Chapter 9
Goldie
She didn’t sleep worth shit, thanks to her conversation with Aria. The other woman’s warnings had played over and over in Goldie’s mind all night, keeping her from anything approaching a peaceful slumber.
On the bright side, she’d gotten plenty of work done. Since she couldn’t sleep, she’d decided to write, and the words had flown in a way they hadn’t in quite some time.
Asshole mafia guys were good for something, it seemed.
“Mornin’, Austen,” a gruff voice greeted her as she stepped inside the bakery.
She grinned at the bearded man behind the counter. “Boone. I haven’t seen you in a bit. How’s everything? How’s Naomi?”
As it always did, the mention of the big bad biker’s younger sister softened everything about him. “She’s great. Been taking on more hours down at that free clinic, so I have to stay on her about not working too much. But other than that, she’s good. How’s the writing going?”
“Pays the bills,” she answered with a grin, earning her a snort of laughter as she’d known it would. “I was up pretty much all night working, so I’ll need an extra shot of espresso in my mocha, if you don’t mind.”
One dark eyebrow raised in a move that reminded her so much of Brody it made her chest ache. But just as Boone opened his mouth—to scold her, knowing him—the bells above the front door rang and he glanced over, his eyes narrowing at the newcomer.
“The fuck are you doing here?”
Before Goldie had a chance to turn and see who had put that hard look in her friend’s eye, a familiar voice froze her in place. “Can’t a guy just stop in for a sweet treat every now and then?”
Daddy.
No. Not Daddy. A real Daddy didn’t spank you and then make you come harder than you ever have before and then completely ghost you.
Refusing to give him the satisfaction of even acknowledging his existence, she kept her gaze locked on the display of treats in front of her while Boone let out a derisive snort. “Guys, yes. You? No. What do you want, Brody?”
Apparently unperturbed by his less-than-warm welcome, Brody stepped up to the counter, the sleeve of his suit jacket brushing up against her bare skin and making her wish she’d worn a sweater despite the warm April air outside.
“Aria had that strawberry roll yesterday and now she’s obsessed. Wants to try all the flavors.”
“So you’re Killian’s errand boy now?” Boone asked, still clearly skeptical of Brody’s presence.
Beside her, Brody lifted a shoulder in a gesture of nonchalance. “Who am I to deny a pregnant woman her cravings?”
“Uh-huh. Well, you’ll have to wait until I’ve finished with my other customers.”
Given the early hour, it was literally just Goldie and Brody in the store, but that didn’t seem to bother the thorn in her side. “Not a problem. I’ve got time.”
Even though she hadn’t turned her head one millimeter, she was intensely aware of Brody’s gaze on her face. Heat swept over her, a physical touch she would have had to have been dead three days not to feel.
And judging by the way Boone’s gaze darted between the two of them and his frown deepened, Brody wasn’t bothering to be the least bit subtle about things. “What’s going on, Austen?”
“Nothing. I just want my donut and my coffee, please.”
“Uh-huh.” Pulling on a fresh pair of gloves, Boone reached for the maple and bacon donut that had become her recent obsession. “You show up yesterday with Aria O’Rourke, and now her husband’s top stooge is here at the same time you come in every day. That’s not a coincidence.”
“It’s not, but I’m fine, Boone. Really.”
Now she had two very tall, very dominant men staring her down and she found herself wishing for a hole to open up in the floor and swallow her whole. But thankfully, Boone caved with a sigh and handed her the bag with her donut in it. “All right. You know where to find me if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
With a sharp nod, Boone turned away to start her coffee, and despite the heat of Brody’s gaze still sitting heavy on her skin, she refused to turn and look at him.
“You should really have something with protein first thing in the morning. All that sugar isn’t good for you, especially so early in the day.”
The matter-of-fact rebuke sparked the anger she’d been fighting to keep buried and she had to clench her muscles to keep from spinning around to unload on him. “My diet is none of your concern.”
“Just trying to help you out, menace.”
Returning to her original plan to simply ignore him, she pressed her lips together as she watched Boone work.
“Have you been behaving yourself?”
“Again,” she ground out, “what I do or don’t do is none of your business.”
“Keeping you out of my family’s affairs is very much my business.”
Hurt welled up alongside anger and her jaw began to ache from how tightly she was clenching her teeth together. “Fuck off, Brody.”
“Not until I know you’re staying out of trouble.”
Boone turned back before she could give voice to the fury bubbling in her chest, and she managed to force a smile as she accepted her latte. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” But as Boone moved toward the register, Brody stopped him.
“This is together.”
Oh, fuck him. Now she did turn, the anger she’d been trying to keep locked down burning along her skin as she met his amused gaze. “What the hell are you playing at, O’Rourke?”
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a smirk to match the expression in his eyes. “A guy can’t buy a pretty girl a treat?”
“Not when that guy completely fucking ghosted the girl after giving her the best orgasm of her life.”
A strangled sound met her ears and again she wished for that hole to open up in the ground as she remembered they weren’t alone. Humiliation and anger became an inferno, threatening to burn her alive.
Through it all, Brody just… watched her, with that infuriating little smirk on his lips. “The best, huh?”
“Fuck you, O’Rourke.” Jerking her attention back to the stone-faced Boone, she jabbed a finger at the cash register. “Ring me up, please.”
“We’re together,” Brody repeated, and she had to clench her teeth together against a scream of frustration.
Thank god for Boone, who looked from Brody to her and simply raised a brow. “Doesn’t seem like she wants anything to do with you, friend.”
“Her feelings are justifiably hurt, so she’s being stubborn. And you know what happens to stubborn little girls, don’t you, menace?”
It was entirely unfair that his words should have her pussy contracting, as if remembering the pleasure he’d given her. Just as she was about to tell him, again, to fuck off, the bells above the door rang again and a smiling customer stepped inside.
Unwilling to make a scene and potentially harm Boone’s business, she once again forced a smile. “Fine. We’re together.”
Clearly Boone didn’t want to cause any issues with his new customer either, because he nodded. “All right. What else can I get you folks?”
“A slice of each Purgatory Roll you have and a large coffee. Black.”
“Coming right up.” Glancing back over his shoulder, Boone let out a sharp whistle and a moment later the door behind him swung open and Silk stepped out, his usual easy smile on his face.
That smile brightened considerably when he spotted Goldie, then dimmed again when his gaze shifted to Brody. “Morning, Austen. I see you brought another… friend.”
All right, that was the final straw. She was officially going to have to find a new place to get her coffee and pastry fix in the morning. Maybe Charleston Brews. They didn’t have donuts, but she enjoyed their coffee. Oh, except Killian apparently had business meetings there.
Ugh.
Two months ago, she’d never laid eyes on an O’Rourke. Now she couldn’t go five minutes without running into one.
Fuck my life.
“Yup,” she answered Silk through teeth she hadn’t managed to unclench. “Apparently I’m very popular.”
Silk grinned and winked as he tied a black apron around his waist. “Damn right you are.” Shifting his attention to the customer behind them in line, Silk went through the motions of asking what they wanted, but it didn’t escape Goldie’s notice that his gaze kept sliding toward her and Brody as he worked.
Deliberately ignoring all of them, she sipped her coffee and prayed the caffeine would hit sooner rather than later. Finally, after what felt like hours, Boone had boxed up Brody’s order and poured his coffee. With another of those smug little smiles, Brody tapped his card against the reader and—
Declined.
Well, that was interesting.
Frowning, Brody tried the transaction again, and again it declined. “Weird,” he muttered, but as he was tucking his card back in his wallet, Goldie saw her opening. Pulling up the virtual wallet on her phone, she tapped it against the machine and sent him a smug smile of her own.
The transaction went through immediately, and Brody’s expression darkened even further as she took her receipt from Boone and said her goodbyes. Stepping out onto the sidewalk, she turned toward her apartment without bothering to say another word to her shadow.
Unfortunately for her, that didn’t seem to deter Brody. He simply fell in step beside her, walking in silence as if they were simply friends enjoying a nice stroll together.
With every step, the silence grew heavier and her anger grew hotter. Until, at last, she couldn’t stand it a second longer and she stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. Whirling to face him, she jabbed a finger into his chest, her donut bumping against his perfectly pressed suit jacket.
“What the fuck is your problem?”
One ruddy eyebrow raised slowly as he lifted his cup to sip at his coffee. “Seems like you’re the one with a problem, menace.”
“You know what I mean, O’Rourke. Why are you stalking me?”
“I wanted to check on you.”
He didn’t, she noticed, bother to deny the stalking accusation. And dammit if her heart didn’t trip in her chest at his response. “I’m fine. You can go now.”
“Are you?”
Swallowing down a scream, she dragged air through her nose. “Yes. Now please go.”
“My mama taught me to always walk a lady to her door.”
“Oh, really? What did she say about ghosting a lady after you spank her and finger-fuck her to oblivion?”
Amusement flickered across his face. “Oddly enough, that never came up.”
“You are impossible.”
She turned on her heel to stomp away, but then he called her name and despite the anger, the hurt pulsing through her veins with every beat of her bruised and battered heart, she stopped. “What?”
“I’m sorry.”
Of all the things he could have said to her just then, she didn’t think anything would have shocked her more than those two simple words. Slowly, she turned back to face him. “What are you sorry for, exactly?”
“Abandoning you. Aria read me the riot act yesterday and I realized she was right. I’m not sorry for spanking you, because you were warned what would happen if you kept stalking me and my family. But I am sorry that I couldn’t be there for you after, the way you deserved.”
Some of the anger ebbed, though the hurt still lingered. “You said ‘couldn’t’ be there. Like something was preventing you from showing up the way you should have. What do you mean?”
An emotion that looked almost like grief flickered in his dark eyes. “I’m never going to be what you need, Goldie. So the sooner you accept that and keep your distance, the better.”
“I swear to god you’re the fucking king of mixed signals. You want me to stay away, but here you are, crashing my morning coffee date and making sexy innuendos and insisting on walking me home. It’s not fair.”
She’d wanted to sound defiant. Furious. Indignant.
But her voice caught on that last sentence and to her horror, tears filled her eyes. Tears that weren’t at all helped by the regret she could see all over his face.
“You’re right. It’s not fair, and I’m sorry for that too. Which is why it’s best for everyone if you stay away from anyone with the last name of O’Rourke.”
She should. Not just because they were dangerous criminals, but because Brody O’Rourke in particular was proving to be very dangerous for her heart.
But god she was so fucking sick of being the good girl. Of always making the right decisions, never wanting to make waves.
“Or what?”
His eyes narrowed, and her stomach fluttered at the warning in that piercing gaze. “Don’t test me, menace.”
“Or what?” she repeated, ignoring the pounding of her own heart as he stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
“You already know what happens to naughty girls who don’t do as they’re told. And if I have to show you again, I can promise this time it won’t end with you screaming for Daddy while you come all over my hand.”
Stepping back, he jerked his head toward her apartment building. “Go home, menace. And keep your adventures in your books where they belong.”