She shakes her head. “N-no. I swear to you, I didn’t know about Joker.”
“I know,” I tell her. “I believe you.” And I do. I see how much Stella means to her. If she knew anything wasn’t right, then I truly believe she’d have alerted us to it. I also see the guilt she carries around that she didn’t know and so couldn’t stop it. But there’s not much I can do to help with that. That’s something she’s going to have to come to terms with in her own time.
“Y-you do?”
Shifting so I’m on my arse, I stretch my legs out, pinning her between my thighs and wrapping one arm around her middle, holding her back against my front.
“I do. But I need to know if there’s anything else, Em.”
“What do you mean?” she asks, sounding confused, and I know that if I were to turn her around, I’d find a frown marring her beautiful face.
“I mean, is there anything you’re hiding from me?”
“What? No, of course not. Like what?”
“Anything,” I say.
She pauses, thinking. “You’re still looking at the club? You think I’m involved in something else?”
“My friends, my family. They’re everything to me, Hellcat. It would be naïve of me not to ask.”
Her shoulders stiffen, her usual fight returning.
“You really don’t think much of me, do you? I’m not lying to you. If I knew something, anything, I’d tell you. Well, maybe not you.” I know she’s rolling her eyes at me, and I can’t help but smile. “But Stella. Calli.”
“Okay,” I breathe, letting my lips brush her neck once more. She relaxes again until the next word falls from my mouth. “But—”
“Jesus, Theo.”
“But,” I continue. “If I do discover that you’re lying to me, then I will do whatever it takes to protect those I love.”
“Right. Sure.” She tries to remove herself from my hold, but my arm tenses around her, my fingers tightening in her hair to hold her in place.
“Don’t run from me, Hellcat.”
“That’s exactly what I should be doing. You’re a fucking psycho, Theo. You know that, right?”
My only response is to chuckle, because hell, she doesn’t know the half of it.
“How did you know where I was?” she asks, just like she did the other night.
“I tracked you,” I state, as if it’s not obvious.
Her head dips as she looks at her phone.
“Right. Of course.” Reaching over, she places it on the nightstand. “Guess I’ll be getting a new one.”
“If you think that would stop me from finding you, then you’re really underestimating me.”
“You say you believe me. I’ve told you there’s nothing else. What do you want from me?”
“Million-dollar question right there,” I say, licking a line up her neck.
“Clearly, it’s not sex, or you’d have fucked me by now.”
“Maybe I’m just being a gentleman.”
She scoffs at my words.