Chapter 5
Goldie
Walking through her parking garage with an actual mobster and a gun pressed against the small of her back was unnerving, to say the very least.
And yet, there was a part of her that was undeniably enjoying poking at him. She was still about ninety-nine percent sure he didn’t plan on killing her, or even actually hurting her, which was enough for curiosity to win out over terror.
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but she was convinced the cat had a damn good time in the process.
The elevator doors opened with a ding and she stepped inside with him right behind her. As the doors were closing again, she ignored the pounding of her heart and that one percent of doubt to move closer to him, snuggling up against his side.
He tensed, every muscle in his body going rigid, and it took all of her willpower not to burst out laughing.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Oh, yay. Growly Brody was back.
Yum.
“You said we’re supposed to look like we just got home from a date,” she explained with a faux innocence she wasn’t convinced he was going to believe. “Nobody’s going to buy that if you’re standing there looking all pissed off at the world.”
He hesitated, and she swore she could hear the wheels in his head turning as he weighed the truth of her statement.
But then his hand shifted, the cool metal of his firearm pressing against her hip now as he pulled her closer. “You’re getting better at this, menace.”
God, she didn’t want to love the way he called her that. Didn’t want her entire body to ripple with pleasure whenever that insulting nickname slipped from his lips. An annoyance, he’d called her, and judging by the aggravation in his voice whenever he spoke to her, he’d meant it.
And yet, here she was, ready to shove him up against the wall of an elevator and beg him to fuck her.
If he didn’t have a gun pushed right up against her hip, she might have.
What was wrong with her?
Confused both by herself and him, she waited for the elevator doors to open again. When they did, she threw back her head and laughed, good and loud, as if he’d just cracked a hilarious joke. The move was meant to annoy him, to push more of his buttons.
But when they stepped off the elevator, he looked down, a hint of a smile teasing at the corners of his mouth. And for a split second, she could almost believe they really were just a brand-new couple, caught in the first throes of love, coming back to her apartment after a lovely date.
But then he looked away, his face turning to stone once again, and the moment was lost.
Dammit.
Thankfully, the parking garage was connected to the lobby of her building, so she only had to wallow in the confusing feelings he was inflicting on her for a few moments before they reached the door.
“The code is—”
“I know the code.”
Fear tightened like a vice around her chest as that ninety-nine percent certainty that he didn’t plan to hurt her dipped down to about eighty-five percent. “How do you know the code to my building?”
“I have my ways,” he said breezily, as if it was completely normal for a man to casually tell a woman he already knew how to gain access to her heavily secured apartment building.
Indignation rose up inside her, and she couldn’t keep it out of her tone when she spoke. “That’s really fucking creepy. Are you stalking me, or something?”
The irony of her words was not lost on her.
Or him, judging by the way he stopped to glare down at her. “Really? You’re going to get all self-righteous about me stalking you after you’ve spent weeks trying to do the same fucking thing?”
“Well… yes.” She jerked her chin up defiantly, though she didn’t feel remotely defiant with her heart pounding like a drum in her ears. “That’s different.”
“How so?”
“It just is.”
Before he could argue further, one of the lobby elevators slid open, revealing her neighbor, Dom. He grinned, quick and easy as he always did when he spotted her.
“Hey, Marigold.” But then Dom’s gaze slid to Brody, and his expression changed. Hardened, in a way she’d never seen from him, as if he recognized the dangerous predator she was currently snuggled up against.
“Who’s your… friend?”
“Oh, this is Brody,” she said, hoping her tone came off as breezy rather than breathlessly terrified. “Brody, this is my neighbor, Dom. We’ve known each other for years, his dad used to work with my dad.”
There. Now if anything happened to her, Dom would be able to tell everyone who she was last seen with.
Assuming Lochlan didn’t get to him first.
Oh, god. Had she just signed Dom’s death warrant? What about pretty little Noelle? How fucking selfish could she be?
Panic beat at her chest, knocking the air from her lungs as she stood there, doing her damnedest to pretend everything was just fucking peachy and she hadn’t put two people she genuinely cared about directly in harm’s way.
“Nice to meet you… Brody, was it?” Though he was holding his hand out and smiling, nothing about Dom screamed ‘welcoming’.
If anything, it seemed like he was trying to intimidate Brody, which might have been amusing under literally any other circumstances other than him going toe to toe with a man capable of making him disappear without a trace.
“Yes.” Reaching for Dom’s hand, Brody squeezed, and she was hit with the impression of two jungle cats squaring off against each other.
Desperate to break the tension and hopefully distract Brody from what he clearly perceived as a threat, she giggled and snuggled up closer to him. “Are you headed out again, Dom?”
“Yeah.” Even though he was answering her, Dom didn’t take his eyes off Brody. “Ice-cream run.”
“Oooh, ice cream sounds yummy. We should go get ice cream, Brody.”
Of all things, that managed to tear his attention away from Dom, and Brody looked down at her, one brow raising in a look that made her stomach feel all wriggly. “I think you’ve had more than enough junk for one night, babygirl.”
Jesus. She was going to leave a puddle on the floor if he kept that up.
But her ploy worked, at least a little. Some of the hardness left Dom’s expression, though he still looked like he didn’t trust Brody as far as he could throw him.
Which, she had to admit, was entirely fair.
“All right, well… enjoy your night, Marigold. I’ll be back in about ten minutes and I’m right upstairs if you need me. ”
“Thanks, Dom!”
They swapped places with her neighbor, who turned to look over his shoulder as the doors closed, the corners of his mouth dipped down into a frown.
“Who was that?” Brody’s voice was rough and growly again as the elevator doors closed, and once more curiosity managed to drown out some of her fear. Was he growly because they’d run into a witness?
Or was it something more… personal?
She really wanted it to be more personal.
“I already told you. My neighbor, Dom.”
“Dom who?”
Pulling away, she did her best to imitate his one-eyebrow look. “Do you really think I’m going to sell out my friend to the mob?”
“You already did, menace.”
“What do you mean?”
“You already told me his name. I know where he lives, and I know he’s a cop’s kid. Won’t take me long to dig up everything there is to know about him, down to how he likes his fucking steaks cooked. Asking you is just me being nice.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. She really had given him everything he needed to track Dom down if he decided he was a threat. “You’re kinda scary sometimes, you know that?”
“Only sometimes? I must be losing my edge.”
That made her laugh as the elevator doors opened again and they stepped into the hallway on her floor, loosening some of the sharp talons terror had dug into her stomach. “Dom is, as stated, a friend and neighbor. Who lives a couple floors up with his wife, Noelle.”
“He’s married?”
“He is. Unfortunately for me,” she added with a deep sigh. And it really was. Dom was pretty much perfect. Hot and rugged with a hint of danger around the edges, just enough to make him interesting and not an actual threat.
Nothing like the brooding man holding her captive. Brody actually was dangerous, in a way she should be running from instead of constantly trying to antagonize.
Said dangerous man let out another low growl as they slowed to a stop in front of her apartment, and she barely managed to suppress a shiver at the sound.
“Give me your keys.”
“Please.” More poking. More growling. More of that delicious arousal pooling in her panties.
“Marigold…”
“Brody.”
The arm around her tightened and he dipped his head, his voice somehow managing to drop even lower. “Be a good girl and give me your keys, before I decide you need more than just my hand applied to your bare ass tonight.”
Ho. Lee. Shit. Was spontaneous combustion a real thing? Because she was pretty sure it was about to happen, right here in her hallway.
“You can’t spank me,” she managed to protest, even as she reached into her purse for her keys. “I didn’t consent to this.”
“Sure you did.” Taking the keys from her numb fingers, he smirked down at her. “You consented by ignoring the warning I gave you not once, but twice in less than a week. That tells me you want your ass spanked. And I’m nothing if not obliging.”
Anger sparked in her chest. “The bookstore actually was a coincidence.”
“Sure it was.”
“Fuck you, O’Rourke.” Tears filled her eyes, humiliating her more than anything else he’d done to her. “I might be a menace, but I’m not a fucking liar.”
His chest rumbled with laughter, but only for a moment before it cut off abruptly and the hand holding her keys gripped her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m not.”
Again with that fucking eyebrow. “Didn’t you just tell me you’re not a liar?”
Dammit. Fine. If he wanted the truth, she’d give him the truth.
She’d already been humiliated, and if he had it his way she was going to be bare-assed over his knee in a few minutes, so why not just complete her mortification?
“I’m crying because I hate being accused of shit that I didn’t do.
And it hurts my feelings that you don’t believe me. ”
He blinked down at her. “It… hurts your feelings.”
“Yes. Some of us actually have those, you know.”
“I’m aware of the concept.” But to her surprise, he didn’t laugh at her again. He moved his thumb, brushing at a tear that slipped free. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”
In a night full of shocking twists, that might have been the most shocking of all so far. “So you believe me?”
“You have to admit, it’s a big fucking coincidence, you showing up right across the street from where Killian was having a business meeting.”
“And you have to admit it’s a small city and sometimes people just bump into each other.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy and fraught with meaning before he sighed. “All right. I believe you. But if I find out you lied, I will come back here and stripe your ass with my belt. Understood?”
Fear and arousal spiked in her veins, and it was all she could do to keep either from showing on her face. “That’s fine, because I’m not lying.”
“Good.” Pulling his hand from her face, he juggled her keys until he came to the right one and unlocked her door, pushing it open. “But that’s not going to save your ass tonight, menace.”