Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
KILLIAN
Icould watch her for hours. Right now, I’m admiring her thick lashes that kiss the tops of her cheeks. My Zolotse appears every bit the angel I know she is. Last night blew my mind. I know that I could never live without her. I can’t go back to where I was. I won’t.
That means I can’t fuck this up. I need to deal with Tristan. Slowly I slip from bed, careful not to wake my girl. She needs her rest after we did a repeat performance last night. I grab my boxer briefs off the floor and yank them on, trying to get my hard-on under control.
I find my jeans, not bothering to button them before I snag my phone and head to the other side of the suite. I know he's been trying to reach me, but I kept putting him off. I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do at this point.
It actually takes a few rings before Tristan answers. "The fuck have you been?"
"Oh, you can curse, but I can't!" I hear shouting on the other end of the line. That's got to be Lily.
"Who is it? I need a name." I can't do a name, not yet.
"I'm working on it, but I know it's a friend. A girl," I add quickly.
"Killian, you know I need way more than that."
"It is a friend, you giant asshole!" the girl shouts again. Fuck me. She must know then that a person was hired to look into Teddy.
"Go to your room," Tristan orders her, and there's an icy edge that would have most people sitting up straight.
Is he trying to send an adult to their room? Good luck with that, because Lily is Teddy's friend, and from what I've learned about her, she gives as good as she gets.
"No," the girl says. Tristan lets out an irritated growl, and I hear him moving and then a door shutting.
"Everything okay over there?"
"Here is none of your business. Now tell me why you’re not giving me the information I want."
“Because I’m still working on it.” Now it’s me that growls.
“Are you working on it in the Captain Crown?” He says the name of the hotel. A surge of irritation hits me.
“Listen here, pretty boy, you and I are going to have a real fucking problem if you’re tracking me. I’m warning you, and I am not fucking around. I consider that a threat, and do you know what I do to things that threaten me? I’m pretty sure that you do.”
Tristan takes a deep breath. “The girl, she makes me do shit that—” He trails off. “Never mind, you wouldn’t understand." Oh, how wrong he is. “Get me what I want, and I’ll tell you how I do it and give you the tech to stop even me.”
I could stop Tristan myself, but he’s likely not the only one with the technology he’s speaking of.
“Fine, but you better knock that shit off. I’ll be in contact.” I end the call knowing that I likely can’t kill Tristan. That would set off a chain of events that would end up upsetting my Zolotse. But if he gives me no option, I will do what I must to protect her.
I hear a sound from behind me, and I turn quickly. Relief fills me that Teddy isn't standing there having heard all that I said. I run my hand down my face. I’m going to have to come clean with her. It’s the only way.
I grab the tablet off the small kitchen counter and order breakfast. I want to feed my Zolotse in bed, and then maybe I can eat her again. Once I’ve placed the order, I check my emails while she’s still asleep. I pause a few times when I think I hear her voice, but she doesn’t come out of the room.
I turn down a handful of offers that have come through and notice I received information about Teddy’s lawyer. I start to scan over it when I know for a fact I hear her now. I don’t get the chance to go to her; she comes out of the bedroom, her phone in hand.
“Zolotse.” I can tell instantly that things are not okay.
"You've been lying to me." Tears fill her eyes. They slice right through me. It's worse than any torture I've experienced before.
"I was going to tell you." It takes me no time to put together that it was Lily who told her about me.
"After you sabotaged everything?" The corners of her mouth turn down. Her disappointment and hurt is palpable, and it’s crushing me. Never have I worried what other people thought about me, but she changed all that.
"No, I haven't told Tristan anything. I've been stringing him along.” I start to stand, wanting to go to her.
"You keep your booty in that chair," Teddy orders me. I'm not pushing my luck, so I keep my ass planted. "Oh, you actually listened." That perks her up momentarily, and then she furrows her brows, remembering she's mad at me.
"Zolotse, please. I did not mean you harm." I swallow. "I can't lose you." My world would fall into utter darkness. Before Teddy, that was fine by me, but now I've felt the sun on my skin, and there’s no turning back. I want to bask in her for the rest of eternity.
"You're not going to lose me. Don't think that, but I'm still mad." She stomps one foot.
"I'll make it up to you," I tell her.
"With orgasms?" Her brows rise at her question.
"I will always give you an orgasm, but I was going to offer my assistance."
"Oh, right. Yes, that's what you'll do to make it up. You're now an assistant of this mission." I’ll be whatever the hell she wants me to be as long as she doesn’t leave me.
"I'm honored to be on the team."
"Whoa, hold it right there, big guy. You're only an associate. This is Lily's and my mission."
"Right, my apologies." I scoot my chair back when Teddy starts to come toward me. She slips right into my lap, straddling my thighs.
"I'm still mad at you." She tries to glare at me, but she appears more like an angry kitten. Then she kisses me. Relief floods me. It's about more than her forgiving me, but when I told her I couldn't lose her, she brushed that off like it was never a thought.
I tangle my fingers into her hair and deepen the kiss. I'm about to spread her out on the table and get to work on her orgasms, but a knock sounds at the door, the food arriving.
Teddy wiggles off my lap, but I grab her wrist, tugging her back. “I answer the door,” I tell her. “This is non-negotiable. I will not risk your safety." Even if I have to tie her to the bed. I don’t tell her that part.
“Fine, I’ll allow this.” She gives a curt nod. “Did I sound professional?”
“This isn’t professional, Zolotse."
I check the door before I open it, allowing them to bring the cart in. I sign for it, and they quickly exit after I tell them I'll handle putting everything on the table. I noticed a shift in Teddy when they'd entered, so I wanted them out as quickly as possible.
"We need to renegotiate this door-answering deal."
"Not happening." I start putting everything on the table.
"The girl was eating you alive with her eyes. We will renegotiate, and the new rule is if you're answering the door, then you must wear a shirt, you hussy." I glance down at myself.
"Deal," I agree. That's easy enough.
"You're not going to say anything about her?" She nods to the door.
"What of her?" Teddy rolls her eyes. I shouldn't find this show of jealousy entertaining, but I'm an asshole, so I do.
"Are you going to pretend you didn't see her?"
"I saw her."
"And you saw these." She hovers her hands over her tits, in a show of bigger ones.
"I did." Teddy's mouth drops open. "I notice everything, Zolotse." To prove my point, I describe the blonde who brought the cart up from head to toe, and then I do the valet from last night and the man who checked us in. I can’t tell if she’s impressed by this or annoyed. “You can’t be in my line of work and not take in every single detail about people and your surroundings. That’s how you get caught or worse, die.” She nods her head.
“But I can go collect her eyes for you if you like.”
“Oh my gosh.” Teddy bursts into a fit of laughter, waving me off as if I was joking. I smile, loving that she still believes I’m a sweetheart.