“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone this time.”
I shrugged, but it was stiff. “Don’t need to tell me. I’m not your wife or girlfriend. I’m merely a promise to my dead brother. And I’m not staying at my parents’.” Heck no. I loved them dearly, but with their concern over my drinking … it was the last place I needed to be.
Deck was looking pretty damn firm with his rock-solid stance and unflinching eyes. Okay, I’d need to give on this one; otherwise, he might do something drastic like lock me up.
“Fine. Vic can stay with me.” Shit, Vic hated me. I saw it in the way he looked at me with those dark-grey eyes filled with contempt. “Who knows, maybe we’ll hit it off and I’ll get to taste a yummy chocolate—did you know black men have bigger cocks? I read—”
“He’ll take you to the cemetery.”
Fuck. I always disappeared on the day of Connor’s death and it was a week away. No one knew where I went. I always took a bottle of scotch for pretense and then I went dark. It was the only day of the year that no one, not even Deck, could find me. Looked like he was trying to end that. Well, I was pretty good at what I did and Vic wasn’t going to stop me.
“Stay and come with me.” I asked him this every year, kind of a ritual, and I already knew his answer. Each time, I breathed a sigh of relief when he refused. I’d be fucked if he said okay.
For the first year after Connor’s death, I hated Deck. Then I learned to harness that hate. I found my outlet, and the hate I thought I had for Deck wasn’t for him at all. It was for me. I hated myself. For who I was. For being scared all the time. I used to feel as if I was falling and the only way I’d survive was if Deck caught me. The thing was I knew if he’d been around back then he’d have caught me, saved me then tossed me aside like some annoying pebble he’d found in his combat boot.
So, I did something about it. I found a way to survive. Or rather, it found me.
“I don’t need a tombstone to remember him.” He always said that. “Leave the scotch at home this year.” Deck looked over his shoulder toward the office. “Vic.”
And that was that.I WATCHED GEORGIE go back into my room, my shirt just covering the cusp of her ass. Fuck. My cock nearly burst through my jeans at the sight of her coming out of my bedroom, hair wet, skin glistening from the heat of the shower and that sassy smile on her mouth. A mouth I’d dreamed about having around my cock as she knelt on the floor in front of me.
Then it blew up in my face as I realized what I was looking at, my men were seeing, as well. I couldn’t blame them. Georgie was hot. She had hips to grab, an ass to match and the attitude to make a guy bend to her will, and that was what fucked with my head. I wanted her to bend to my will and yet, that had never been a possibility. Not with my promise to Connor. Besides, I didn’t want her like this. I also didn’t want another guy fuckin’ touching her, but that wasn’t possible or fair, either. My word was to protect her and that included making sure the men she dated were good enough for her.
Who was I kidding? No fuckin’ guy would be good enough for Georgie.
“Boss?”
Tyler slapped me on the shoulder. “When are you going to give her what she wants? Man, your control is fuckin’ epic. That hot piece …” His voice trailed off when I glared at him. “Yeah, I’ll get the car.”
“Do that.” I was still looking in the direction Georgie had disappeared. I was worried. Emily and Kat were away with Tear Asunder, and after last night, I didn’t like the idea of leaving her.
Seeing her in some guy’s bedroom with her shirt off and her bra all fucked up—yeah, I was still reeling. Georgie had never pulled a stunt like that, at least that I knew of. But Matt’s call last night saying she showed up at Avalanche when I specifically asked her not to … that had me on a plane coming back. Shit got worse when Matt called back before we landed saying she was heading out with some guy named Lionel Harrington who frequented the bar and was often seen with some seedy guys. I was able to dig up info on him and found out the smart as hell programmer might not be trouble, but his ‘business’ acquaintances certainly were.