“Baby, I’d never harm you or make you go faster than you’re ready for. It’s killing me to wait, I won’t deny it, but if you’re saying not yet then we’ll hold off.”
She nods, and her hands leave mine, holding onto my shoulders as she leans back into the wall, and I take a chance, pushing my erection into her hip.
“Feel that?” I ask. “That’s what you do to me, Scamp. That’s the power you have over me. My cock is yours to command. You say jump, he asks how high.” The giggle that comes from her lips is genuine. “I think your pussy was calling out to me in the casino, I don’t know how else to explain it. You and me, we were meant to be there at the same time that night, we were meant to meet again at that moment. You need my protection and I’m going to give it. I know there’s something going on with you and your dad—” I shake my head at the look in her eyes. “I’m not asking you to tell me what it is, but I’m here for you, Scamp. You and Pip. You’re mine now and I’m not letting you go.”
“You really mean that? Because…things are complicated right now.”
“Give me complicated. Give me problems. I’ll take it all and we’ll face it together. You and me.”
She leans her head on my shoulder, nodding, and I feel a weight lift from her. Then she takes a breath, as if she’s about to say something else, when her phone starts buzzing in her jacket pocket, where she left it on the back of the chair.
“Shit,” she says, suddenly pulling away. “Pip. I need to pick her up from school.”
She tries to pull away, but I grip her wrist and shake my head.
“Uh uh, Miss Volos. Not again. This time I’m calling for a car.”
***
After we collect Pip from her Catholic school, we grab pizzas on our way back to their hotel. Scamp told me to let her inform her sister about their new living arrangements and I get it. The poor kid’s had so many changes lately, but hopefully this will be a good one.
As we sit on the floor of their hotel room, eating, Scamp clears her throat. “Pip, there’s something we need to talk about.”
Her sister looks up with a slice of pizza dangling from her fingers. “What?”
“Today, I spent the day with Val and we got talking. He’s offered to let us go and live with him.”
“But we only just moved in here.” She sounds confused rather than annoyed.
“I know. But I think you’ll like Val’s place. It has a view of the river. You like Val, right?”
She nods. “I like him. You love him.”
Scamp pauses, her eyes wide like she’s facing down a truck. “I…um…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it. I know it. We can move in with him if I can have a bedroom of my own.” She fixes me with a smirk and I can’t help smiling as I take Scamp’s hand in mine.
“You drive a hard bargain,” I tell her. “But you’ve got a deal. Put it there.”
I reach out and her smirk widens into a grin as she shakes my hand. “Pleasure doing business with you,” she says.
And that’s when the door crashes in.
***
“So this is where you’ve been hiding?” Camilo grins at Scamp, who’s holding Pip close, then turns his eyes to me. “Long time no see, V.”
He’s standing in the doorway with two heavies and an overweight guy who looks like he’s seen better days. His nose has been broken, there’s dried blood covering his face and he’s walking unsteadily on his feet.
“Get out, right now,” I growl, “and I won’t hurt any of you.”
Camilo’s two companions chuckle, but he shoots them a look and they fall silent. “Sorry about the dramatics,” he says. “I had to bring your wholesaler with me to show you there’s no point resisting, Scamp. He won’t be selling to you again.”
“Bastard,” she spits.
“Hey, don’t blame me. I would have snatched you off the street after we followed you from the dead drop, but you’re the one that had Pip in a fucking private Catholic school. We couldn’t find her and I doubted you’d be very cooperative if we picked you up.”
“Why don’t you just get out, Camilo?” I ask.
“Honestly, you think I like doing this? I didn’t even know you were with them, Valiant, not until I saw you pull up outside the school. How’s business?”
“You want to chat, we’ll chat. We’ll go to a bar, get drunk and shoot the breeze. I’ve got no beef with you, Camilo. As far as I remember, the last time we spoke you were sent to the prison to tell me the Volos family wouldn’t forget what I’d done for them. Not that I saw much evidence of that, but I seriously doubt that was your fault. But you come in here threatening Scamp and Pip, we’re going to have problems.”