Page 69 of Jezebel's Liberation

I shake my head. “No clue.”

“Do you think he’s conn?—”

The door to my room slides open, and Phantom stands in the entry with Soul and Malice flanking him.

“Jesus,” Jez whispers as she rushes to them. “What happened?” None of them answer her, and her shoulders stiffen. “Let me guess… club business.”

“You know the rules,” Soul says.

She snorts. “Yeah, I know the rules.”

Jez squares off with her brother, but my focus remains on Phantom. I can’t tell if his silence is an indicator that he’s in shock or if he’s just not sure what he can and can’t say. Either way, a sibling fight isn’t going to do him any good right now.

“Jez, why don’t you go see what the other old ladies are doin’?”

Her eyes widen at my grouping her in with the other women, but then she smiles. “Sure you can handle this?” she asks, forgetting about the argument with her twin entirely and nodding at Phantom.

“Yeah, I got him,” I assure her.

She nods before turning to him and kissing him on the lips, completely ignoring the blood. After wiping it off herself with the back of her hand, she storms out of the room.

“You’re okay with that?” Malice asks, but there’s no judgment in his question, only genuine curiosity. “Her kissing another man?”

“He’s okay with it,” Phantom says, which is the first time he’s spoken since entering the room. “Now, go.”

Soul and Malice exchange a look, and I fully expect Prez to put him in his place, so I’m shocked when they both shrug and leave us alone.

The instant the door slides closed, Phantom’s shoulders drop, and I have to rush forward to catch him when his knees give out, so he doesn’t hit the floor.

“Hey, hey,” I say, holding him up. “You’re gonna be okay.”

Phantom nods. “I, um… I need a shower.”

“Okay.”

I lead him into the en suite, and he strips out of his clothes while I turn the shower on. When I take off my shirt and shorts, Phantom arches a brow.

“What?” I ask, standing before him naked and trying like hell not to lower my gaze to his thickening cock.

He swallows, and I watch his Adam’s apple bob. “You’re getting in, too?”

“Shit,” I mutter, lowering my head to stare at the floor. “Uh, no. I just thought… Well, you’re… Fucking hell, I’m screwing this?—”

“You wanna take care of me,” he says simply.

My head snaps up, and I level my gaze on his. “Well… yeah.”

Phantom grins as he moves past me to step into the shower stall. “You comin’?”

I chuckle and join him under the spray. We’re quiet for several minutes as we both stand there. He watches the crimson liquid swirl down the drain, and I watch him. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, and it’s making me a little crazy, so I decide to bite the bullet.

“Are you okay?” I ask. He nods. “Wanna talk about it?”

Phantom reaches for the bar of soap, but I take it from him and begin to slowly wash his body without even thinking.

A moan escapes his lips when my soapy hands glide down his ribs. “I killed a man today,” he says.

“I figured.”

---