Page 67 of It Hurts Me

I stared at my food again, feeling the race of my anxious heart but also the fury in my soul. I’d never wanted any of this. None of it. “Because I wasn’t here the last two and a half days—and you already know that.” My strength came from my rage, the rage that had been boiling consistently for a month now, bubbling and spilling over the edge onto the stove. “You’re the one who asked for this, so don’t put me on the stand for a crime you asked me to commit.”

The tendons in his neck tightened as the indignation made his face go taut. His eyes dropped momentarily, the flash of anger like lightning across the clouds in his gaze. His arms crossed and he gripped his elbows as he sank into the chair, his jaw clenched harder than it’d been a moment ago. “I don’t disappear for two and a half days?—”

“You’re gone for three days at a time, Bolton. Sometimes more.”

“And ninety percent of the time is spent working—not with someone else. If you’re spending two and a half days with the same guy, that sounds more like a relationship than a quick fuck.”

I stared down at the dinner I’d made, the dinner that would grow cold. If Theo were here, he would have eaten his whole plate then gone for seconds. He would have complimented my cooking and not to be polite, because he wasn’t the type of guy to say things just to be polite. “You never stated the parameters of the arrangement. You just asked to fuck other people, and that was it.”

“So, you are fucking someone?” Now, his voice hardened like he was about to burst.

“What did you think was going to happen?” I snapped. “That you were going to fuck a line of beautiful women and I was just going to sit on my ass at home? Maybe you’ve forgotten that I’m a hot piece of ass that men are happy to throw down on the bed like a fucking rag doll, but that’s your damn fault, not mine.” I pushed my chair out from the table and threw my napkin right on my plate. “I didn’t want this. I never looked at another man from the moment you were mine. So don’t turn this around on me like I’m the one who crossed the line, when you crossed every line there is to cross.”

He got to his feet. “Baby?—”

“It’s done, Bolton. You failed to outline the terms of this arrangement when you signed on the dotted line of a contract you shoved in front of me. There’s no going back now. So, you do whatever the fuck you want, and I’ll do whatever the fuck I want, and we’ll come home and act like nothing fucking happened.” I pointed at him across the table, and my finger was as sharp as a knifepoint. “Because that’s what you wanted.”

12

THEO

I sat in my armchair at the strip club and breathed in the smoke like it was fresh air off a mountain. The music blared and thudded off the walls, and the girls danced to pay their mortgages and put their kids in private school.

Octavio dropped into the chair next to me. “The dinner with Claude is tomorrow night. Chez Patrice—right on the corner, surrounded by windows. It’s like he wants to get shot.”

“He’s just that arrogant.”

“So.” He looked at me. “We doing this?”

“Yes.” I’d take out his men along the perimeter then walk right in and drag him out by the collar. The guys would tase him and cuff him, and then we’d be on our way to headquarters for the real fun.

“I look forward to it.” He turned his attention to the woman who danced on the pole for our benefit. Probably for my benefit because I always dropped a wad of bills whenever I left. These women worked their asses off for that cash, and I’d rather give it to them than most other people.

I smoked my cigar then looked at my phone light up. It was Axel.

So…how was dinner?

I locked the screen.

Another message popped up. Don’t ignore me, asshole.

I’m working, asshole.

You’re watching a stripper slide down a pole with her ass cheeks.

I looked up and expected to see him somewhere, but coming to the strip club just for the hell of it wasn’t his style. He’d cleaned up a lot of bad habits after he’d settled down with Scarlett. He didn’t smoke as much as he used to, he cut back on the drinks, and he didn’t lounge around in strip clubs. Where are you?

I’m at home. But that’s how well I know you.

I almost made a smartass comment but chose not to. Octavio and I just made a plan for Bolton. It’s happening tomorrow.

Need a hand?

Not from you.

Come on, you know I’ve always got your back.

You’re retired, Axel.