Page 56 of Traitor

“You won’t take my calls.” Saying it aloud made me sound like a petulant child. I should’ve just thrown myself down on her bedroom floor; it would’ve gotten my point across a lot faster.

She crossed her arms over her chest—which was unfair, because after the night I’d had, I deserved to see a nice pair of tits. It would’ve cheered me up immensely.

“Are you drunk?”

I crossed my arms over my own chest and faced her. “Are you fuckingSlim Jimout there?”

Lauren let out a sarcastic laugh. “You’re unbelievable, you know that? Not that it’s any business of yours, but no, I am not fucking Jimmy. I feel like we’ve been over this before, Mike.”

I glanced around her bedroom. I hadn’t really known much about Torch’s place when I suggested that Lauren stay with him. He was just the only biker I trusted to be left alone with her. His house was actually more modern than I’d imagined—she even had her own en suite bathroom. I stared at the sink, imagining her bent over it.

“Can I fuck you in the bathroom right now?” I asked.

Her eyes widened with shock and she slapped my face. “What is wrong with you?”

I rubbed my stinging cheek and winced, “What’s wrong with me? My dick’s been hard for eight weeks! Eight fucking weeks, Lauren. And all of a sudden, he’s a goddamn pussy critic. Nobody else’s pussy will do. It has to be yours. So, excuse me, but I think he deserves a little somethin’ somethin’.”

Lauren closed her eyes, while inhaling and exhaling slowly. She was probably imagining how good it would be. I realized that I was sorely mistaken when her hand shot up again and cracked across my other cheek.

“I want you to leave,” she demanded.

“But, I just got here. Gloria invited me to dinner and I’m sorry, okay, but I wasn’t expecting Jimmy the Giraffe to be here too.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do this. Seeing you just makes everything harder—”

“That’s what she said,” I interjected, but Lauren’s face remained solemn. “C’mon, Red. We’re good together, why can’t you see that?”

“Because we were never together, Mike! You were always working a case and when we did see each other, it was late at night. Let’s be honest and call a spade a spade. What we had was long-term sex. You never opened up to me about your life or family—I left you in January feeling like I never even really knew you at all.” She watched me quietly.

What could I say?

I hadn’t given her much—I couldn’t. David didn’t even know the half of it. I thought that giving her my body was enough. Shit, I’d tried the exact same thing when she’d shown up at my house.

“What do you want to know, Darlin’?”

Her mouth opened in surprise. “Really? You’ll just give up your secrets now when it doesn’t matter?”

I shook my head. “I’ll give up my secrets when it matters most. I want you with me and if you need to know more about my life, I’ll tell you anything you want.”

She blurted out, “I want to know about your dad.”

Well, that escalated quickly.

I chewed on the corner of my lip.How much could I say without sending her fleeing for her life from the room?“My father. Okay. My old man is a psychopath with a predisposition to violence and drugs. Those traits led to him joining a biker gang where he is just thriving.”

Her eyes held pain as she watched me talk. “Did he hurt you?”

I laughed bitterly. “Did he hurt me?Does a bear shit in the woods, Darlin’?”

Lauren bit her own lip worriedly. “Would he—would he hurt women? Like women who didn’t know him?”

Where the hell was this coming from?

“Yeah. He’s not known for his gentleness. He looks like a fucking homeless bum, so most women and children steer clear of him.”

Her face paled right before her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped forward into my arms.

“Red?” I patted her cheek, but got no response, so I lowered her onto her back on the carpet. I’d expected her to have a reaction, just not that dramatic of one. I lifted her legs up onto the side of the bed, trying to get the blood back to her head. Her shirt was looking a little too restrictive for my taste, so I took the liberty of unbuttoning it.

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