“No, you’re the boss.”
After a couple of hours passed of making a list of things he needed and what would need to happen, Devil left the cleaning in the hands of Phoebe, who had already assembled a team. The ride back to Vincent’s house was slow.
Phoebe and Lexie made dinner while he played ball with Vincent and the boys. When the boys started fighting Vincent started talking.
“You’ve got a thing for Lexie, haven’t you?” Vincent asked.
“What makes you think that?” Devil caught the ball off his friend and dribbled it down to the hoop, landing a shot right in.
He bowed as the boys squealed in delight.
They took a time out as the boys played, trying to score into the high hoop.
“She’s a good girl.”
“And a stripper,” Devil said.
“She was a stripper to take care of your kid. I can’t believe I held that boy and you hadn’t even seen him.”
Devil tensed. “You did the test to make sure she got the body for dancing?”
“Yeah, like I do with all the girls. I didn’t touch her at all.”
He couldn’t be angry at his man for doing business. “She’s not dancing anymore, do you hear me?” Devil asked.
“Yeah, I already got that. She made a lot of money.”
“Don’t care. We’ll find other girls who can make that kind of money.” Devil stared at the house wondering what shit Phoebe was saying.
“I’m pleased you’re going to do right by her. She deserves it.”
“You barely know her. How do you know she wasn’t passing him off to others to look after?” he asked.
Vincent chuckled. “She talked about him all the time. It was the only reason she danced. I asked her about it, and she told me if another job came around she’d take it in a heartbeat even if it was cleaning toilets. Girl had it bad for the boy. She’d do anything for him.” Vincent sighed. “What happened with you and the sister?”
“She was a woman on the road. Didn’t give me any kind of shit and was offering what I wanted, a quick easy fuck. Condom broke and she was pregnant.” Devil shrugged. He couldn’t do anything to change what happened. It was just rotten fucking luck the one time the condom broke, the girl got knocked up.
“What are you going to do about the girl?”
“I don’t know. She’ll turn up, and I’ll see if I’m in a forgiving mood.”
“Dinner is ready,” Lexie said, appearing in the doorway. The boys ran in almost knocking her over in their need to get food.
“Where’s your fucking manners?” Vincent asked, charging ahead to ward off his boys.
Lexie giggled then smiled up at him. Devil was struck by how young she was. Reaching out she took his hand, and he drew her to him. “What are you smiling about?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He lifted a brow waiting for her to relent.
“Okay, this is something I’ve always wanted.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t laugh at me, but I imagined having a house like this and calling my man in for dinner with the kids.” She shrugged, and her cheeks were a nice shade of rouge. “Do I sound insane?” she asked.
“No, you sound like a woman with a plan. You never lived in a house then?”
She shook her head. “Mom lived in a little flat, and when she couldn’t afford to keep up with the rent we moved into a trailer.” She shrugged. “There wasn’t a lot going on growing up.”
Pushing her hair back, he saw the bruises from his lips. “It’s good to have dreams.”
He was going to make her dreams come true.
“You’re not going to tease me?”
“No, I’m going to tell you to hold onto those dreams. They might come true.” He leaned down, claiming her lips.
“What are you? My guardian angel?” she asked, between kisses.
“There’s nothing angelic about me, baby. Don’t mistake me for anything good.” Taking her hand, he pressed it to his cock. “All I ever want to be is bad.” Rubbing against her, he felt her shudder.
“Kids, dinner is going cold,” Phoebe said, interrupting their moment. He was getting fucking angry with people stopping him from taking what he wanted.
Lexie broke away from him. She surprised him by leading him to the dinner table.
“Your woman has got skills,” Phoebe said. “She knows how to cook, and you got lucky.”
Chapter Six
After dinner, Lexie helped with the dishes, and then there was no getting away from it. Phoebe was pretty much pushing her out of the back door. Devil stood by the pool smoking a cigarette looking up at the sky.