Page 26 of Lies and Other Drugs

“Are you going to fuck me senseless tonight?”

“Absolutely,” Samuel growled. Such a pretty boy. Growling and all possessive like. I didn’t like wine, but it was staining his lips a nice shade of deep red, and I wanted a taste. Our food arrived, and we both ate, neither of us talking because this was the part of the date we didn’t really care about. I came here for answers and an orgasm. I didn’t want polite dinners where we discussed our dreams, aspirations, pasts, and fears.

I was taking a bite of expensive, overcooked green beans when a tall shadow stood over our table. Long legs covered by dark denim were muscular. He looked dangerous with green eyes and a deep scowl. His lean body was tattooed, and he chewed on his lip ring while staring at Samuel. “Hey there, Smith.” His voice sounded like three a.m. and whiskey. Sexy. Tempting.

Samuel went rigid, staring up at the intruder with angry eyes. “Renon. How’d you get in?” Samuel asked while looking at me. I could smell the bad blood a mile away and knew that a showdown was eminent. Things definitely just got my kind of interesting.

“I’m fucking the hostess,” Renon replied with a smile that accentuated his lip ring. He was hot, in that dangerous don’t-give-a-fuck kind of way. I shifted in my seat, and Renon’s eyes widened when he saw me. There was a vulnerability in his expression I couldn’t quite place.

“Octavia? Octavia Wilson?” he asked, and the way he said my name made a shiver travel down my spine. I wasn’t the type to like being caught off guard, and everything about Renon had me on the edge of my seat.

“Depends on who’s asking.”

Samuel stood in his seat and waved over a waiter before grabbing my hand and yanking me to a standing position. I accidentally bumped the table, knocking over the expensive wine and causing a red stain to cover the white tablecloth.

I reached over to clean up the mess, but Samuel kept his grip on my wrist firm. “Please escort this man out of here.” Samuel was nearly drenched in sweat now. Renon had him nervous, and I wanted to know why.

I scowled, not really understanding but definitely not liking that Samuel was bossing me around. Jerking back, I pulled out of his grasp to assess Renon once more. “Do I know you?” I asked.

Samuel got more flustered. “Octavia, please. I’m trying to protect you.” Pretty boy, always trying to save me. Was it because he couldn’t save himself? I started doing that manic laugh thing again, you know the one. Where I couldn’t stop. “I don’t need protecting, Samuel.”

Renon looked at me like I was a treat. Every time I stepped away from Samuel, his grin grew. My defiance was turning him on, and I could relate to the fetish. Rebellion made me ravenous.

“Octavia. Please go outside. I’ll call you a cab. I need to deal with this privately.”

I turned to Renon and stared. “Do I know you?” I asked once again.

“You look good, Tav,” he said, and my stomach dropped. That nickname. That goddamn nickname was like a beacon to who was in William's life and who was just an acquaintance.

“I do what I can. You keep avoiding my question. How do you know Samuel here?” I asked while turning to look at pretty boy. He looked tortured and murderous.

“Honestly? I don’t really know him at all. I knew William, though,” he replied just as two strong men from the kitchens approached and grabbed his arms. I opened my mouth to protest, I wanted to know how he knew my brother, but Samuel was pulling me away. And under different circumstances, I would have fought my way back to Renon and asked what he knew. I was strong, right? I could have stayed and learned more about William.

But I’d been learning a lot lately, and I was scared to meet another person that ruined my perceptions of my relationship with William. I didn’t want to think that there was someone else in the world that knew him better than I did. I’d already suffered enough disappointment lately when it came to him.

Renon was yelling at our backs as Samuel frantically guided me outside. “Youwillpay up, Smith. One way or another!”

I got in the cab, not really listening to Samuel’s excuses. “I’m sorry, Octavia. I promise to make this up to you. Renon and I just have some bad blood. He thinks I owe him money.”

I nodded, not really caring about their feud or the fact that my dinner date was over. I wasn’t really here because I cared about Samuel. He’d always been a means to an end. So when the door shut, instead of telling the driver to take me back to the hotel where I knew Noah was waiting for me, ready to welcome me with loving arms, I gave him the address for Young’s apartment in the Upper East Side. I was in the mood to be greeted with hate.

Chapter 16

Iwasn’t sure if he’d be there or if he was with the murdering bitch, but I knocked on their apartment door and smiled when he opened it shirtless. “Catch you at a bad time?” I asked while pushing past him and waltzing inside. I made sure to brush against his chest with my fingers, lingering in the touch just long enough to make us both feel like shit.

William always wanted my boyfriends. Maybe it was my turn to want one of his. “I was sleeping,” he answered as I pulled up a kitchen chair and sat down in it, crossing my legs as my burgundy dress rose up, showing the tops of my thighs.

“It’s a bit early. Your little fuck buddy keeping you up late? Does she have to sneak out after her husband passes out for the night? Does she drug him like she drugged William?” I asked. My purse then fell from my lap onto the tile floor, the heavy gun in it sounding loud as it landed on the tile. A part of me wished it had gone off.

“What are you even talking about, Tav?” he asked with a frown while crossing his arms over his chest. I licked my lips, savoring how delicious he looked. That familiar feeling of obsession was coming over me. I observed the red in his cheeks. The way his dark hair looked imperfect from sleep. Each rise and fall of his chest grew more and more labored as I stared.

“I mean, she killed William. It all makes sense now. She was just a jealous lover,” I said with a shrug.

Young looked at me, hooded eyes traveling up and down my body like he wanted a taste. “Tav, William was depressed. He caught me with another woman. I’d already seen him talking with that drug dealer...Renon.”

I snapped. Like a rubber band being pulled too tight, the elasticity of my heart broke and bounced, pinching the fists clinging to it. “Say that again?” I asked while standing up. Bending over, I reached inside my purse to pull out the gun.

Young wasn’t even fuckingphased. He saw my clumsy hands grip Mrs. Mulberry’s gun like it meant nothing. “Your brother was self-medicating. Tav, you’ve got to let this go. You’re gonna destroy yourself, too. If I could change what happened, I would. I would have ended things with her. Hell, I wanted to end things that night.”

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