I looked at Gia.
She was starting to blush.
Hell no.
Bad enough Gia knew everything about me… and bad enough she stabbed the tires of Noah, Easton, and Xavier’s cars… I wasn’t letting her get anywhere near Talon.
I looked back at Gia. “Why don’t you go home?” I whispered.
“Why?” Gia asked loudly. “I know everything. I know he’s the one you’re paying to go after Noah, Easton, and Xavier. What’s the difference?”
Now my cheeks were turning red.
That was kind of a bitch move for Gia to do that to me, but okay… fine…
I stepped toward Talon. “I’ll ask again… what are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to check up on you,” he said.
“You know, I keep hearing assholes say that to me.”
“Oh yeah?” Talon asked. “Well, I assume you’re calling me an asshole. Let’s not forget which asshole tucked you into bed when you were scared. Right? When you needed someone to play with your hair so you could fall asleep…”
I looked back at Gia.
Her eyes were wide.
Her cheeks blushing again.
Fuck.
“Talon, shut up,” I said.
“What? Gia knows, right? That you paid me to walk around and make sure nobody was here. Then you paid me to sleep with you.”
“What?” Gia yelled.
“No!” I said. “You did not… oh, you’re a fucking asshole. Fucking Troc.”
Talon cackled. “Well, you were sleeping. I was just in your bed.”
“And nothing happened,” I said. “Nothing will ever happen. Ever.”
“This is fucked up,” Gia said. “Maybe I should go.”
“Don’t,” I said. I stood between Gia and Talon. “Someone is following me. Okay? I don’t know who. I got scared and Talon helped me. That was it.”
“You wanted me in your bed,” Talon said.
“Shut up,” I said. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Asshole Troc,” Gia said. She pointed at Talon.
“Gia, don’t…”
“You think you can just walk in here and fuck with her?” Gia asked. “That’s my best friend. Are you going around telling people that you’re sleeping with Bumps now? Does that make you feel tough? Seriously? You’re like those broken shells that wash up to shore. Nobody wants them. They just step on them. And then they get washed back out again…”
Talon moved closer to Gia.
“Fuck, stop it,” I said.
I climbed on my bed and jumped to the floor to get between them.
Gia didn’t know what she was doing. She was emotional and trying to protect me.
I loved her for it. But I also wanted to slap her for it.
“I’m the broken shell on the shore that cuts your fucking foot, darling,” Talon said. “Try and step on me. See what happens. You can run away. You can hide in your perfect little Bump world. But that cut… that won’t go away so quick, will it? Every time you step on your foot, you think about it. You feel it. You put your foot into the ocean and you feel it sting… that’s me.”
“Okay, you two fucking broken shell people, back away from each other,” I said. “Now.”
“I’m going to get a drink,” Gia said.
“See you around, Gia,” Talon said.
She waved her middle fingers and hurried out of the bedroom.
I punched Talon in the shoulder as hard as I could.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked. “Leave her out of it. Out of everything. This has nothing to do with her.”
“She started it,” Talon said.
I gritted my teeth. “You know what? I don’t think I need your help anymore. So let me pay you one more time and then just stay away.”
“Not going to happen,” he said.
“Why?”
“I don’t feel like it,” he said. “I like being near you.”
“Talon, it’s over. I know how to get to them.”
“Oh yeah? How?”
“Insecurities,” I said. “I should have thought about this from day one. Everyone has a breaking point. A soft spot. A weakness.”
“You mean Noah’s learning issues?” Talon asked.
“What?”
Talon smiled and moved toward the window.
I hated that I had to stop him.
That’s what he wanted.
So I played into it.
I hurried to the window and stopped him.
“Wait,” I said.
“What?”
“What’s wrong with Noah?”
“Your Bump boyfriend is a little slow upstairs,” Talon said. “He’s had learning problems his entire life. He takes a while to read. Sometimes he sees different letters and words. Gets that shit mixed up.”
“Like… dyslexia?”
“I don’t know what it’s called,” Talon said. “I’m just saying he learns at his own pace. And Mommy and Daddy hate it. Especially Daddy. He’s doing all he can to get Noah into law school. Because that’s what you Bumps do. You never have your own path in life. It’s all decided in advance.”
“How do you know this?” I asked.
“What the fuck do you think I’ve been doing with your money, darling?”
“Keeping it.”
“Well, most of it, yeah,” Talon said with a smile. “But with some of it, I’ve had my guys snooping around. I’m not as dumb as you think I am. You have to hit them where they don’t want to be hit. All that other shit was for fun. To rattle them.”
I grabbed for Talon’s arm. “Anything you find, you tell me. Got that?”
“Shit, what am I doing, Winter?” Talon asked. He stood tall and touched my cheek. “I am almost to my favorite part of seeing you…”
He inched down, his mouth creeping closer to mine.
“Talon… Gia’s downstairs…”
“I know,” he said. “Don’t act like you don’t want it…”
I put my hands to his stomach. “Talon… this…”
“Shhh,” he said. His lips were an inch from mine. My toes started to curl. “Give me what I want, darling.”
My lips quivered.
I moved to kiss Talon first and he backed away.
“I want my money,” he said.
“What?”
He started to laugh. “Did you think I was… oh, Winter…”
“I hate you,” I said.
I moved away from Talon, touching my cheeks, feeling how hot they were burning.
There was something wrong with me.
I needed… attention.
And not from Talon.
Not from a Troc.
Never from a Troc.
I got Talon his money and watched him leave.
I stood alone in my bedroom and my mind flirted with me.
I thought about Noah, Easton, and Xavier…
Out of those three, who would I choose to fool around with?
I sat on the floor with Gia across from me.
She made the suggestion to paint our toenails.
So I went along with it.
She chose a neon green color while I chose a dark red color.