23. Renne
Renne
Chi-chi stays until the evening because, apparently, Declan decides when we can come and go from the house today, even though Connor is safe. Chi-chi is cleared to leave after dinner, but I’m not.
At nightfall, Hanna fusses and wants her bath-and-bed ritual. I planned to take her home and have a bath with her, then go to bed early. I want some alone time to think about my boss’s offer.
The trouble with the clinic is that it’s above the city, up in the hills here, near where the Crossbows live, and not in the part of the city where my apartment is located.
I signed a lease for a year, so I still have about nine months left.
Not to mention I got that shitty apartment because of the proximity to the hospital.
I don’t remember the terms of the lease, but I’m sure they’re not in favor of me breaking it.
I’ve got a lot to think about, but one thing is for certain: I have to keep my job. It’s the only thing feeding my baby.
Hanna cries and rubs her eyes. I carry her around the pool, waiting for Declan to emerge from his office so I can get my damn keys and leave.
Dina has apologized on his behalf multiple times, and I’m starting to feel sorry for her for having to do that. Finally, Connor steps outside.
“Are you guys done?” I ask.
Connor takes Hanna from me. It’s almost like it’s second nature for him to just take my baby. She quiets immediately. Because of course she does. I can’t do anything right.
“We’re done for the day.” His gaze finds the diaper bag on my shoulder. “Going somewhere?”
“Yeah, I’m ready to go home.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “Do you mind staying another night?”
I touch my forehead. “I’m not sure that’s such a great idea.”
“Why not?”
I’m not going to spell it out for him. Staying in his house again with all this luxury and him being attentive to my baby and me, and us getting used to all this, means that once we leave, we have to get unused to it, or worse.
We could end up dead when Connor finds out I’m testifying in a murder case against a major crime lord.
My life depends on that testimony. I’m in deep, and there’s no swimming to the shore to be saved. I’ll drown.
My contact told me the witness protection unit put me in this city because I’d just be another single mom in a city of millions. But that’s not the only reason. Massio Crossbow hated the man I’m hiding from. It would be difficult to reach me in Crossbow territory.
“Ekatia?” Connor prompts.
“Yes, I’m sorry, what?”
“Why won’t you stay the night?”
“You know why.”
“Maybe I do, but I want to hear you say it.”
Nobody steps foot in this city unless the Crossbow twins allow it. If I stay, I’m protected from the crime lord. But I’m afraid Connor will find out and execute me for lying to him.
“I want to take my baby home, have a nice bath, and sleep. I want to wake up and do the same until I figure out what to do about the offer I got from work.”
“What offer?” Connor rocks Hanna and shows me her face. Her eyes are closed, her mouth is open, slobbering on his black shirt.
I groan. “She’s falling asleep. Give her back.” I stretch out my hands.
Connor moves away. “When I put her in the car seat, she’ll wake up crying and fussing until midnight.”
“You’re evil.”
He pulls his lips through his teeth. “Thank you. Stop complimenting me unless you agree to stay the night and let me have my way with you.”
An image of Connor doing wicked things to me flashes before my eyes. I bet all my savings that this man is great in bed. Attentive. Dominant. Would probably want to poke my butthole with the barrel of his gun.
“See.” I snap my fingers. “You do know why I can’t stay another night.”
It occurs to me that Connor changed the equation for me. I’ve slept with men and hoped they wouldn’t stay for breakfast the next day. I’ve slept with men and left while they were still in the bathroom, sliding off the condom.
None of this applies to Connor.
For one, I’m in his house with no way of leaving because his brother confiscated my keys. For two, my baby loves it here. There’s so much space, and everyone plays with her. Lastly, they have a pool. It would be so easy for me to say yes to Connor and not worry about the consequences.
Renne would throw caution to the wind.
Ekatia can’t.
I must be smarter. “I really can’t stay. If you could get my keys, that would be great.”
“You like the car, huh?”
I chuckle. “I love Pete’s car.”
“It’s not his car anymore, if you want it.”
“We have to return it once he gets out of the hospital.”
“No, we don’t. Did you visit him?”
I open my mouth, close it.
Connor rolls his eyes. “You did. You’re such a sucker.”
“You’re the one who sent him flowers,” I counter.
“Duh, I want to remind him of who put him in there. If I don’t remind him, he’ll come for you when he gets better, and you’ll be visiting him at St. Dosir’s Cemetery instead.” He turns to show me Hanna again. Her mouth is scrunched up against his shoulder. My baby is the cutest. I swear it.
I throw up my hands in surrender. “Fine.”
“Yes,” Connor hisses. “Be right back.”
He calls Dina, and the pair of them put the baby down in the guesthouse.
With a heavy sigh, I walk to the kitchen and sit on the barstool. The lights in the house dim in the evening. It’s Zen and relaxing, with pleasant scents pumped throughout the house.
“How many nights will I have to stay here?” I ask myself aloud.
“I wonder the same,” Declan says from right behind me.
I scream and nearly come out of my skin. “Oh my God, you scared me.”
Declan tucks his hands into his pockets.
My heart pounds from how he stares at me like I’m a bug on his carpet. I can’t hold his gaze, so I look away just in time for Connor to rush into the house.
“You got something to say, Dec?” Connor asks, aggressively pushing Declan away from me.
Declan blinks. “No.”
“Then fuck off, yeah?”
“Mmhm.” Declan opens the fridge and grabs a turkey sandwich leftover from lunch today. “You hungry?”
“No,” Con and I answer in unison.
Declan pauses before he bites, sliding his gaze between Connor and me. I don’t know what he sees, but whatever it is, he doesn’t seem to like it, because he shakes his head.
“If you don’t want me here,” I say, “you can give me my keys, and I can go home.”
Declan doesn’t blink before reaching into his pocket and throwing all my keys on the kitchen bar. I dive after them like an Olympic swimmer.
Connor wrestles them from me, then dangles them above my head. He’s well over six feet and taunting me. Fine. I punch him in the belly. When he bends over, I jump up to snatch the keys.
But Connor tightens his grip, and we start tugging between us. Finally, he grabs my wrist and pulls me back into his body and slams his lips down on mine.
I still.
Connor stills.
Our world pauses.
I don’t think he meant to kiss me. I sure didn’t expect it.
But now that it happened, our bodies come together.
His arms wind around my waist, and he tilts his head to deepen the kiss.
His lips are softer than I thought they would be, and he smells fresh, like lavender and pine.
Connor tastes amazing. He kisses confidently, arousing me slowly.
I wrap my arms around his neck, and he groans into my mouth and bends me back slightly. It’s like he wants to devour me whole.
We make out heavy and hard, as if there’s a year of pent-up tension between us. He’s a great kisser. He leads the kiss the entire time.
I’m used to dating men with more restraint. I’m not used to this hostile takeover Connor displays when he kisses me. I’m certainly not used to getting picked up and carried like a child.
But when he scoops me up and carries me up the stairs, I wrap my legs around his waist.
Since he’s carrying me, over Connor’s shoulder, I have a clear view of Declan, who holds his phone in front of him as if he’s taking a video or a photo. I hope I’m wrong.