“I’m worried.” She might be, but that’s not all. She’s hiding something. Still, won’t harm her to know what hiding something from me gets in return.
“Ripped a cunt’s heart out. Enough information for you?”
Silence ensues for a minute. Thankfully. Although, I’m fucking interested now I’m thinking about this crap. I sip my scotch and keep watching her, remembering the feel of that heart in my fingers. She walks towards me a little, her mouth opening, then turns and looks out of the window, arms still crossed. Should have brought the thing back for her, a gift for those delicate little hands to play with.
“Where’s Quinn?” she eventually asks.
“Fucking his bitch, I expect.” Nothing comes back at that, but her eyes harden as she glares out at the skyline. “Why so interested?”
“You’re smoking again. When did that start?” she asks quietly. I roll my fucking eyes and storm from the room, uninterested in whatever the hell this is turning into. I’m too tired for this, especially given the vengeance still inside my mind. She’s gonna get in a truck load of trouble if she doesn’t back the hell off.
I start peeling the last of my clothes off and head for the shower, discarding them onto the floor. Stupid woman. I haven’t got the fucking energy for her mood swings. Not that I’ve ever noticed her having them before now. Something’s going on in her head, but it can wait until I’m in a better mood. I’m drinking and nothing more. She can damn well wait in there and drink with me, or she can go to bed. I don’t give a fuck anymore.
The shower pelts down on me as I step into it, rinsing the damage I’ve caused off me as it does. The colours run into the drain and I reach for the soap, amused at the sight of the reds swirling together. It’s been a while since I saw that. Years. It makes me check my knuckles and stare at the gashes there. I hadn’t noticed them before now, probably too lost in my own hedonism to give a fuck. I suppose the Cane boys are worth trusting now. Wouldn’t have taken much for him to take one extra shot, wiping me off the face of New York in one fell swoop. Could have been his new town if he pushed hard enough after that. He’s got the goddamn balls for it. I snort. For fuck’s sake. I like him, don’t I? Dick that he is. Guess that’s what comes when you go all in together to hunt threat. Trust.
My fingers scrub into my hair, eyes closed so I can see what we’ve achieved tonight. Apart from the bitch, we’ve managed to get two heads of section removed according to Nathan. Quinn made a call to him while I was dealing with the NYPD interfering in my city. He told him the names of everyone we could find. One of the guys we killed was setting up something big, his intel suggested, been meeting regularly with out of state Yakuza. He’d been following the cunt for some time, or his woman had. I like her. Cute. Loyal. And sharp. Hope needs to get herself a reality check and remember who the hell she is before I go wandering elsewhere.
The thought makes me frown and think of her and my own men, their constant allegiance to me. Whether they’re all here because of the money, the power, or the threat I bring with me, I don’t know. All of the above maybe. Who fucking cares as long as they keep doing what I tell them to? But Tony? He stayed by my side out of friendship. I miss that about him, miss his wry smile when he saw me about to lose it all over someone’s ass. I chuckle a little, remembering Quinn’s chaos filled grin. Violent. Maybe that new wingman is already here. He’s not Tony, but he’s onside; I know that much. And we’ll be strong together going forward. Intelligent. I’ll be able to use them, and they me, to a degree. Carefully.
My fingers wind the shower down, and I step out into the bathroom to towel off. I’m gonna drink, get drunk and relax, lick the wounds on my knuckles and smile about the night’s events. Feels good to be like this. Energizing somehow. Perhaps we can all relax a bit now. The warning should have been clear enough, and that’s just come from me and Quinn. The note I left should have sent enough credence, too. A pair of eyes and a heart knifed into the wall. That, along with the threat of multitudes of us going at them again, should suffice.
Still, no woman, and no Andreas.
That still reeks of problems.
“You want to talk to me now?” I scowl at her voice and head back into the bedroom, towel lobbed at the unit behind me. Talk? No. I snatch at some track pants and head into the lounge, pulling them on as I get to the drinks cabinet so I can pour another long-ass drink. The view stretches out in front of me, lights flickering from all the buildings and the darkness of the park. It’s cute, a fucking world away from what I’ve just been a part of. “Benjamin, what happened?”
“What is this?” I mutter out, bringing the drink to my lips and downing it. “Twenty goddamn questions?”
“No. But when you come home covered in blood, I’d like to know why.”
“You only need to know what I choose to tell you.”
“Not any more. Maybe before.”
“Before what?” What the fuck is she talking about?
“Before the dates. Benjamin, I know my place, but this goes both ways. You can’t play with me like this. Not now. I’ve put up with everything you’ve thrown at me.” Her voice grows more agitated as she goes on. She’s right. She’s taken everything without any questions. Until now.
“It’s just Cane,” she continues.I tip my eyes over my shoulder and reach for the bottle again, wondering what she means. “Everything’s changed since they arrived.” That it has. I smirk, enjoying their effect on me. Fucking politicians and never-ending negotiations. This is the old-school me now, part of what I was meant to be. I refill and down another, not caring for her opinion. “I mean, look at you.”
I do. I look straight into the window and have a good long stare at myself, smiling at the outlook. Dark everything, just as my family was before me, muscles still revved up from earlier.
“You’ve changed. You’re covered in fucking blood for God’s sake.”
“No, you’ve just never seen this before.” Maybe she never would have stood by my side had she known this part of me. I down another drink, enjoying the warmth that burns my throat. “You’ve had the light, Hope.” Wealth, decency, or some element of it anyway. At least since she’s known me. “You didn’t turn up ‘til after the dark. I’ve always been pretty for you.”
“I’ve lived more darkness than you can bear, you condescending asshole.”
The spin of my hand to her face has her ducking out of my way, finger pointed as she glares in return.
“Never again,” she spits. “Enough with that shit.”
My brow arches, amused at the wildcat in her. Words are irrelevant and she damn well knows it. If I feel like hitting her, I will. Not that I do entirely, but she keeps coming at me with crap like that in her mouth and I’ll throttle her with my dick to cause the same effect.
“I’ve been at your side for years. You ask of me and I deliver, whatever it is. Including going on fucking dates with you. Dates, Benjamin. You gave me your home. And now I ask a couple of questions and you block me? This is all Cane. All of it.”
What?I laugh, interested in why she’d think that.
