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I blinked, looking from Rocket to Lemon. “She knows she’s mine. She’s in my room, ain’t she?”
“Did you spell it out to her?” Lemon rolled her eyes. “Like, did you tell her she was your old lady and that you were givin’ her a property cut and all that shit?”
“It was implied.” I knew the second the words left my mouth it was the exact wrong thing to say. There was no way to stifle the wince. “Never mind. I’m a dumbass.”
“Yeah,” Lemon agreed. “You are.”
Without another word, I took off at a trot to my room on the other side of the compound. I passed several members, all of them looking at me with something between amusement and pity. A couple of club whores approached me, but one look and they backed off.
When I got to the door to my room, I took a deep breath before I announced my presence. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her.
With a shaking hand, I knocked before opening the door. Seconds later, just before I opened the door myself, it was jerked open. Apple stood in the doorway, the spitting image of her sister. Instead of the warm smile and cheery disposition I usually got from Apple, I was met with a fierce scowl Lemon had perfected before she slammed the door in my face. If I hadn’t known Lemon was on the other side of the building, I’d have sworn she was with Lemon.
“The fuck?”
I knocked again. There was the faint sound of voices. And a small sob.
“Open the fuckin’ door, Apple.” I knew in my heart it was Cecilia crying. “Open up the Goddamned door right the fuck now!”
I didn’t wait for her to comply. I reached for the knob and tried to open it, but she’d turned the lock. So I banged on the thing again. “Open up!”
“Go fuck yourself!” That was Apple again, but she didn’t sound like she was near the door. In fact, I could hear Cecilia’s soft sobs. I wasn’t sure where she was, but she wasn’t next to the door.
I took a breath, then crashed my foot into the door in one hard kick. Apple gasped, but grabbed a glass from a nearby table and hurled it at me.
“You leave her alone!”
I batted the glass away but didn’t come any farther into the room. “What the fuck, Apple? I’d never hurt Cecilia and you know it.”
“You just kicked in the fuckin’ door!”
“Because you locked me out!” I closed my eyes and shook my head. I could not lose my cool. “Apple, do not put anything between me and Cecilia. She’s my woman.”
Apple eyed me like she was trying to figure out how sincere I was. Then she stepped closer to me. “You hurt her again, I’ll fuckin’ kill you.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt her, Apple. She just got away from the bastard who tried to own her. I didn’t think she was ready for another man to put a claim on her.”
“Dumbass,” Apple muttered. “She’s not a piece of meat. She’s your old lady. At least, she better be. People just think Lemon’s the badass. Truth is, Lemon’s the one you see coming. Me, on the other hand, I will shank you in your sleep and by the time you realize I’m anywhere around, you’ll already be dead.” Apple looked back at Cecilia. “You need me, you call me. I will take his fuckin’ ass out.”
Cecilia nodded but didn’t look at either of us. She did take a deep shuddering breath before answering verbally. “I will. Thank you.”
When Apple left, I shut the door as best I could with the frame splintered where I’d barged in. It shut, but that was about it. There was no fixing the latch right now.
I took a deep breath before crossing to Cecilia with slow, careful steps. Instead of sitting beside her, I knelt in front of her, reaching for her hand and enveloping it in both of mine.
“Cecilia, honey, please look at me.” I tried to be as gentle as I could. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her, or touch her if she didn’t want to be touched. When she didn’t flinch away or jerk her hand out of mine, I took it as a good sign. After several seconds and brushing away her tears with the back of her hand, she obeyed. “Tell me what I did, so I can make it better.”
“I didn’t believe Chyna. Not really.” Her voice was small and so broken I wanted to pull her into my arms and never let her go. I wanted to shield her from every fucking thing in the Goddamned world.
“What did she tell you?” It was a demand rather than a question.
She shrugged. “Just that no one made house calls anymore. That you were probably going to meet a woman.” She sniffed before adding. “One who wasn’t a whore. Like me.”
“I’m not a good man, Cecilia. Only thing I ain’t done for my country is knowingly kill a woman. After this, I’m makin’ an exception.”
“It’s not her fault. I know she was just trying to get under my skin and she did. I mean, she’s right that men don’t take wives or long-term partners who’ve been whores. Everyone knows that.”
“Honey, men take women they love as their wives or long-term partners. Doesn’t matter who they’ve slept with in the past, or how many lovers they’ve had. You think I’ve not fucked more than a few women in my time?”
