Vanessa wanted what she wanted, and when she got it, she disappeared. With no apologies and no explanation, she did whatever the hell she wanted.
“That’s my baby.”
I was just about to head downstairs and check on Vanessa when someone knocked on the door
It obviously wasn’t Vanessa, especially since she marched in there just hours ago and fucked me without preamble, so it was someone else stopping by for a visit. If it was a friend of Vanessa’s, they would have noticed she was downstairs in the gallery.
That meant they were here to see me.
And the culprit could only be one person.
Crow Barsetti.
I opened the door in a pissed-off mood, not wanting to spend any extra time with her father. I’d just told him off a few days ago. He barely gave me a break before he made another move.
When I opened the door, I came face-to-face with him. In dark jeans and a gray V-neck, he stood with his hands in his pockets. He used to regard me with an innately hostile expression anytime he looked at me. Now that coldness was gone, but warmth didn’t replace it. He looked at me with a subdued expression, a look that was full of remorse.
I clenched my jaw as I kept one hand on the door. I was tempted to slam it in his face. Something stopped me from doing it, and I wasn’t sure if that something was Vanessa. “Vanessa is downstairs.”
“I saw her.”
My nostrils flared. “You better not be here for me.”
“You know I am.”
I leaned my arm against the doorframe, shirtless with my tattoos obvious in the light. He knew I was marked with ink before because my arms were covered with it, but now he knew I had tattoos everywhere, from chest to my narrow hips. “It was less than a week ago when I told you I needed space.”
“I remember. But I don’t think space is going to accomplish much.”
Why were the Barsettis such pains in the ass? “You’re an asshole. You know that?”
He shrugged. “So I’ve been told. Are you going to invite me inside?”
“No.” I kept my body in the way, not letting this man step onto my personal property. Technically, Vanessa owned it because I signed the papers in her name, but it was bought with my money—so it was mine.
Crow didn’t seem offended by the cold response. “Then let’s get a drink.”
“No.” I didn’t owe him anything. I went out with him once, and I’d spoken to him outside his house. I’d already given him plenty of my time. “Leave. Don’t make me ask you again.”
Crow held his position, standing on my doorstep with no intention of going anywhere. He was one of the only men who was never intimidated by me. I’d made men shit their pants, but Crow was made of something stronger than everyone else. “This isn’t going to stop, Griffin. You may as well give me a chance.”
“I don’t owe you a damn thing. I earned Vanessa by saving your ass. We’re even.”
“We’re never even,” he said quietly. “I will never be able to repay you for what you did.”
“You want to repay me for what I did?” I demanded. “Then disappear.”
He stayed on the doorstep, his arms crossing over his chest.
Whether Crow Barsetti hated me or liked me, he was just as infuriating.
Footsteps sounded in the background, and then Vanessa appeared up the stairs. In those same denim shorts and t-shirt, she was just as cute as she was earlier. She still wore the same panties as she had on earlier, and my come was probably sitting inside them now.
She stopped beside her father, and her disappointed look told me she saw the animosity on both of our faces. She didn’t say a word as she walked past us and headed into the house. She moved behind me and wrapped her arm around my waist. Her warm lips pressed against my back, right between my shoulder blades. Soft like a rose petal and full of the love she didn’t need to speak out loud, her kiss was a sheath to my anger. Her touch brought my inferno to a simmer. She pulled her arm away and disappeared into the apartment.
And just like that, all the rage I felt was gone.
She never asked me to spend time with her father. When I walked out on dinner, she didn’t beg me to come back. When I asked for space, she said I could have as much of it as I wanted. She loved her father and wanted us to have a close relationship, but she never made me do anything I didn’t want to do. All she had to do was ask me to have a drink with him and I would listen—but she didn’t do that either.
Crow stared at me with the same expression, not reacting to the affectionate way Vanessa greeted me when she came home. His eyes were still on me, like he didn’t care about his daughter at all.