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“Oh, yeah? How so?” I wait for her answer while watching the program download at the same time.
“You’re bossy, overbearing, rude, bossy?—”
“You already said bossy. Saying it a second time doesn’t count.”
She huffs and squeezes her stuffed duck tighter. As soon as the app installs, I set it up and close it before handing her phone back to her.
“I put my phone number in there, and I have yours. If you’re not at your brother’s at 10:00 a.m., you’ll be in trouble.”
Her mouth falls open. I’m damn pleased with myself. She can act as scandalized as she wants, but her eyes don’t lie. Those blue beauties tell me the only truth I need.
I move toward her bedroom door and turn back to look at her. “Oh, and Chloe?”
“What?” she snaps.
“You looked incredibly beautiful tonight. It’s a shame you wasted it on that piece of shit. I’m sorry your dad gave you that ultimatum. It won’t happen again.”
I walk out of her room, go downstairs, and head out of the front door, locking it behind me. As I stand on the front porch and look around the neighborhood, I shake my head. This fucking place is not an acceptable home for her.
I can’t worry about that tonight, though. Kieran and I will handle it tomorrow. For now, I have a sorry excuse of a man to go see.
5
CHLOE
As soon as the front door closes downstairs, Paisley rushes into my bedroom, her jet-black hair flopping around in a loose ponytail. “Dude, what the hell happened tonight? That was some intense shit. Tell me everything. Who is that Bash guy? You totally need to fuck him. He’s hot. I had to go to my room and fan myself.”
I’m still in shock. Mostly, though, Bash’s parting words keep replaying in my mind.
“You looked incredibly beautiful tonight. It’s a shame you wasted it on that piece of shit. I’m sorry your dad gave you that ultimatum. It won’t happen again.”
He thought I looked beautiful. Sebastian Gilroy said I looked beautiful. It's pathetic how excited that makes me. I wave my hand in front of my face, trying to cool my heated skin. I’ve never had this kind of reaction before. Not this intense. I’ve never felt the need to change my panties because of words a man said to me. Not until now. He’s the most gorgeous specimen I’ve ever laid eyes on, and he thinks I looked beautiful. Damn.
“Earth to Chloe. Hello! I need deets.”
Paisley crawls into my bed and makes herself comfortable. I fall back against the pillows and hug Quackers to my chest. I can’t believe Bash saw my stuffed toy. God. How embarrassing.
Whatever. He’s annoying and bossy. Just because he gave me a compliment doesn’t mean I like him. I meant it when I said he’s worse than my brother.
I don’t see Kieran as often as I’d like. My father never wanted me to get mixed up with the mafia, but any time I do see Kieran, he’s ridiculously over-the-top protective and bossy. He always asks me a million questions. Am I eating enough? Am I sleeping enough? Do I need any money? Is my car up to date on oil changes? It’s annoying. It’s also endearing.
Since we’re only half-siblings, and my father thinks Kieran is a bad influence on me, he tries to keep me from seeing him as much as possible. Our mom died a few years ago, and my dad tried even harder to keep me away from him after that. I don’t know why I let him control my life so much.
But I’ve been living with Paisley for nearly six months, and I haven’t made an effort to spend time with Kieran, so that’s on me. He’s the one who texts me at least once a week to check on me. I have a feeling he’s going to be hurt when he finds out I moved and never told him. That thought makes my tummy twist into knots. I respect Kieran, and the last thing I want to do is disappoint him. Fuck. Stupid Bash. Maybe I won’t go over there tomorrow morning.
Who am I kidding? Bash said if I didn’t show, I’d be in trouble. I ache between my thighs at that thought. What did he mean by trouble? A vision of being bent over Bash’s powerful thighs while he turns my ass red runs through my mind. My heart pounds and my nipples ache. I like that idea way too much. There’s something wrong with me.
“Oh my God, if you don’t start talking, I’m going to smother you with a pillow,” Paisley whines.
I blink several times and giggle. “Sorry. Tonight’s been a bit wild. I’m still trying to sort through everything in my head.”
She snorts. “No, you’re trying to picture Bash naked in your head. What happened with Bradley the fuck boy?”
My chest aches as I tell her all about the night after I got into Bradley’s pretentious sports car. By the time I tell her the last thing Bash said to me before he left, I’m exhausted. Part of me wants to cry and part of me wants to kick my roommate out of my room so I can grab my vibrator and pretend it’s Bash.
“Holy fuck. Wait, I need to back up a second. You said he asked those guys to take Bradley to a warehouse. What does that mean?”
Shit. I’ve been friends with Paisley for years, and she’s always known I have a half-brother. I’ve never told her what he does for a living, though. Kieran always warned me against telling people because there are enemies everywhere and they could try to hurt me if they know I’m related to him. Paisley isn’t one of those people but when we first met, I hid this from her, and now all this time has passed. I trust her completely, though.
