“Talon!” I screech. “Stop!”
He jerks his attention to me. “Did he fuck you?”
“That’s none of your goddamn business,” I snap, my hands trembling with his wild emotions. “You have no right to ask. You don’t own me.”
Leandro growls deep in his throat, managing to sock Talon in his stomach, getting him to release him. Instead of tackling Talon, Leandro put space between them, raising his hands in surrender.
“I didn’t fuck her,” Leandro flat out lies, his eyes catching mine, silently begging me to follow along.
I feel bad for him, so I close the space to Talon and wrap my arm around him. “It’s none of his business,” I repeat, resting my chin on Talon’s shoulder. “But he’s telling the truth. He didn’t fuck me.” Because I totally seduced him.
“We had a couple drinks,” Leandro adds, not breaking eye contact with me. “She asked me if I wanted to get out of there, and I didn’t want to say no. You know I hate the idea of buying a lady a drink and not ensuring she gets where she’s going safely. Too many fucking pervs.”
I didn’t know I could find Leandro even more attractive.
“And then what?” Talon calms down enough to listen instead of trying to throw another round of punches. He probably realized that he can interrogate Leandro to see if he knows anything about the dead guy.
“We stopped at LACMA for a bit, but things get fuzzy from there. It was then I realized something wasn’t right and suspected we were drugged. I helped her get back to her hotel and made sure she was safe. That’s when I met up with you. You saw me. Did I look like I got fucking laid?” Leandro flares his nostrils, refusing to look at me now.
It takes everything in me not to react. Because I need to do a better job at ensuring a fuck session is evident for days.
What. Am. I. Thinking?
Talon studies Leandro without responding for a minute. He flicks his attention to me and back to him before flicking his neck. “You have a fucking hickey.”
I guess that works...except I don’t want him questioning it even more.
“So what?” Leandro sighs and shakes his head. “Don’t you think you should’ve told me you were involved with my potential client?”
I hate how they argue about me as if I’m not here. I pinch Talon’s side, trying to redirect him again. He stiffens under my touch, but I don’t back off.
“Who I’m with is none of your business, Talon. What happened at the Looking Glass doesn’t even matter. You should be asking him about the fucking dead guy.” Because I thought it was Leandro, but he’s standing in front of us. What if he was the killer?
As if Talon can read my thoughts, he slams his fist to the wall beside Leandro’s head. “Was it you? If you were so fucked up, maybe you did it. Stacia isn’t capable of murder. I’ve known her for years, and she can’t even kill a fucking bug. I doubt some drugs would’ve changed that about her.”
“You can’t be certain,” Leandro says, remaining frozen against the wall. “She has some spitfire in her. I went back to my room immediately. You can confirm it with the hotel. We even talked on the phone, remember? I don’t know anything about a dead guy. What does he look like? Maybe it was her boyfriend. We had a confrontation. He was a real possessive ass.”
My heart sinks into my stomach at the mention of Christos. “I don’t have a boyfriend. He’s an ex and a creep.”
“Then I made the right call not to let you go with him, beautiful. But it’s also why I left you at your hotel. I didn’t need that kind of drama. Sorry.” Leandro shrugs his shoulders, and I inwardly cringe.
Fucking Christos. Why can’t he just remain out of my life instead of ruining all potential future boyfriends for me? But by the way Talon glowers at Leandro, I’m pretty sure he’s never going to call me.
“Goddamn it, Leandro. You’re so damn lucky. She is off-limits from now on. And because I dragged your ass into this mess, you’re hired. She’s going to need one helluva bodyguard, and you’re the one man I trust.” Talon drops his hands and finally puts space between himself and Leandro.
He automatically comes to my side and grasps my shoulder, guiding me a couple extra feet away. My body remains on autopilot, and I don’t try to shrug from him despite being annoyed. It’s hard for me to process what’s happening. He was in charge of hiring me a bodyguard? He didn’t even tell me. He had plenty of time to do so yesterday. Daddy never told me either. What pisses me off even more is that I didn’t get a choice. I can’t have this man as my bodyguard. I fucked him in a storage closet last night.
“I know you’re about to argue with me, Stacia, but save your breath. You’re in serious trouble. Not just with the Looking Glass. You’re in trouble with your family and possibly soon to be with the police. If you want to save your ass, you better let me handle things. You obviously hit it off with Leandro, and I know you’re going to try to rebel because I’m telling you who you can and can’t be with, but that’s just how it’s going to be for now. Do you understand?” Talon keeps his voice low, the rumble tickling the hair over my ear.
Again, my body remains on autopilot, and I slowly bob my head, keeping my eyes directed at Leandro. He remains expressionless, and I wish I could listen to his thoughts. He probably thinks I’m crazy. Maybe an entitled brat. He definitely doesn’t look at me the same way he had when we met last night.
It sucks. I liked him enough to fuck him, and that’s going to hang over us. If he was still interested in me, I’d ignore Talon and take advantage of his new close access as my bodyguard.
Now I’m pretty sure Leandro’s going to be my cock-block to anyone else.
“Good, wild child. You’ve been through a lot. I care about you, and the last thing I want to see is you getting locked up. You’d never survive.” Talon pulls me into his arms and hugs me.
My body finally relaxes, and I sink against him, inhaling a breath of his lavender laundry detergent along with something warmer—maybe a woodsy, smoky cologne.