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His words made me curious in a way I had never been before. Even when he taught me to fight, I never asked about his life. About why he never took vacations or left the compound. I didn’t give a fuck, back then.
“I’m not looking to be your father or any fucked-up shit like that. Hell, I’m not even looking to be your business partner. That’s you and Sadie. But I am here, to listen, to protect, to do what’s needed to keep everyone safe.” His gaze was intense, serious.
He meant what he said.
His words made me feel like the shit he’d accused me of being. “I know.” Thomas wasn’t family, but he’d been a better father to me, hell to all of us, than Colm Ashby had ever fucking been.
Thomas produced another of his fancy fucking handkerchiefs to dab the blood on his mouth. “I’m going to go sit with Sadie for a while.” He finished his drink and gave the messed up dining room a scan, and shook his head before he walked out.
“Hold up,” I called after him and finished my own tumbler. “I’ll come with you.”
Thomas nodded and waited until I was at his side to start walking again, in silence.
“Seriously, those leg kicks fucked me up. You still fight like a younger man.”
His lips quirked into a smile. “I’m happy to kick your ass whenever you start acting like a bitchy little brat.”
I smiled, still pissed that he kicked my ass. “Yeah, well, the fuck you still stands.”
“Sticks and stones, Jas. Sticks and motherfucking stones.”
I smiled at those words; they were the same ones he said to me whenever I got into a fight at school because some asshole thought he could talk shit about Sadie. About my shitty dad. My family in general.
“They hit you with meaningless words, you hit ’em with a jab to the mouth to shut them up, Jasper. Sticks and stones break bones, my boy. Sticks and motherfucking stones.”
I never forgot those words from that moment forward. It was a lesson that served me well throughout my life.
Chapter Eighteen
Mo
After another shift at Midnight Mass, yet another late-night shift at Lucky Lopez, and an hour and a half at Sadie’s side, I managed to fall asleep sometime just before the sun came up. This schedule was exhausting, and like I already told Jasper, I couldn’t keep it up. Not for more than a few more days.
Hell, even that might kill me.
But it wasn’t thoughts of my pregnancy or Jasper that had me awake just a few hours after my head hit the pillow. It was a sound that, as I slowly came to full consciousness, I realized was someone pounding on my door.
Pounding like they were the goddamn police. I stayed under my comforter, clutching my pillow like a security blanket for another minute, waiting for the nausea to take over the way it always did first thing in the morning. After two minutes of waiting—and knocking—the nausea didn’t come, so I swung my legs over the bed and reached for my black silk robe before I went to see who was trying to beat my door down.
Jasper. Of course, it was fucking Jasper, looking hot and angry and torn up about Sadie and like he hadn’t slept for days. My heart leaped, my ovaries pulsed, and my pussy leaked at the sight of him.
“Jasper? What are you doing here?” I shook my head. “And so goddamn early?”
“You alone?” He growled the question, almost jealous. Almost as if the answer mattered more than he would ever admit.
I tightened the robe around me and sighed. “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, I’m alone.” It would be nice if he actually cared, but this was likely about work.
“Oh, and thanks for the flowers and chocolates, but it was completely unnecessary.” If I got a gift every time he hurt my feelings or fucked someone else, I’d be even more flush than I already was.
“Glad you like them,” he said dismissively, his gaze scanning the space behind me just in case there was another man lurking around. Finally, he pushed inside and looked around the living room and the kitchen, low-key peeking inside my bedroom. Just in case.
“What do you want, Jas?” He was acting strange, which was expected given all the stress he was under, but I wasn’t what he wanted. Or what he needed.
He turned with that smile that was guaranteed to incinerate my panties if I’d been wearing any. “You.”
I let out a sigh and shook my head. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m not in the mood.”
He stepped in close, his big hands going to my tits over the robe, squeezing and kneading while his mouth worked my neck and collarbone, sending shivers down my spine. His lips were fire and magic, and my pussy pulsed to life. I trembled under his touch, and Jasper laughed, the sound deep and gravelly like honey poured over rocks.
