TOBY
Iwatch Jodie disappear into her house before resting my head back and letting out a pained breath.
Last night, and this morning, was brutal.
So much for going for a fucking party. It might have been what we originally walked into, but it turned into a fucking bloodbath quite quickly. Too quickly. We didn’t even hang around to the end. When things really turned brutal, we crowded Stella, Emmie, and Calli like a wild pack of wolves ourselves and got them the fuck out of there.
It wasn’t soon enough to save any of us from some pretty savage beatings.
The girls were the only ones who left that place not bleeding or groaning in pain. Well, actually, that’s not entirely true—both Stella and Emmie were sporting pretty busted-up knuckles from when they felt the need to dive into the middle of it and put their skills to use. I’m still not sure if Seb and Theo were utterly horrified or completely turned on when both of them held their own as Lovell turned into a fucking war zone full of corrupt, twisted, and power-hungry gangsters.
My ribs burn from the punches I took and my face aches like a motherfucker, but none of it was enough to stop me from bolting from Stella and Seb’s place the second she called. We’d all congregated there sometime after dawn to lick our wounds and debrief after the shitshow the boss sent us into. Once the sun was up, Theo and Nico set off to go and see the man himself. From the looks on their faces, I’d say they were likely to attempt to give him a dressing down—not that I’m sure it would actually be effective in any way. They might be heirs to the family throne, but their words don’t hold a lot of weight where the boss and his underboss are concerned right now.
I wince as I push my hand into my pocket, my split knuckles dragging on the fabric as I grab my phone.
Finding Nico’s mum’s number, I hit call and set about putting my plan into place, which thankfully, is as easy as I hoped. There really is nothing like having your life well and truly fucked up to get people to bend over backward to do nice things for you.
By the time Jodie emerges from the house with an overnight bag over her shoulder, everything is set.
Thankfully, the rain has reduced to a drizzle, so with a groan, I force my body to unfold from the seat and stalk around the car to take her bag from her.
Our one-woman audience watches every movement from the window. She’s been there almost since the moment Jodie slipped into the house. I’m still torn about her nosiness. Is she just trying to suss out the guy who’s captured her daughter’s attention, or does she already know exactly the kind of man I really am?
“I think your mum might want to meet me,” I comment after throwing her bag into the boot and swallowing down the pain that shoots from my ribs. I’m pretty sure no motherfucker broke them, but fuck me do they hurt.
“I think she’s craving some excitement in her life,” Jodie says sadly. “But she won’t even leave the flat.”
“I can give her excitement,” I say in a rush, gathering her up in my arms and crashing my lips on hers.
“Oh my God,” she squeaks in shock, but the second I swipe my tongue along her bottom lip, her entire body relaxes for me and she allows me to dip her low.
A laugh rumbles in her chest and my own screams in pain, but I don’t let up, especially when I shoot a glance at the window and find Joanne’s eyes locked on us. But still, I can’t read anything on her face.
“Oh my God, you’re crazy,” Jodie gasps when I drag her back up, but it makes me a little lighter, seeing a smile on her after the way I found her not so long ago.
“If they’re gonna look, might as well give them a show.”
A shot of red-hot desire flashes through her eyes, and I can only assume her head took her right back to Hades and whether or not all the people outside the room that night were watching us.
“You’re bad,” she breathes, her eyes locked on my lips.
“You have no idea, baby. Ready to get out of here?”
“Hell yes.”
“Better wave to your mum,” I laugh.
She turns in my arms and lifts her hand.
Her mum returns the wave, a smile playing on her lips as she watches us.
“She looks happy.”
“Maybe I should corrupt her daughter some more in front of her then,” I suggest.
“No, no. I think that was more than enough. Let’s go.”
With a laugh, I release her and allow her to walk around to the passenger side of the car.