She hesitates for a second before she sighs heavily. “Okay, be right back.” She gets up and practically runs to her bedroom. She leaps over a pair of discarded boots as she goes and I glance around the room, taking in the space. Her brother’s crap is everywhere, giving the appearance of a bomb going off rather than someone staying as a guest. It is an open floor plan which, as she said, doesn’t do much for privacy or keeping her brother’s junk contained. But even so, I can see the ghost of what Addie’s place had been before her brother started squatting in her apartment. There are framed pictures of people I’d only ever heard stories of, souvenirs and tchotchke lining her bookcase. There is art on the walls and a fluffy rug that Honey would have fawned over and then asked for one of her own. There is a small dining table that holds a vase of fresh flowers and all along the windows, plants in colorful pots grow. She cares about her space, the Addie I know, without the chaos of her brother touching her life.
“It’ll just be a minute!” Addie yells from her bedroom. I hear her rummaging in her room and glance at my watch. I’ve been here five minutes, but I know Taylor will be wondering how things are shaping up.
“Sure,” I say, and walk towards the windows that line her dining room. I want eyes on Taylor. The man is loyal but he doesn’t like that I am here. He has a soft spot for Addie. I know better than anyone what can happen when a woman slips past the defenses you have. All it takes is one piece of their soul to change a man, because that one sliver, that fucking shard, can be sharpened into a blade that slips between your ribs. In the wrong hands, all it takes is one twist to stop your heart.
I don’t need Taylor to be a fucking hero while I am still getting the lay of the land with Addie. Besides, Taylor is useful to me. I don’t much like the thought of going up against him before I make it back to the Cairn. That’s where the real threat is. Where my true enemies wait for me. I relax when I see the car exactly where I’d climbed out of it and Taylor’s familiar silhouette in the driver’s seat.
Good man.
The sound of a palm hitting the door has me turning. It isn’t loud, just a slight thump, but I clock it and my hand instantly goes to the pistol I’m carrying. Taylor is in the car, which means one of two things. Neither of which are positive. Addie comes bustling back into the room with her laptop in her arms.
“Sorry that took so long! I forgot the combination and then-”
“You expecting someone?” I ask her. “Answer me, quick.”
Her eyes go wide at my question. “What? No, I-”
There is the telltale sound of a key sliding home into the door and I pull the pistol free as the door flies open. “What the fuck is going on in here, you bitch!” The door slams into the wall with a bang before the person that kicked it open shoulders their way into the apartment.
“You brought some shit down on me, Addie! You fucking bitch.”
Addie shakes her head so fast her hair whips around her face as she falls back a step. “What? No I didn’t, Tony.”
It has to be her brother by the way she shrinks back from him and nearly collapses to the floor. He hasn’t noticed me, not yet. Good. I am going to scare the shit out of the pissant.
Tony kicks the door shut and rounds on her. “Don’t you fucking lie to me. You think I wasn’t going to find out that your boss sent someone around to sniff after me, huh? Fuck that cocksucker. You think I’m scared of that washed up fucker? He’s nobody now.”
“Tony, please, I-” Addie flinches, voice breaking when he raises a hand. It is then I know he’s hit her before. Had to, if the way she jerks from him and tries to shield her face is any proof. Sonofabitch.
“That so?” I ask, pulling his attention to me. He freezes and his eyes go wide when he sees me, pistol in hand. He isn’t going to touch her. Not while I’m a part of her world. His eyes go to the silencer on the end of my gun. He’s scared. Just how I want him.
Scared men talk faster than brave ones. Tony doesn’t particularly strike me as brave.
His mouth opens and closes a few times. “I-I-” he stammers and begins to hold up his hands. “Now, look,” he starts.
I raise an eyebrow. “Been called a lot of things. Long time since I heard ‘cocksucker’, though,” I say and shake my head, “Gotta tell you, I’m not a big fan of it.”
I watch a war of emotions play out over Tony’s face. Fear, worry, defiance, all of it moves over him like water. I’ve caught him with his pants down and now he has to regroup, which means the idiot goes with defiance.
Tony isn’t just stupid. He’s delusional.
“Fuck you. What are you doing here,cocksucker?This ismyhouse.”
I take a step towards him. The gun in my hand is raised, but my pose is casual. He is getting stupider by the fucking second, mouthing off to me. I don’t normally play with the marks I have, but for Tony I can make an exception. Let him think he has a little backbone before I crush it.
“Pretty sure Addie’s name is on the lease. Ain’t that right, Addie?” I ask with an easy shrug. I come forward another step but Tony is too busy blustering and glaring at Addie to track the movement.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Addie says quietly from where she is still against the wall.
“Stop lying you-”
“Thought so,” I say and nod at Tony, cutting him off, “but you don’t really strike me as a bright guy, so I get the confusion.”
He spits on the floor in front of me. “Fuck you.”
“Rather not,” I say and motion at the couch. “Sit the fuck down.”
Tony keeps up his parade of stupid and squares his shoulders. “No. Addie, tell this fucker to get the fuck out.Now.” He sounds like a brat whining. Someone used to his sister cleaning up his messes while he slaps her around.
