Page 55 of The Smoke Hour

“A’ight. I’ll holler,” the other man stated.

I ran back around the corner and hurriedly walked into the kitchen.

I pulled a glass from the cabinet before I pulled open the large, commercial stainless-steel refrigerator. I searched around inside to find something that would not only refresh my dry throat but that would also calm my trembling nerves.

How in the hell could I go back in there and lie in bed with a man who could have killed some men and beaten my ex almost to death?

“Trouble sleeping, baby?”

The sound of his voice right in my ear and his hand on my shoulder made me jump, and I lost my grip on the glass. It fell and shattered to the floor.

“Shit!” I screamed.

Smoke rubbed his hands down my shoulders and arms. “Breathe, baby. You good?”

“You scared me, is all,” I stated.

“Come here. You got cut by some glass.” Smoke lifted me off the floor. He carried me to the island and set me down before he moved to the sink and removed a first aid kit from underneath it.

“I can do that,” I stated when he pulled out some alcohol pads, antibiotic ointment, and bandages.

His hand pressed against mine as he stared into my eyes.

“I got you, baby. I told you that you can trust me. I won’t hurt you.”

As I looked into Smoke’s eyes, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking about more than the cut on my foot. But he broke our stare first and set about handling my cut. When he finished, he ordered me to remain at the island.

I watched him as he moved around the kitchen and cleaned up my mess before he washed his hands and poured me a glass of juice.

“Here you go.”

My hands trembled when I accepted the glass.

I realized that my nerves had gotten the best of me after that phone call with Noel. Besides, I hadn’t overheard the entire conversation with Smoke and the man in his office. I’d just jumped to conclusions and overreacted, which was easy to dowhen your nerves were already fraught with tension, and you were tired from lack of sleep.

“You okay, sweet baby?” he asked when he took the empty glass from my hand and set it in the sink.

“Yeah. I think I’m just tired.”

He brushed the hair from my face and stated, “Whatever you want to know, Kaifiya, you can always ask me. I promise not to lie to you, and I won’t mislead you. There may be times that I can’t answer you, but I won’t lie.”

I inhaled deeply and asked, “Who was that man in your office?”

“He’s my new second-in-command.”

“What happened to the old one?”

“He’s no longer with us.”

My heart thudded wildly in my chest.

“As in dead?”

Smoke gripped the back of my head, lowered his lips, and pressed them against mine. He kissed me softly and caressed my tongue with his. When he pulled back, I saw nothing but tenderness in his eyes.

“I live in a very dangerous world, sweetheart. Sometimes, I have to do things that the rest of the world doesn’t need to know about. It’s how I help make the world a better place to live in. Some things, you don’t need to know about. That’s part of how I protect you.”

I sighed grumpily. “I guess that I’ll take that as a yes then.”

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