Shielded Wrongs (Bellandi Crime Syndicate 4)

I stopped, finally turning my attention to him fully. It made me wish that I could say I hadn't been with anyone since him to throw that in his face, but the denial would have been a lie. All thanks to the asshole who’d invaded my life and my body. "Unlike you, I waited until after we broke up to sleep with someone else."

"So you are sleeping with someone?" Patrick asked, his jaw tightening like he had a leg to stand on.

"That's really not any of your business, but yes. I've found a new dick to play with." I smirked, hoping against rational thought it would be enough to make him leave me alone. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go home and shower. There's the door. Just in case you forgot how to get there without falling into somebody's pussy."

"Sade..." he started, his voice trailing off as Enzo stepped up beside me. Patrick wasn't small. I had a bit of a size fetish, liking my men big and bulky despite being tiny myself. But even though Enzo was only a couple inches taller, something about his presence was just larger than life.

It would take a special guy to make him seem small, and I wasn't sure such a man existed. Patrick eyed him as Enzo wrapped his arm around me, his palm pressing into my sweat slicked hip with his brand of ownership. Under any other circumstances, I might have protested the public claim the position tried to put on me.

But I was fucking tired, and all I wanted was for Patrick to go away so I could go back to Enzo's and take another hot bath to soothe my sore muscles and ass.

I sighed, relenting and snuggling deeper into Enzo's side. Even pissed at him, I couldn't feel anything but appreciative of the fact that he might help me get rid of the nuisance that I truly had zero intention of taking back. I may have liked things in increments of five, but that didn't apply to second chances.

There was no forgiveness when it came to games of the heart. Not for me.

"Patrick, this is Enzo. Enzo, Patrick. My ex," I explained.

"Can we have a minute?" Patrick asked, stupidly not seeing the frayed edges of restraint written on Enzo's body. The knowledge that he didn't like to fight did nothing to reassure me, not with the way his muscles tensed against my skin with his forearm pressed into my back diagonally.

"No," Enzo answered. He rested his chin on the top of my head, touching his mouth to my hair briefly. "Sadie and I have no secrets. I assure you, even if I left, she'd tell me whatever I wanted to know the second you took the hint and got lost."

I resisted the urge to snort a laugh, sniffling to disguise the sound. "He likes to torment me with pleasure," I said, leaning toward Patrick and dropping my voice to a whisper. "The orgasms he gives? I'd sell state secrets for those," I laughed, enjoying the way Enzo's laughter made his chest shake against my side. "I think it's obvious that you and I are done. So I'll ask again, please leave so I can go back to Enzo's and take a bath in his deep soak tub that is calling my name."

"You sleep at his place? With him?" Patrick asked, his brow furrowing with pain. I winced, because that had unintentionally been a low blow. To be fair, Patrick was your typical bachelor. Cleanliness was not his strong suit, and I knew I'd never sleep if I had to do it in his apartment without cleaning first. That didn't explain why I'd never let him spend the night with me, aside from the fact that men drooled and farted in their sleep.

I didn't bother to correct the assumption that Enzo and I slept together. There was no way to explain that we slept in separate bedrooms every night, even though we'd had sex twice. It wouldn't have normally fazed me, and it hadn't until that very moment. Seeing Patrick wish I'd have slept with him while Enzo was content to have his own space in the night... I hated it.

"We're inseparable. I think it's time for you to leave. You no longer exist for Sadie, and it's time that went both ways." Enzo said, shifting his body in front of mine. The move was subtle, only half a step in Patrick’s direction meant to clarify that it wouldn’t be me who forced him out, but even Patrick didn’t miss it. He nodded thoughtfully, giving me one last rueful look before he turned on his heel and made for the door without another word. Apparently, my sleeping habits were the killing blow to a relationship I no longer wanted.

So why did it feel so lonely knowing Enzo didn't want to sleep with me?

Why did I care at all?

Enzo was on the phone the moment we pulled into the garage, berating someone on the other line. “I want to know why we had no warning! You’re supposed to have eyes on this guy, so why did he stroll into Sadie’s gym without a call from you?”

My phone buzzed in my tote I carried to the gym, and I dug around to find it as Rebel went to curl up on her bed. She didn’t like it when Enzo or I yelled, but she never made a move toward anything resembling violence. She’d growled at Patrick, sensing how unwelcome he was and trying to save me from the stress of it.

“Hello?” I asked, finally finding my phone and putting it to my ear.

“Sadie, this is the vet. Ashleigh?” she said, her tone friendly. I paused for a moment, moving to sit with Rebel in the corner and needing to feel her weight against my side for comfort.

“Hi,” I said.

“Rebel’s bloodwork came back clean. I’ve tracked down her owner’s son. Sadly, her previous owner passed in a car accident a few months ago. Rebel was in the vehicle with her and didn’t want to be separated from the woman. Emergency personnel scared her off, and the family never saw her again.”

“That’s terrible,” I said, staring down at my dog who’d survived so much.

“I explained to them that Sophie is now Rebel, and that she’s landed in a good home with a woman who loves her very much. They are supportive of Rebel remaining with you and just happy to know she landed some place safe.”

“Oh thank God,” I said, tucking my face into my knees. “Thank you.”

“Enjoy that sweet girl, Sadie. I’d like to see her in a few weeks to weigh her and see if we need to adjust her diet.”

“Thanks again,” I said, ending the call and turning my attention to where Enzo watched us. “Rebel’s owner died months ago. She’s mine, free and clear.” Shame filled me, fueled by my knowledge that Rebel’s owner died and all I could think of was how happy it made me to know she was mine.

Enzo moved to fill her food bowl as she pranced along through the house to go eat, seeming happy to be back in her own space where she felt most comfortable. Like she didn’t sleep in a soft bed no matter where she went.

For a stray dog, she'd adapted to being spoiled remarkably well. “I told you it would be fine,” he said, patting her head as I turned for the stairs. The bath called my name, needing the warm water before my muscles hurt so much I wanted to cry. Enzo headed me off, jerking his head toward the back of the house. "Let's go in the pool."