Chapter 15 Selene #2
I turned my attention to the modern luxury decor of the apartment.
I recalled that Luke’s dad was a lawyer and his mother a celebrated journalist. I moved toward the giant leather sectional in the living room and paused in front of a framed photo on the wall there.
It was Luke with his parents and a little girl who looked about ten years old, probably his sister.
“That’s Gwen,” Luke said, coming over to me when he spotted me looking at the lovely little girl.
“You two could be twins,” I observed.
“Everybody says that,” he chuckled.
“Are you done?” Neil cut in from behind us.
I turned to find him waiting impatiently for us to finish our exchange.
He alternated his gaze between us, giving me a look of such pure anger that it gave me goosebumps.
“Maybe the two of you can go out one of these evenings and really deepen your acquaintance,” he continued bitterly.
“But right now, Parker, I came here for an important reason, and I need your undivided attention,” he said reprovingly.
Luke turned away from me and snapped to attention like a little toy soldier.
“I was just trying to be polite,” he said defensively before sitting down on the couch with a heavy sigh. I remained standing, keeping my distance from both of them.
“Sure you were. And I know exactly why,” my Disaster shot back, sounding anything but calm.
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who always has ulterior motives with women, not me,” Luke defended himself, growing more belligerent.
“Oh, my apologies. You’re a fucking saint, I forgot. Xavier is so right about you.” A faint, mocking smile spread across Neil’s face, but before Luke could say anything in response, someone else rang the doorbell. He stood up and went to get the door, shooting Neil a dirty look as he did so.
I was grateful to whoever it was for breaking up their tiff.
I was afraid they might have actually come to blows otherwise.
“Please try to stay calm. How many times do I have to say that to you today?” I took advantage of Luke’s absence to chide Neil, but he just narrowed his eyes at me in an angry glower.
“You shut up,” he snapped, making me flinch. I tugged my coat around me more tightly and practically plastered myself against the wall in discomfort. I hated it when he talked to me like that.
“Ah, there you are. Luke said you all were meeting up about some problem. What’s up, dickhead?” Xavier came into the living room with his typical swagger, flanked by his faithful partners in crime: Alexia, the blue unicorn, and Oops! All Curves Barbie. Goddamned Jennifer.
If I was merely discontented before, I became truly irritated with their presence.
“Hey, Babydoll. What a surprise, finding you here,” the dark-haired boy added, shamelessly checking me out. Fortunately, I was buttoned up to my neck; otherwise, his dark, perverted eyes would have made me feel even more uncomfortable than I already was.
“Looks like the brat forgot the way back to Detroit,” Jennifer commented as she moved briskly toward Neil, who was standing in the center of the room.
He watched her warily as she inched over to drop a kiss against his collar.
It would have taken just the smallest tilt of his head, and he could have met her lips with his own, but instead he held still, looking bewildered by the blond’s bold advances.
Not happy with this, Jennifer placed her hand ostentatiously on the waistband of his jeans, and Neil immediately took a step back to prevent her from actually touching his dick through his pants.
All the while, I was holding my breath.
This pathetic little scene of Jennifer begging for a kiss from him made me sick to my stomach.
What was her next move? Get on her knees and get him good and hard in front of everyone?
If she did, though, it would have been on par with the Krew’s usual activities. Certainly nothing out of the ordinary.
Had I not been completely paralyzed with jealousy, I would have grabbed her by the stupid little braids and given her a swift kick in the ass.
“What? You don’t even want my greetings now?” she asked him in a sultry tone.
“I don’t even remember the last time we greeted each other,” Neil shot back.
And that was enough for me. I stalked over to them, determined to mark my territory and show this bitch she needed to go back to her kennel. I took Neil’s forearm and pulled him against me, determined not to give up an inch of what I had so painstakingly conquered.
“Wow, the kid’s pissed off,” Alexia noted as she sat down on the sofa next to Xavier. Jennifer simply narrowed her eyes at me in a defiant glare.
“Afraid, princess?” she taunted me.
“Of you? Never,” I answered cheekily.
Jennifer regarded both Neil and me with a malicious smile before walking off to join Alexia. My fingers tightened on Neil’s arm as I leaned in to whisper in his ear.
“If you don’t want me talking to Luke, then you keep away from that poodle in heat,” I said in a low tone, pulling back just far enough to look him in the eye. He quirked a corner of his mouth, amused by my dire warning, and I got lost in his golden eyes.
I completely forgot that I was standing in the middle of an enormous living room under the watchful eyes of the entire Krew.
Instead, it was just the two of us.
Then, all at once, I showed everyone exactly how jealous and possessive I was.
I leaned in to give him a kiss, and certainly not on the collar. After he got over his momentary surprise, Neil parted his lips and returned my impulsive gesture. His tongue tangled savagely with mine, and he moved voraciously, leaving me breathless.
Instinctively, I pressed my chest more brazenly against his, grinding myself against him.
Neil didn’t let out a moan, but I thrilled when I felt his body react, growing hard from the erotic tension between us.
He let one hand drift down to my backside and gave it a squeeze, making me gasp.
I was forced to break the kiss briefly to get some oxygen, and he took the opportunity to gently bite my lower lip.
“You done putting on a show?” he murmured against my mouth.
“From what I recall, you’re the exhibitionist,” I shot back.
“True, I wouldn’t mind screwing you right in front of that blond fuck you’ve been smiling at. However, we are here to solve a problem,” he reminded me, continuing to hold me close.
“Your blond’s the one who keeps shooting her shot because she can’t get it through her head that you belong to me,” I said bluntly.
Goddamn, I hated her.
“So possessive, Babygirl,” he said, sounding highly entertained.
“A little bit, maybe,” I admitted with a shrug.
After one last amused glance, Neil let me go. We both turned serious as we faced the Krew.
They were all sitting on the sofa, staring at us like they’d seen a couple of ghosts. All at once, my face flushed as I realized how shamelessly I’d just behaved, and all out of jealousy.
“My friends, you’re so hot for each other I’m gonna get hard over here.
Babydoll knows what she’s doing.” Xavier was the first to break the silence with a sarcastic round of applause.
Luke just cocked an eyebrow, and the two girls seemed focused on Neil, who remained as impassive as ever.
“If you’re ever looking to share her someday, holler at me,” Xavier went on.
I went rigid at his deranged proposal and immediately recalled all of Neil’s vices, which he still had.
I felt a wave of anguish thinking about those times in the past when I’d seen him doing sketchy things with multiple women.
My mood visibly deflated, and Neil raised my chin with two fingers and bent to give me a tender kiss.
“Don’t listen to that asshole,” he whispered. “No one’s going to lay a hand on you as long as I’m around,” he finished firmly. He’d never said anything like that to me before. I smiled at him and nodded gently, and he refocused on the problem of Player with renewed energy.
“Back to this,” he sighed, gesturing to the laptop he’d put on the coffee table.
“Today I got a package from Player with this computer inside. It requires a password to log in, and I have no idea what that password might be,” he informed Luke, who had meanwhile opened the laptop.
He rested his elbows on his knees as he examined the display with its locked login screen.
“Okay…we could probably brute force it, but it would take some time,” Luke observed. “I suspect Player probably gave you some clue about the password…”
“Because why would he give you a laptop you can’t access?” Xavier said, finishing Luke’s sentence. Neil began to pace anxiously, rubbing his chin.
“Maybe think about previous puzzles or, I don’t know, maybe about—” Before Luke could finish what he was saying, Neil stopped and gave him a eureka look.
“Hard candy,” he said immediately. I frowned, not understanding what he meant. Meanwhile, Luke had already typed it in and was smiling at the screen in satisfaction.
“Yeah…hot damn, that’s it,” he said excitedly.
“So the son of a bitch shattered your windshield with a rock just to give you a password?” Xavier asked.
I stiffened at the realization that there were still more things about the Player situation I did not know. I looked over at Neil to find him looking guilty and apprehensive. He moved closer to me as if to calm me down and tried to take my face in his hands, but I tossed my head.
“After the incident with Chloe, he took another shot at me. I was going to tell you…” he attempted to explain himself, but I just took a disappointed step away from him.
More secrets. More things he’d kept from me.
“When? When, exactly, were you going to tell me all of this?” I burst out.
“When the opportunity arose. But now isn’t the time to talk about it,” he scolded me with an authoritative tone. He didn’t want to be contradicted or condescended to in front of his friends.