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10
Mercy
As I tookanother step away from Kaige, still reeling from the kiss, I noticed Wylder watching us with narrowed eyes. His fists were balled at his sides, his body pulled taut, radiating tension. But if he had something to say, he just walked right past us.
Part of me felt relieved that he hadn’t acknowledged the kiss. At least he wasn’t accusing me of trying to make a move on Kaige.
I hadn’t been the one to initiate the moment, after all, despite how much I’d liked it. Kaige was still grinning. “Damn,” he said. He swiped his thumb across his lips and sucked on it as if savoring the lingering taste.
My cheeks flushed like I was some kind of naïve virgin. For fuck’s sake.
But maybe it was a little understandable. Other than a few brief pecks, I hadn’t done anything with Colt during the year of our engagement—or with any other guy, since it hadn’t seemed smart to treat our impending marriagethatmuch like it was only business. He hadn’t pushed, and I’d been happy to wait to get more intimate after the knot was fully tied. We’d still been building the trust between us.
But he’d probably been laughing it up with different girls every night while I’d been stuck in a dry spell. I was certainly thirsty now.
Rowan walked over with a stack of bills in his hand, providing a welcome distraction. Wylder glanced at him. “You got everything he owed?”
“And a little extra in asshole tax,” Rowan said.
“Well, now the prick knows better than to bite the hand that feeds him. Or a cat that’s baring her claws.” Wylder’s gaze slid to me, and I’d have sworn that impressed look flickered in his eyes for just a second before he pointed everyone toward the car.
He reached it first and tugged open the front passenger seat. “In you go, Kitty Cat. You sit with me.”
Was he trying to keep me and Kaige apart? The bigger guy came up behind me, cocking his head. “Everything okay?”
Maybe I’d rather not be sitting too close to that buff body anyway. I hopped in as if it’d been my idea anyway. “Yeah, fine.”
Kaige’s expression darkened, but he didn’t argue. Rowan accepted the change in seating with a pursing of his lips. As Wylder started to drive, the silence hanging over us felt thick enough to spread on toast.
I sank back into the seat, which was annoyingly comfortable, and pretended not to notice the awkwardness. When Wylder turned up the hill to the mansion, I couldn’t take it any longer. “So, you saw what I can do. I held my own. Can we get on with making my ex-fiancé pay already?”
Wylder gunned the engine to roar up the steep slope and swerved neatly around the corner. He parked the Mustang in the driveway and stalked toward the house without a word.
I had half a mind to throw one of my heels at his head as I scrambled after him. “Aren’t you going to say something? I swear to God if you’ve changed your—”
He whirled around so suddenly that I crashed into his hard chest. He caught my arms to steady me and just as quickly let me go with a jerk. His smile was stony. “I didn’t promise anything, Kitty Cat.”
The nerve of this asshole. “Listen, you—"
Just then the skinny blonde who had confronted us in the kitchen pranced out of the house. I racked my brain to remember her name: Gia.
“Wylder, I’ve been looking for you all over,” she said, clinging to his arm. He looked annoyed but didn’t ask her to let go.
Gia glanced toward me, eyeing my dress with malice. “Where are you coming from wearing a dress like that? Are you that desperate for attention?”
I rolled my eyes. Her dress wasn’t much better, and she’d picked that one out herself. “FYI, it isn’t very nice to slut-shame other girls. It’s almost likeyou’rethe one begging for men’s approval.”
Gia scowled at me. “Why do you always have to be a bitch?”
“I’m simply reflecting back what you’ve given me to work with,” I replied with mock sweetness.
The girl’s eyes narrowed and she looked about ready to throttle me. I almost wanted her to try.
“I don’t think you want to start a fight with Mercy, Gia,” Kaige said, walking up beside me. He put his arm around my waist, and Gia stiffened. Jesus, did she think she owned WylderandKaige? Did this girl have a thing for all the guys here? “She just came back from breaking a man’s nose. Possibly also his balls—we didn’t stop to check.”
Gia’s eyes widened, and she seemed to shrink against Wylder as if seeking his security. Drama queen. “Yeah, I don’t want any of that,” she said in a shrill voice.
Wylder actually looked at her as if she were some kind of wounded animal. Jeez, did men really buy into that?
