Page 129 of Diamond In The Rough

“Hey!” Roscoe yanks Tiia back a step, his protectiveness setting my temper alight. “Don’t speak to her that way.”

I look him up and down. The sharp set of his jaw and the rage burning in his gaze. I spy his hand wrapped around her wrist, and his broad form, about twice her size and width. Then I look at the third in their group, the one I never picked to be a Fed before now.

It’s so easy to see in hindsight. So obvious now that I know. But before, when I was focused only on Tiia, I had blinders on and remained oblivious to what I would have picked out any other time.

“You’re too pretty to be a badge, Jazmine.” I lift my chin toward the stage behind her. To the women in thongs and the money tossed at their feet. “Come work for me. You’d make ten times more.”

“You think so?” She doesn’t get mad, like I expect her to. Doesn’t fire up, though her companion is ready to tear my face off. She only brings her hand up and twirls a lock of hair around her finger. “I can’t dance. But I do two hundred squats a day. Reckon the gents with the cash will still be generous?”

“Yeah.” Fuck Tiia Hale. Fuck her necklace. Her heart. Her eyes. Fuck her to hell and back. And if I’m lucky, in my bed again. “Go talk to my guy at the bar. Give him your number and tell him I sent you. Then we’ll get you in for a private show.” I firm my lips, knowing, feeling, Tiia’s gaze burn hotter. “I’d have to see, first, to be sure we’re hiring quality, though.”

“You want to fight me, Micah Malone?” Tiia shakes Roscoe’s hand off and steps forward. Taking the lead again and clapping her hands to my chest. “You think I’m gonna let you hit on my best friend and slink away like a good little lamb?”

“I think you’re a fucking badge, creeping into my place of business, and making a mess you have no right to be involved in.” I slowly drag my focus down, like she’s the last thing I want to see, when, fuck, she’s the first, last, and everything in between. I stop on her lips. On her pert nose. Her sinful eyes. And keep myself, barely, from sighing. “You got caught, Hale. Now you can leave again.”

“I’ve come with a message.” She watches my lips, struggling to understand my words but refusing to leave anyway. “I want to talk to you.”

“And I want to go back in time and choose someone else to fuck.” I hate that her face hardens. That her lips firm and her jaw turns to stone. I hate that I hurt her, all because I’m too weak to keep her. “Pussy comes free to me, mo chroí. I don’t need yours specifically.”

“I know what those words mean.” She softens her voice, and yet, I still hear the quiver in her tone. The emotion. “Chroí doesn’t mean creature.” She looks up into my eyes, broadening her shoulders and glaring. “Guess that makes us both liars.”

“Right. But I never said I was telling the truth. So, if we’re getting down to the details, you’re still the only liar.” I tip my chin toward the door. “Now get the fuck out.”

“No.”

Felix bristles on my right. Stovic and Michaels, burning for a fight. Desperate for a signal to do… something.

Anything.

“I said,” I snarl, flexing my hands, though I don’t reach out and touch. Because once I do, I’m not sure I’ll let her go. I’m not strong enough to do it twice. Instead, I bring my eyes up and stare over the top of her head. Dismissive and mean. “Get the fuck out of my club. We have the right to refuse service to anyone we choose, for any reason we choose. And this club is doing nothing illegal, so you have no reason to be here.”

“’I’m trying to talk to you!” She reaches up with lightning-fast reflexes and grabs my face, yanking it down until our eyes meet. “Wilkes is making a move on you tonight.” She looks at Felix and swallows. Then at our guards. “We don’t have confirmation on where he’ll hit. Or what time. But I’m saying it’s here, and it’s soon.”

I wrap my palm around her wrist, not only getting to touch her again despite my promise not to, but I’m rewarded with her eyes, too. Her perfect stare and her plump lips.

“We have intel that you don’t,” she murmurs. “You need to listen to me.”

“Your vine died.”

“My…” Her eyes flicker with confusion, then understanding. Disappointment. Then sadness. “My pothos? You couldn’t save it?”

“I mean… I could have.” I drag her hand from my face and harden myself before she tempts me to steal her away and put her in my home forever. It seemed to work out for Felix and Christabelle.

“I killed it,” I tell her. “Didn’t want it in my home anymore.”

“Well…” She draws a deep breath, filling her lungs until her chest expands, then she exhales again, her sweet breath tickling the underside of my chin. “That’s a decision you get to make, I suppose. My fern is still on the television cabinet, dead and rotting.”

Kinda like this romance we had going on for a minute.

“I want you to be careful.” With renewed energy, she meets my eyes and nibbles on her bottom lip. “My superiors have decided you’re not worth watching right now, so believe it or not, you’re less protected than usual.”

“Because the Feds aren’t up our ass?” I chuckle. It’s fake and feels like shit in my throat. But I have nothing else to give. Nothing wittier to offer. “I’m less protected now that the Feds have backed off?”

“I was only ever in your life to keep you safe.” She firms her jaw, staring into my eyes with defiance. Bravery. Pride. “You can believe me, or don’t. You can hate me, or not. I have no influence over your feelings.” Then she looks to Felix. “But my presence in your life kept you both safe on two separate occasions when Wilkes had planned to hurt you.” She brings her focus back to me. “I lied to you about things, but my intentions were always to protect.” She drops her hands and takes a step back. “Kinda figured that would be something you could understand. Guess not.”

“You leaving now?”

“Yep.” She looks to her left, at Jazzy, and shares a look. Then to the right, at Roscoe. Like a silent conversation between friends where they know exactly what is being said. But those of us on the outside are left in the dark.

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