“The DPP found out what you’d done,” Nitro said, putting it all together.
“Yes. I was disbarred. My friends, who were all lawyers, walked away from me. I lost my home, my car, everything. The only people I had left were Chris, Monroe, Duvall and Billy.”
“That’s when you started working for Billy?”
I nodded. Taking a deep breath in an effort to stop more tears, I said, “I did this to myself. Everything I don’t have now is my own fault. I was stupid to fall for someone like Randall. Stupid to think he would give me the things I was desperate for. And even dumber for wanting those things in the first place. I threw my career away for nothing.”
“Fuck, Tatum,” he started. “We do crazy shit for our family sometimes. Anything to make them happy. You weren’t stupid to fall for someone. He’s the asshole in all this.”
More tears fell. I couldn’t hold them in any longer. “He didn’t even call when Chris died…. I don’t know what I expected, but I thought no matter what had happened between us, he might care enough to check on me. I guess I know once and for all how much he actually cared about me.”
“Why was Chris murdered?” he asked quietly.
“He was involved in some bad shit. Mostly car theft. He ran with a gang from the time he was fifteen and just got deeper and deeper into shit. I tried to get him out, but it was ingrained in him. He went off the rails when he was nineteen, mentally, and after that, he just never seemed to get his life together. Had delusions of being untouchable. He went into direct opposition with Silver Hell, selling stolen cars cheaply. They didn’t like it because he was undercutting them. In the end, they solved their problem by killing him.”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “Are your parents still alive?”
I shook my head. “No. Dad passed away nine years ago, and Mum died from breast cancer last year. Just before Chris died.”
His eyes filled with sorrow and he wiped my tears as they fell harder. His touch was so tender. Full of care. When my tears didn’t subside, he pulled me into his arms and held me until I stopped crying. Nitro’s embrace was everything I’d never had from a man in my life. My father had been so busy providing for our family that his time had been scarce. He’d also been preoccupied with desperately trying to figure out how to get my mother to love him as much as he did her, which meant his emotional capacity was stretched thin when it came to his kids. And as far as my ex-husband was concerned, I couldn’t recall a time he’d ever comforted me the way Nitro was. My nightmare slayer.
* * *
I stood in the doorway to my bedroom and leant against the doorjamb watching Nitro put on his boots. He’d woken me an hour earlier with a hard-on that needed taking care of, but we’d been interrupted when King had called asking him to meet in an hour. We’d taken care of that hard-on, but it had been faster than either of us had wanted because, with traffic, he’d be pushing it to meet King on time.
“Here,” I said, pushing off from the doorjamb and shoving a thermos at him.
He stood and closed the distance between us. “Coffee?”
“Yeah, figured I didn’t get time to cook you breakfast so I’d make coffee for your drive.”
Taking the thermos, he said, “Since when do you cook me breakfast, woman?”
Woman.
That word and the way it rolled off his tongue hit every single nerve ending in my body. Before I knew it, my arms were looped around his neck and my body was pressed up against his. “There’s a first time for everything. Maybe tomorrow if you’re lucky.”
A sexy smile made its way across his face and his hand curved over my ass. Slowly. The kind of slow that made my vagina roll over and beg for mercy. But there would be no mercy that morning. He had to get to work. “You a good cook, Vegas?”
I gripped the back of his neck. “You better believe it. You won’t know whether you want me to open my legs or my cookbook.”
Heat flared in his eyes and he moved his mouth to my ear. “Pussy always trumps food.”
I unhooked my hands from around his neck and let him go. This was moving into dangerous territory. “You should leave before I try and stop you.”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. Grabbing his keys, he made his way to the front door. As he reached for the handle, his phone rang. “What’s up, Dustin?” he answered the call, pulling the door open.
I followed him outside to his ute, catching pieces of the conversation.
“No, I can’t come home right now and help you. I’ve gotta get to work,” he said. I picked up that Dustin was stressing over something and Nitro was attempting to calm him down.
I placed my hand on his forearm to draw his attention. When I had it, I said, “Is he okay? Can I help?”
Nitro stared at me for a beat, contemplating what I said before nodding. “Dustin, give me a sec.” He moved the phone away from his mouth to say to me, “He’s got a job interview this morning and is stressing. Have you got time to go and talk him down?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Thanks.” He ended his call with Dustin, promising I’d be there soon. Yanking the door to his ute open, he said, “Thanks for that. He’s always a mess when he has an interview. Usually I’m there to calm him.”