“Beautiful?” he whispered, like that was something he wanted to believe, badly, but couldn’t.
“Unbelievably,” she told him the truth.
It sadly didn’t take long before he shook it off, jerked up his chin and moved away.
When he did, he avoided Maddox and Molly’s eyes.
Molly’s followed her D.
Maddox was staring at Sixx.
He lifted his forefinger to his temple, flicked it out to her as a salute and they all shifted away, moving slowly as an attached group, Molly in between her two men, their arms around her, hers around them, toward a big, white truck parked opposite her Cayenne, several cars down, both men glancing back repeatedly.
Off-duty, inaudible warlord speak for Get in your fucking car.
Sixx moved and got in her car.
She started it up, stared at the lights of her dash, took a breath, two, backed out of her spot and noted that the trio’s truck was backed out, well out, out enough to give her room to pull out in front of them, but idling behind her, waiting for her to motor.
She saw Maddox behind the wheel.
Diesel was in the passenger seat.
Molly couldn’t be seen.
At least that made her smile.
She rounded the empty cop cars that now totaled two, stopped at the entrance to the club, looked left, looked right, looked left again and turned right.
Thus, she headed home.
twenty-six
For As Long As I Live
SIXX
The second Sixx hit the kitchen, she thought it was a good sign that there was a filled, chilled martini glass with three fat olives on a silver pick in it sitting on the end of the bar.
She thought it was a bad sign that only the switches that illuminated spotlighting on Stellan’s artwork and the pendants hanging over the bar had been hit, meaning the great room was very dimly lit.
However, she could see Stellan standing at one of the French doors, staring at the lights rotating colors in the pool, a glass of Scotch in his hand.
Her heels had made sounds on the tile, sharing her approach, but he didn’t look at her.
So she stopped at the end of the bar.
She didn’t touch the drink.
She called, “Apparently, you’re pissed.”
“That seemed like quite an intense scene you were a part of,” he noted toward the pool.
She knew he was possessive of her, he’d made that clear.
But considering the situation, Sixx still had to hold her anger in check as she returned, “As you obviously watched it, you’re aware I was only an observer.”
“Very true,” he murmured.
He said nothing more.
She gave him a shot, but he didn’t take it.
So she remarked, “I don’t know this particular Stellan. Do you need to brood for a while to get over your bullshit? Or are you expecting me to beg you to share what your problem is so I can beg for forgiveness I’m not certain you’re due?”
That made him turn his head to her.
“Be careful, Simone,” he warned.
“Why?” she asked immediately.
“You were involved in a situation that included drug dealers and pimps. I would think that you, of all people, would be aware of the kind of element those activities attract.”
“Your point?” she prompted.
He turned his body toward her but didn’t make a move to her.
“It’s dangerous,” he stated. “Any one of those men you grappled with tonight could have had guns. Knives.”
“They didn’t.”
“They could have, and you walked right up to one of them armed with a phone.”
Okay, she had to concede that.
Though, not verbally.
“How did you know I was there?”
“Branch heard through however Branch hears things that you took that job. He shared it with me.”
Dillinger did …
What?
“Why did he share it with you?”
“He was concerned about the company you’re keeping, and not just Barclay’s partner, but in all of your extracurricular activities. He spoke with Leenie about what he should do, and he came to me.”
“So Evangeline told him to share his concerns with you?”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
Sixx had to take in a breath so as not to get sidetracked with additional anger at the sisterhood doing what the sisterhood often did in a way that was so integrated in society’s mindset, most of the time they did it without noticing they were doing it.
Underestimating a sister.
Especially when she was engaged in doing something that stereotypically was the purview of a man.
If Branch was worried about her, as a colleague (of sorts), he should have come to her.
Being a man and maybe not getting it, if he didn’t know the right way to go with that and asked his woman, straight up, Evangeline should have advised him to approach her.
Not Stellan.
However, at this moment, she could not get bogged down with that.
There was enough bogging down the room.
It was very unfortunate Stellan carried on.
“Branch was aware that I’d already spoken with Carvelo, Rodrigo, and their like and shared with them that you no longer were available to provide services to them. As this job was outside that breed of client, and thus I had not talked to whoever offered it to you, he was concerned you’d put yourself in another dangerous sit uation, knew I’d already acted to keep you out of such situations, so he came to me.”
Learning this news, Sixx stood there, staring at the man she loved, breathing heavily.
When Stellan spoke next, his tone was no longer remote, but warm and gentle.
“You seem to either be in denial of their existence, or have taught yourself to ignore them, or have forced yourself with that exceptionally willful mind of yours to forget them. But I enjoy your body daily, and your gunshot wounds are not lost on me, darling. They’re a constant reminder of that life you used to lead. A constant reminder that if you keep leading it, one day you might not come home to me.”
Okay.
Right.
Sixx looked down to her drink, reached out a hand, picked it up, and brought the chilled gin to her lips.
She took a sip.
She then studied the oil from the olives skimming the surface.
She took another sip.
And she did all of this reminding herself, she was an adult.
She was in a relationship.
She’d never been in a relationship.
But now she was.
So she had to handle this.
As an adult.
Facts:
She was in love with this man.
He was in love with her.
She wanted a future with him.
He wanted a future with her.
So she could not lose her mind, say something stupid or do something stupid.
He had valid points.
They were bullshit, but perhaps he didn’t know that.
She had to keep herself together and explain that to him.
Calmly.
She took one last sip, put the drink down, and looked to him, having to regain her control because he was watching her, but he was still all the way across the damned room, berating his wayward girlfriend.
She drew in another breath and wished she hadn’t set the drink aside.
“First,” she started softly. “You began with me observing Maddox and Diesel’s scene. Do you have an issue with that?”
“I can’t imagine how you could ask that,” he replied. “You were in a room with two men having sex without me there.”
“I was on a job.”
“It’s trite to turn the tables, Simone, but it’s also effective. To that end, I must ask how you would feel if, unknown to you, I was in a room watching women have sex?”
Fuck.
Another point.
“It was a job, Stellan.”
“I understand you wish me to get there with you, Simone, but that excuse does not wash. The only reason I’m not infuriated by that particular part of this scenario is that you wore my collar. Both nights. So at least you were thinking of me.”
She worked hard, and fortunately mostly succeeded, in keeping the exasperation out of her, “Of course I was thinking of you. I’m always thinking of you.”
“I’m afraid I’m not convinced of that at this present time.”
“It was a—”
“Repeating it doesn’t make me understand it.”
“Don’t interrupt me, honey,” she said quietly.