by T. L Smith
“Sailor!” Roberto screams her name over the music and pulls her in for a one-armed hug. It’s the guys’ night off tonight. Their time to get as fucked up as they wish. And Roberto has taken that as a mission. “Missed your sweet ass around these parts.”
Sailor’s cheeks go red at his words. The woman who hangs off Roberto’s arm is the one he fucks every now and then.
“Joey!” You would think Joey wouldn’t be able to hear her above the music, but he does. He turns and beelines straight for us with Ellie not too far behind him, like a little dog on a leash.
The club is full of family, friends, and acquaintances.
I hate them all.
Apart from the little honey-brunette standing in front of me who I kind of like.
Joey pulls Sailor in for a hug and she one-arm hugs him back with a tap on his shoulder before she pulls away.
“The boss come and get ya?” Roberto laughs, and Joey hits him on the head to shut him up.
She side-eyes me. “He did. Isn’t he an absolute asshole?” A few of the guests milling around closest to us stand silent and wait for me to react. I mean, I’ve killed people for less than every damn thing this woman says or does.
“We missed you,” Roberto says, then pushes a shot in front of her. Sailor takes the glass but doesn’t drink it, handing it off to me.
“You drink it, I’m sick.”
“You’re sick?” I ask, confused, stepping into her space.
The boys take that as their cue to walk away, leaving us standing near the entrance alone.
“If you cared to ask, which of course you didn’t, then yes.” I hold the shot glass out, and it’s taken from my hand.
“Are you sick now?” An unfamiliar feeling of concern washes through me.
“Not right now, but I have been.”
“We can sit.” I reach for her hand and pull her toward the sitting area. A few people tap on my shoulder and a few women eye Sailor as I have hold of her hand.
“Why are the women death-glaring me? They do realize I don’t want you, right? I fucking hate you. You’re all theirs as far as I am concerned.” She laughs and pulls her hand out of mine. I stop, considering taking her hand back but decide against it. Pulling out a chair, she sits on it as Ellie comes running over.
“You’re here! I can’t believe you came. I missed you.” She wraps her arms around Sailor’s neck, almost choking her.
Sailor manages to pull herself free and taps her arm. “You only saw me a few hours ago.”
Ellie waves her off. “I know, but I missed you so much.”
“You’re drunk,” Sailor points out. “Where is your boyfriend?”
“He left … or broke up with me. One of them … I don’t know.” She shrugs.
“We’re leaving in ten, so go and say your goodbyes,” Sailor tells her.
Ellie walks off and goes straight for Joey.
“You’re leaving?” I smirk at her.
“Let’s get this clear, I am not yours to dictate and order around. The only reason I am here is because I can’t afford to get a complaint. I love that apartment, and I want to continue to live there. So, I came, I saw, now I want to leave,” she tells me.
“Soon,” I reply.
“Why?” She shakes her head in frustration.
“Because I want to speak with you. Am I not allowed to do even that?”
“Most people would call, be a normal human being, but not you. You make threats and drag me out when you knew I didn’t want to come.”
“It got you where I want you.”
“Who the fuck is this?” We both turn to Paige who’s standing there. Her hands are on her hips as she eyes Sailor with a viciousness I’ve never seen emanate from her before.
“I’m just leaving.” Sailor stands and Paige steps in front of her.
“Sure. Right … you are. But I asked you a question. Who are you?”
Sailor glances down at Paige’s shoes, then back to her face. “You need to move so I can leave.”
Paige pushes on Sailor’s shoulder, and I watch in fascination as Sailor goes from calm to crazy in two point five seconds. I’ve never seen her mad at anyone but me. Not even at her useless ex-husband, but in one swift movement, Sailor grabs Paige’s ponytail, twists her around, and pulls. Hard. So hard even I flinch, sure some of her hair is going to be in Sailor’s hand when she releases Paige.
“Don’t you fucking touch me again. Now, as I said … I. Am. Leaving.” Sailor pushes her away, letting go of her hair, and I was right there is a large chunk of hair in Sailor’s hand.
Paige glares at me, anger and humiliation written on her face. “What are you doing? Kill her! She could have hurt me. You have to protect me, Keir. I’m having your baby.”
Sailor looks at me with bunched brows, and Paige starts yelling at me again.
And all I can do is just stand there as Sailor shakes her head and then slips away.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sailor
A baby. And he’s coming to my apartment in the middle of the night. Who the fuck does he think he is?
“Sailor.” Ellie grips my arm, and I pull it free as I continue my way to the exit. Her heels click, and she huffs as she follows behind me. “Sailor, wait up.”
“I’m tired, and I want to go home,” I say.
“Why? You just got here?” Joey then steps out into the cool night as I try to wave down a cab to go home. I look at him, then back to the street and keep waving. I need to get home, back to my bed where that asshole pulled me from.
“Leaving so soon, Sailor?” he asks, lighting a cigarette.
“Yes.” Where the fuck are all the damn taxis?
“But you just got here. Come back in and have a drink.” Just as he finishes speaking, the club door opens, and she steps out. Her black hair is tied high on her head, and she’s wearing a little black dress with lots of makeup. As soon as she spots me, she heads my way.
Again?
Really?
But this time, she stays back a distance.
“You have no idea who the fuck you just laid hands on, do you?” I turn away from her, not giving her my attention and not caring for her words.
“You little ratty-ass brunette, are you deaf?”
I’ve decided in the last month that I will not be taking anybody’s bullshit anymore. I did that enough throughout my marriage. So, when this—whatever she is—gets in my face yet again, it takes everything in me not to smash her nose through the back of her head.
“Wooow,” Joey says, stepping up to us. “You need to calm down, Paige. Sailor is leaving.” Joey stands between us.
“That little whore put her hands on me.” Joey swings his head around, surprise in his eyes as he looks down at me.
“Little girl got some moves.”
“Joey!” Paige screams at him.
“Calm down, Paige, I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”
“Oh, I fucking did. Next time you get in my face, I won’t hesitate to do it again.”
Joey bites his lip at my words as Keir walks out of the club. We all turn to him, and the look on his face is one I haven’t seen before. I hear a car pull up next to me, and I take one last look at him before I slide in, then Ellie jumps in beside me. Keir’s long strides bring him closer to the cab, so I yell out, “Drive.”
The driver puts his foot down before Keir can reach us, and I look back to see Paige stepping in front of him, screaming.
Not. My. Problem.
“Can I stay at yours?”
“No, I have to work tomorrow. I’ll get the driver to drop you off now.”
“Joey is complicated,” I hear her say.
“They’re the mafia. They are most definitely not someone you should choose to get involved with, Ellie. You know this. Look how it turned out for Dillan.”
She winces when I say his name. “But he’s different.”
“What does your boyfriend think of all this?”
She waves me off as
the car slows down. “Through everything that happened, I’m glad I got you out of it.” She leans in for a cuddle before she gets out, ignoring the comment about her boyfriend, which I know she said she left him, but did she just say that because she was drunk? I like Ellie, but I can only take her in small doses. We are completely different, total opposites, and I think we will stay that way.
I wave as she walks into her building before the driver pulls out to continue the journey to my place. When I arrive, I take the elevator to my apartment and see Keir waiting at my door.
Oh, for fuck’s sake!
How is he getting in?
His head is down, and he is leaning against the wall as he types on his phone, his legs crossed at the ankles as he types.
“What are you doing here?” I refuse to go any closer. I’ll open the door when he’s gone so he can’t invite himself in.
“I came to make sure you got home safe.”
“I’m safe. Now leave.” I wave in the direction of the elevator, but he doesn’t move away from my door.
“Maybe we can have a drink and talk.”
“Nope. Not in the mood. Some asshole pulled me from bed for a shit party, then I found out said asshole is going to be a father, yet he is waiting on the doorstep of another woman, hoping for … what?” I raise a brow at him. “Sex? Not going to happen, dude,” I seethe at him.
“She isn’t pregnant with my baby,” he says through a clenched jaw.
“Now you’re lying. Do you forget I was there when she said it?” I snap back at him.
“You were. But she was talking about the future, not now.”
“A future baby?” I ask, confused.
A light flicks on in the hallway and a door opens. I bite my lip. Shit, are we loud?
“Look, can we talk another night? I’m tired and it’s late. I want to go to sleep.”
“No, you need to listen. She isn’t pregnant.”
“But she will be?” I ask, gathering all the information I can.
“We can go inside to talk,” he offers.
“I want you to leave. I get you aren’t used to people not wanting your presence, but I don’t want you around me right now. And if you were any other man, you would accept that and move the fuck on.”
“I’m not just any man,” he points out.
“No, you aren’t. You’re an asshole. But, still, I need sleep. I went to your party as you so politely requested. Then I left. I’m tired and want to sleep. So leave already,” I say on a heavy sigh.
“If you agree to see me tomorrow. I don’t have to sleep.”
“I have to—”
“Don’t tell me you have to work. I know you don’t work tomorrow. Or is it today now?” He glances at his watch.
“It was today when you woke me up.”
“Today then.” He nods.
“I didn’t agree,” I snap.
Keir walks backward to the elevator, then pauses. “So, you want me to stay?” he asks.
“No, I want you to leave.”
“I’ll see you later, lollipop. Sleep well.”
I stand there as he steps into the elevator, and as soon as the doors close, I go into my apartment and pass out in my dress.
Knocking again.
My door is going to be worn out with all the damn knocking.
Rubbing my eyes, I wonder if it’s déjà vu.
Checking the time, it’s midday. Gosh, I didn’t move from where I passed out on the bed. I rush to the bathroom to brush my teeth, then walk to the door, knowing full well who is there.
“Who is it?”
“Do you have to ask?”
“Yes.”
“Open the door, lollipop.”
I sigh and pull it open.
Keir holds up two brown cups with lids and a bag of takeout. My stomach growls at the smell.
“You’re feeding me now?” I ask, reaching for the bag.
When I pull it open there’s an almond croissant inside. Yum. I take the first bite and instantly moan, then say, “I’m keeping both,” referring to the second pastry in the bag. He hands me a hot drink, and I smell the chocolate instantly. Hot chocolate.
“You haven’t changed your clothes?” His brows pinch as he stares at me.
“I told you I was tired. I passed out as soon as I got in the door.” He enters and follows me to the kitchen. I sit on one of the stools as I eat, his eyes locked on me when I don’t say a word.
“Maybe you should quit at least one of your jobs,” he suggests.
“Easy for someone to say who is born with money,” I tell him around another bite of the croissant. When he doesn’t speak, I raise my eyes to see him still watching me. I’ve never had someone watch me like he does. It’s intense, and as if he’s staring at pieces of me that I didn’t give him permission to see.
“Fair enough.” He nods, then steps around to the other side of the kitchen counter and stands there with his hands on it as he leans in. “Now, ask your questions.”
“You’re having a baby?” I ask, confused.
He shakes his head, lifts his coffee, and drinks it before he answers, “Not yet.”
Oh, okay. Wow.
“What does that even mean?”
“It means, she will one day be pregnant with my baby, just not yet.”
“Do you plan to have side pieces when that day comes? Because I think you need to check yourself if you do. She does not want to share you. At. All.” His hand lifts and scratches the back of his head. “For the record, I would never be yours or anyone else’s side piece.”
“No, I don’t imagine you would.” He smiles. I’m not sure how to take that, so I take another bite of my food. “Our spouses are picked by the families before us,” he says, which makes me eye him suspiciously.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It assures our children will take over our line.”
“Was your mother picked?” I ask.
“Yes. She was picked by my grandfather for my father.”
“You realize how fucked up that is, right?” He nods, and I continue, “I mean, does she even want to be with you?”
“It would be a great privilege for her to carry my child.”
“Why would you want to bring a child into your fucked-up world?”
His mouth shuts at my words and he sits for a moment mulling it over in silence before he finally states, “You think so low of me?”
“I would never choose to be with you or have children with you knowing full well who you are.”
“You have no idea who I am.” His voice raises just a fraction at the end of the sentence.
I place my hot chocolate down and lay my hands in my lap. “Why are you here?”
“Because we need to talk.”
“Then talk,” I offer.
Keir is great at keeping eye contact. I think it’s because no one intimidates him. He knows he’s the boss, that others do as he says, says as he does. I guess it’s his privilege with being who he is.
“I want to see you more.”
“Sorry, what did you just say?”
I am certain I haven’t heard him right.
I couldn’t have, right?
“You and me. I want to see you more.” Okay, I definitely wasn’t expecting that. I haven’t seen him for a month, and before that, he only saw me when he wanted something from me. Yet here he is, standing in my kitchen, telling me he wants to see me more like he’s a normal man asking a normal woman out on a date.
I’m not sure I could ever date him.
I’m not sure I could ever be with someone like him.
I’ve been around men like him, not as powerful, but just as demanding. They think only about themselves and their actions support that frame of mind. I don’t want someone like that ever again. I want someone who puts me first. Is that too much to ask?
“Maybe you should be asking your future baby mama?”
“It’s not her I want.”
Whoa. I think she should definitely be someone he wants. Waving my hands in front of my face, I get off the seat and step backward, shaking my head at him. “Aren’t you meant to marry this woman?” I ask.
“Yes. When she’s pregnant,” he answers, as if it’s nothing.
It’s fucking not.
“And you want me to be what … a side piece?” I ask coldly.
“No.”
“Well, then what?” I ask, raising my hands. “Actually, scratch that. I don’t care because I am not entertaining this thought with you. Go away!” I walk back to the front door and pull it open. “You should leave.”
“Shut the door, Sailor, we aren’t done talking.”
“Ohhh, yes, we are,” I say, pointing to the open door. “This means you are not welcome here any longer.”
“Well, it’s not exactly your place, is it?” He smirks as if I’m the butt of some sort of joke. “It’s mine.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Keir
Her expression freezes, the front door shuts, and her face goes white.
“What did you just say?” she asks, stepping closer to me.
“You didn’t really think someone in New York City would be this generous, did you?” I ask.
Sailor’s face goes red, pure rage taking control, as she starts breathing heavily and her sweeping arm gestures have me concerned. “You’ve been trying to control me this whole time?” she seethes.
“No, not control.”
“Yes, it’s control, Keir. When you stalk and set up places for the other to live without their knowledge … it’s fucking control.” She shakes her head. “How could you do that to me?” she screams. She stomps into the kitchen, grabs the knife on the counter, and storms back to me. I stand still as stone as she raises it to my neck and leans in closer. I allow her to do whatever she needs to. She hasn’t been this close to me in too long and I like it.
“I want to slice your insides out so you will leave me the fuck alone.”
Lifting my hand, I push the knife to the side with my palm, letting the blade dig into my skin. “Believe it or not, I did it to help you.”
