When I’d answered the call and she confessed the truth, I didn’t have much time to dwell on her decision. I had to act fast. Otherwise, I would die anyway. But when everything was said and done, I still didn’t think about it, and I didn’t ask her either. Her feelings were pretty clear. Why talk about them?
She pulled away slowly, her arms sliding down until her hands cupped the back of my neck. But then she took those away too, looking at me with the softest green eyes. She hardly showed her fire anymore because she was completely tame. I was no danger to her, no threat whatsoever, so she changed…let me see her in a new way.
She seemed embarrassed by what she’d just asked me to do. Timid, she stood there and tucked her beautiful hair behind her ear. Her lips were plump and full, the single freckle on her face so damn sexy. “Can I help?” She turned to the stove.
If she wanted to pretend that moment hadn’t just happened, fine. But it did happen—and we both knew it. I turned the burners back on. “Grab a couple of plates.” I heated the chicken and stirred the vegetables, and once everything was done, I scooped the meal onto the dishes.
She carried the plates to the table right next to the window, a table that could easily hold ten people. Then she looked through my cabinets, probably searching for a bottle of wine. “Wow, you’ve got a lot of vodka…”
“I’ll take a glass.”
She grabbed a bottle and searched my fridge for a mixer. When she found a bottle of cranberry juice in the fridge, she mixed it. Then she picked a bottle of wine and poured it for herself. “Why do you like vodka so much?”
“Because I’ve drunk a lot of it.” I sat at the table and watched her place the glass in front of me before she took the seat across from me, the view of the city in her line of sight. “I used to live in Russia.”
She was about to cut into her chicken, but she flinched at what I said. “What?”
“Yeah.” I kept eating, not stopping for the conversation because I was starving. I usually ate right after my workout, but she got on my bed and told me to fuck her, and no amount of hunger was going to get me to walk away from that.
“When?”
“A few years ago. I lived there for about two years.”
“Why?”
“What’s next?” I asked with a chuckle. “How and where?”
When she realized all her questions, she smiled. “Sorry, I’m just surprised.”
“I worked there with a crew. Drugs.”
“Oh…” She didn’t know what to say to that, so she continued to cut into her meat and vegetables. “How did you end up here?”
“My brother. But I got into some bad shit while I was there, and it was a problem for him since he was the Skull King at the time, so he threw me in jail for six months.”
“Really?” she asked, her eyebrow raised. “You?”
I nodded.
“What was that like? If you don’t mind me asking…”
“Boring.”
“Boring?” she asked, surprised by my description.
“Yeah. Same routine every day. I worked out like crazy.”
She still seemed shocked by the news. “I can’t believe I’m sleeping with a former inmate.”
“If you think that’s my worst attribute…” I released a quiet chuckle before I continued to eat.
“So, he let you out?”
“Yes, when I cleaned up my act. I moved in with him and became one of the Skull Kings.”
“And you just worked until you got promoted?”
“Basically.”
“What was the first thing you did when you got out of jail?”
The truth was crass, but I refused to lie to her. I knew exactly who I was, and I wasn’t afraid to show my true colors. “Drank beer and fucked a whore.” I kept eating like I’d said nothing odd, watching her expression.
She didn’t have one. She stabbed her meat with her fork and placed it in her mouth, chewing slowly. “Your place is really nice…” She sidestepped the comment, like she didn’t want to picture me fucking some woman I paid.
“Thank you.”
“It’s very…you.”
When I finished all the food on my plate, I enjoyed my vodka. “I’m glad you like it. Hope you come over often.”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“How comfy that bed is.”
“You’ve already lain on it.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t paying much attention.”
“Well, if you don’t like it, you can just sleep on me.”
She smiled before she pulled her wine closer to her. “I guess that’s true.”
At the end of the night, we went into my bedroom. It was a spacious room, much bigger than her bedroom in that small apartment. I was definitely more comfortable over here, but as long as I got to be with her, it didn’t matter where we were.
She moved to the corner of the room, stilled, and then sprinted to my bed. She jumped high and landed on the mattress, bouncing slightly.
I watched her with a serious expression, finding her childlike behavior comical even if I didn’t show it.
“Oh my god, this bed is huge.” She rolled over and stretched her arms and legs out, like she was making a snow angel in my sheets.
“Well, I’m a big guy.” I dropped my sweatpants and set my phone on the nightstand. There was a pistol in my nightstand and a shotgun under my bed. I turned off the lights then hit the buttons to the shutters, closing all the windows so the sunlight wouldn’t bother us in the morning.
She sat up and watched them closely. “Wow…that’s so cool.” Like a child, she was impressed by everything.
I got into bed and lay there, watching her continue to examine things in my bedroom.
She eventually got out of bed then walked to my closet. “Can I look around?”
I gave her the same answer I always gave. “I have nothing to hide.”
“Okay, but I’m not snooping. Just looking.” She flicked on the light and stepped inside. She looked at all my shirts and jeans then opened one of the drawers. The light immediately came on and revealed an assortment of guns and ammunition. She stilled in surprise before she gently shut the drawer. When she opened the next one, she found the same thing, but there were also grenades and blades. “Whoa.” She shut the drawer then stepped out again. “Never piss you off.”
“The world shouldn’t piss me off. But you can.” I liked it, being with a woman who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind unapologetically.
She grabbed her bag from the dresser. “I’m gonna get ready for bed.” She walked into the bathroom.
She didn’t have any special bedtime routines, so I thought that announcement was odd, but I didn’t question it. Maybe she had something personal to take care of, to take her birth control pills or something.
I lay there and closed my eyes, the sheets around my waist because I was always hot, regardless of how low the setting was for my AC. I’d had women over here before, but I usually fucked whores at their place in case they tried to steal from me. But it was rare, to meet a woman I liked enough to bring to my private headquarters.