Distraction (Underground Kings 3)

Grabbing a Diet Coke, one of the only things in the fridge, I wander into the living room and take a seat on my couch, setting my Coke on the floor. Holding my phone in my hand, I try to decide what to do. I press my hand to my forehead and replay the events from last night in my head. After I got to the club, Teo escorted me straight to the office, where I stayed until around one. Instead of leaving and going home, I decided to sit at the bar and talk to Eva, since we didn’t have a chance to chat earlier. I remember she asked me if I wanted a drink, but like always, I chose cranberry juice, since I knew I had to drive. After she poured me a glass, we chatted between customers. After that,

Nothing

My mind is blank.

Pressing the button on my cell phone, the screen lights up and I see there are twenty-seven phone calls and ten text messages from Sven. I don’t read any of the messages as I type quickly.

SVEN: I’m okay. I just need the night to think.

I press send then sit back on the couch, close my eyes, and before I know it, I’m asleep.

“I’m never letting you go.”

Waking suddenly, I pant looking around in the darkness then squeeze my eyes closed, trying to calm my breathing and rid my mind of the image of Sven above me, his muscles tight as he fills me. Opening my eyes again, it’s pitch black, and my neck hurts from the awkward angle it’s bent at. I hold my phone away from my face and press the button, seeing it’s after midnight.

Groaning, I sit up and rest my head in my hands for a moment while I go over all the variables for the conversation that will happen between Sven and I. Worst-case scenario, I lose Sven forever. Best-case, we pretend like nothing ever happened. Neither of those scenarios makes me feel good, but I need to understand what happened last night, and judging by Sven’s reaction to me not remembering, he needs to know too.

Knowing Sven is probably at the club and I have a couple hours to figure out what to say to him when I see him, I pull the pepper spray out of my bag and make my way to my car. Taking the long way home I pull into the driveway at a little after one. Not recognizing the car parked in the driveway it takes me a second to remember Sven has friends in town. Feeling embarrassment hit me, I shut off my engine, and stare at the house until I finally build up the courage to get out and head inside. I don’t even register the sound of the car door slamming behind me. The only thing I’m thinking about when I open the front door is the smell of a woman’s perfume as I step into the house.

“It took you long enough.”

Turning on the foyer light, my heart falls into my stomach as a woman wearing nothing but a pair of shear panties and heels walks around the corner out of the living room. My blood starts to pump so fast and so loud that I can’t even hear what she’s saying as she gets closer. But I know she’s speaking to me as I watch her lips move and a snarl form on her pouty mouth.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Sven roars from behind me, and I swing my head around to look at him and stumble back, caught off-guard by the anger in his voice and the look in his eyes.

“I—”

“Get out now,” he thunders, and I follow his eyes to the woman standing naked in the entryway of the house. Her arms cross over her chest and she looks at Sven then me and back again.

“Whatever.” She turns on her heels and heads back into the living room, grabbing a coat off the couch and putting it on, tying the waist. “Your friend still owes me,” she says as she passes by Sven, who is holding open the front door. As soon as she clears the door, Sven slams it closed and presses his hand to the wood, dropping his head forward to hang between his shoulders.

“I was waiting outside of your apartment. I must have fallen asleep, ‘cause when I woke up, your car was gone. Do you know how fucking scared I was?” He turns to face me and pins me in place with the look in his eyes. “First, you run out on me, and then you send me a message saying that you need time to think.” He shakes his head, running his hand over his stubble-covered jaw. “What you need to think about, I have no fucking clue, because you have no idea what I’m feeling.”

“Sven,” I whisper as tears clog my throat.

“No, Mags, I’ve given you time. I’ve done everything but write it in the sky, and you still do not understand I’m in love with you. I loved you before I even understood the pain you caused in my chest.” He steps toward me then pauses as his eyes sweep over me and go soft.

“Then you gave yourself to me last night, gave me a gift that I know I’m not worthy of, but I took it anyway, only to wake up this morning in a fucking nightmare,” he says, and my heart that had been soaring begins to crash to the ground in a fiery ball of flames. “I’m at a loss, baby. For the first time in my life, I feel lost on what to do. I love you, but if this isn’t what you want, I need you to just leave, because I don’t have the strength to do this anymore.”

Tears begin streaming down my cheeks and I try to swipe them away, but they are coming so quickly that I don’t have time to catch them all. There is no way I can walk away from Sven, but the idea of being with him scares me.

“Why?” I shake my head, not sure what I’m asking. Why does he love me? Why is he telling me this now? Why is he doing this to me? Why am I not jumping for joy?

“Why?” he repeats, taking another step toward me and I nod. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t even looking, but then one day you were there and I knew you were it.”

“I’m not even your type,” I point out on a quiet sob as I cover my mouth.

“What type would that be?” he asks tenderly, pulling me up against his body, where I go willingly, melting into him. “The beautiful, sassy, smart type?” he questions, wrapping his arms tighter around me.

“You’re my boss.”

“Yeah, and if you’re mine…” He smiles a smile I’ve never seen before then dips his face closer to mine. “I’ll finally be able to do what I’ve wanted to do every time you’ve pranced around my office in those tight skirts and tights with the sweet little designs on them.” I feel heat hit my cheeks then duck my head so he can’t see how his words affect me. I have always been attracted to Sven, but to know he feels the same thing for me is overwhelming.

“We have to talk about last night.” I swallow and pull away, needing to put some distance between us so I can think clearly.

“Let’s go sit down.” His tone has my eyes flying up to meet his. Long gone is the sweet smile, and in its place is rage.

Leading me over to t

he couch, he sits then pulls me down onto his lap.

“Maybe I should sit over there.” I point to the chair that sits catty-corner to the couch.

“No, I need you right here when we talk about last night.”

Searching his gaze, I agree with a quiet, “Okay.”

“What do you remember about last night?” he asks, pushing some hair behind my ear as his eyes run over me.

“Nothing,” I say, feeling a chill slide down my spine.

“Nothing,” he repeats as his hand on my thigh moves in soothing strokes. “What was your last memory from yesterday?”

“I didn’t want to come home, so I went down to the bar to hang with Eva for awhile. When I got there, she still had customers, so she poured me a cranberry juice and we talked a bit, but she was busy.” I end letting my words hang in the air between us.

Leaning back, he pulls his hand from my thigh and runs it over his face. “When I got to the club, you were laughing and having a good time, but you weren’t blitzed.”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything. I don’t even remember seeing you.”

“Jesus,” he groans, wrapping his arms around me, burying his face in my neck. “You had to have been roofied and I didn’t even think about it. I just knew you were finally opening up to me and that was all I saw, so I took my shot.”

“Wouldn’t I have been passed out or something?” I whisper.

“I would never have gone there if I believed for one second that was the case, Mags. You have to believe that.”

I do actually believe he wouldn’t take advantage of me. I know deep down that if he thought for one second I had been drugged, I would have been in the hospital, not in his bed doing whatever it is we did last night.

“I believe you,” I tell him, running my hand through his hair. When his face comes out of my neck, the worry in his eyes is still there. I hate that look on him, but I have no idea how I can fix it.

“Where do we go from here?” he asks so quietly I’m not even sure those are the exact words.