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“Tell that to the fucker missing two toes and half his head blown off. Pretty sure he’d disagree with you.”
Connall scoffs. “You can act like a beast all you like, but I know there’s a heart of gold inside that hairy as fuck chest of yours.”
“Shut the fuck up. I ain’t hairy,” I grind out, his laughter echoing through the loudspeaker as I punch the off button and climb the stairs.
Flicking a slither of flesh off my bare arm, I head towards the changing room, understanding that taking a shower isn’t going to wash away my sins, but knowing that a ten year old girl and her aunt are going to be safe sure as fuck helps ease my conscience a little. Besides, I can’t be covered in blood and gore when I go pick Princess up, I’ve got some standards.
* * *
“I’moutside Hudson’s place. Where are you?” I growl into my phone an hour later, rattling the door even though I know they’re not inside.
“Obviously not at Hud’s flat,” she replies, laughter in her voice. I can hear chatter in the background and music, and groan internally. I’m not in the mood to go and drag her arse from a club.
“Princess!” I warn, pushing off from the door and striding back to my car. “You’ve got two seconds to tell me where the fuck you are, or so help me I’ll—”
“Jesus, calm down, Roger. Bad day at the office?”
“You could say that,” I grind out, yanking the door to my car open and climbing inside. Not even the heated seats and sleek lines of my Mercedes G Wagon can cheer me up tonight. I’m in a bad fucking mood and Princess is making it worse. “Look, Carter sent me to pick you up. He was expecting you to be at Hudson’s place. You’re not. Do I need to give him a call and tell him his daughter’s out past her bedtime?”
“Oh, screw you! I’m a fucking adult. I can do what I want.”
“We both know that isn’t true. Carter says—”
“I don’t care what Carter says!”
I blow out a breath, trying to maintain my cool. “Why the fuck do you call your dad Carter anyway?”
“Why the fuck do you care?”
“Okay, fine, you’re not in the mood to talk. Guess what, neither am I. So here’s the thing. I was planning on getting thoroughly screwed by a beautiful woman tonight, but you’ve managed to fuck that up being where you shouldn’t be. Youoweme,” I say, pressing the console on my dash and connecting to bluetooth so I can have this stupid conversation handsfree whilst I drive the damn car.
“I don’t owe you anything. I didn’t ask you to babysit me.”
“Princess, just tell me where you are.” She goes quiet and I can hear the muffled sound of a male voice. I know it’s Hudson, and fuck if it doesn’t piss me off. “Princess!”
“Macey’s Bar. We’re just having a drink. It’s not a big deal.”
“I’ll be there in ten,” I reply, disconnecting the call before putting the car in drive and hitting the gas. Fuck this bullshit. I did not sign up to look after a tempestuous smartarse who happens to look good in gym gear and gives me fucking ball ache. Fuck, no I did not.
Exactly eight minutes later the bouncer at Macey’s Bar greets me with a welcoming slap on the back. “Good to see you, mate. It’s been a while.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy with work these past few weeks,” I say vaguely.
“I know exactly what you mean,” he replies with a grin, waving me through ahead of the waiting patrons.
“Sure,” I mutter, highly doubtful. He’s a bouncer, I’m an enforcer. There’s a big difference in our line of work. Namely a shit load of dead bodies.
“Have a good night!” he calls after me as I take the stairs down into the club and head towards the bar. I need a drink, then I’ll go get Princess.
Ordering a Jack and Coke from Suzy, the hot blonde behind the bar, I rest against the counter and sweep my gaze over the room. It’s busy, but I sensed Princess’s whereabouts the second I stepped onto the floor. She’s sitting with Hudson and another bloke I don’t recognise in a booth on the other side of the room, laughing and chatting like she hasn’t got a care in the world. I’m pretty sure she clocked me as I walked in too. The way we know where each other is in a room without really trying fucks with my head, in all honesty. I don’t need or want that kind of connection. If she were anyone else and past the age of twenty, I would’ve fucked her and got her out of my system, but as it is she’s not in the cards, or on the table, or against the motherfucking wall for that matter. Besides, I don’t do relationships. Never have.
Taking a sip of my drink, I watch her from behind the rim of my glass as she throws her head back and laughs raucously at something Hudson’s just said. He grins, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his side in a hug. Jealousy spikes in my chest, and it takes a great deal of control not to storm over there and punch his fucking lights out. Not because I don’twantto punch the turd, but because no matter what I feel about Hudson Freed, Grim cares about him and she isn’t the type of girl to let many people in. That says a lot.
Truthfully, when she’s not verbally sparring with me, she’s guarded and cautious. It’s no surprise given who her dad is and the environment she’s grown up in, so I can’t begrudge her their friendship, not to mention I’ve no right to. But one thing I do know for certain is that if he ever fucks her over, he’s a dead man walking.
“Penny for your thoughts,” a posh, but very sexy, female voice says from my left.
I give whoever’s trying to chat me up a cursory look, clocking a leggy brunette with big blue eyes, lips pumped full of filler, and breasts just as fake. She’s attractive, and I have nothing against a woman changing their appearance to make them feel better about themselves, but I’m suddenly not in the mood to hook up with a stranger, despite my severe case ofblueballitis. Keeping my gaze firmly fixed on Kate, I knock back the remains of my Jack and Coke and say, “Love, you’d need to pay me a lot more than a penny to get inside my head right now.”
