Page 45 of His Claim

“Call the police, and never hear from Tatum again,” Murphy thundered. “You don’t know what we’re dealing with, and if you involve the police, you’ll set us back to never ending this.”

“That was before, Jada,” I cried. “Murphy had no idea they were going after me. They kidnapped him at the same time. Just listen to me, please.”

“How am I supposed to believe all of this, Tatum? For all I know, he’s got a damn gun to your head and making you say all of this.”

Murphy shook his head and ended the call.

“What are you doing?” I demanded. “She’s going to for sure call the police now.”

He glared at me and muttered under his breath about having enough shit to deal with. He swiped a few times on the phone and then held it up to his face. “Put on my shirt,” he ordered.

“What are you–” The phone rang twice, and then Jada’s voice sounded.

“Doing,” I whispered. I dove off the bed and grabbed Murphy’s shirt. I hurriedly shrugged it on and jumped back on the bed.

Murphy turned the phone on me, and I waved. “Hi!”

Jada leaned in closer. “Do you have a cut on your face?” she asked.

Oh, Jesus. “Yeah, but Murphy didn’t do it. It’s from the–”

“Bad guys?” Jada finished. She sat back. “Give the phone to Tatum.”

I looked up at Murphy.

Jada was skating a thin line. Murphy wasn’t a caveman who didn’t like women telling him what to do. He didn’t like anyone telling him what to do.

“Please, baby?” I whispered. I pulled Murphy’s shirt closed and held my hand out to him. No reason for Jada to know what we were doing all night, though knowing her it would only take two seconds for her to figure it out..

Murphy scowled but stepped toward me and handed the phone to me.

“Happy?” I whispered to Jada.

She shook her head. “Now, put the camera on him.”

I was going to get whiplash.

Murphy stepped back a few feet back from the bed and looked hella pissed. I rolled my eyes but did what she asked. Murphy folded his arms over his chest and glared at the phone.

“I should have known you were going to be shirtless,” she muttered. “And you’re even prettier than I imagined.” A clicking sound came from the camera. “And I took that screenshot so I have something to show the police if I don’t hear from my friend at least once a day by seven every night. You feel me, bad boy? I talk to my best friend every day, or I call the police and track you down.”

“Your best friend is safest with me. You’ll hear from her every day.” Murphy grabbed the phone and ended the call.

“Murphy,” I called. “I know you said what she wanted, but you could have been a little nicer about it.”

Murphy tucked his phone in his pocket. “Because she was being nice to me? Your friend has a little bit of an attitude I don’t like, Tatum. I’m not the type of man who should be questioned when all I’m doing is keeping you alive.”

I rocked up on my knees and crawled to the edge of the bed. I reached out, and he put his hand in mine. He closed the distance between us, and I wrapped my arms around him.

“Don’t be angry,” I whispered. “You can’t blame Jada. This is all new to her. She didn’t even know about you.” I really didn’t expect anything less from Jada. She cared about me and wanted to ensure I was cared for if she wasn’t there.

“That’s another thing I’m a bit annoyed about.” He pulled back and looked down at me. “If she’s your best friend, why the hell didn’t she know about us?”

I laughed and shook my head. “I bet that annoys you more than her questioning what you're doing.”

He grunted but didn’t deny it.

“She may not have known about us, but she does now, okay? I guess I didn’t want to go into how the most handsome man broke up with me because he didn’t think I fit into his life.”

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