Bane

“Fuck!” Maren gave a frustrated sound. “I’ll be right back.”

Whoever the hell was outside that door had a death wish. I wrenched the door open.

“Housekeeping. Would you like the turn down service?”

“No.”

She nodded and turned. A turn down service cock-blocked me? Coming back in the room, ready to pick up where we’d left off, I found Maren dressed again.

She wasn’t ready.

“Why don’t you go home and pack? I’ll meet you back here tomorrow night.”

My statement obviously threw Maren. She’d probably expected me to seduce her into having sex with me.

“Okay. Thank you.” I needed to get out of here so I did the right thing. Starting for the door, she called, “Bane?”

I turned my head back to her, but kept facing forward, fighting the urge to taste her again. “Yes.”

“Can we keep this a secret? What we’re doing.”

What the hell were we doing? “Absolutely.”

ZIPPING UP MY suitcase, I prepared for the month ahead and what was to come after. The kiss from last night played in my head for the millionth time. Bane captivated me in a way I never thought possible. The moment he took control, I let go. When the knock interrupted us, I was grateful and disappointed at the same time. With those warring emotions, I knew I needed to leave.

I wanted Bane, but I needed to make sure that I knew the score before sleeping with him. There was no doubt he had been one-hundred percent honest with me last night. Frequently, girls thought they could change someone, but I knew that wasn’t the case. People were who they were and change only came from within.

Bane had a dark painful past.

He was the type of man I could lose myself in feeling more than I should if I wasn’t careful. That was something I refused to let myself do. After thinking all night and compartmentalizing everything, I was ready to have fun and let loose for a month. I welcomed it.

Nearly done, I glanced at the clock. I’d finished at the vet clinic two hours ago. The bus would be here in forty-five minutes. There were a couple of dishes I needed to clean before I left. Heading to the sink, I turned on the water.

It was hard to believe for the next month where I’d be staying—somewhere clean and safe. Honestly, anything would be better than this rat hole I lived in that could barely be classified as suitable living conditions. The bug traps were changed out daily. It was a necessary expense to be able to sleep at night and not feel insect legs from time to time. I lived by myself in the one-bedroom apartment where the heat worked … some of the time. Frankie stayed elsewhere. I didn’t ask nor want to know.

Washing the cup in the rusty sink, l screamed when a roach scampered across the floor in front of my feet. “Damn it!” I threw the plastic cup down and stepped back.

All I wanted to do was cry at how my life had been reduced to this. After this month, I was getting out. No one deserved to live like this. Working my ass off and condoning Frankie’s behavior was only making him become more reckless. This wasn’t a way to live. I would take this month, recharge, and plot my escape.

A lone tear fell down my face. Wiping away the tear, the handle of the door rattled. All it took was a slight shake of the door knob to open the door, making the lock useless. It was probably Frankie, but I grabbed the bat in case. I was completely exposed here. That’s why I normally scooted the dresser along the wall in front of the door when I was home. Being distracted, I’d forgotten today.

How had I let myself sink this low?

“Hey, sunshine. How’s it going with lover boy?” I cringed at the childhood nickname Frankie used. It was what my father called me as a kid. Now instead of endearing, it felt tainted.

Frankie was coming off a gambling high as he strode in with a swagger. I could always tell by the way he wore his fedora crooked to the side—his lucky gambling hat. Luck was the last thing that hat brought him … I wished he could get a refund.

All I wanted to do was leave for the hotel. Bane, an almost complete stranger, felt safer than my flesh and blood. Before Frankie suggested pimping out my body, I never would have imagined those thoughts. All this nearly caused me to see red. Frankie didn’t care about me. The truth hurt.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to evenly respond. “Hey, Frankie.”

Eyeing my suitcase, Frankie narrowed his eyes. “You going somewhere? I thought I could count on you to get Tommy Tricks off my back?”

Tommy Tricks was the loan shark Frankie had taken the ginormous loan from.

“I am. I’ve always been there, Frankie. The man wants me to stay at the hotel.” The fact that my brother couldn’t see all I’d given up only affirmed my feelings.

Pulling out his phone, Frankie spat, “He better be fuckin’ paying for your time. I’m contacting Jewel.”