Tainted Bastard (Tainted Knights 4)

“If you’re asking if she is at my place right now, then no. If you’re asking if she’s mine, then fuck yeah, she is.” I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “Satisfied?”

“Immensely,” she said with a small laugh. “I didn’t think the day would come when Tate Sinclair would have a girlfriend. Honestly, I didn’t think there were still any women left you hadn’t already fucked or fucked over.”

“Ha-fucking-ha,” I muttered. “I’m hanging up now.”

“To go pick up your girlfriend?” she teased.

“Bye, Kas.” I disconnected the call to the sound of her laugh. That sound had been missing lately, ever since her miscarriage. As annoyed as I was with her, I was still glad to hear it.

Groaning, I got out of bed, needing a shower before I went over to Roanna’s.

Less than an hour later, I was knocking on her door, breakfast in hand.

Aubree opened the door for me, her brows rising at the drink carrier full of cups of coffee and the box of pastries I’d picked up on my way over. “That a bribe to let you in?”

“If it needs to be.”

She stepped back. “Ro is still asleep. She didn’t get much rest last night.”

Pushing the box into her hands, I put the drinks on the coffee table in the living room and headed for Roanna’s bedroom. I hadn’t wanted to leave the night before, but the other three more or less kicked me out no sooner than we walked through the door.

“Let her sleep,” Aubree tried to argue when I headed for her room.

“I will,” I told her but kept walking. “Eat the bear claw and shut up.”

The room was small, barely enough room to walk with the two twin beds and a dresser. Roanna was lying on her side, one arm tucked under her pillow, the other draped over her stomach. The covers were low on her hips, showing me that her sleep shirt was riding up, revealing a few inches of bare stomach.

Kicking off my shoes, I pulled my keys, wallet, and phone out of my pockets and tossed them onto the floor beside them. Then I did the only thing I wanted to do and climbed into that small-ass bed behind her.

She stirred as I put my head on her pillow. Her lashes lifted, and she smiled sleepily up at me. “Hi.”

I kissed her forehead. “Go back to sleep,” I told her, wrapping my arms around her and pillowing her head on my arm.

Roanna sighed, closed her eyes again, and fell right back to sleep.

Burying my nose in her hair, I inhaled deeply. The scent of her shampoo soothed something in me, and I closed my eyes, letting the peace of having her in my arms relax me enough so I could sleep too…

“Sin?” Roanna’s sweet voice murmured, her body squirming against me.

My eyes squinted open. There was still sunlight coming through the thin curtains over the window, but that didn’t tell me what time it was. Looking down at Roanna, I saw that she was wide awake now, and I was holding on to her so tightly she could barely move.

“I really have to pee,” she told me, her lips tilting up in a small smile. “I tried to hold it, but it’s been a while since I woke up.”

“Hell, sorry, babe.” I released her, and she kissed my chin before jumping up.

When she left, the door stayed open. From the living room, I heard London and Genesis bitching at each other. Leaning over the side of the bed, I grabbed my phone to check the time. I’d gotten there close to eleven. It was now after two. I’d slept that long with Roanna in my arms, and it had been the most restful sleep I’d had in forever.

Lying back, I checked the few texts I had. Two from Emmie saying she had those douchebags from the night before right where she wanted them. Something about knowing the biggest rival of the judge who was the grandfather of the one whose nose I busted. She’d gotten a copy of the surveillance video from the cinema and was turning it over to the guy so he could use it as leverage in an upcoming election.

Emmie was cold-blooded when she wanted to be.

I liked that shit.

She could make all three of them pay in more ways than just sending them to jail for a few hours. There were more creative methods of giving Roanna her pound of flesh where those guys were concerned than beating it out of them.

My manager knew exactly how to do that.

Roanna returned, flipping on the overhead light as she crossed the small room and lay down beside me. As tiny as that damn bed was, she had to lie on top of me for us both to fit, making me like her bed even more.