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KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
We both tensed. I stepped in front of her, putting myself between her and the loud pounding. She gasped as I drew a gun from my back waistband holster.
“Are you expecting someone?” I whispered.
“No!” she hissed, clutching the back of my shirt. “Why do you have a gun?”
I spotted a bed in the adjoining room and lifted my chin toward it. “Go to the bedroom.”
She released my clothing, and I crept toward the door, five more hard bangs followed by a pause. I stopped just by the entrance, holding the pistol handle with both hands. Maddie peeked out of the bedroom. I scowled at her, and she disappeared.
Carefully, I unlocked the door and yanked it open in one swift motion, aiming at a gangly guy in a white tank top, ripped black jeans, and tattoos covering his exposed skin up to his neck. He swayed back and forth, holding a liquor bottle at his side.
“Yooo!” He threw his arms out. “Why are you in my girl’s apart…ap…apartuum… house?”
“Who the fuck are you?!”
“Oh my God, Ron!” Maddie sped out of the bedroom. “Put the gun down, James.” She pushed in front of me, but I stepped in front of her again, shielding her. “You’re at the wrong apartment again!” she called out from behind me.
“Wha—” he looked at the number on the door and grunted, his eyes half open. “Damn girl, sorry. Sorry, man.” He held his hands up, backing away.
Slowly, I lowered my weapon, tucking it behind me.
“Two more down, Ron!”
Slamming the door, I spun to her. “What the fuck was that?”
She snickered. “Ron’s the fuck toy turned fiancé of some forty-year-old woman on my floor. She lives a few doors down and when he gets drunk, he’ll sometimes show up here pounding on the door. He once tried to kick it in and broke my lock.” Rage seethed through my pores, but before I could speak, she put her palms on my chest. “This place is really safe, and he’s harmless, I prom…ise.”
Our gazes both lowered to her hands. Without thinking, I put mine on top of hers, holding them against me. What the fuck am I doing? This is wrong. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, trying to erase my mind of how she looked in that bikini with her lips puckered in those photos. My eyes opened, and she was examining my gaze, her crimson lips parted ever so slightly. Something she did often when she wanted to speak but was holding back. I knew she wanted to ask about the gun.
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know because my family doesn’t know either. Alicia didn’t even know I carried a gun. That’s how observant she was about me.”
“Care to share any of your dark secrets with me?”
“Maddie,” I muttered, “go change, pack a bag for tonight and my office Monday. I’m taking you to my house.”
“What?” She choked, jerking her head back.
“You can stay in a guest room, I mean. I just want you safe for tonight after Gian and this.”
A part of me thought she’d argue. What I didn’t expect was for her to nod and back away, disappearing into her bedroom. The moment she was out of sight, I scolded myself for the thoughts that were running rampant in my mind. There was no way in hell I’d ever follow through with what we did in the fucked up dreams I’d vaguely admitted to Vincenzo in Turks and Caicos. If he’d only known Maddie was the dream woman, he’d encouraged me to find.
4
PLAYING WITH FIRE
MADDIE
It wasn’t until just before 4:00 a.m. that we arrived at his house. The moment he showed me which guest room to sleep in, he excused himself, saying he was going to bed. I showered quickly and changed into my white satin pajama crop top and shorts before crawling into bed.
I’d slept in his mansion a million times. I wasn’t even ashamed to admit I’d imagined what it would’ve been like to be in his bed with him or bent over his desk downstairs in the office. This time felt different.
On the drive over, he kept one hand on the wheel, and the other propped on the center console between us. Several times, I wanted desperately to reach over and touch him. My mind had been playing tricks on me way before tonight when we’d shared a few close moments. I was even delusional enough to think the man I half-jokingly called DILF, was about to kiss me in my own apartment. But I retreated to my closet to pack a bag. Now, I was lying in a bed, not too far from his, wishing he’d do to me what he did in my dreams but somehow, I wanted more. And I hated myself for the real thoughts.
And why the fuck does he carry a gun? I didn’t think he was involved in the things Vincenzo was. He seemed too wholesome somehow. In the past several months, I’d learned so much more about him than I ever knew. And now it was just getting deeper.
Unable to sleep, I thumbed through my social media, seeing if anyone had posted anything interesting. Elizabeth had shared a photo of the first dinner she made three hours before posting a photo of the rug under the kitchen table, asking for tips on how to get wax out of the carpet. I giggled, tapping my thumbs on the screen.
