“I’m trying to do the right thing! You drive me fucking insane!” He shouted as he gripped my arm tighter.
“The feeling’s mutual. And you know what, I don’t think we should spend time together anymore. You’re a fucking tease and I’m sick of it.”
“I’ma tease? You shove your tits in my face, push your ass against my cock, eye-fuck me every time you get the chance. You’re the tease.”
“And you had your fingers inside me. Don’t forget that.”
“Oh I won’t. Believe me.”
I ripped my arm from his grasp as he seethed with anger. “I told you to stop treating me differently because of what we talked about, which, by the way, was a conversation thatnevershould’ve happened. You have no right to know about my business. So now, I’m done.”
Without another word, I ran down the flight of stairs to the second floor. I ran across the marble tiles until I reached Gemma’s room and went inside without knocking. She was still asleep because she was a normal human being, unlike her brother.
Her room was the size of my entire place at Ethereal. She had a sitting area with a couch, a chair next to a bookshelf, and a fireplace. I sat down gently in the chair, still clutching the cup of coffee Kane made for me.
I took a deep breath trying to process the meaning behind him blowing me off.
Why it pissed me off that he rejected me.
Probably because I wanted him–and I was sure he wanted me too. On a physical level at minimum.
The deal we made was a joke, but in our world, bets and deals meant something. For him to brush me off was…extremely insulting. Infuriating.Embarrassing.
I wouldn’t put myself in a position to be turned down again.
Not by Kane. Not by anybody.
Chapter 10
Kane
“Doyoumindtellingme why thefuckI got a phone call from a very angry Arnold Arlington this morning?”
Dad was pissed–that was an understatement.
His tanned face was getting red, sweat was beading on his forehead, and the veins in his arms tensed as he sat at the head of the table in his office.”
Not only was he giving me an ass-reaming–presumably for ditching Lauren last night–but he had to make the embarrassment public by including Dante, Dominic, two of his close associates, Henry and Quentin, and Henry’s son Xavier.
Dominic and Xavier were Bobby’s age, so a few years older than me. They were both working closely with their fathers to move up in the ranks of the business to be more than just muscle. As of right now, both of them did the dirty jobs. The dangerous jobs. Dominic was hard but Xavier was worse. Even though he was one of Bobby’s closest friends, Bobby always told me to keep an eye on him. He had a reputation of being a little crazy.
I was sitting in the chair at the opposite end of Dad, arms crossed, swaying from side to side.He really shouldn’t have such comfortable chairs in here.
“He called,” Dad continued. “To tell me that his driver picked up his daughter and some of her friends frommyclub last night. They were trashed. Puked all over his town car. Do you want to explain why his daughter was at Ethereal unsupervised when she was supposed to be on a date with you?”
“I took her to the club. She wanted to stay and party with her friends, but I was ready to go. I told the bartender to put their tab on my card. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“Oh, it’s a big fucking deal because the goddamn city commissioner has a minor with a hangover! And guess where she got it? My fucking club!” Spit flew from Dad’s mouth as he yelled–thank fuck I was at the end of the table. I thought about offering Dante and Henry umbrellas since they were both sitting next to him.
“You can’t do this one simple task. I’m about at my limit, Kane. I ask you to take his daughter to a charity event and you fucking ditch her at the club. It’s unacceptable,” Dad droned on.
I couldn’t find the energy to care. He knew I didn’t like Lauren. He made me take her out anyway. This is his fault, really.
“Lauren Arlington is hot,” Xavier interjected. “What the fuck’s wrong, bro? Can’t get it up or what?”
Asshole. Xavier was a pig–always had been. Maybe he should spend the evening with the hanger-on and see how he feels after four hours of her whining and complaining.
“He can and he will,” Dante added with a scowl.