I’m tense, waiting for his response. Given his attitude up to now, I’m not confident he’ll swear to it, and I’m not looking forward to ending his life. Vince’s gaze drifts over to where Joey fell—family. Mateo’s own brother. The kid I used to play baseball with, even though I fucking hated the game.
Vince looks back at me, and finally he nods.
“Good,” I say simply. “I really didn’t want to pump bullets into the heads of two more people I fucking like.”
Vince’s brow furrows as he reminds me, “You already put a bullet in his head.”
“I wasn’t talking about Joey.”
Fire jumps in his eyes again, this time directed at me instead of Mateo. “Mia had nothing to do with this.”
“And it wasn’t Joey’s idea,” I point out, holding his gaze. “You may not be afraid to die, Vince, but are you prepared to keep getting the people you love killed?”
He all but snarls at me, and I realize we probably won’t be friends after this.
Finally he spits, “I won’t betray him again.”
I nod. “Good.” Glancing over at Joey, I add, “Clean this up.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he asks, his eyes widening.
“Nope,” I say, heading for the door.
Chapter Fourteen
Elise cooks dinner, but I can’t enjoy it.
She keeps stealing glances at me, in the floor, sitting at a damn box instead of a table, but she doesn’t ask questions. I appreciate that, because there’s nothing I could tell her.
When she’s clearing away our dinner plates, I finally say, “I need you to pack up some things tonight, whatever you need for at least the next couple weeks.”
Frowning, she drops to the floor beside me, curling her legs up to her side. “Why? Are we going somewhere?”
I nod, meeting her gaze. “We’re going to stay at the mansion for a little while. There’s some stuff going on that could get dangerous, and I’m going to piss a lot of people off. I need to know you’re safe so I can concentrate on my own tasks.”
She smiles just a little, but I can tell she’s making an effort to tone it down so she doesn’t aggravate me. “Okay. When do we leave?”
“I’m gonna take you over in the morning when I go for work. We’ll stay in my old room while we’re there. Same as before, if you need to go somewhere, you need to take an escort. Not Vince.”
“Why not Vince?”
“Just… not Vince.”
“Okay,” she says, nodding.
“I don’t think he will, but if Vince offers to take you anywhere, don’t go. And don’t say anything to Mateo about these instructions.”
She frowns, but nods again, accepting my orders. Maybe it is good she’s a little trained.
Jesus Christ, listen to me.
Shaking my head in self-disgust, I lean back until I’m flat on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Elise comes over and curls up next to me, her arm settling around my waist.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks.
“Just had a bad day.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Do you have a time machine?”
“I did once; it broke.”
“Damn.”
Elise sighs, just a little sigh, and her finger slips through a gap in my shirt. I don’t respond, but then she undoes a button, making a bigger space. Then another. And another.
“What are you doing?” I ask mildly.
“I wanna make you feel better,” she tells me.
I feel dirty from the day. I shouldn’t even be letting her touch me, but my body overrules my brain’s judgment on this one. Especially when she unbuttons my pants and slides her hand inside, grabbing hold of my cock.
I let myself get lost in her ministrations as she strokes me, in the way her soft hand moves up and down, up and down. She pushes her hair back over her shoulder and leans down, dropping kisses down my chest, down my abdomen. She gives me a playful little look, then she releases me so she can tug my pants down.
My instinct is to tell her she doesn’t have to, but the prospect of Elise’s lips around my cock is too tempting to pass up.
Elise sits on her knees beside my hip, biting down on her bottom lip as she grasps my cock again, tugging it a few more times before taking the plunge. She takes just the tip in her mouth at first, then slowly works her way down my length.
“Oh, fuck,” I mutter, closing my eyes. I open them again fast, because I don’t want to miss this, but Jesus, that feels incredible. Her tongue slides around the tip as she pulls back up, not quite coming off, just creating suction. I clench my hands at my sides, digging into the carpet like I want to grab onto her hair. Finding a rhythm, she moves her mouth over my cock again and again, involving her teeth a few times more than I’d like, but this is likely her first one, and I’m not complaining. She could probably bite my cock off, and I’d just be grateful its last memory was that of her warm, wet lips wrapped around it.