Page 13 of Sugar Coated

Almost, but not quite.

Laina’s hand dropped to my shoulder. “You have no right to be jealous. I’m just a job, right? Why would you get jealous over someone who’s nothing more than a job?” She threw my words back at me, aimed them like daggers at my chest.

I stared deep into those pastel pink eyes as she went on, “Why would you care whose bed I’m in or who gives me hickeys? Why would you get so jealous about me wearing this? If I’m just a job to you, you shouldn’t give a shit.”

Swallowing hard, I whispered, “You’re—”Just a job? More than a job? So complicated you make my head hurt?There were dozens of ways I could’ve finished that sentence, but beyond the first word, no more came out. She had me speechless.

Which, on a normal day, wouldn’t mean anything since I didn’t typically talk much, but this girl made me talk. She made me talk and think and want. God, she made me want things more than I’d ever wanted them in my life.

When was the last time I’d had sex? I couldn’t even remember. The past few years I’d given the Lucianos my all, every waking moment, even my life. They would always have my allegiance, but now… now I wanted to give my all to someone else.

To her.

“I’m… what?” Laina asked. “Don’t stop there. I want to know what I am to you.”

What was she to me? A brat. A bit spoiled. Traumatized. Maybe even a little broken. But, above all that, she was everything.

Instead of answering her, I finally drew my hand away from the curve of her backside—though I didn’t take that hand off her. No, it roamed upward, cupping her ass as it went, stopping only when my fingertips grazed the small of her back beneath her shirt.

Her skin was so warm. I could drown myself in it, in her, with little to no effort on my part. I could close my eyes and lose myself in her before I’d even know it was happening.

But if I did that, I’d step into unfamiliar territory. My brother might’ve gotten used to sharing his girl with Maddox and Sylvester, but could I? Fang made it clear he’d staked his claim on her already, and I couldn’t forget about Kieran; he had a connection with Laina I could only dream of.

If she could have them, why would she want me, too?

In the end, I settled for whispering, “You’re driving me crazy.” And then, because if I didn’t do it now I might never be able to, I pulled away from her completely, leaving her alone on the edge of the bed as I got to my feet.

Laina only stared up at me with wide, vibrant eyes and a pout that made something inside of me twinge with need.

And seeing her bare legs tucked underneath her backside? It did something to me, almost made me bend right back down and crawl onto that bed with her.

“I should get back to the car. I have one of the guys who took you in my trunk.” Even though I said it, I didn’t move a muscle. Walking away from her would be like cutting my soul in half.

Fuck. Could I blame Fang for marking his territory? No. It’s exactly what I wanted to do, too, only I had the willpower to keep myself off her… mostly. Except for that one night when she crawled into my bed and was the test of a lifetime.

A test I failed spectacularly, but that’s beside the point.

Laina perked up at that. “You have one of my kidnappers in your trunk?”

With a nod, I said, “Yeah. One of Lola’s men is coming for him. If he knows anything, Lola will pull it out of him.” If there was one thing besides killing Lola was good at, it was torture. She had a knack for it. I was pretty sure the giggling and the constant grin she wore while doing it unsettled most people. Or the mask, if she chose to wear it. “And I should really call your father—”

“No, don’t.”

The speed with which she said it made me cock my head at her.

Laina explained, “If you have to tell him anything, tell him I went out with you. Don’t tell him I was kidnapped.”

I folded my arms over my chest, and the action made her eyes fall to said arms. “Why not? He should know—”

“Until we figure out who was behind it, I don’t want to let anyone else know. Not my dad, not Tessa, nobody in my life. Only you and Fang need to know… and Lola, I guess.” Laina quieted for a moment before adding, “If my dad is behind it, trying to increase his numbers or something in the polls, I don’t want him to think I’m onto him.”

This girl really didn’t trust anybody. Although, knowing everything I knew, I supposed I couldn’t blame her. Still, I really didn’t think her father was behind this.

“Fine,” I relented only when she started to give me a pleading, pouting look. I crumbled like a fresh chocolate chip cookie straight out of the oven. Pathetic. It was a good thing no one else was around to witness it.

The moment she knew she won, her pout transformed into a grin, and she beamed up at me, acting all sugar and sweet. “Thank you.”

I nodded once before turning away from her. Leaving her alone on that bed was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do in my life. Never before had I wanted to pretend the outside world didn’t exist as badly as I did right now, not even when I nearly died a few years back.

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