Page 35 of Hostile Love
The walls are bare and the floorboards creak underfoot. It feels colder the further along I go, or maybe that’s just my heart icing over.
In a matter of minutes, he punches a code into a mounted keypad and pushes the door open.
Strolling in ahead of me, he switches on an overhead light and moves further into the wall-to-wall locker room.
“Here.”
He opens a slim compartment, reaches inside, and drags out a pair of khaki utility pants. While I step into them, he fetches a clean white t-shirt and tosses it at me.
“You leaving now?”
Once I’ve pulled it over my head, I reach around him and grab a pair of worn boots, stuffing my feet inside without socks and lacing them tight.
I just need to get out of this house and away from Dani.
Straightening, I cast my eyes over the semi-automatic handgun and pack of smokes sitting on the top shelf in the locker.
“Yeah.” I quickly stretch around him, grab the gun, a lighter, and the cigarettes, then check the magazine is full.
His hand twitches at his hip.
“I am now.” I wink and slap his arm. “Thanks for your help, Dario. I appreciate it.”
Backing up, I yank the door open and look over my shoulder.
“I’ve one more favor to ask.”
He quirks a brow at me. “As if taking my smokes wasn’t enough.”
“It’s a small price to pay to get a Souza out of your territory, right?” I offer him a cocky grin.
“What else do you want?”
My mood simmers.
“Watch over her,” I mutter, hating myself for the thread of concern still attaching me to my little firecracker. “Don’t let anything happen to her or I’ll hold you accountable. And after everything you’ve given me, I would hate to execute you.”
“I take it she came to her senses and threw you out, Souza?” He folds his arms. “Just like all the other assholes. She’s not one for conversations or commitment.”
I bite my tongue. This fucker is one breath away from getting a bullet in the head. It drives me crazy to think about Dani with other guys.
Nipping a cigarette butt between my lips, I scorch the tip and tuck the gun into the waistband of my new pants, smoke filling my lungs.
“We aren’t compatible,” I lie, exhaling a cloud into the room. “Nothing more to it.”
Having outstayed my welcome, I make my way back along the hallway, physically exhausted and mentally psyching myself up for a swift exit.
The bruises scattered all over me ache and my head thumps from dehydration. Draining the remaining three quarters of whiskey left in an open bottle was a bad idea, but it had served its purpose at the time.
Even if I feel like shit now.
It’s nothing a line of coke wouldn’t sort out. Maybe later I’d snort a few grams of Souza snow off some greedyseñorita’stits before I make her night.
Inwardly, I groan at that dumb idea. Who the hell am I kidding? If my dick went hard for another woman, it would be a miracle.
Dani’s tied up my dick in chains. I shiver at that thought, take another drag, and pull my head out of my Dani fantasy, manning the fuck up.
And speak of the devil. There she is, elegantly flipping me the bird and keeping her smile tight as she pads barefoot across the entrance hall and out through the front door.
