in touch with Gray already, and he asked for us to stay in hiding. Buy him a little more time before letting anyone take another shot at us.”
“Which is all well and good if it’s one of us three that was the target. What if Gray is the target? Or Angelo…” Rhett tugged his lip ring thoughtfully. “Angelo seems like the most obvious choice.”
Jace shook his head. “No way. He’s the least likely. Anyone trying to kill him is sparking a mafia war with the Riccis, and no one is that stupid. If they wanted to take him out, they’d be damn sure to succeed. No, my guess is that someone wanted Billie—and the fake baby—dead.”
“What about Gray’s family?” Rhett asked, threading his fingers through mine and giving a small squeeze of reassurance. “He said he’d been in touch…”
Jace shook his head. “We’re famous. If they wanted to hurt him, they didn’t need him making contact. Same goes for any of us, you included. Changing our names means nothing when our faces are all over billboards and magazines.”
“What about Flo?” I suggested, my voice quiet and cautious. I didn’t want to speak ill of the dead and all, but… “She and Tom seemed like they were into bad shit. Could it have been about her?”
To my surprise, they didn’t immediately shut down my idea, just exchanged a long look, then Jace sighed and took a gulp of whiskey.
“So, our instructions are just to lay low here. Any ideas on how to pass the time?” He arched a brow at Rhett.
“Well… Thorn and I were playing truth or dare, until we got a little, uh, distracted.” Rhett gave me a heated smirk, and I squirmed in my seat. “You game, Jace?”
Jace’s lip curled in a sneer. “No thanks. I’ll find something else to do.” He started up out of his seat, and my mouth moved faster than my brain.
“Chickenshit.”
Jace froze halfway to his feet. “Excuse me?”
I shrugged, backing myself. “You heard me. You’re scared. Again.” Whoops, there I went making a reference to our little argument in the field last night. I was wholeheartedly blaming adrenaline and shock for that tryst. So what was my excuse now?
“That’s how you wanna play this?” he challenged, eyes narrowed as he glared across the coffee table. I made a casual if the shoe fits kind of shrug, and Jace sank back into his seat with a cold laugh. “Fine. You asked for it. Truth or dare, Billie?”
Shit. Um… “Truth,” I croaked, instantly regretting my big mouth.
“Why did you break up with me? The real reason.”
Nope. No way. Not for all the whiskey in Scotland. “Dare,” I conceded, making it clear that I wouldn’t answer that truthfully.
Jace rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair. “I’m shocked. Billie Bellerose can’t even be honest in a game of truth. Some things never change.”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Rhett growled. “She’s allowed to switch to dare. Just pick something and move on.”
Jace scoffed. “Sure, so she can flake out of that, too. Alright then, Billie. I dare you…” He paused then, like he was having an internal debate over how far he wanted to push me. The darkness in his gaze told me he was ready to blow shit up, though, and that terrified me.
“Sometime this year,” Rhett drawled, yawning dramatically, then reaching for the booze.
I arched a brow at Jace, challenging him right back. “Go on, Adams. Dare me to what?”
His eyes locked on mine, his lips curled in a cruel smirk. “Suck my dick, Bellerose.”
For a second, I thought he was telling me to go to hell. Then Rhett choked on his mouthful of whiskey and spluttered dramatically.
“Look, before anyone says anything,” Rhett croaked out between coughs, “I’m okay with this. I’m into the threesome thing. But Billie is not gonna suck your dick on a dare, Jace.”
Jace shrugged, looking smug and superior. “Told you. Can’t answer a truth, won’t do a dare. The Billie I knew used to have at least a little bit of spine. What happened to that girl?”
She died in a fire, then again lying in a hospital room for a month without even a get-well card from the boy she loved.
Furious, I glanced at Rhett. He was no help, just shrugged and shook his head. “Jace is an asshole. We can play without him.”
I looked back to Jace, and the desire to wipe that smug-fuck smile off his face was so potent I could taste it. “Screw it,” I muttered, getting up from my seat and crossing to where Jace sat. “Go on then, get it out. Show us what you’ve got, tough guy.”
I dropped to my knees in front of him, planting my hands on his thighs to spread his legs apart.
“Whoa, um…” Rhett’s protest made me look over my shoulder at him. If he wasn’t actually cool with it, then I’d let Jace take the win. But otherwise…