Page 92 of The Auction Block

I beat him by seconds and jump in the driver's seat, locking the doors. He bangs on the window, laughing freely. I know Dresden too well and reach up, flipping the visor down. The keys fall into my lap. I jingle them in his view, grinning.

"Don't do it, Lily. I’ll kick your ass," he yells playfully through the window.

I slide the key into the ignition and start the SUV. His eyes narrow, daring me to move. I laugh so hard my sides ache. Finally, I unlock the doors. Dresden stomps around the car, climbing in and slamming the door. He looks like a petulant teenager, with his bottom lip thrust out.

"Let's go before I decide to throw your ass in the harbor," he smirks.

I laugh harder.

†††

Dresden and I walk into the apartment and my stomach sinks. Miranda is sitting next to Blake at the island, touching his arm. Unbidden, images of them together flash through my mind, making my blood boil. Everything from the past few days fades away, the urge to remove her hand, in a painful manner, from his body surging through my veins. Jealousy is a new feeling to me, but I kinda like it. Makes me think less. Their eyes meet mine; Blake looks worried while Miranda's face portrays nothing but fear.

I reach inside my jacket, unraveling the long black whip. I move forward, my eyes locked on her, and a hate fire raging so big inside me, it could light up all of Alaska.

"No, Lily," Dresden yells as the commotion breaks loose.

Surprisingly, I'm calm . . . on the outside.

Vlad grabs my other arm as he and Dresden pull me backward. Miranda jumps from her chair and hides behind Blake.

"Every time you touch him, it just makes this worse," I say in an even tone.

She glances up at Blake, and side steps away from him. "Lily, I came to say sorry."

My eyes narrow. "Fuck your apology."

"Uh, Lily. Miranda's known Blake a long time. She doesn't want to lose his friendship. Can we try to be civil?" Caleb steps forward.

I shrug Dresden and Vlad off, recoil my whip and hook it inside my jacket.

"Sure. She does one thing I don't like; they'll find her body in the harbor."

I move forward to walk past Blake and he grabs my arm, dragging my body to his and planting a hard, hot kiss on my lips. His tongue invades my mouth and I smile internally as Dresden and Vlad chuckle.

Lily 2, Stupid Whore 0.

My body's feeling better, but everything else is still a fucking mess. Blake got another death threat when he went into the office for a brief meeting— it’s the first one since we’ve been here. We brought him straight back to the apartment and for the last week, this is where we've been.

He works from home, while Caleb handles things at Mason International. The team's jumpy and agitated. No one talks much, we spend a vast amount of time trying to track these sons of bitches down, but mostly, I spend a lot of time alone in Blake's bedroom.

At night, I lie snug in his arms, but he's hardly made a move to kiss me, except for the one time in front of Miranda, and that was more to send her a message than for my benefit. Blake hasn't acted the same with me since he found out about the brands and everything else that came to light thanks to Jax's bullshit. I don't know what to do anymore. Half the time, I want to be alone, but mostly, I want to feel Blake's touch on my skin again.

There's a knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in," I say, sitting up straight on the edge of the bed.

"Miss Lily, you have a large package from Interpol. It's in the kitchen," Teresa says leaning in the open door.

"Thank you, Teresa. I'll be right down."

Well, team leader, time to put your game face on.

I stand and step inside the walk-in closet, dressing in my usual all-black work clothes, the ones from the first time Blake met me. My knife holders are a welcome feel against my thighs, as is the slight heaviness from my .22 handgun strapped around my ankle. After pushing on my tennis shoes and standing, a sharp pain shoots through my side.

Fucking ribs.

Clutching my sides does nothing, but it's an involuntary habit at this point.