His chin jutted but the smile was back. He might be letting it drop for now but it wouldn't be forgotten.
“It's nice to see you up and about, Briella.” He said smoothly, his voice all charm. “I’m Raze.” He held out a hand and after a quick look in my direction, she took it, shaking it quickly before letting it drop.
“I remember you; you were with Tommy. Thank you for the rescue.” She smiled at him sweetly, and I had to hide my own grin as his eyes softened.
He was such a pushover. Give him a sweet smile and a kind word and the big bad wolf literally melted.
She would have him wrapped around her little finger within the hour.
“It was my pleasure. Are you hungry? The girls have breakfast ready...”
Briella's eyebrows slammed down. “Girls?”
“The club girls, the ones that live here full time with us,” he continued, not catching my frantic look for him to shut the hell up.
Briella's face twisted into something unreadable. “Like girlfriends?”
Throwing back his head, Raze laughed. “No, not girlfriends. Although we all have our favourites. Even Tommy. Although he’s not the girlfriend type.” He laughed again. Either he was oblivious to the look on her face or he was doing it on purpose, and I was betting on the second one.
“They are nothing.” I countered quickly, but I knew the damage was already done. Briella stood stiff in my arms. Glaring at Raze, who held his hands palm outwards in surrender, I leant down to kiss the top of her head. “Just girls who cook and clean for us. Come on, let's go and get some food.”
I walked away from Raze, but he knew this wasn't over. If he had things to say to me, he best be ready for me to have something to say about what happened.
“Raze seems nice.” Briella’s voice was small as I led her to the buffet breakfast laid out on the bar. I handed her a plate without a word and my fingers brushed hers. It was the skin-on-skin contact that did it. Her eyes lifted to meet mine.
Her face was unsure again.
“You should ignore him. He doesn't know what the fuck he’s talking about,” I growled out.
“He doesn't? He seems to know you pretty well. What part did he get wrong?” There was a note to her voice that I hadn't heard before. A steely type of strength.
She was calling me out in her own way.
It just made me like her more.
“The bit about the girlfriend. I haven’t ever wanted a serious woman before...”
“And now?'' She raised a slender eyebrow as I started piling scrambled eggs onto her plate without asking her if she liked them or not.
I wasn't even sure how to answer that. Had what happened between us that morning meant we were in a relationship? Normally when I took a woman to bed, it was casual. But there was nothing casual about my feelings for Briella. And neither would she ever be just my girlfriend.
“Now I have you,” I answered softly, keeping my voice low.
“Tommy.”
She wanted to talk, discuss no doubt why I was coming on so damn strong, but that was a conversation I definitely wouldn't have in that room. We would need to be somewhere private for it. Private and ideally naked.
Raking my eyes over her, I grinned. She was suddenly wearing too many clothes.
“Breakfast first, Briella, and then we can go back to the room and talk. I promise I will answer any questions you have.”
“You swear?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
She stared at me unbelieving for a second and then nodded. “Ok.”
* * *
