Ignite (The Disciples 4)

I’m definitely getting more aggravated because this is drama. I don’t do drama—that’s an Edge thing, maybe even Blade, but not me.

The woman with the screaming baby looks at me. Her eyes are puffy, her face and neck have red splotches, and along with her stained sweats, she seems to be holding up about the same as her husband.

“What’s the problem?”

“This.” Ortega points his pen toward the inside of the apartment.

“She’s breaking the law. We’re supposed to be moving in and she won’t leave.” The woman is screaming over her baby, causing the child to scream even louder. Snot runs down its nose into its mouth. “She threatened my husband with a baseball bat.”

I turn to her. “Why don’t you and the baby get some fresh air, maybe a walk.” She blinks up at me.

“Oh.” Her cheeks get redder as she rubs her baby’s back. The man looks at his wife then me as he straightens to his full height, not even coming up to my chin.

He glares. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but she’s in the wrong. I have a baby, and we just got into town…”

My stare makes him shut up.

“What happened?” I glance at the two cops.

“Apparently, the landlord, who we haven’t talked to yet, rented out Ms. Van Doran’s apartment. She’s three months behind on rent.”

“That’s a lie,” she yells from inside. It’s raspy, alerting me that she’s also been crying. I grit my teeth at the idea that I’m starting to know these things about her.

“Allegedly she pulled a baseball bat on him and threatened to use it if they set foot in the apartment.” He nods toward the man. “The couple wants to press charges.”

The man looks up from staring at his shoes. “Yes. She absolutely threatened me. I don’t know why the cops haven’t taken her away yet.” He looks like he wants to burst into tears. I almost laugh because what a fucking cunt. Instead I move around the cops to enter.

Then I stop at what I see.

“Christ.” I scrub my hands up and down my face. “What are you doing?”

She sits in the middle of the living room, like she’s on a throne, but it’s not. It’s a crappy purple beanbag chair. Legs crossed, head high, and in her lap, a wooden baseball bat.

“Antoinette?” I say sharply, causing her to look up at me. And for a brief second, I see all of her. Her fear and desperation, it’s all there. Her pale face makes her blue eyes look huge. I have no idea what it is about her, why I can’t seem to stay away. Why I want to take her and protect her from everything. Fuck, the biggest person I should be protecting her from is me.

“Mitchell…” She bites her top lip to stop whatever else she was about to say.

“You okay?”

She tightens her hands on the bat. Her long hair spills around her shoulders in a spectacular disarray of curls. Jesus, she’s breathtaking.

I want her.

Fuck, I’m fighting myself not to pick her up and fuck her right now, wrap my hands around those silken tresses, bury my face, and let myself find nirvana.

Turning, I kick the door shut.ANTOINETTEThe door slams and I dig my nails into the wooden bat.

He came.

As he walks toward me, stopping at the end of my beanbag chair, my pulse races and it’s hard to catch my breath. I need to get ahold of my emotions. The idiots with the baby are forgotten, nothing but an annoyance that earlier seemed like the end of the world.

My cheeks burn as I look straight at his crotch and hear Frenchie’s voice. Does he really have a giant cock?

I shouldn’t have asked for the cops to call and ask for him. Crystal would have probably helped had I insisted. After all, she’s the one who has secretly kept me on the books stating that I can come back as soon as some guy named Edge returns.

He crouches down in front of me. Watching the way his thighs strain against his jeans, I grip the bat tighter as if it can help me fight these raging feelings.

It must be his physical beauty that has me acting like this. I can’t understand it otherwise. Mitchell makes me feel secure. Even though I know in my head it’s ridiculous, I can’t help it.

“Give me the bat, baby.” And I think I might die. I have to pull myself together and stop staring at him like he’s special. Remember that I had him called because he’s the only man I know who can make my landlord, the cops, and some crazy couple with a baby not toss me into the streets.

Inhaling, I gaze at him. He’s so beautiful it’s hard not to feel special when he looks at you the way he looks at me. Clearing my voice, I push my shoulders back.