Page 52 of Tempting Little Thief

And the most deranged of questions, what can a low-class, poor motherfucker like me do to fix it?

The likely answer?

Not a goddamn thing.

Chapter 10

Rocklin

Bastian is a liar. Sai is acting odd, and my sister is in worse shape than I thought.

Sai has become a constant presence, looming no less than twenty feet away—far enough so I can speak freely but close enough to stop any escape I might try to make, which is exactly how he’s acting: as if I might take off at any moment. My dad must have really laid into him.

Boston is weak, and while she’s always been on the feeble side mentally, it’s never affected her physically. It is now. Her stamina is lower, so she’s whining for more breaks between grappling and starting fights to avoid sparring. She falls to her ass after twenty minutes of wrestling in the steam room, and even her concentration is off—her shooting average has split in half. She’s sleeping through breakfast and staring into space more than she listens. I’ve been working with her for five days in a row now and it’s not getting any better.

And in those five days, not once has a liquid-eyed bad boy made his existence known.

I’ve been to The Enterprise twice and nothing. I’m annoyed, which only annoys me more.

What kind of girl twiddles her thumbs, waiting for a single-named stranger to break in and have their way with them, anyway?

The kind who appreciates a good dicking down, apparently.

Pathetic? Maybe.

I must be because I’ve even considered asking Dom to pop in, figuratively, of course, where I would then wait for himto touch me, all to see if my tattooed shadow shows up, but who’s to say he would?

He did say he had ‘shit to do’ and couldn’t simply show up like an employee on call.

It’s not like I want to see him, so who fucking cares. I just wanted the reward he promised me.

I scoff, shake off my gloves, and wipe the sweat from my chest with a towel. A promise from some back-alley bad boy? Please.

“Someone’s frustrated.” Boston smiles. “Something on your mind or maybe … someone?”

My eyes slice to my sister, narrowing.

We used to talk boys, but that was before she signed herself over to the worst one she could find.

I give her my back, and she follows me to the gym shower, stripping down beside me and stepping under the spray as I do.

“Come on, Coco. Don’t shut me out. I fucked up. I know, but—”

“But nothing, Boston.” I quickly scrub my scalp, diving farther beneath the warm spray. “You made a choice that will taint our name. If you weren’t Dad’s daughter, you’d be dead already.”

“Okay, that’s dramatic.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Enzo doesn’t even know I’m here, so you can stop expecting him to bust through the gates and break your perfect record of control.”

I turn my shower off and face her.

“How is that exactly? How does a man who’s nearly as powerful as Dadnot knowhisfiancéeran away?”

She shrugs, turning toward her towel. “Because he doesn’t care. It’s not like he wanted me. He knew it was a good deal, that’s all.”

A frown builds along my brow. Is that … hurt? Bitterness?

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