Page 19 of Skin Deep

So what if I did? It wasn’t like that meant anything. I was just horny and desperate and had been on the market too long without a regular partner. Eight months was too long to go without sex. Half the reason I always got back together with Ken so fast was because of that. For all his faults, at least the man had a sex drive that could match mine, even if he was vanilla as fuck.

I chalked the hard-on I was hiding under the table up to that, telling myself it wasn’t him personally that I was interested in, even if there wasn’t anyone else I could think of who did it for me. Being sexually compatible was not the same thing as being relationship material. Paxton didn’t check any of the boxes I was looking for in a serious partner. He was pushy, demanding, had a metric fuck ton of emotional baggage, and he had kids.

That last one wasn’t technically a deal breaker for me. I loved kids and wanted some of my own, but I had no illusions that Lettie and Charlie would accept me, especially after losing their mom. I didn’t want to have to fight tooth and nail to get any kid’s love and respect. Besides, they probably had no idea their dad was into men if he’d been married to a woman for years.

“You’re not even remotely my type,” I said, looking away. “Last night was a one-time thing.”

He snorted. “We’ll see about that.”

I was about to tell him just how wrong he was when my phone rang. I got it out of my pocket and frowned down at Yuri’s number. Why would he be calling me? I pressed the button to answer. “This is War.”

“Warrick James Laskin.”

I sat up straighter when I heard it was Annie’s voice. The fact that she’d used my full name told me I was in a mountain of trouble. “Yes, ma’am?”

“What’s this I’m hearing about a vigilante last night?” she asked.

I gritted my teeth.That lying little shit!The next time I saw Xander, I was going to swap his fucking Adderall out for laxatives. “It’s not what you think,” I explained. “I have the situation under control. Nothing bad happened.”

“We do not involve other people in cleaning up our messes,” she scolded.

“It wasn’t like I chose to. He just showed up!” I glanced across the table at six feet eight inches of trouble on two legs. Two amazing, sculpted, strong as fuck legs. If I’d known everyone was going to freak out this much about it, I’d have told him to fuck off. “He’s not a threat.”

“Of course he’s a threat to this family. He’s seen your faces. That makes him a risk, War. Forallof us. If the wrong people put pressure or offer him cash for information—”

“Paxton would never do that,” I blurted before I could stop myself. Shit. My eyes darted to him and quickly away so I wouldn’t have to take in his smug grin. With a sigh, I shifted in the seat to turn sideways. “Mutually assured destruction, right? He can’t talk about us without implicating himself.”

“Let me speak to him.”

I cringed when I heard my mother demand the phone from Annie. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to speak to my mother. Our relationship was complicated, but I respected her. I knew if she got on the phone, I was about to get an even bigger earful, and passive-aggressive was Tatiana Volkov’s specialty.

“Warrick, darling,” she purred into the phone, “you know how important it is that you keep control over these situations. Your brothers look up to you as an example.”

“I know, Tatty. I promise, I had the whole thing under control. Besides,” I added, “he has another case.”

“A case?” Tatty said after a moment’s hesitation.

“Yeah, it’s—”

She cut me off with a small hiss. “Not over the phone, dear. Are you with him right now?”

I glanced back at Paxton. “Yes?”

“Well, don’t eat if you haven’t already. Annie’s making stroganoff. Bring him down and we’ll get this all sorted out.”

I cringed and twisted so my back was to Paxton. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

I understood her reasoning. Bringing Paxton down to the house would put him squarely in our territory, and with everyone there, the message would be clear that we outnumbered him, the implication being that if he stepped out of line, one of us would silence him. It was her way of threatening him without ever having to utter a threat, and it was unnecessary since I had the situation handled.

“Oh, nonsense, Warrick. Everybody loves stroganoff,” Tatty said loudly.

“His daughters are with him. One of them is a patient of mine.”We don’t kill close to home. I hoped she got the message that made the Coopers off limits. Not that I thought she’d do anything, not without reason, but I didn’t want to have this whole thing blow up in my face.

“Wonderful! Oh, it’s been so long since we’ve had children in the house! I’ll see you all in an hour. See you soon, darling!” She hung up before I could mount another protest, which meant I was expected at the house.

Shit.

When I turned back, Paxton was watching me with intense amber eyes, stiffly holding a plastic knife in his hand. I glanced at the knife and then back up at him. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but given his size, he could do a lot of damage with it if he had to.

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