She’s quiet for another moment before asking, “Did you watch it?”
“I didn’t pop some fucking popcorn and make a night of it, if that’s what you’re asking. I saw enough to know that it’s not something I care to ever watch happen to you.”
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I turn, looking at her with disbelief. She sounds genuinely grateful, sure, but there’s something else in her tone, a dejected note. I don’t like it. That’s not the woman I’ve come to know.
“You’re thanking me,” I point out, “for not making a movie night out of your borderline snuff film. You realize that, right? You’re thanking me for not getting off watching you be fucking violated.”
“I’m thanking you for being a decent human being.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, Scarlet.”
“I would,” she says. “Think what you want about yourself, Lorenzo, but there’s decency in you.”
I scoff, turning back to my puzzle. “I ought to shoot you for saying that shit.”
“But you won’t.”
“I won’t,” I agree, “because I assured Jameson tonight wouldn’t lead to murder.”
“How decent of you.”
Shaking my head, I try my puzzle piece in a few places, forcing it where it doesn’t belong, nearly ripping half the puzzle apart as I yank it back off. Frustrated, I throw it down, watching as it bounces onto the floor, and run my hands down my face, pulling my glasses off and tossing them onto the table, too. “I like you more when you don’t talk.”
She laughs. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“I do,” I say, turning toward her as I lace my hands together on top of my head, surprised she can be laughing right now, with the night she’s had. “But most of them I don’t even like when they’re quiet. You, I can tolerate.”
“You can tolerate me.”
“Yes.”
“Well, for the record, I can tolerate you, too, Lorenzo,” she says, staring at the laptop screen. “Most guys I know would’ve watched it.”
“I’ve told you before... you surround yourself with the wrong people.”
“Yeah, I’m trying to get better about that,” she says. “I think I might’ve found a few decent ones.”
I glare at her but don’t respond, hearing noise echo through the house as others arrive. I walk out of the library, leaving Scarlet to whatever she’s doing, and meet the guys in the living room. They’re riled up. That’s what I like most about them, why they’ve survived so long in my company... they’re just as fucked up as me. Money, sure, they love it, they want it, but the excitement and adrenaline is priceless. They’d take the chance of a thrill over the promise of a dollar in a heartbeat.
Well, with the exception of Seven, maybe. He’s got a wife and kids, remember? He’s much more cautious than the others.
“Gentlemen,” I say, greeting them as they settle in and secure bottles of rum, noticing right away that somebody is missing. “Where’s Three?”
“Ran off to see some woman,” Five says. “Said he had to take care of something quick.”
“Yeah, his dick,” Four says with a laugh.
Shaking my head, I sit down on the couch and turn on some music before retrieving a joint from the tin in my pocket. I light it, inhaling deeply, holding it in my lungs, before passing it over to Five as he sits down beside me.
“Always letting pussy get the best of him,” I say. “Will he ever learn?”
“Not likely,” Five says, taking a hit of the joint before passing it back. “If getting chained up in a basement wasn’t enough to stop him from fucking around with those women, nothing short of a bullet to the brain is going to teach him that lesson.”
I laugh dryly, taking a deep drag, exhaling slowly as I say, “I could arrange that.”
Five casts me a look. He knows I’m dead serious, but he laughs, regardless. “You could.”
Seven slides into a chair nearby and clears his throat. “Love is blinding.”
“Love is blinding,” I say, repeating his sappy ass proverb shit. “And what, Three loves pussy, so it excuses his behavior?”
“Doesn’t excuse it, just explains it,” Seven says. “Declan’s a sucker for a woman in stilettos. He doesn’t think straight where they’re concerned. We’re all knocked off-kilter eventually, and usually what does it is a woman. That’s how I ended up married so long ago. Love, it makes us forget ourselves sometimes.”
“I’ll fucking drink to that,” Four says, raising up a bottle of rum.
“Goddamn women,” Five says, raising his own bottle. “They’re cyanide to the senses.”
Shaking my head, I look around at these idiots toasting, my gaze stalling at the doorway, seeing Scarlet lurking.
“How about you, Scarlet?” I ask as the guys take sips, clinking their bottles together. “You gonna drink to pussy-blindness, too?”
She pushes away from the doorframe, strolling into the room. “Love is a terrible excuse. It’s dangerous to lose yourself in someone else.”
“Ah, that I’ll drink to,” I say as she slides in front of me, sitting down on the coffee table, her knees touching mine. Five smacks my arm at those words, passing me a bottle of rum, and I take a swig before offering it to Scarlet.
She stares at it for a second before snatching it from my hand, taking a big swallow, enough to make her grimace.
She seems nervous, looking around at the guys... not worried so much as maybe feeling vulnerable. I offer her the joint, which she happily takes, waving her off when she tries to give it back.
“Keep it,” I say, retrieving another one from my tin and lighting it. “I’ve got more.”
I kick my feet up, planting them on each side of her on the coffee table, penning her in between my legs. The guys are laughing, joking around, bullshitting, acting like their usual selves, which helps Scarlet relax a bit.
Seems she thought they’d treat her differently, but they won’t. They’re not like that. I wouldn’t let them in my house, around my brother, if I thought they might be the backstabbing variety. They’d seen no more than thirty seconds of the DVD, and it had gotten every single one of them furious beyond words, tense and on edge and ready to kill someone for it.
It doesn’t take long before smoke fills the room, my eyes bloodshot, burning, as my muscles tingle. I feel like I’m floating, sky fucking high, a sense of euphoria settling into my chest.
I feel no pain.
It’s nice not having a jackhammer going off in my head for once.
Doesn’t last long, though.
Headlights flash as a car pulls into the driveway. Seven gets up to look, glancing out the window, saying, “Looks like Declan... and a woman.”
And a woman.
Eyes turn to me, awaiting my reaction, but I just sit here, not doing a damn thing yet. Three barrels his way on into the house, dragging a skinny little brunette along with him, red high heels clattering along the floor as she drags her feet. She doesn’t look happy to be here. Quite the opposite. He pulls her into the living room, shoving her in front of him. Her terrified gaze skitters around, settling on Scarlet, her dark eyes widening with recognition. Uh-oh.
Scarlet averts her gaze, turning her back to the girl, staring down at her hands as she picks at the chipped red polish on her fingernails.
“Fellas,” Three says casually, greeting everyone, his attention turning my way. “Boss.”
The guys mumble in response.
“Nice of you to join us,” I say, studying the woman. “I see you’ve brought a guest along.”
“Yeah, this is, uh... shit.” Three snaps his fingers, like he’s trying to remember, before giving up and nudging her. “Tell them who you are.”
“Alexis,” the girl says, her voice shaking.
“That’s it! Sexy Lexie...” Three grins, like he’s proud of himself for remembering that nickname. “Lexie works down at Limerence. I ended up in a basement because of her.”