Page 48 of Ruined (The Knights of Ruin)

The babysitter—a friend of Red’s old lady—was surprised to see us and no wonder. We were probably way earlier than she was expecting. But I paid her for the whole night, and apparently Annie had been good, so everyone was happy.

Cat disappeared into Annie’s room as I paid the babysitter and didn’t come out after the woman had left. Probably didn’t want to face me after what had happened in the hallway and, hell, I couldn’t blame her. She hadn’t been expecting it. Unluckily for her, I didn’t have any problem with dealing with the fallout.

Closing the door after the babysitter, I went down the narrow hallway to Annie’s bedroom and stood in the doorway. Sure enough, Cat was sitting on Annie’s bed, stroking her hair. The nightlight threw shadows everywhere, its shade with cut-outs scattering stars onto the ceiling, and the only sound was Annie’s gentle, deep breathing.

It was a peaceful picture. A beautiful one. It made the tightness in my chest get even tighter—because this was mine. This was my family. One I never thought I’d ever have, never thought I’d even want.

After the shit had gone down with my father—after he’d made my mother’s life and mine a living hell—I’d decided I didn’t want a wife. Didn’t want kids. Didn’t want a family. But it had been Cat who’d showed me that a family didn’t have to be about fists and shouting. That it could be about respect, about love.

Until you took him out.

Yeah, there was that. My soul wasn’t clean and I knew it. Yet somehow, clean soul or not, I had a family right here. A woman I would have moved heaven and earth for and a kid who wasn’t mine and yet I’d lay down my life for her.

I wasn’t going to give this up for anything. And if anyone tried to take Annie and Cat away from me, they’d have to prise them from my cold, dead hands.

Maybe she sensed me standing there, because Cat turned her head and her eyes met mine. I said nothing, just leaned against the doorframe, my hands in my pockets. Letting her know that I wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry and that she couldn’t escape me.

She flushed and turned away, leaning over to give Annie a kiss before rising to her feet. Giving her daughter one last look, she came towards me, and I could tell she was gathering her courage because her chin came up and her green eyes didn’t flicker away from mine.

She said nothing as she went past me and didn’t stop, heading out into the hall, so I followed on behind, watching the sway of her butt in that tight-fitting pencil skirt. Fuck, what had I been thinking about keeping my distance tonight? I wanted to bend her over the nearest hard surface, shove that goddamn skirt out of my way and bury myself so deep in her pussy she’d feel me for days.

But I knew Cat. I knew she was going to need at least a night to get her head around this. A night for her body to understand what it needed.

Me.

In the lounge she turned to face me, folding her arms, all defensive, but I didn’t stop. There weren’t going to be any damn lectures about how we needed to forget all about this, put it behind us, make like it didn’t happen. No—fuck that. She was my property now, and that meant I got to call the shots.

‘Smoke—’ she began.

But I walked straight up to her, grabbing her hips and pulling her in nice and tight, feeling the heat of her perfect little pussy against my aching dick.

‘No,’ I said. ‘Don’t speak. Don’t say a fucking word.’

Her jaw tensed and her mouth settled into a hard line. But she didn’t talk.

‘Here’s what’s going to happen,’ I went on, pressing my fingers against her hips, feeling her warmth and softness, letting myself enjoy it. ‘I’ll leave you to sleep alone tonight and I’ll take the couch. But tomorrow you’re taking the day off, and after Annie’s gone to school, you and me are going to have a little talk.’

She didn’t try to pull away, but neither did she soften against me. Her whole body was tense. She was holding herself rigid.

‘And I guess when you say “little talk” you mean...?’

‘Fucking, Cat.’ No point in mincing words or pretending otherwise. ‘You and I will be fucking.’

Her cheeks flamed. ‘Well, I guess that’s clear.’ Her voice was heavy with sarcasm. ‘Nothing like reducing it to the level of a porno.’

‘I don’t recall you having a problem with it when I had you screaming in my ear in the damn hallway.’

She flushed even deeper, biting her lip and looking away.

I knew what was going on. She was doing what she always did when she was scared, which was to get snarky and defensive. Sadly, I wasn’t going to be putting up with that bullshit.

‘I’m not going to let you push me away.’ I moved my thumbs back and forth over her hips, stroking her, keeping up that physical contact. ‘Not any more. This is how it’s going to be—starting tomorrow. You and me. Together.’

A lock of silky black hair fell over her face, hiding her expression as she looked down at her feet. ‘I thought... I thought all this was supposed to be pretend.’

‘It was supposed to be.’ I didn’t want to hide the truth from her—not now that we’d crossed the line. ‘Then I changed my mind.’

‘Why?’ She still wouldn’t look at me. ‘Since when did things change?’

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