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“I just wanted you to know, I see you,” he breathed, stepping closer and taking both of my hands in his, now that it was on his terms, on equal footing. Two people who had been through some fucked-up shit, sharing their mutual respect and understanding. “I know what it was like to finally be able to breathe, to make a decision for myself, and reclaim those pieces of me I’d thought had been lost forever.”
My shoulders slumped at that admission, and the connection that thrummed between us, electricity racing through me from his touch. Although I barely knew him, I’d always felt as though he could see through me, could spot the broken pieces jumbled together, working their way to fit together again. And now I knew it was because he did—he had been through hell and understood some of the emotions clinging to me like storm clouds refusing to pass. But they would—and that was why he took me out tonight, to help show me that.
“We’ll make them pay, sugar,” he murmured, his violet eyes sparking with excitement and mischief. “You’ll get your revenge, just like I did.”
I had to be some sadistic bitch because rather than fear slithering up my spine at his admission—it was desire that curled around my core. I leaned into him, wishing his hands would explore more than just the light touch of my own. I couldn’t help the smile that beamed in answer to his own, my mind flashing back to the parking lot, and the exhilaration that had buzzed through me when I’d tased that asshole.
I could already tell Spade was trouble incarnate, and I couldn’t wait to see the chaos we would release on the unsuspecting world one day.
Chapter twenty
Giana
Now
“Willthatbeeverythingtoday, sugar?” Spade asked, standing on the other side of the counter as he opened a paper bag and began folding and placing the pile of clothes within it.
We spent the last hour or so picking out clothes from the large store, and he didn’t complain once about how long it was taking. Instead, he stood by me and made suggestions. But ultimately it was my decision. The store was well known but not luxury in the slightest, thankfully, and they had an array of everything I’d need, shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, shoes, and undergarments.
“I think employees would actually ring up a customer’s purchases.” I chuckled, folding a black printed T-shirt. My chest warmed at the now familiar nickname he’d decided to give me. “Besides I don’t think they would call me sugar either.”
“Well they better not because that’s my nickname,” he warned, giving me a teasing grin as he started on the lacy underwear he’d insisted on. Heat bloomed in my cheeks, and I glanced back down at the counter. He hadn’t forced me to get a particular one though, merely suggesting it and letting me make the decision for myself. I pushed thoughts of Tommaso regularly laying out what he wanted to see me in from my mind, not wanting him to mar this experience.
“Why, though?” I chanced a glance back up at him as I folded a pair of jeans. His violet eyes were full of hunger and desire as he gripped the edge of the counter, his knuckles white as though he was physically holding himself back.
“Why do I call you sugar?” he purred, the sound vibrating through me straight to my core, sending tendrils of lust licking up my spine.
I swallowed thickly, and nodded slightly, unsure I’d even be able to form words at the moment with the heat blazing through me.
“Because you’re like candy, delectable and addictive.” He licked his lips, as though imagining the taste of me on them. A shudder ran through me, my mind picturing that tongue on me, savoring every inch of my skin until he reached my center, leaving me a quivering mess in anticipation of him. “Even from the first moment I saw you, I craved having you, tasting you to see if you’re as sweet as you look.”
My breath caught in my throat at that, words escaping me completely as my nipples hardened into peaks, my body craving the friction of his against me.
“I have an idea,” he murmured. My mind was so lost in thoughts of him lifting me up onto the counter and stripping these restrictive pants from my body that I jolted as he swiped the bags from the counter and bounded around it. He took my hand in his and led me toward the exit, excitement hurrying his steps.
“Wait,” I couldn’t even believe the word slipped from my lips with the anticipation thrumming through my body. And judging by his hurried movements, I could only imagine what his idea entailed, and my body was one hundred percent willing and ready for him.
My hand trailed over the shoulder of a supple leather jacket I hadn’t seen before. But something about it caught my eye. Sure it might be stereotypical, but I couldn’t help but glance at the one Spade still wore, wanting one of my own. It was like a symbol, of a new beginning, of letting go of the past.
I reached out to pull the heavy material off the rack, but my hand faltered. Some of the fog of the excitement of the last hour fading as it hit me what we were really doing.
“What about the store anyway?” I asked. The question had been niggling at the back of my mind but I’d pushed it off to be in the moment. “Won’t they call the cops?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He chuckled, dropping my hand to boop my nose. I blinked back at him in shock at the sudden playful gesture, but he was already sliding the jacket off the hanger and placing it in one of the bags he clutched in his other hand. “Don’t let those responsible instincts taint our fun tonight.”
My lips pursed, but I followed him out of the store. There honestly wasn’t much I could do about it now. Not only did I not have any money, but I had to trust that he wouldn’t put me in any danger. The door had been unlocked, after all, whatever connection he had wouldn’t put their ass on the line if it was something that would get them fired. Besides, I had no idea what sort of arrangement they had with the authorities in this town. I knew they wouldn’t hold them under their thumb like the Barones. No, not after everything us and our families went through growing up. They wouldn’t be the men I knew if they held this small town in their iron fist.
Spade pulled the metal grate closed behind us and produced a key, locking it back up the way we’d found it. I hadn’t asked him how he had the key either, knowing his reasoning for tonight. It was meant to pull me out of the haze of darkness still clouding my mind, no matter how hard I tried to deny it, some semblance of it still lingered.
“I have the perfect place for us to go next.” He beamed back at me, taking my hand and pulling me after him. I stumbled a little but quickly regained my footing, speeding up my footsteps to match his.
“Don’t we have enough clothes?” I asked hesitantly. He had three large bags packed to the brim with garments clasped in his other palm. It would be more than enough to get me through the next week or so, and then I could just do laundry.
“Yes, but this has nothing to do with clothes,” he said excitedly, steering me toward a larger department store.
Dropping my hand, he went for the key again, the metal slider clanging as he pushed it back just enough for us to squeeze through. I bit back the question poised on the tip of my tongue, knowing he wouldn’t answer it, and followed him in. The key clicked in the lock as I surveyed the locked glass cases surrounding us. Apparently the entrance from the mall led to the cosmetics section. The faint smell of soft floral perfume still clung to the air, the scent cloying in my nostrils as I waited for Spade.
“This is where we can have our fun.” He grinned, dropping the bags by the entrance.
