Page 29 of Ruthless

My heart pounds in anticipation of his next move, and he doesn’t leave me to wonder long. He dips his head to meet my lips, and I lean forward, meeting him halfway, but just as our lips are about to touch, a shrill bark has us jerking apart.

Zane’s dark eyebrows pinch together as he shoots Thor a death glare. He opens his mouth to no doubt lay into him, but he’s cut off by the sound of my doorbell going off.

His whole body stiffens and goes on high alert. “Are you expecting anyone?”

“No. My brothers tend to stop by, but they usually call first to make sure I’m home.” I narrow my eyes and try to think of who else could be here at this hour but come up blank.

“Stay here.” He tosses a black T-shirt on and heads out into the living room without waiting for me to respond.

Thor jumps off my lap and follows after him, leaving me in my bed alone. I sigh as I wait for Zane to answer the door. The second he does, and I hear her voice, I jump out of bed and race after them both in nothing but my oversized T-shirt. The hardwood flooring is a shock to my bare feet, and for a split second, I debate turning around to find some pants but think better of it. There’s no telling what Mrs. Baker will say.

When I come up behind Zane, he’s taking up my entire doorway. I have to duck underneath his shoulder to squeeze in next to him. He drops his right hand and plants it firmly around my waist the moment I do.

“Morning, Mrs. Baker.” I brush the stray strands of hair out of my face and try not to look like the mess I feel. Judging by her reddened cheeks, I failed.

“Hi, dear. I am so sorry to interrupt.” She spares Zane and me a glance as she holds Thor tight against her chest.

“You’re not interrupting anything.” My voice comes out much too high, giving me away.

“I was just apologizing to this young man.” She gestures to Zane with her free hand, ignoring the inflection in my voice. “I don’t know how this little stinker keeps getting out. I bought a baby gate for my front door, but my grandson hasn’t had a chance to put it up for me.”

“Zane can do it for you.” I smack him in the chest, ignoring how solid his muscles feel against the back of my hand or the fact that he didn’t even flinch.

Zane’s head snaps in my direction the second the words are out of my mouth, and I can see his dark eyebrows arching out of the corner of my eye, but I keep my focus on Mrs. Baker. He shouldn’t have tried to tell me what to do.

“Oh, I don’t want to be a bother to y’all.” Mrs. Baker tilts her head in Zane’s direction and smiles.

“It’s no trouble, ma’am.” Zane clears his throat and attempts to soften his features when he answers her. He ends up looking more like he’s in pain than anything else. “I can come over tomorrow after Ken’s doctor appointment and set it up for you.”

My body freezes momentarily, hearing that he called me Ken, but also, more importantly, at the fact that he knew about my appointment. I never told him when it was, but it shouldn’t surprise me that he found out on his own. The man is more like my father than he’d ever admit. As if he can sense what I’m thinking, his fingers dig into my waist in a silent warning to keep quiet.

“That would be great.” Mrs. Baker’s face lights up at the offer as I force my smile to stay in place. “Thank you.” Thor wiggles in her arms, reminding her that he’s there. “Well, I better get this rascal home.” She turns and hobbles back into her apartment.

As soon as she’s out of sight, Zane drops his hand from around my waist and reaches for the knob. I back up next to my kitchenette, giving him ample space to shut the door as I attempt to cool my temper and wait for an explanation. In hindsight, I should have ran.

That resounding click changes everything. It echoes throughout my entire tiny apartment like an impending sense of doom. He flicks the deadbolt and turns around to face me with that blank expression he always seems to wear on his face. His body leans back against the door as he folds his arms over his chest and stares at me.

The silence is thick with tension. We’re locked away from the outside world, and the air is sucked out of the room. I feel the weight of his stare down to my toes. I’m trapped. At least when I had Thor in my lap, he acted as a buffer. Now I’m on my own, and I’m so screwed. My heart pounds against my chest as I attempt to figure a way out of my current situation, but then I remember what he said, and a whole new set of emotions come bubbling to the surface.

“How did you find out about my doctor’s appointment?” I put my hands on my hips and glare right back. I didn’t intend on keeping it from him, but the fact that he found out behind my back has my temper rising to the surface.

“I have my ways.” He shrugs but doesn’t say anything more, which only pisses me off.

“That’s it. That’s all you’re going to say.” I wrinkle my nose and fight the urge to scream at him.

Another shrug.

“You’ve ignored me for days to the point where I left your ass. Now you’ve insulted a poor dog and invaded my privacy. All I’m going to get from you is a fucking shrug?” I might be overreacting, but my hormones are all over the place lately. Not to mention, I’m still not entirely over how much of an ass he was to me. It hurt. We were supposed to be a team. In this together, but then he went off and disappeared on me.

All common sense leaves me the more my temper flares to life. That’s the only explanation for what I do next. Without a second thought, I pick up one of the magazines lying on top of the counter to my left and chuck it across the room, nailing him square in the middle of his chest.

The magazine lands with a thump against the floor, and my jaw drops right along with it. I can’t believe I just did that.

“You’re gonna pay for that.” Zane presses off the door and stalks toward me. His steps are slow and controlled, like a hunter about to corner their prey.

“Oh shit.” I waste no time spinning around to my bedroom with him hot on my heels. I’m through my bedroom door a few seconds later and make it to the farthest side of my bed as he enters the room. I jump on top of my bed and hold my arms out in front of me in a poor attempt at warding him off. “Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad.” His voice is calm—a little too calm. It’s unsettling. His arms hang loosely at his sides as he cocks his head to the side and watches me.

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