Chapter 13
AISLYNN
Pagan Sinclair was an asshole.
I couldn’t believe the man’s sheer audacity. It was bad enough that the controlling bastard had the balls to think he could tell me what to do, but then to accuse me of acting like a brat because I wouldn’t comply with his ridiculous demands was just the icing on the cake.
Fuck him.
Fuck him!
I was still muttering angrily to myself, hours after the call, while studying my closet for a hot outfit to wear to dinner with the girls.
I pulled out a low-cut white bodysuit and some wide-leg jeans and black boots, then I grabbed the small black LV purse my dad bought me for my twenty-first birthday and carried everything to my bed so I could get dressed.
That was when I heard a low chuckle and froze.
It sounded like it was coming from the living room, but that was impossible, because I was alone.
Slowly, my face swiveled toward the door, my ears straining as my common sense took over and I told myself I was hearing things.
I had good locks along with a great alarm system, and I always made sure they were set, even when I was in the apartment.
I’d never had any problems in Denver, but it was a big city, and shit happened.
I stayed rooted to the spot for a good minute, listening out for more noises, but everything remained silent. Slowly, I relaxed, shaking my head ruefully at my own idiocy for being so darned paranoid.
I was about to take off my pajama pants when a thump sounded, closer this time.
Definitely not imagined.
My heart began to race, and my palms were clammy as I rubbed them against my pajama pants. Grabbing my robe, I yanked it on and quickly knotted the belt securely. Then, scooping my phone from the dresser, I dialed 911 and held it to my ear.
The line was dead.
What the hell?
I jumped as the clomping of footsteps sounded, but they weren’t sneakers or shoes—they sounded heavy and deliberate, like boots.
Motorcycle boots?
Holding my breath, I tiptoed to the doorway, my ears straining for any sign that alerted me that I was about to be murdered in my own damned apartment. But the only sounds were the loud whirring of the fridge and the faint sound of traffic from the street below.
I exhaled slowly, all rational thought telling me to get a damned grip of myself, but still, I cracked the bedroom door open before creeping out to go check the living room.
That was when I heard the sound of the TV flick on.
I grabbed the baseball bat I kept next to the front door and positioned it high as I hauled ass into the living room, ready to cave in the intruder’s head.
As I rushed through the door, someone plucked the bat out of my hand.
With a scream, I turned toward the massive figure, ready to let loose with some of the Krav Maga moves my friend Sophie had taught me.
I unleashed a punch that caught the guy’s face, and I let out a yell so piercing that if my neighbor was home, he’d hear it and hopefully call the cops.
The figure turned toward me just as I swung another punch, which he caught in his meaty fist.
“Jesus fuck, sweetheart,” he barked. “You on the rag?”
My mouth fell open, and my body slumped with relief as I recognized Pagan’s brother, Thug. Burning heat rushed through my blood, and I shrieked, “What the fuck are you doing?”
He grinned. “Pagan sent me.”
I looked between him and the door, jerking an angry thumb toward it. “Don’t you fucking knock?”
He dug through his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Boss gave me these.”
My stare rested on them before darting back to his face. “Why?”
His grin widened. “He said you’re not allowed out.”
My eyes bugged out, and I screeched, “What?”
“He flew me down to make sure you keep your ass in tonight. Prez says if you give me any lip, I can gag ya.”
I pushed up onto my toes until I was in his face, balled my hands into fists, and yelled, “Get the fuck out!”
He chuckled. “Babe. What’s with the bitchy?”
“Bitchy?” I shrieked. “You let yourself into my apartment without so much as a phone call and frightened the life out of me. I thought I was going to get murdered.”
“Wouldn’t hurt ya,” he assured me. “Well, I may have to gag ya, but that would be a last resort. Depends if you keep yellin’ at me. I can't deal with that shit all night. It’ll upset my equilibrium.”
I let out a huff and stomped back to my bedroom. Grabbing my phone, I stabbed at it, raising it to my ear.
Still dead.
I growled my frustration and trampled back to the lounge, holding it up. “What’s happened to my cell?”
Thug leaned against the breakfast bar, his smug grin still plastered on his face as he tracked my every move. “Pagan cut it off.”
My temper flared again. “He did what?”
Thug held a finger up. “Hang fire.” He pulled a phone out of his pocket and clicked on it a few times before holding it to his ear and saying, “Boss. I think your woman wants to talk to ya. Turn her cell back on.”
My throat burned with rage as I heard Pagan’s deep laugh followed by a few words I couldn’t hear before Thug ended the call.
Within a few seconds, my cell rang, and Pagan’s name flashed across the caller ID.
I clicked to answer and screeched, “How fucking dare you?”
“Babe,” Pagan's deep voice rumbled.
Ignoring the rush of wet between my legs at the deep rasp of his voice, I bellowed, “Don’t you babe me. Why are you sending your goon to my apartment to scare me half to death? I thought I was being burgled.”
Thug cackled.
“Should do as you’re fuckin’ told then,” he crowed.
“Oh my God, Pagan!” I cried. “What the hell are you doing? I’m going out to dinner with my girlfriends, for God’s sake. What’s the damned problem?”
“Last time you went out with those bitches, I walked into a bar and caught you with your lips on Captain fuckin’ America. If you think you’re gonna get a repeat, you’re crazy.”
“He won’t even be there,” I protested.
“Well, excuse me if I don’t give a fuck,” he grated out.
“You’re the asshole who goes off into back-room offices with strippers,” I accused. “So I can’t imagine what gives you the right to tell me what to do.”
“Told ya. Nothin’ happened,” he argued.
“The intention was there,” I shot back.
“If the intention was there, I would’ve been balls deep in her within five minutes. It’s not like you’re my ol’ lady. Fact is, I can do what the fuck I want, so believe me, babe, the intention wasn’t there, or else the outcome would’ve been very fuckin’ different.”
“So you can do what you want, which incidentally includes strippers,” I hissed, “and I can’t even go out to dinner with two girlfriends? Do you know how unhinged you sound?”
“I’ll say it again, Ash. I don’t. Give. A.
Fuck. I told you you’re not goin’ out, and I meant it.
Now go get comfortable. Thug’s got orders to feed you and make sure you’re okay, which means he’s stayin’ there until I can get down, which won’t be for a few days.
I suggest in the meantime, you behave ’cause he’ll restrain you if you try to get smart. ”
I watched, unseeing, while Thug picked up the remote, dropped onto my couch, and toed his boots off as he settled in to watch TV.
“Told you, Dubheasa,” he murmured. “Bein’ with me will affect your peace of mind and probably your dignity. You still signed up.”
My response died on my tongue.
“I don’t want you goin’ out with those girls.
They’re plottin’ to get you and the asshole together.
If he touches you, Ash, I’ll kill him, and I don’t mean metaphorically.
If his hand so much as brushes against yours, he’ll be chopped into bits and ground into worm food by the mornin’.
Nobody touches you but me. You’re my good girl and the only clean thing in my life.
I know you’re gonna get ruined one day, but it’s gonna be me who does it.
In the meantime, it’s my job to keep you untouched in every sense of the word. ”
My forehead creased curiously. “Why do you think my friends are trying to get Kieran and me together?”
“I’m not here to play, Aislynn,” he told me softly.
My eyes widened. “Have you tapped their phones?”
Silence.
My stomach dropped.
Good God.
My brain started to short-circuit, and I raked a hand through my hair. The silence on the other end of the line pricked at me like tiny, sharp needles, and I breathed, “Oh my God, Pagan. That’s a total invasion of their privacy. It’s illegal.”
His low, earthy chuckle reverberated through the line.
“Not one fuck is given. When it comes to you, I’m not takin’ any chances.
You think you’re gonna run around Denver with two single girls lookin’ to hook up, then you need to give your head a shake.
Aislynn. You’re my woman, and I keep what’s mine safe and away from men who think it’s acceptable to touch what belongs to me. ”
“The same way you belong to me?” I challenged. “The same way you went off with Candy last night?”
“I told you. Nothin’ happened.”
“She touched you,” I pointed out.
Pagan sighed. “My world’s different, Ash.
My lifestyle’s different from yours. The club girls and the strippers think nothin’ of huggin’ and touchin’ the brothers.
I sit at the bar with my arm around one, or one might plant her ass on my lap, not for any reason except that’s the way we roll.
They know there’s nothin’ in it. Hell, I could fuck every one of ’em, and they’d know that was all it was—a fuck.
Sometimes there’s friendship; more often than not, there’s nothin’.
In your world, when you kiss and hug a dude, it has a different meanin’.
It’s a courtin’ ritual which leads to more, and I don’t want you around it. ”
“So you think that because it’s normal for you in your club, it’s okay to touch them?” I demanded.
“That’s not what I’m sayin’. What I mean is, culturally, we’re less hung up about sex.”
“Except when it comes to me,” I interjected.