Chapter 21 #2
“Just in case.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, unsure if I was supposed to find this creepy or romantic. “You bought a heavy bag and had it installed in your home gym just in case you ever saw me again and just in case I liked to use one?”
“Oh, I was going to see you again.” There was that tone, the one that made me get into his car all those months ago.
Still, I scoffed. “Come on—”
“I was close to finding you.” His posture was less casual now as he walked toward me.
I felt air whoosh from my lungs. “You were looking for me?”
“I was.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you were mine.”
“After meeting me three times?”
“I knew you were mine after the first time, but it took me longer to accept it.” He stood close enough to touch now. “Does that bother you?”
It should, right? That would be a normal reaction. But then we weren’t normal about each other. “No, it doesn’t.”
His hand cupped my face, thumb stroking my cheekbone. “Even if I hadn’t gone to that fight, you would have ended up here eventually, I would have found you. I would have emptied out your apartment, and I would have done everything I could to keep you with me.”
“I think I’m getting more out of this than you’re getting out of this.”
His laugh was a surprised bark, and his hand dropped from my face. “You can’t be serious.” I clenched my jaw and refused to answer. His eyes went wide. “Tav, you make me happy.”
“I bring you trouble.”
“My life was trouble before you. You make the trouble worth it.” I sucked in a breath as his fingers fluttered over my stomach. “I have this apartment, and a lot of money, my own company, and power. And I was miserable. None of those things mattered until I got to use them to help you.”
I kissed him. I licked at the seam of his lips until he opened for me, and for the first time, Con was passive while I controlled the kiss.
I wrapped my palms around his neck and held him immobile while I plundered his mouth.
My heart pounded, and my knees shook. My cock hardened in my sweatpants, but I ignored it, because the kiss felt too good, and Con tasted great.
His pulse fluttered beneath my hands, and our chests brushed as I angled my head to get deeper.
I kissed him until I thought maybe we could just stay locked like this forever.
But then his phone chimed again, breaking me out of my trance.
I dropped my hands and stepped out of the kiss.
Con remained where he was, face flushed and eyes dazed, parted lips swollen and wet.
He shivered as he swiped at his chin and chuckled.
“For the next six days, don’t kiss me like that again. ”
I grinned at him, and he exhaled before running a hand through his hair and adjusting his pants. He pointed at my crotch, where the outline of my dick was clearly visible through the fabric. “Fix that, because Nik and Ben will be here in—”
Down the hallway, Con’s front door beeped and opened.
He sighed heavily. “They’re here.”
“You better not be fucking!” A man’s voice called out from the direction of the door. It wasn’t Nik’s but it was vaguely familiar. “He’s got a concussion!”
Con lifted his gaze to the ceiling for a minute before eyeing me again. “I’m serious, do something about that.” He pointed to my dick again before marching out the door of the gym.
“There you are!” The same voice said, closer now.
I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my dick other than tuck it in my waistband and hope for the best. Although it was already softening at the sound of two more men in the apartment who I wasn’t friendly with.
I emerged from the gym and shut the door behind me. Nik, my nemesis, stood in the kitchen. His gaze immediately shifted to me, and he gave me a head-to-toe scan that should have been offensive but instead felt almost caring. He gave me a chin nod, like we were old friends.
The other man had his back to me, and at Nik’s gesture, he spun quickly.
His blond hair was perfectly tousled, and his light eyes shone in the morning light invading Con’s apartment.
He stood a few inches shorter than both Con and Nik and beamed a bright smile at me with his handsome face.
While Con stood with a tight expression, clearly uncomfortable with the company, the man acted like this was his home.
“Hey, we didn’t get a chance to meet before, because you were out of it, but I’m Ben.
” He pointed a thumb at Con. “He has two friends, and I’m one of them.
The other is this guy,” Now he pointed to Nik, “Who you apparently almost stabbed.” He wiggled his light eyebrows. “Would have paid to see that.”
Ben approached me, and I almost took a step back, unsure about this strange man in my space, but he caught me before I could. His arms wrapped around my waist, and he hugged me. I stared at Con over his shoulder, dumbfounded at being touched so casually.
Con rubbed at his eyes like he was in pain. “Ben, for Christ’s sake, don’t just touch people without asking.”
“But he’s not just people.” He pulled out of the hug and patted my chest. “Wow, you really are a big boy.”
“Ben!” Con barked.
He backed away, palms in the air. “Sorry, I got carried away. This is an exciting time for Conrad.”
“I’m not a teenager on a first date.” Con was seething, but I liked it that he had friends that didn’t let him lose himself to guilt and memories. Maybe if I had someone like Ben, I could have handled the last five years better.
Con turned his ire to Nik. “Why do you always invite him along to things? I asked you to come, not him.”
“Hey,” Ben frowned. “I’m starting to feel unwelcome here.”
“You think?” Con snapped.
Nik shrugged and grabbed an apple from a bowl on Con’s island. “He showed up at my apartment this morning and demanded to join me on my errands. This was one of my errands, so he’s here.”
“Were you at the fight?” I asked Ben. His familiar voice was starting to trigger some memories.
Ben met my gaze, and his expression lost a lot of its humor. “Yeah, kid. I was.”
I let the kid comment go. But Con didn’t. “Don’t call him a kid.”
“You know what, Conrad?” Ben grabbed Nik’s apple, took a bite, and then handed it back to him. Nik didn’t even blink. “This is an A-B conversation between me and Tav. C your way out.”
Con’s nostrils flared. “I’m going to C you into your grave—”
I placed a hand on Con’s back, and he snapped his jaw shut.
“Thanks for being with him there as a friend and someone he trusted,” I said.
Ben’s lips parted slightly in surprise, and Nik stopped mid-chew. Ben blinked and then smiled. “Yeah, of course. You feeling all right? You look better than when I last saw you, but that’s not saying much.”
“Better. Con knows a good doctor.”
Ben blinked again, his gaze shifting to Conrad before returning to me. “Yeah. Con does.”
Conrad shifted next to me, and I got the feeling he was about to snap at his friend about something else, so I headed that off. “Did you guys eat? Want me to make you something?”
“No, I’m good,” Ben said, still watching me. Nik just shook his head as he tossed his apple core in the trash.
“I’ll make coffee.” Con left my side to fiddle with the coffee maker. “Sit everyone.”
I sat immediately at a stool along the short side of the island, while Nik took another on the long side. Ben poked around the kitchen for a minute before taking a seat himself, as if he didn’t want to seem too eager to follow Con’s command.
Con placed steaming mugs in front of everyone. I noticed Nik’s was milky white and Ben’s was black. When Nik caught me looking at his, he made a face. “Black coffee tastes like dirt.”
Con didn’t sit but stood at the other long side of the island across from Nik and Ben. “I don’t drink it for the taste, Nik. I need it to make me want to live.”
“Oh!” Ben exclaimed loudly after a slurp. “Good news! The warehouse is ash.”
Con went very still as he stared at Ben, who wasn’t looking at him.
He fumbled around in his pocket before withdrawing his phone.
He swiped at it until he found what he was looking for and dropped it on the island for us all to see.
I leaned over, catching a glimpse of the smoking remnants of a building set against the backdrop of a blue sky.
I leaned back in the stool, not thinking that the picture pertained to me, until I spotted a familiar tree.
I snatched the phone before Con could grab it and used my fingers to zoom in on the picture. Sure enough, I knew that tree. I knew that color of that sunken roof too. I lifted my gaze to find Con staring at me. “You burned the warehouse?”
He held my gaze. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were hurt there and knowing it stood made me angry.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. “But what about any blowback?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You think this is my first arson?”
Ben snorted. I looked at him and Nik, curious if they also thought this was crazy, but neither seemed alarmed nor concerned.
He took the phone from me, swiped the picture off, and handed it back to Ben, who deposited it in his coat. “Devlin would hurt more people there. Now it’s gone.”
“He’ll find somewhere else.”
Con’s eyes glittered with something that sent a thrill down my spine. “Then I’ll burn that down too. I’m not fucking around with him anymore. I told you this is where I end it.”
He had told me that, and it had sent me on a tailspin thinking of all the ways this could go wrong until he’d stuck his cock in my mouth so that my brain went numb.
He had men watching Amara and Holden. He’d taken care of my apartment. He’d burnt the warehouse to ash. And he was just getting started. While Con held me in his arms and calmed my soul, Soto made the world burn for me.
I held his gaze. “You’re right. You did.”
His expression softened somewhat. “And you believe me now?”
“Yeah.” I answered quickly. “I do.” I’m sorry I doubted you.