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“Get thefuckout of my apartment.” I stalk to the bathroom and snag a towel I’ll never get back, then I toss it to the woman who reels from my intrusion. “Get out of my bed.” I lift her under the arm and pull her to her feet.
I’m gentle. I don’t leave a mark. But I also leave no room for her to think I’m kidding.
“Pick up your shit.” I grab a stray purse from the floor, then a dress that can’t possibly cover much more than her ass. “Take your things.” I lead her into the hall while Felix lays back in my bed, naked and horny onmysheets. “Get out.” I stop by my front door and give her just enough time to slip her shoes on. “Never come back to this apartment again.”
“He invited me!” Finally, she speaks. “Teddy said I was allowed here.”
“Teddy,” I shake my head when his taunting laughter echoes from the other end of the hall, “isn’t his name. This isn’t his apartment. In fact, you being here makes you an accessory to breaking and entering.”
“What the f—”
I take my badge and bring it up to show her.
At least she possesses some scrap of common sense, as her face pales.
“I’m the police, and you’re trespassing and committing lewd acts in my home. Get the fuck out.” I swing my door open and go to shove her out, only to twitch when I find Minka’s hand up, readying to knock.
Her chest heaves, and her laces remain untied. Her hair is a mess, but her yoga pants hug her body, and her tank shows enough skin to make me forget, for just a moment, how angry I am.
Gaping, I demand, “What are you—”
But she studies the woman whose arm I hold, and in the span of half a second, her eyes narrow to dangerous slits. “You have a guest, Archer?”
“Notmyguest. And this is absolutely not one of those times you get to throw a shit-fit because you’re jealous.” I place the woman on the other side of the threshold, then I grab Minka’s arm and tug her in. Finally, I meet the other woman’s eyes, and snarl, “Never come back here again.”
“But Teddy—”
I throw the door shut so the wood rattles in the frame and the walls vibrate, then I turn away and head back into my hall. “Felix fucking Malone! Get dressed, asshole.”
“Wait.” Minka dogs my steps. “Felix is here?”
“If you come out here and show your cock to my wife, I will remove it for you. I’m not fucking around, Lix.”
“You’re grumpy,” he murmurs from the end of the hall. “Why’d you interrupt a man mid-BJ? Youknowthat’s not cool.”
“Because you’re not supposed to be here!” I spin back to Minka and pull her in till our chests clash and her hands rest on my hips. “Everything’s okay.” Her heart hammers too quickly after sprinting a couple blocks and several flights of stairs. “It’s just Felix.”
“You hung up on me when you were in danger,” she grits out. “You cut me off.”
“I needed my hands.” Though she wants to fight, I tilt my head and press a kiss to the top of her head.
I’ll meet her rage with love. I’ll douse her worry with a hug.
“If I suspect something’s going down, I can’t spend my time chatting on the phone, Mayet. No matter how involved you want to be.”
“You told me to harden the fuck up.” She slams her fist into my ribs until I grunt. “How hard do you need me to be?”
“Stop.” Chuckling, I drag her into my side and hold her tight. It’s more restraint than hug. But at the sound of footsteps in the hall, I turn us both and snarl when Felix emerges in jeans, but without a shirt.
His chest and abdomen are covered in ink I don’t remember from my youth, and between that ink lay scars. Markers of a dangerous life—the very same life I left when I was sixteen years old, unwilling to remain a part of it.
“Put a fucking shirt on,” I order. “And do up your zipper.”
He looks down, wide-grinned and playful, to study the bulge in his jeans he doesn’t care to hide from another man’s wife. “What’s the problem?” Glancing up again, he looks straight into Minka’s eyes. “I’ve got my CKs on. I’m covered.”
“You’re about to be covered with bruises, dickhead.” Unlinking my arm from Minka’s, I move to my deserted packing box and snatch a shirt I know will fit my brother. Crossing the room, I slam it to his chest and growl, “I won’t ask a second time. I don’t know what you think you remember about me, but this isn’t New York, and I’m not sixteen anymore. She’s not Jill, and you don’t get a free fucking pass to screw with my life.” I pull my hand back and slam it to his chest so he stumbles back a step. “Put the fucking shirt on, Felix. Then tell me why the hell you’re in my apartment.”
“You grew up, huh?” Opening the shirt and orienting it so he knows which way is up, he shrugs it on and tugs it down so his unkempt hair feathers across his forehead. With deft movements, he fixes the fabric and pushes his fingers through his hair to neaten the wild locks. “You used to be real sweet, Arch. You didn’t speak up about anything. But now you’re getting pissy because your brother is getting laid?”
