by L. A. Casey
“What happened to your chest?” Nico asked his older brother when he saw me staring at it.
Kane shrugged. “She threw a clock at me.”
Nico looked at me with raised eyebrows and I suddenly felt the need to defend myself.
“He told me to hit him.”
“I meant with your words, you little smartass.”
Little smartass? The fucking nerve of him!
“I’m leavin’. I’ll smash a weight over your head if I stay here any longer.”
Kane moved away from the doorframe and zeroed in on me. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of me and all up in my personal space. He was so close to me that his belly touched mine.
“Like you could lift one of those weights.” He smirked.
My left eye twitched as my mind accepted his challenge.
“Watch me!”
I turned and stomped over to Nico, who was standing in front of the rack that carried all the weights.
“Step aside, son. Mama’s gotta put an arsehole in his place.”
Nico smiled wide at me, his dimples creasing his cheeks. “No can do, Mama, you’ll hurt yourself.”
Oh, no, not Nico, too.
“But I’m strong!”
Nico held my gaze. “Damn right you are, but these weights are pretty heavy, and I don’t want to put any extra strain on you... what if your back starts to hurt more than it already does or you pull an abdominal muscle?”
I gasped.
I didn’t think of my back or my belly.
“Well... my back already hurts at night, I wouldn’t wanna make it hurt durin’ the day either.”
Nico nodded his head. “Exactly. Why hurt yourself just to prove a bitch wrong?”
“Hey!”
I smirked at said bitch’s objection.
“You’re right. You are so right.”
Nico opened his arms. “Give me a squeeze.”
I snorted and stepped into his embrace then screeched. “You’re soakin’!”
“My bad,” Nico laughed and released me but not before giving me a big wet kiss on the cheek and, of course, a quick belly rub.
He had a thing for my pregnant belly; every time he passed me by he would give my stomach a quick rub. It was like his own little way of saying hello to the baby. It was adorable. And the fact that it bothered Kane made me love it more.
“Are you done?” Kane asked from behind me.
“With you?” I questioned as I turned to face him. “Yes.”
Kane tensed. “What does that mean?”
“It means that I’ve seen enough of your face today and have had more than enough of your dicky attitude. I wanna go home.”
I hated that Kane frowned, and I hated that a stupid frown made me instantly feel guilty.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
Kane flicked his eyes over my shoulder then looked back to me and frowned deeper.
“Kane.”
He batted his eyes at me.
“Mother of God!” I gasped. “Don’t you dare try to woo me with your eyes. I know wooin’ when I see it.”
I narrowed my eyes, and when Kane’s eyes flicked over my shoulder, I quickly turned around and caught Nico frowning and pouting. He stopped both when he saw I caught him.
“Sup?” he nervously smiled.
Busted.
I looked over my shoulder to Kane, who was shaking his head and smiling before I looked back to Nico and pointed my finger at him. “Am I the subject of a Man Bible lesson right now?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nico said and lifted his chin.
Yeah, right.
“Don’t bullshit me, kid.”
Nico grinned at me but said nothing.
I put my face in my hands and groaned, “I’m not able to deal with both of you today.”
I felt hands on my hips. “So come back to bed and just deal with me.”
“My man,” Nico whooped.
I growled, and it shut his happy arse up.
“Come on, babydoll. I promise we won’t argue anymore, at least until you have the strength for it.”
I laughed even though I didn’t want to. I wanted to remain mad at him because I knew he was up to something that was bad.
What I saw Kane partake in at Darkness all those weeks ago shook me up. I wanted to believe he was a good person, but I just didn’t fully trust that he was. I knew he cared about me and the baby, but outside of our little circle he was clearly involved in things that I wanted no part in. I was connected to him so whatever he was into, I had a connection to it too, whether he liked it or not.
I hoped I was just paranoid, and it’s why I let Kane lead me back up to his room. I told myself that whatever he was into really was his own business and that he wouldn’t be involved in it if it would put me, or our baby, in danger. I just hoped trusting in that didn’t prove futile.
As I entered Kane’s room, I heard male laughter coming from downstairs and I smiled to myself. Alec and Ryder were here. I was still smiling to myself as Kane jumped onto his bed and patted the spot next to him. I stopped short of the bed and said, “I’m hungry.”
Kane deadpanned, “You couldn’t have said that when we were next to the kitchen?”
I made a motion to stick my finger up at Kane, but I moved my hand too fast and hit it on his bedpost. It sent pain shooting up my finger and caused me to scream bloody murder.
“Oh God! I broke a nail!”
“No!” Kane cried.
Multiple footsteps pounded up the stairs, down the hallway and then three bodies burst into Kane’s bedroom. “What?” all of his brothers hollered as they piled through the doorway.
Kane pointed a trembling hand at me. “Her nail! She broke her nail!”
With a perplexed look, I looked at Kane then to the brothers who all gasped and flung their hands over their mouths. They all gripped onto furniture, or onto one another to stay upright.
I was so confused. I had no fucking idea what was going on.
None.
“Your nail?” Alec screeched.
Nico placed his hands on the side of his head and shook it from side to side. “Anything but your nail!”
Ryder rushed over to me and grabbed the hand I was cradling and thoroughly examined it, and when he saw confirmation that my nail was gone, he whimpered. “It’s gone. Gone forever!”
“No!” Kane wailed, fell back to his bed, and flung his arms over his face. “Why did it have to be her nail? Why, God? Why?!”
I glared at Kane, then his brothers when I realised what was happening. The bastards were taking the piss out of my broken nail.
“I hate you all,” I said then turned, walked out of the room and headed for the kitchen because even though I was still in a lot of pain, I was also very hungry.
I had made it halfway down the stairs before I heard the eruption of belly rumbling male laughter. Even though it pleased me greatly that they were smiling together, I hated that it was at my expense.
“Bloody brothers.”
“Are you excited?”
I looked at Kane when he asked the same question for the tenth time in two hours. I shrugged my shoulders and looked out his car window. “I guess so, I’m just nervous. I mean... this woman you contacted is a legit realtor, right?”
It was Monday, and Kane and myself were on our way to view a few apartments. We had a total of five to check out. Kane contacted a friend of his on Saturday and got the number to a realtor that would help us on such short notice.
“Of course,” Kane said, offended. “You think I’d hire someone to show us crappy apartments?”
Yes.
“I would think that. It wouldn’t be above you to stoop that low in order for me to live with you.”
“I haven’t stooped to any level. This chick is the real deal. She works for Upton Realtors, and Upton is a... wealthy area, so they would only produce the best. “
I didn’t know why, but Kane’s enthusias
m didn’t give me much encouragement.
“Okay, I just want to find somewhere that’s good for me and the baby. You told her two bedroom apartments, right? Oh, and that my budget was fourteen hundred a month?”
Kane lifted a hand off the steering wheel and scratched his neck before returning it to the wheel. “I gave her a budget of twenty-five hundred a month.”
I must have heard that wrong.
“Twenty-five hundred,” I repeated.
“Well, yeah.”
“Twenty-five fuckin’ hundred?”
“Don’t hit me, I’m driving!” Kane quickly said and glanced at me—well, at my hands.
I wasn’t planning on hitting the idiot, but it was nice to see he thought I was some crazy lady who would smack him going eight kilometres an hour down the bypass.
Dickhead.
“You’re lucky you’re drivin’!” I angrily spat. “Why on earth would you say twenty-five hundred? That is me monthly salary, Kane! How can I afford me utility bills, food, and all the things I’ll need for the baby if me entire paycheque goes on fuckin’ rent?”
Kane sighed, “Because I’m paying half of your rent.”
Come again?
I stared at him. “Excuse me?”
“I knew you wouldn’t let me pay for it all, so I decided I would pay half.”
“You decided, huh?” I hissed. “You just decided that you would pay half me rent without even askin’ me?”
“Consider it half of my monthly child support payment, the other half will be to help you buy things the baby needs.”
I placed my fingers against my temples as a profound pounding began to pulse away.
“Come on, Aideen,” Kane sighed. “A two bedroom apartment for anything less that twenty-five hundred around our area will be shitty and we both know it. You said you wanted to be close by, and since I live in Upton, we needed to up the price.”
I knew what he was saying was true, but I was deeply bothered that he just decided something that directly involved my life without even consulting me. It wasn’t okay.
“Fine,” I muttered and looked out the window once more.
Kane’s sigh was deep, and long.
“You’re mad.”
“You’re a genius.”
Kane grunted and closed his mouth for the remaining ten-minute journey to the first apartment location. It was fifteen minutes away from Upton in a bigger estate area called Ballycash. It was a rough area and I already knew it would be a no from me when I stepped out of Kane’s Jeep.
There was a dead cat on the path across from us and it turned my stomach. I glared at Kane as he walked around the car to me. “This estate, really?”
Kane held up his hands. “With the notice I gave her, Cala said she could round up five apartments to show us. I just told her I wanted it to be close to Upton. I didn’t pick this area.”
Ballycash was the complete opposite of Upton so I didn’t doubt Kane had involvement with the location. He wouldn’t live here even if you paid him to, so no way in hell would he want his child living here.
“Who is Cala?” I asked as I kept my eyes averted from the cat.
“The realtor.”
I raised my eyebrow. “You’re on first name basis with the realtor?”
Kane shrugged. “I called her Miss Harding, but she told me to call her Cala... so I did.
“Uh huh.”
“Uh huh, what?”
“Nothin’.”
Kane stood in front of me. “Nothing is something. I don’t need the Man Bible to know that.”
I scoffed, “I’m fine.”
“No, you aren’t. Just tell me now what’s bothering you. I don’t want you giving me the silent treatment for the next ten hours.”
I rolled my eyes. “I could explain what you did wrong, but you still wouldn’t understand.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I was going to have to spell it out for him.
“You’re the reason there are instructions on shampoo bottles.”
“Are you insinuating I’m stupid?”
“No, I’m flat out sayin’ you’re stupid.”
“Rude!” Kane snapped. “You’re so rude!”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Sorry, flower.”
“Dealing with you and your stupid hormones would drive a man to drink,” Kane grumbled, not even trying to muffle his words.
I snorted. “Told you we shouldn’t have had sex. Totally your fault for kissin’ me in Darkness.”
“My fault? You’re the one who was dressed in that barely-there dress and sent me fuck-me-now glares. You wanted my cock, babydoll, you just didn’t want to accept that you wanted it.”
What he was saying was true and it infuriated me.
“Please,” I laughed, “I could’ve had me pick of men that night.”
Lie.
Kane smirked. “Then why did you come home with me?”
I opened my mouth, but quickly closed it when I couldn’t think of a snippy reply.
He laughed at me. “I’ll answer for you. It’s because you wanted me, not Skull or anyone else, just me.”
I grunted, “Yeah, well, you wanted me, too.”
“Want not wanted.”
I flushed and slapped Kane’s shoulder. “I’m not havin’ sex with you.”
“I’ll wear you down eventually, Mama.”
I growled, “I’ll bite you.”
“Please do,” Kane countered, his eyes gleaming.
I laughed and shook my head. “You never let me get the last word in.”
“Because it pisses you off,” he snickered. “It amuses me when you get all red-faced in anger with me.”
“You enjoy making me angry?”
Kane shrugged. “I just like that I have an effect on you, even if it’s just to annoy you.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I know.”
“Kane!” I snapped and then laughed.
He threw his arm around my shoulder, smiling as he did so. We both walked over to the entrance of the apartment building Cala told Kane to meet her at. Kane opened the door for me and gestured me into the building.
I snickered, “What a gentleman.”
I walked past Kane and yelped when he smacked my arse.
“There’s nothing gentle about me, babydoll.”
I’ll say.
I shook my head, chuckling but instantly stopped when I looked at the goddess walking towards Kane and myself with a bright, white smile. She was taller than me, but might have been the same height if she didn’t have rose red stilettos on her tanned feet.
Her attire was very business-like, but fashionable at the same time. She was wearing a well-fitted grey pencil skirt and a matching blazer. Her wine coloured hair was pulled back into a tight bun that looked like it was professionally done. There wasn’t a hair out of place on her pristine head.
It made me feel like a fat slob when I compared myself to her.
I knew I was pregnant so having a belly was nothing to compare, but everything else I had no excuse for. I was in a pair of black leggings, and an oversized white t-shirt that had ‘I believe in unicorns’ in black bold letters across the front of it. I also had a blazer on, but mine definitely wasn’t fitted. It was just a cheap blazer I picked up when I was in Penny’s a few months ago with Keela.
It was one of the only things from my old wardrobe that I could still wear because it didn’t have to be buttoned closed. I didn’t even want to look at my footwear because I knew I opted for open toe sandals and that was never a good idea unless there was sand and a big blue ocean involved.
“Mr. Slater, wonderful to meet you, sir, and you, Miss Collins.” Cala smiled, her hand outstretched to Kane then to me. We both shook it, and I frowned when I let my hand fall back to my side.
She had a really good, firm handshake. Her voice was perfect, too. It was soft, soothing, and what I imagine an angel would sound like if I ever heard o
ne.
Was I hot for this chick?
I scowled at my thoughts and stepped closer to Kane trying to use his large body to overshadow mine. I felt like a geeky teenager who was in the presence of a real woman. It made me feel very insecure, and I didn’t like it.
“The first apartment to view is on the fourth floor. If you would follow me please, the elevators are this way.”
Cala spun on her heel and walked away. I automatically turned my head and looked at Kane. I shook my head when I found his eyes glued to Cala’s arse.
“I’m standin’ right here, you fuckin’ arsehole!” I hissed and punched him in the arm.
I turned and walked after Cala with Kane quickly following me. “I wasn’t looking at her ass,” he whispered.
“I never said you were lookin’ at her arse.”
Kane stuttered, “I... uh... are you sure?”
He didn’t even hear me because he was lost in perfect arse heaven, again.
I doubt he even felt me when I hit him.
“Bite me, Slater.”
Kane sighed from behind me but kept his mouth shut as we both entered the elevator Cala was stood inside. She hit the button for the fourth floor once we were all in. She looked down at my stomach and smiled. “Do you know what you’re having?”
I shook my head. “No, but I’m hopin’ for a girl. A boy might turn out like his pig of a father.”
Cala blinked her eyes a couple of times, then flicked them between myself and Kane before clearing her throat when the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened wide.
“Follow me, please.”
She all but ran out of the elevator ahead of Kane and myself. It made me snort.
Kane growled from behind me, “I’m glad your rude ass attitude amuses you.”
“So am I,” Ireplied sarcastically.
I walked down the hall and followed Cala into an apartment that was bigger than my current one, but absolutely freezing and dusty as hell. I coughed and put my hand over my mouth.
“It will be cleaned before you move in if you decide on this apartment.”
I nodded to Cala then asked, “Can I look around?”
“Of course. Take as much time as you need.”
It wasn’t going to take long—my answer was already no.
I walked through the apartment and frowned when I spotted not only dirt, but mould on the bathroom walls. I stepped into the bathroom to get a closer look and screeched when I looked into the bathroom and saw the biggest spider I had ever seen in my entire life. It was the size of my bloody head.
