It drove me crazy.
Heath continued to watch me. “Can you honestly say you’re happy?”
“No. But I’m never happy. I’ve never been happy.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You seemed pretty happy with her.”
I turned away from the vault and walked out.
He was close behind me. “Slept with anyone?”
That question was too personal, so I didn’t answer it.
“That’s a no.”
“Don’t worry about my dick.”
“I’m not worried about your dick. I’m just proving a point.”
“You didn’t prove anything.” I stepped back into the bar area where the men were drinking. The men on my team drank their beer at a table, swapping stories about the crazy night we’d just had. There were a few causalities—for our enemies.
“It’s been a month, and you haven’t slept with anyone. You don’t think that’s weird?”
“I’m going home. Night, Heath.” I entered the hallway and maneuvered to the parking garage where my truck was. Old and unremarkable, it allowed me to blend in with my surroundings. No one took the vehicle seriously, so I passed undetected through the city.
My brother emerged behind me. “Can I get a ride?”
“Can you just go away?”
He jogged until he reached my side, a grin on his face. “You know I mean well, right?”
“You don’t listen to what I say, so I doubt that.”
“I’m not supposed to listen to what you say. I’m your brother. It’s my job to tell you the truth—especially when you don’t want to hear it.” He approached the passenger door. “You want to stop for a drink?”
“We were just at the bar.”
“Yeah, but we’re surrounded by idiots. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”
“You mean somewhere with pussy.” I got behind the wheel and fastened my safety belt.
He shrugged. “You know me so well.”
We went to a bar blocks from my house. It was a Thursday night, so it was quiet. Only a few people lingered after midnight, drinking what they could before two a.m. approached. There were a few beautiful women there, but judging by their forwardness, they were prostitutes. Probably Miss Lightning’s girls.
Heath talked about football for a while, his eyes drifting to a brunette who was making eyes at him from the opposite end of the bar.
I didn’t care about football, but it was better than listening to him talk about Cassini.
I wondered what she was doing right now.
Was she sleeping alone?
It’d only been a month. Would she have moved on by now? I was pretty cold to her, so she didn’t owe me anything. A woman like her probably wouldn’t wait after an asshole broke her heart. She shouldn’t. But the idea of her being with someone else still drove me mad, made me want to drive to Case’s house just to make sure she was there—alone.
It was an asshole-ish thing to think.
I didn’t want her, so someone else should have her. I just wanted him to be a good man, someone who worshiped her the way I did, who would die for her the way I would. I feared I was the only man in the world who had the balls to do it. It would kill me if she ended up with another piece of shit like Evan.
But I knew she was too smart for that now.
The brunette sauntered over to us, and I didn’t realize she was there until she cleared her throat. I’d been thinking about Cassini so deeply, I hadn’t even noticed her. With a short black dress and heels, she had the body of a woman with a strict diet and an even stricter workout regimen. She wasn’t an average whore. She cost a fortune because she was worth every penny. She moved to Heath and ran her palm down his chest. “You have pretty eyes.”
“So do you.” He turned on the stool and left his drink behind, his mind completely in the gutter. “But everything else you have is also pretty.” His hand rested against her knee, his fingertips touching her lightly.
I turned the other way and ignored them.
“You want to get out of here?” she asked. “Or should I give you my quote first?”
Heath chuckled. “Sweetheart, I can afford any price. Let’s go.”
She pushed him back gently then turned to me. “What about your brother? He looks like he shouldn’t be alone tonight…”
I turned back to them. “I don’t do threesomes. At least not with men.”
She chuckled. “Not what I meant.” She turned in another direction then nodded to someone.
Another brunette emerged, another stunning beauty. With long brown hair and green eyes, she looked similar to Cassini in some ways, but those similarities also highlighted their differences. “You look lonely.”
I wasn’t lonely. I was just alone.
“How about the four of us get out of here?” the first brunette asked. “I’m sure we can arrange a discount.”
That was why I liked prostitutes. Everything was a transaction. There was no small talk. They didn’t even pretend to like you. They were blunt, talking about my favorite subject—money. Most people had no respect for whores, but I did. They were entrepreneurs, doing a job that required a strong level of emotional intelligence. They had to read their partners carefully to make sure they weren’t dangerous.