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"What happens now?" I ask, steering the conversation back to Catriona.
"Frankly, I don't think you have anything to worry about, Playboy," he says. "She's nineteen, and she's not a member of the MC. She was a janitor for the pawnshop. They'll have a lot more success trying to flip someone in the MC than trying to cut a deal with her. But I'll get in touch with my contact in Dallas and see what they have to say about her."
"Thanks, brother. I'd appreciate that."
"As far as her brother," he says and then sighs. "You need to prepare her for the fact that he's going down. Potentially for a long time. He's their VP. There's not going to be any talking him out of it. When they go down, he's going with them."
"Fuck," I curse. "I know."
Chapter Six
Catriona
"Wouldyoustopintroducingme to everyone as your girlfriend?" I whisper-shout at Andreas, who is seriously stressing me out. First, he introduced me to Jude as his girlfriend this morning. Now, he's formally introducing me to his sister as his girlfriend. Except there's nothing formal about it. She just walked in the front door two seconds ago.
"Uh, fuck no," he says, looking at me like I'm crazy. "Not unless you'd prefer future wife."
I whimper, burying my face in my hands. I think he's doing it on purpose. It's payback for touching myself the night before last…and again this morning. Though this morning was his fault. He woke me up kissing all over my neck and then slipped my hand between my legs and told me to make myself come.
Autumn laughs quietly, dropping her purse and keys on the table by the door. I'm not sure where she was yesterday, but she didn't come home until late last night. I think she was avoiding it to give us space. It made me feel bad. This is her home too.
"I'm not your girlfriend, Andreas," I say.
His growl is frightening. And sexy.
"We haven't even been on a date!" I cry, flinging my hands up in the air. "And you didn't even ask me to be your girlfriend. You just started telling people I'm your girlfriend. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way." I look to Autumn for confirmation. Hopefully she knows since I've never dated anyone before now.
"You've never taken her on a date?" Autumn spins to gape at her brother.
"Haven't had time," he mutters defensively.
"Unacceptable," Autumn declares, scowling at him. Dressed in a black business suit with red stilettos and matching lipstick, she's way more intimidating than I am. She looks like she's ready for a war in the boardroom. "You don't get to just tell her she's your girlfriend, Andreas Romano. This isn't kindergarten. You have to earn the right to claim a woman this beautiful. And you havenotearned it." She huffs at him and then spins to me, looping her arm through mine. "Come on. We're going to get you ready while my idiot brother figures out where he's taking you tonight."
"But I…" Well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions biting me in the butt. This isn't at all what I meant. I glance over my shoulder at Andreas, silently pleading for help as Autumn drags me up the stairs, but he just smirks at me. The big jerk.
"You'll have to excuse him," Autumn says, pulling me into her bedroom suite. Like Andreas's suite, hers is massive. It's not nearly as tidy as his though. She has boxes stacked in one corner, with clothes scattered around the floor. Her purple sheets are twisted up, one pillow hanging off the side of the bed. It's honestly a mess, but seeing it instantly puts me at ease.
At least something in his world is familiar. Everything else is shiny and perfect.
"He's a clueless idiot most of the time," Autumn says, releasing me to wade through the clothes in the floor on her way to the closet. "I don't think he's ever dated."
"Me either," I confess.
"Really? Why not? I mean, not that it's any of my business, but you're gorgeous."
"Thank you." I smile at her. She's genuinely nice. If she thinks it's odd that I showed up at midnight, had a meltdown, and then moved in, she hasn't mentioned it. "Um, my brother never let me date."
"My brother never let me date either." She scrunches up her nose in distaste. "Not that I ever wanted to date."
"Me either."
"Why not?"
"Men suck," I say with a shrug. The ones I know do anyway. Except for Andreas. He's…different. He doesn't make my skin crawl or make me want to vomit. His eyes aren't eternally bloodshot, and he doesn't constantly smell like alcohol and stale cigarettes. There's nothing juvenile or immature about him. And he doesn't have women hanging all over him all the time like the Vipers always do.
She laughs quietly. "I have a feeling I'm going to like you, Catriona Grady."
"I like you too," I whisper and then fidget nervously. "I've never really had any girl friends before. I mean, friends who were girls. Or friends at all, really." I bite my lip, figuring I probably shouldn't have admitted that. It probably makes me sound sad and desperate. It's true though. Sure, I had friends when I was a little girl. But they either moved away or stopped coming around once Connor got involved with the Vipers. For the past few years, I've been on my own.
