by T. L Smith
“We love that girl, and won’t let you take her from us,” my mother finally speaks as her eyes shoot daggers straight into him.
“I would never. I even thought I would bring something to help put Kat at ease.” He reaches into his suit jacket and pulls out a folded sheet of paper. “It’s for you. You just need to sign it.”
Taking it from him, he starts to speak, “It states that I will never take her without Kat’s permission and consent, and my rights are that of Kat’s choosing. Never shall I leave the state or town without Kat’s permission as well.” Mitchell takes a deep breath as I read over it. “I’ve purchased a place not far from where you live, and I would like it if you could check it out to make sure it’s okay for her.”
“And what about all the lost time you’ve missed? Have you ever looked after a child before?” my mother asks.
I look up for his answer.
“No, but I was hoping you would help. You know Annabelle, and I want to get to know her.”
My father nods, happy with his words. Rochelle reaches under the table and gives my leg a squeeze.
“Do you want to meet Annabelle?” I ask.
He’s saying everything I want to hear, so hopefully he follows through. “I won’t tell her who you are yet. But you can meet her.”
“I would love that.”
“We are coming too.”
“No. This needs to be done with just us,” I say to my mother, standing and kissing her cheek. “Thank you,” I tell them all.
My mother doesn’t look up, so I pass her the form from Mitchell. “Why don’t you make sure these are legit and legal.”
Mom nods eagerly.
Rochelle offers me a small smile.
Mitchell has done well. Annabelle was nervous at first but warmed up to him when he kissed her doll. She likes everyone to kiss it for some reason. But no one is allowed to have it, only her. Walking him out after she fell asleep on his lap, he smiles.
“She is a real treasure.”
“She is,” I reply.
“Thanks for this, Kat. You really didn’t have to, and I know this isn’t easy for you. But I’ll try to make it as easy as I can.” I just nod. I simply don’t have any more words left. I have to go to work soon, and my mother should be here any second to pick up Annabelle. Closing the door as Mitchell leaves, I run upstairs to dress, sliding on my favorite red lace undergarment and my black slacks. I cover my lace with a jacket, so Mom doesn’t question me.
Oh shit! That’s right, she already knows.
A knock is heard from the door, and then it’s pushed open.
“In the bathroom,” I yell out.
Footsteps, which are louder than my mother’s, come up, and soon, standing in my bathroom doorway is Blaze.
“You just let anyone in your house these days?” he asks, leaning against the door frame, his feet hooked one over the other and a smirk on his lips.
“I thought you were my mother,” I tell him, going back to applying my red lipstick. “What do you want?” I don’t look at him as I apply it using the mirror, though I can feel his stare penetrating me from behind.
“A man just left your house.”
“Yes, one did,” I say, grabbing my mascara, applying another layer, not wanting to look at him.
“Are you fucking him too?”
I look at Blaze now. His face doesn’t hold any amusement at all. He’s completely serious. Just as I’m about to tell him to get fucked, my mother’s voice comes through. “Kat, there’s a motorcycle behind your car. Did you know?”
I look up to Blaze and give him an eye roll. “Yes, Mother, Blaze is here to annoy me.”
“Oh, Marcus’s brother,” she states, not sounding so positive about it.
Blaze steps out and walks to where I know my mother is waiting in the living room. “Yes, ma’am, I’ve come to take Katarina to work.”
I sigh heavily at his use of my full name.
“Katarina? She allows you to call her that?” my mother asks him, surprise laced through her voice.
“I don’t allow him,” I yell out as I slip on my heels, then walk out.
My mother looks up at me. “Mitchell left already?”
“Yes.”
“How did it go?” she questions, getting straight to the damn point. Rochelle likes to say she talks around people and changes the subject fast, but she never seems to do that with me.
“It went well, Mother. As well as can be expected. Look… Annabelle’s sleeping. I’ve fed her already. So feel free to wake her if you want to take her to yours, I can collect her on my way home.”
“No, that’s okay. I want to wake up with her. Can I have her for the night?”
“Sure.”
Mom doesn’t say goodbye as she walks up to Annabelle’s room, and heading straight in there, I hear her grabbing her things as I walk outside with Blaze next to me.
“I was serious about coming to drive you.”
“I can’t believe you told my mother you call me that,” I say while shaking my head. Looking back toward the house, where I know she’s probably watching, he passes me a helmet.
“That’s your name.” He points to the helmet. “Put it on. We need to get going.”
“I can drive myself.”
“Katarina, do you really want to stand out front of your house, where your mother is inside probably watching us, and have an argument?” I heave a heavy sigh and pull the helmet on. Blaze kick starts his machine and taps the back for me to get on.
I look up to my window and see my mother offer a small wave as I get on, and know Blaze is right, she is watching us.
Blaze takes off fast, making my grip tighten by wrapping my arms around him as he speeds through the night. I feel him chuckle when I grip him harder, especially when he goes faster around a corner. If I could punch him right now, I probably would, but I don’t want to risk killing myself. I’m not ready to die yet.
I see the club come into view, and when he stops, I’m the first to get off and put some distance between us. “Oh God, you could have killed me,” I say, referring to the last sharp turn he took. Stepping forward, I slam his helmet into his hands and turn to walk inside.
“Asshole,” I mutter under my breath.
His footsteps follow me even when I’m inside.
Steve stops walking when he sees me. “I’m out. The girls are good to go. Silver’s still being a bitch,” he says while shaking his head. “Boss.” He nods to Blaze, who walks up next to me.
Turning to him, I ask, “Why are you here?”
“Looking out for you,” he says as if the answer is simple.
“Why?” I cross my arms over my chest. “What trouble is there?”
“None, hopefully. I was also expecting to fuck you on your desk.” His eyes move to my office.
“No. Now leave so I can work.”
“There’s a party at my clubhouse after this. You should come.”
“I have to go home.”
“Your mother has your daughter all night,” he says as I look around, trying to avoid his gaze. “There is no excuse.”
“There is always an excuse,” I reply to him.
He steps up to me, his body coming into direct contact with my back, and I feel his heat.
“Don’t you want me to fuck you? To make you scream so fucking much that you can’t speak for days, and all you can think about is my cock in your pussy?”
Oh, fuck.
“No.”
Blaze licks my neck, and I freeze. We’re in public, and granted, no one is watching, but fuck. He shouldn’t have done that.
“Let me fuck you, Katarina.”
I go to pull away, but his hand cups me, this time grabbing my breast by slipping his hand under my jacket and pinching my nipple.
“I can make you feel good.”
“I have to work,” I breathe.
“Miss.” Silver is now standing in front of us. Blaze doesn’t move his hand, he just stays where he is glued to
me. I try to step away from him, but he holds me still.
“I see you’ve wasted no time,” Silver says in a voice I don’t approve of.
“Excuse you?” I reply to her, pushing Blaze’s hand away.
He lets me this time.
“You… you’re fucking the boss already.”
Oh no she didn’t.
I shake my head at her words. “Silver, let me make this clear,” I say, stepping to her so we’re nice and close. “You want to go down the same road Rebecca went, right? Fired, never to return again?”
Silver pops her hands on her hips. “I heard you got her banned from their house too.” I didn’t, but I’m not going to tell her differently. I’ll have to ask Blaze about that one. “Does he know you have a kid? He doesn’t allow kids at their clubhouse.” She nods to Blaze.
“Silver, you either turn around right now and go back to work, or I’ll fire you. You literally have those two options, and believe me, I’m fucking leaning toward the last one.”
She does just that, spins around and leaves.
When I turn around to face Blaze, his eyes are downcast and lost in thought, so I use that chance to escape him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Blaze
She walks away fast, going straight to the back to check on the girls as I step over to the bar, order a drink, and sit and watch. I don’t come anymore to watch the girls dance and take off their clothes. I realize I’m here purely for Katarina.
Has she really succeeded?
Has she made me fall in love with her, to then only break my heart?
No.
It’s not possible.
I tap the bar as the bartender pours me a whiskey. Waiting and watching where she went, I want her to come back out. When she does, I’m on my second glass of whiskey, and one of the girls has already taken the stage. Katarina stops, looks up at me, then shakes her head as she ducks inside her office.
I should leave, but I drove her here, and I do want her to come back to mine tonight. Swinging my legs around, I look up to the bartender and order another one. I have hours to kill, and this will be my last drink, or else I’ll be stuck here. And that can’t happen. I want Katarina in my bed, legs spread, and wanting me as much as I want her.
“Do you plan to drink me out of business?” Her voice comes from behind me.
I don’t bother to turn around to face her, because I know what she’s doing to me, and looking at her will only cement that idea.
“Don’t you mean me?” I ask her. “It is my business, after all.”
“Sure, you. But other than drinking me dry, you also have to take me home. So, maybe stop. Okay?” Then she walks off again without waiting for my answer. I turn to watch her leave, her ass swaying with each step, and have to force myself to turn away from her.
“Why her?” The voice next to me asks while sliding onto a stool. Silver is dressed in hardly anything, just a bra and panties, and she pushes her chest up as she talks to me.
I look up at the bartender. “Water.” She nods as I tap my fingers on the counter.
“Katarina does know who you are, doesn’t she?” I ask Silver, leaning in.
She bites her bottom lip. “No.”
“That’s what I thought,” I say, taking the water that’s put in front of me.
“Go now, Silver,” I say her stage name.
“Rebecca wants to come out tonight. We know there’s a party.” I wave her off, not answering. “She has a kid, Blaze. You get that, right? She won’t mix with your world.”
When I turn back to look at Silver, she’s gone.
I should tell her I’m driving her home to her house and that I’m not bringing her back with me. But I’m weak, and I want her, so how can I turn that down? She grips me as we come to a stop out front of the clubhouse, the boys opening the gates to let me in. Everyone’s here, the party is loud, girls are half-naked everywhere. She should feel comfortable considering it’s the same as the place where she works, except these girls are open about fucking anyone they can.
Climbing off, I take her helmet, place it on the bike, and grip her hand in mine.
“I should go,” she says, not moving, her eyes looking everywhere, checking out the scene in front of her.
“No. You are free tonight, and now you’re mine.” I pull her so she has to move. She doesn’t care that her jacket is open, and the curves of her perfect breasts are showing as we walk through the crowd.
Snow stops me, his hand coming to tap on my shoulder. When he sees Katarina, he looks down at our hands and smiles in surprise. “Good to see you again,” he says to her.
“Good to see you again too.” She’s clearly not in the mood to make conversation. “I should go. I’m tired, Blaze.” Her eyes don’t look at me as she speaks.
Snow raises an eyebrow at her words, then turns and walks off.
“I’m tired,” she says again.
I continue walking until we reach my bedroom. Unlocking the door, I open it for her to go in first.
She looks up at me. “You don’t really listen, do you?”
“No.” I smile.
“That could be an issue,” she says, taking her jacket off, then falling onto the bed with her heels still on.
My eyes roam her entire body. She’s fully dressed, her purse, which she was wearing over her shoulder, has now dropped on the side of the bed. Katarina doesn’t move from her spot. Her eyes close, and I think she’s about to fall asleep.
Stepping out, I go to grab her a drink, and when I close the door, she doesn’t make a sound.
“You think that’s smart?” Snow asks, nodding to my room where Katarina is more than likely sleeping.
“Possibly not.”
“Good. I’m glad you see it for what it is.” He nods.
“Do I, though?” I ask, looking back to my door.
“Why is she in your room?” he asks. “You never bring them back to your room.”
Snow’s right, but there’s something about Katarina. I knew it from the first time I saw her out front of a nightclub one night with her sister.
Katarina is different.
“You didn’t have Tanika in your room,” Snow says, using her name.
I didn’t love Tanika, but I saw the pain she was hiding from everyone else, and we bonded over that. I could have loved Tanika given time. Possibly. Maybe. Who fucking knows!
“She’s asleep,” I say, referring to Katarina.
“Then why not take her home?” he asks.
She asked me the same thing. But for some reason, I don’t want the average Friday night. I want it with her. Even if it means her sleeping in my bed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kat
My head is sore, and my body is warm. Opening my eyes, the room is still dark, almost pitch black as I blink a few times, trying to make my eyes adjust. It takes me a moment to remember where I am. I can still hear music going on outside the room. Looking around, I reach for my purse and grab my phone out.
Fuck! I’ve only slept for a few hours.
The sun should be coming up now if it’s not already. Annabelle usually wakes around this time, and I feed her, then we go back to sleep.
Lying down, my hands go to either side of my body, and I realize I’m alone in the bed—a bed that isn’t even mine.
Sitting up, I look for my heels and see they’re placed on the floor at the bottom of the bed neatly with my jacket lying over one of the chairs. Reaching for it and sliding on my heels, I walk out with my phone in hand and my purse over my shoulder.
Voices are yelling, girls are screaming in delight, and I look around for Blaze. The sun is almost completely up, so I don’t have to squint to see everyone.
“Oh, it’s you,” someone next to me seethes.
I turn to see Rebecca. She has a drink in her hand and a look of hate written all over her face. She looks back to see where I came from, and her lips form a thin straight line. “He likes to fuck the new ones, and you’re ju
st that. New for him to taste,” she spits, then walks off.
I raise an eyebrow and huff. Damn, I don’t have a car. And I feel a sense of déjà vu being back here this time, though I’m not drunk, I am the sober one.
Messaging my sister, I ask her to come and get me, not even knowing if she’s awake but hoping she is. Rochelle messages back straight away, telling me she’s on her way.
I spot him sitting at their bar with Snow next to him on one side and Silver on the other, her hand on his back as he talks animatedly to Snow. She notices me first and smiles. It’s not a ‘nice to see you’ smile either, it’s more like a ‘fuck you’ smile.
“Blaze,” I say.
He turns to face me, shrugging off Silver’s hand and looking me over. “You going somewhere?”
“Yes, home.”
“I drove you,” he says, stating the obvious.
“No shit,” I reply, complete with an eye roll. “My sister is coming.”
“She isn’t welcome,” Blaze says.
“I don’t fucking care. Lucky for you, I’m leaving.” I turn to walk away, but run straight into a hard body, almost falling backward.
Marley looks down at me, a drink in his hand as he smiles. He doesn’t bother to help me straighten myself, and I give him my best fuck you stare.
“We haven’t even fucked yet,” Blaze says.
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” I reply with a shake of my head.
I can’t get far as Marley hasn’t moved, so I look up at him. “If you don’t move, I will kick you right between your legs. Do you hear me?”
Marley looks behind him, then nods his head and steps to the side.
“Thanks for nothing, asshole.”
“I’ll see you tonight at work,” Blaze yells.
