Page 49 of Twice the Rivalry

“You spent my money to do it!” he shouted at her, unable to keep a leash on his temper anymore. “It’s my office. If I wanted a new desk, I would have bought one. And I would have bought one thatIwanted. Because this is my fucking space, not yours.”

“Did you even sit down at it?” she demanded. “Or did you just walk in here and decide you were pissed? Instead of giving it a shot, you just want a reason to be angry with me and dismiss it. And as for how it was paid for, you know I already transferred the money back to you, along with a little extra for your trouble, so you can take that and shove it up your ass. But while I’m here, I’m going to be comfortable, so you can put up with it for now. Then, when I leave, you can take it all apart and ship it back to me. Or hell, you can use it for firewood for all I care.” Then she turned on her heel and stalked out, leaving him and Ink alone.

Ink gave another low whistle. “Damn, brother, that is one pissed off woman. You sure this is the hill you want to die on?”

Code didn’t look at him; his gaze was still on the doorway. He had half a mind to follow her and give her another piece of his mind, but instead, he turned back to the desk and resumed getting his space set up the way he wanted. Deep down he knew he was being irrational. His area and he had his reasons for wanting it to stay the way he wanted. “Would you tolerate someone completely rearranging your tattoo station, without asking for your permission or even your consideration, and then calling you ungrateful when you want to set it back to rights? I don’t think so. She’s ridiculously entitled, and I refuse to let her just do whatever the hell she wants. Her team wants to do that, fine, but I’m not about to coddle and baby her.”

“I get what you’re saying about your space, but I don’t think they coddle or baby her, brother,” Ink said with a frown. “She’s a member of their team, and she’s also their main source of communication, which means they rely on her to get them the information they need to do the jobs that they do. Without her being their eyes in the sky as it were, do you think they would still be around? Brute strength and skill are important, but they only go so far. Just like you were the same with us when we were looking for those pricks after the twins.”

Code felt a flash of irritation at the reminder. He didn’t want Ink to make sense, he wanted him to support him. “Fine,” he grunted. “I’ll give you that, but that doesn’t mean I have to like her.”

“No,” Ink agreed. “But it helps if the two of you can at least work together civilly.” Then he grinned wickedly. “And if you ever need a break, just send me a text. I have no issue spending time with that little firecracker,” he added with a salacious wink.

Code just nodded and continued to work as Ink headed out. He ignored the jealousy that started to burn again, before he firmly pushed it away. It made no sense, especially when he was this pissed at her. So he put his full energy into finishing his task, before sitting down to boot everything up and make sure nothing had been compromised when Glitch was moving shit around. He didn’t put it past her to mess with it just to fuck with him.

By the time he finished, he was ready for bed, and some of his anger had simmered. He hated to admit it, but the desk she picked out was a much better height for him, and there was less pain in his neck from using the screens on the wall, which he had eventually put back up when he realized that the old arms weren’t going to work as well with the new desk. Still, that did nothing to soothe his ire at her for presuming that she could alter his space.

He pushed away from the desk and then headed out and up the stairs. He shook his head when a couple of the club whores sang out to him, suggesting he join them with seductive smiles. He was too damn tired to even think about partying tonight. When he finally reached his door, he pulled out his key to unlock it but stopped when he heard a sound coming from Glitch’s room. He paused to listen. That’s when he heard it. A soft moan. The kind that he had heard her make only a few hours earlier when he had his mouth on hers and his hand down her pants.

He was moving before he could stop himself.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

GLITCH

A little earlier

“Ithink you two need to just have it out once and for all,” Karissa mused as she sat on the vanity in Glitch’s bathroom. The moment she had seen Glitch’s angry face, she had followed her up to her room, intent on finding out what happened. Of course, that meant Esme and Scarlett also followed. Royal had already gone home, feeling tired and cranky, not that Glitch blamed her. She couldn’t imagine carrying around one baby inside of her, let alone two.

So now, she had all three women in the small bathroom with her, insisting on knowing what the hell was going on with her and Code, and why they had been yelling at each other this time.

“I think if that happened the place would be destroyed,” Esme snickered. “I mean, Code wouldn’t go down without a fight. And I doubt Savage would let them use weapons.”

“He’d probably be worried we’d end up turning on him,” Glitch said loudly as she finished washing her hair. She would have to touch up her color or pick a new one soon, she thought to herself absently. She was kind of thinking purple for the next round. It had been a while since she had done that color.

All three women laughed at that. “So, what is the deal with you two?” Esme asked her. “I mean, I get wanting to be better than each other, but you two seem to seriously hate each other sometimes.”

“I’m not all that convinced it’s hate,” Scarlett added, sounding thoughtful. “I mean, if they really, truly hated each other, I don’t think they could work together at all. But they are. Which means it’s something else.”

“I don’t hate him,” Glitch sighed. “I just have a very strong dislike at the moment. I get that I’m in his space, but the man is utterly infuriating. And don’t even get me started on all the jokes and jabs he makes about my boobs and my height.”

“Yeah, that’s an asshole move,” Karissa agreed. “I mean, I say that shit about you, but it’s kind of our thing.”

Glitch stuck her head out from behind the shower curtain and grinned at her. “Insults are our love language,” she agreed. “And, you know, it gives me something to distract you with when we’re sparring. I mean, those big boobs of yours make excellent cushions when you’re on your back behind me and trying to get me in a reverse chokehold.”

Karissa grinned, but flipped her off. “Considering when you’re doing the same to me, all I feel is bone,” she teased, making Glitch laugh and flip her off.

“I think it’s one thing when we do it, but it’s in good natured fun and not intended to be mean,” Scarlett remarked. “Code’s comments are not meant in fun, and make you feel insecure.”

“Maybe we should let you kick his ass after all,” Esme said with a scowl. She put a hand on her barely-there bump. “And you can give him a few extra kicks since I can’t.”

Glitch smirked to herself as she finished washing up. It was kind of nice to have women around to talk to and commiserate with. It wasn’t something she was used to, and even when Karissa was part of the team, they were so focused on their jobs and training that they didn’t have time to discuss men. Well, other than that one night in Tijuana, and that had ended with Karissa climbing into her bed and finding Taz in there, naked. Now that was a fun night, but this was just as entertaining. And if she was honest with herself, she could admit that it was something she had missed in her life. Being surrounded by a bunch of men all the time wasn’t the same.

Despite that, her mind still turned to Code, and her blood heated at the thought of him. She was woman enough to admit that their battle earlier had been hot as hell, and as much as she hated to admit it, probably would have ended with them fucking right up against his bedroom door. She’d have probably regretted it, but still, maybe it would have made things between them a little less hostile. No matter, though, it was done and over with, and she was back to being pissed.

She found her computer in a box on the top shelf of the pantry, which had pissed her off, but she climbed up and grabbed it without any assistance. Then she got Karissa to help her set up the desk and chair in the office since Razor had refused to help. He didn’t want Code bitching at him about touching his stuff, so she and Karissa did it easily enough. Of course, Code wasn’t happy about any of it, and had been pissed about the whole thing,again, but she supposed she shouldn’t have expected anything different. She doubted the man was happy about much of anything when it came to her.

“So what are you going to do about him being all pissed at you about the office upgrades?” Scarlett asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

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