Page 73 of Pretty Pink Poison
Then there was tonight at the club where she chose to test me again. She’d been dancing, laughing, losing herself, and I’d come in to remind her exactly who she belonged to.
Me. But that wasn’t right.
It wasn’t me who she’d end up with.
And even still, every one of my muscles coiled like a spring, ready to snap. One idiot got too close, and she allowed it. So, I had to leave the office I’d been working in or, let’s be honest, stalking her in. I had camera after camera set up so I could watch her every move. And when her move was to flirt with random men, I left my work to go all the way down to the club and toss him aside.
She spun in her pink sequined dress that was way too damn short to not draw attention and glared at me in heels that weresix inches but still didn’t give her enough height to be eye level with me.
“We’re leaving now, Pink. Say bye to your friends.”
Kee and Olive had gone out with her. Olive was a friend of Kee’s, and both had been close at Pink’s side since the start of Kee’s singing residency here. Two women I had respect for because, goddamn if they weren’t fearless. They didn’t back down even when I sent them a glare that should have had them cowering. Kee planted herself between us. “You’re being as bad as Dex, Bane.”
I tilted my head. “I’ll get worse if you two don’t clear the floor along with Pink.”
“We’re just dancing.” Olive crossed her arms, jaw set. They stood there, unmoving, facing me like they could stop a man in the mob. And for a moment, I admired the courage it took. My chest tightened as I saw how Pink chewed her cheek, looking at them.
I saw how grateful she was for them, how she loved them. These women were her friends. Her real friends. It might have been the first time she had people who didn’t bend for someone else but stood by her side fiercely.
I wanted it for her but not with me and maybe she understood that because she finally waved them off after their stare down with me. “You’re both the best wing women a girl could ask for, but I’ve got this.” She chuckled and pointed behind me. “Plus seems you might have your own problems.”
Dex showed up to give her hell and both Olive and Kee sulked off with him but not before hugging Pink goodbye. “Let’s go, Pink,” I said.
“You’re just as bad as him,” she spat.
“Just as bad? I’m worse, and you know it.” I grabbed her elbow and yanked her through the club. She didn’t go easily, screaming at me, pushing against me, daring me. And I loved it.Loved the fight. Loved the way she resisted because she could. Loved the way I couldn’t ignore her even when I tried.
By the time we reached her room, I could feel the heat of it all—the adrenaline, the need to put her back in her place, the tension between us. She turned to me, wild-eyed, and smiled. “Fuck me, please.”
I gave her a look. No way in fucking hell was she getting anything from me tonight even if I wanted it.
“Oh, come on. What’s wrong? You can put your mask on if you want.”
Damn, I was starting to hate how quickly she was willing to ask for it rather than beg me to fuck her without it. I used that mask to separate us, to hide how I really felt, to justify what I was doing against the family rather than taking responsibility for fucking her with it off. With it, I could cloak my regret, my want, my mistake in desiring and taking her even though I shouldn’t have. Yet, every time she suggested it, there was a stab of something sharp in my chest, like she was suddenly okay with not having me and wanting a veiled version instead.
She swayed, frustrated and stubborn.
“Fuck, you’re so drunk, I have half a mind to redden your ass until dawn for being in the club like that where men can take advantage of you.”
“Well,” she murmured, half-laughing, “I just wantyouto take advantage of me.”
I pointed toward her closet, trying to get her to go change. “Not while you’re drunk.”
She shoved past me and looked around. Her clothes were everywhere, and I picked up a few to put them in the dirty laundry bin we’d placed near the door, not that she ever used it. She scoffed at my tidying up. “You’ll fuck me with a mask on, a knife to my throat, a fire blazing, or me drugging you—but not when I’ve had a few drinks?”
“Correction: way more than a few. I saw you down at least five, Bianca—”
“Oh my God. I’m so sick of you looking down at me like I am doing something wrong.” She stomped over to the platform that was in front of her mirror and walked up the two steps of it.
She almost fell in her heels, but I reached out to steady her. All so she could look down at me and glare. “You’restalking me again and want to give me a lecture?”
I muttered under my breath as I continued to hold onto her, hands firm and protective even while she swatted them away. “Better me than a guy you don’t know who’s looking to take advantage of you.”
“I want to be taken advantage of!” she barked out, completely wild, inhibitions lost.
“Didn’t your mother warn you about mob men preying on women?” I growled. “I’m not going to be one of those men… even if some are better than me.”
“No man is better than you,” she shot back, furious now at that.
