Chapter Thirteen
Margo
“You sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself, shifting my weight as I looked up at Ash. “I feel bad.”
“For what?”
My eyes flicked to my new front door and then to my car keys hanging on the hook beside it. “You’ve done so much for me.”
He put his hand on my shoulder as Hayes came back into the living room, pulling his cell away from his ear. “Get used to it, babe. You’re family now.”
“I can pay you,” I blurted, stepping back to get my wallet.
Ash looked at me like I’d grown three heads. “Absolutely the fuck not.”
“But—”
“Nope.” He turned to Hayes, giving him a chin jerk. “I expect a phone call in the morning.”
Hayes, being Hayes, said nothing and he stayed silent until Ash was gone. As soon as my new door closed, Hayes moved to it, flipping both locks and putting up the chain. “I’ll get Jake to come in and install a security system this week,” he informed me.
“You don’t need to do that,” I began, still holding my wallet. “That’s too much.”
“It will never be enough,” he clipped, turning to face me. The sun had set nearly an hour ago, and now that we were alone, I could see his control slipping, fury taking over. “You live above a bar, Margo. You need a fucking security system.”
“Well, I don’t have the money for a damn security system,” I shot back, hating the judgment in his tone. “Do you know how expensive those are?”
“Yes, Red Snake installs top-of-the-line security products for our clients.”
“And that’s fantastic for them, but for me, a small-town barista/bartender/failure, that’s not in the cards—”
“Yours will be free.” He cut me off, folding his arms over his chest.
I nearly choked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“Grayson isn’t going to let you give me free shit from your job!”
“I own half of Red Snake Investigations, Margo. I can do whatever the hell I want—including doing everything in my power to make sure you’re safe when I’m not around.”
When I’m not around…
What the fuck was that supposed to mean?
I snapped my mouth shut, unable to handle the words left unsaid. There was something in that statement that sounded a lot like commitment. His eyes narrowed. “I can see the gears in your head turning, but that pretty mouth of yours isn’t spouting shit off at me.”
“I don’t spout shit off at you,” I snapped.
He rocked me then. “Temper, that’s all you’ve done since the moment I met you, and I can’t get enough of it.”
I could feel heat climbing up my cheeks. “You have to stop talking to me like that.”
“No, you have to get used to it,” he countered, moving to the coffee table and dropping his wallet and keys onto it, settling in.
I stared at them for a moment.
Then I snapped.
“You lost the right to talk sweet to me and be all hot and shit toward me when I woke up alone in my damn bed,” I seethed, my voice shaking by the end of it.
He came to me, but I didn’t want that. So I backed up until I hit the wall.
Unfortunately, he didn’t stop until his front was pressed to mine, my chin pinched between his fingers.
He tipped my head back. “Told you at Grayson’s that when I returned, we would be having a conversation about that,” he rumbled.
“And I told you there was nothing to talk about.”
“And I told you I begged to differ. You wanna know why?” he growled, getting deeper into my space.
“No,” I lied.
“Because you infuriate the fuck out of me, Margo Bennett. You made me feel alive for the first time in nearly thirteen years when you poked your black nail into my chest and glared up at me with those big, mossy green eyes. You’ve been in my head, under my skin, infecting every aspect of my life for over a year, and a few weeks ago, you gave me something precious.
” I tried to jerk out of his hold, but he held firm.
“Fucking beauty,” he clipped. “That’s what you gave me, and I was ready to spend the rest of my days savoring it.
God, I was ready to worship you, to love you because I knew when I finally allowed myself to fall, baby, it would be detrimental to the life I convinced myself I deserved. ”
“Stop,” I whispered.
“I left your bed because you moaned another man’s name in your sleep, and after finding my ex in my bed with another man, I couldn’t stomach the idea of suffering through that again,” he continued, his voice firm again.
I blinked, still stuck on the first half. “Wh-what? You found another—”
“I know now that I should’ve woken you, demanded answers, but I didn’t. That’s on me. I fucked up, and that’s the last time I’ll ever fuck up anything with you.”
“Hayes—”
“I don’t want to have this conversation with you pressed against the wall where I slid my cock into you for the first time, beautiful.
It would taint the memory.” I sucked in a breath, my body aching for him to do it again, the memory of us rushing, desperate for connection as our hands fumbled to get our clothes off.
His eyes dropped to my lips for a moment before he collected himself.
“In fact, I don’t want to have this conversation at all until you’re fed.
You slept the majority of the day. You need calories in your system. ”
My lips parted and I stared up at him as he lifted his head, staring back.
His knuckles brushed over my lips then. “Maybe if I hadn’t left your bed, you wouldn’t have that bruise on your face,” he murmured, more to himself than me.
“Maybe if I wasn’t so fucked in the head, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. ”
He tried to drop his hand, but I caught his wrist. I could give him this piece of truth. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel guilty for something he had nothing to do with. “What happened to me isn’t your fault,” I said.
“Yeah, it is,” he said sadly, his eyes on my bruise. “Gutted me when you took those shades off, baby, but that’s something I have to live with.”
“Hayes—”
He pulled me from the wall, bringing our hands to his chest, his free arm banding around my waist. “What do you want for dinner?” he asked softly, clearly having moved on from the subject. “And don’t say cereal. Love that shit too, but you need protein.”
I ignored the fact that he loved cereal. I couldn’t take it, not after everything he’d just said to me. “I can make it. It’s my kitchen.”
“I can find my way around. While I’m cooking, I want you to go take a bath. Soak your muscles. I can tell you’re sore.”
“But—”
His eyes darkened. “I would really appreciate it if you listened to me, Temper. Give me that shred of mercy.” When I didn’t respond, he softly added, “I’m holding on by a thread here.”
Pressing my lips together, I nodded.
He bent, brushing his lips against mine. “Thank you.”
Heart thundering in my ears, I started to move away, but his arm tightened around me, his lips now at my ear. “One more thing. If you ever refer to yourself as a failure in front of me again, I’ll take you over my knee.”
My head snapped up, leaving mere centimeters between our faces. He…he wanted to spank me? A rush of heat flooded me at the thought. “What—”
His mouth landed on mine hard, and just as quickly as it started, he pulled back and turned me toward the hallway, leaving me breathless.
“Be out in thirty,” he commanded.
“Hayes?” I called, poking my head out of the bathroom, steam flowing out into the hall, my wet hair clinging to my neck. The smell of garlic filled my nose and my stomach growled.
A second later, he was at the mouth of the hall. He’d taken his jacket and shoes off, leaving him in white socks, dark jeans, and a white T-shirt. My jaw nearly fell to the floor, his casual look making my knees weak. But by the grace of whoever was running my life, I managed to keep my composure.
How could anyone be that perfect all the time? Didn’t Superman have an off switch?
“What is it?” he asked.
I still had my body hidden behind the door, my towel wrapped around me tightly.
“I, um, I forgot my robe in my room.” I tripped over my words, feeling my ears getting hot with embarrassment.
“Usually, I would just go and get it, but you’re here and I…
” I cleared my throat and looked away. “I just didn’t want to… ”
“Is it hanging behind your closet door?” he asked.
My stomach clenched. He remembered. “Yes.”
He nodded once and moved to my bedroom, reemerging a second later, my black silk robe in hand. I took it from him gently, glancing up at his face. “Thank you,” I muttered. The blush was crawling up my cheeks now. “I’ll be out in just a minute.”
“Do you need anything else?”
I shook my head, muttered a second “thank you,” and closed the door.
With my back to it, I listened to him walk away.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I chanted under my breath, letting my head fall back against the wood.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When I reached it, I then counted backward.
On one, I opened my eyes, righting my head.
I stilled at the sight of my reflection, the mirror no longer foggy.
“Holy shit. What did Marcus do to me?” I rasped, bringing my trembling hand up to my bruise. It took up my entire cheekbone, touching my under eye, and even a portion of my temple. I gaped at it, horrified. It was hideous, dark, and ugly; everything my bloodline represented.
And now it was all over my face, where everyone could see.
A lie exposed like a nerve under the sharp blade of a surgeon.