And those patches are currently sitting outside the VIP room door even though Elias is inside with me.
“I owe it to you guys,” I say as I lean back next to Elias. “You’ve both been so good to me since I started working here—”
“Because we love you.”
I smile a little. “You’ve both become my friends, friends I know I can count on for anything and the least I can do is finally come back to work to help cover. Even if it’s just one night.”
“It shouldn’t be more than that. Not right now, Cordy.” Elias throws his arm over my shoulders and tucks me into his side. “That piece of human waste found you. He found you, came here twice, scared the hell out of you, and then he turned up dead in our parking lot. You shouldn’t have come back to work yet, just like you shouldn’t have moved back to your apartment.”
Again, Elias isn’t wrong, but still. “I can’t hide forever, E. And I definitely couldn’t keep staying at my sister’s while they get ready for the baby on top of finishing the inside of the house. They have too much going on and James and I—”
“Were welcomed with open arms.” He lifts a brow knowingly.
“I was going to say,were sleeping on their couch, but whatever. We moved in when Rosco was a threat, moved out when…” I blush and bite my lip. “When…”
“You thought you’d have a sexy Scottish Viking staying with you.”
I nod. “But I haven’t worked since the second night Rosco showed up here. I won’t hide forever, won’t keep living in fear. James deserves better, deserves his own bedroom in his own home, and Gino Valetti doesn’t deserve to hold power over either of us anymore. He doesn’t even deserve the time it takes for me to speak his name.”
Elias nods. “You’re one hundred percent right about that, babe, but I can’t imagine your man really agrees with you being here.” My face pales and his brows jump to his hairline. “You didn’t tell him.”
“No…”
“Oh, Cordy. Tate,” he whispers. “After seeing him the first time he came in here to find you dancing on stage, I can’t imagine Spider is going to be thrilled to find out—”
As if Elias conjured him out of thin air, the door to the VIP room bursts open causing both of us to jump, and Fin comes storming through.
His icy blue stare lands on me first, those gorgeous eyes narrowed to slits before they flick to my friend. Fin looks Elias up and down then does the same to me and I swear I can practically see smoke coming out of his nostrils.
And even though I shouldn’t, having Fin’s eyes on me while I’m wearing next to nothing absolutely has me thinking back to what we did this morning and that’s when my entire body blushes.
Something he clearly notices judging by his slow perusal of my blushing body even though he’s too angry to think twice about it as Fin takes one step toward me and barks, “Out.”
“No problem.” My friend grins. “Hate to get wrapped up in some lover’s quarrel. Not really my thing.”
I scowl at Elias as he heads to the door.Jerk.
But I’ve dealt with an angry Finlay MacAllister before and I’m sure this won’t be the last time.
For as calm and stoic as he can be, the man has a hot temper when needed.
It just isn’tneededright now.
The door clicks shut and I watch as my boyfriend walks over, grabs one of the couches anddragsit in front of the black, wooden door. Fin rams it up under the knob before checking to make sure it won’t turn, then—because why not—he locks that as well as the deadbolt, the new security all thanks to my boyfriend after he bought all my time here. But it’s silly to use it all now. As if anyone in their right mind was going to try to break into this room knowing a six-foot-seven behemoth who has literally killed people with his bare hands is standing on the other side of the heavy wood.
Ridiculous.
“Fin, what are you—”
“Don’t,” he grunts, still facing the door. “Don’t ask me that question right now.”
For a split second, just one tiny millisecond, a slice of fear races through my chest as I drop my head in submission.
He is not Gino.
Fin isnotGino.
He won’t hurt me.
