House Rules(55)

I wondered if there was some kind of hidden camera somewhere because there was no way Ray could actually believe that I was going anywhere with him. “What makes you think that’s going to happen?”

“I thought you needed some time to cool down. You obviously forgot you belong to me.”

Could he really be that stupid? “I don’t belong to you, or anyone else. And after the last stunt you pulled, you’ll have more luck with your right hand then you will with me. Now get out of here before I have one of the guys escort you out.”

His eyes widened at the threat but he quickly schooled his features. He knew what would happen if he didn’t leave on his own. Ray stood and leaned over the bar.

“I’ll go this time since you’re apparently still upset. Don’t worry, though. Now I know where to find you, I’ll be back so we can work this out.”

“And my answer will still be the same. Fuck off.”

His mouth turned down into a frown and his body tightened. I braced for what might come next but Ray shocked me by turning on his heel and storming out the front door.

I sucked in deep breath, my hands shaking from the interaction. What in the world made him think that showing up here would get him anywhere? It would seem he didn’t know anything about my relationship with Miller, and I planned to keep it that way.

When I glanced around to see who else needed something, I noticed Derek watching me out of the corner of his eye. Better to deal with this now than have him running off to tell Miller. The fact that we were dating had spread like wildfire through the bar and I had a gut feeling that Miller had said something to keep the guys from looking at me. None of them wanted to be on Miller’s bad side. Luckily Derek was the only one who’d seen what had happened so my chances of containing it were good.

I pointed at him. “You are not saying a word to Miller about this.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why wouldn’t you want him to know?”

“I like to handle my problems on my own,” I said, mimicking his stance. Most of them anyway. Derek didn’t need to know anything about Nathan Marcello. “And if I tell Miller, he’ll think I can’t and that will ruin everything when he tries to fix all of my problems.”

He glanced around until his eyes settled back on me and he sighed. “Fine. If you think that’s the end of it, I’ll leave it alone. But if that asshole steps in here again, it’s over and I’ll make you tell Miller.”

“Trust me, it’s over.” Ray wouldn’t have the balls to come back.

He nodded and we continued our shift like nothing else happened. Thankfully, Miller had sent me a text that morning saying he’d be at the dealership until at least four.

Around four-thirty I began watching the clock. Thoughts of seeing Miller, pushed the fatigue from my mind, excitement taking its place.

As the day had worn on, I’d pushed what had happened with Ray out of my head and chosen to worry about the test I had the next day. My only time to see Miller would be when he showed up to work at the bar for a few hours.

A little bit later, strong arms wrapped around my waist while I was cleaning the bar. “Hey,” he whispered in my ear.

I turned in his arms and stole a quick kiss. At first, I was nervous about being affectionate with him at the bar, but he’d dispelled that pretty quickly when he grabbed my ass in front of everyone pretty much as soon as I agreed to explore things with him. Seeing this man who scared the life out of most people turn into the sweet, affectionate man, mad my heart stutter in my chest. “Hey, how was work?”

It felt like we were a normal, everyday couple. In these moments, it was easy to ignore that someday he would be head of the largest crime family in the area. It should have worried me, being linked to all of it through Miller, but he’d explained how they kept their books clean and this had gone some way in alleviating my concerns. It had taken a lot of faith and trust to tell me that. Something that vital could bring everything crashing to the ground, yet he trusted me with the information. He was rewarded in kind for his trust.

“Let me take you out tonight. Then I can take you home, put you in the tub, massage your back before I bend you over the side and fuck you senseless.”

The last part was only loud enough for me to hear and I squirmed in his arms at the thought. Memories of the night before had me clenching my thighs. “I like the sound of that, including the fucking in the tub, but I have a test tomorrow that I need to study for.”

He bent and began to trail kisses down my neck. “I love when you talk dirty to me.” At least he had the sense to pull us toward the back room and out of line of sight of prying eyes. “Dinner sounds much better than studying. If you’d let me take care of you, you wouldn’t need to worry about finishing school.”