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“About?” I know full well what she’s referring to. I’m just being a dick.
“My auction. I’m asking you to help me. Either you guys buy me, or make sure someone nice does.”
I don’t blame her for asking, and in fact respect that she has. I’d do the same in her situation. But I don’t know that I can help. The wheels are already in motion and things may be out of my hands.
But there’s no reason for her to know that.
* * *
CHAPTERFIFTY
Vadik
“I have to think about that, Charleigh. Right now we’re having… problems, as I think you know.”
She looks disappointed but nods to show interest. “Yes. Niko mentioned it.”
“Dimitri’s gang is up to no good, as usual. They are interfering with our businesses as well as making up shit and spreading rumors like our girls have diseases.”
I have to laugh at that middle-school-level tactic. Our girls are the cleanest in the business. I have a freaking doctor on retainer to ensure just that.
“He’ll do anything to take us down, that’s how badly he wants the club. The man’s playing with fire. And I am afraid he’s about to get burned. Very badly.”
“Are they trying to get back at you for telling him I was hands-off?”
Damn, she’s direct. I like that.
“In part, yes. His ego is as fragile as an eggshell. But it’s more than that. Years of what he sees as petty insults. That sort of thing.”
She shakes her head with a little laugh. “And here I thought my life, studying for my bookkeeping cert and keeping my little sister on track, was a lot. I never worried about people turning on me. At least until my father did.”
She sighs, lost in thought, and before she even sees me coming, I am back across the room sitting next to her. She’s barely touched her scotch after her initial couple sips, so I take the glass from her, the ice now melted, and belt back what’s left.
I’m not surprised she doesn’t like it. It’s an acquired taste, and something I like because it smooths out my rough edges.
Charleigh has no rough edges. At least not yet.
And then, because I can’t help my goddamn self, I take a hank of her silky hair and bring it to my nose with the inhale of a man starving for oxygen.
The kind only Charleigh can deliver.
And fuck, she smells good. Girls like her do, and without even trying. She’s not drowning in lotions and potions like the other women I know, guilty of trying too hard or following someone’s arbitrary instruction about what attracts a man.
I wish I could tell these women, it ain’t perfume.
But Charleigh. Clean and fresh, like simple drugstore soap and shampoo, and maybe a nice little hand cream.
I know I warned my brothers about this sort of thing, consorting with Charleigh. And now look at me.
I’m a damn hypocrite.
And I don’t give a fuck.
I remove a clip at the back of her head and her hair tumbles forward, partially obscuring her face. She looks down, hiding behind it like a veil, so I push it aside and turn face toward me.
“Don’t block me from seeing that face, pretty girl. I won’t allow that. Not at all.”
Her gaze meets mine, her eyes heavy-lidded and relaxed, and while I know I shouldn’t be doing this—regardless of what my brothers and I have already done—I can’t help myself, dammit.
