“Um . . .” she said again.
I didn’t blame her for being at a loss for words, confronted with all that bulk, that smooth, inked brown skin. It was impossible to miss the fact he was an extremely good-looking guy.
“Ruby,” he barked.
Whoa! Not cool.
I twisted to look fully at Hunter’s best friend. He was beyond pissed. In fact, the guy looked ready to explode.
“It was a mistake,” I said, trying to deflect that scary energy away from my new friend.
He ignored me.
Ruby narrowed her eyes, seemingly oblivious to his dangerous mood. “It must be Scott’s.” She held up the Dirty Dancing cover. “He must’ve put it in the wrong case.”
Neco’s jaw got tight. “One: that fucking waste of space you live with is getting a visit from me.” Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. “And two: I find out this wasn’t a mistake? That you were pulling your usual shit? I won’t be happy, do you understand? Lulu doesn’t need this. She buried her mother yesterday. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
It was fast, but I saw the hurt flash across her face at his words. These two obviously had some kind of relationship outside of work. It went deeper; even I could see that. The way Neco spoke to her, it was like he saw her as an annoying little sister, not a valued employee.
I held up my hands. “Hey, don’t bring me into this. Like I said, it was just an accident. She didn’t mean any harm.”
That pale green gaze, so striking against his dark skin, flicked to me, then back to Ruby. Ruby got to her feet then, a look on her face that made me want to cover my head with a cushion before all hell broke loose.
Neco stared at her hard, but she seemed unaffected, all attitude now, front and center. She shoved her glasses up her nose. “I didn’t know you were such a prude, Neco. It’s just a little porn.” She smirked when his eyes flashed and his jaw went from tight to granite. “It was hot. What? Are you threatened? Worried you don’t measure up?”
“Ruby,” he gritted out.
I tried not to look, but my eyes were drawn to the way Neco’s towel was lifting in the front. Okay, I was no longer getting sibling vibes off these two. The air was crackling, electric. The man also had no cause for an inferiority complex in that department. Nope.
“I think that’s my cue to leave,” she said. “Maybe I’ll go hit a club . . .”
“Do not fuck with me. Not tonight,” he rumbled. His voice had dropped, so deep, so low, it sounded like thunder. “I have to stay here and watch Lulu. I won’t be around to bail your ass out of trouble.”
Ruby shrugged. “Maybe my ass wants trouble.”
He growled, like a fricking wild animal.
Ruby grabbed her bag, hitched it over her shoulder, leaned down, and hugged me. “Sorry, Lulu. But I need to take off.” Then she flounced out, slamming the door shut behind her.
Neco watched her go then stomped off, slamming the bathroom door behind him. And I sat there wondering what the hell just happened.
When he finally surfaced again, he was quiet, surly. Eventually, after trying to make small talk, which failed miserably, I headed off to bed. The guy was obviously not in the mood to chit-chat, and I had no idea how late Hunter would be. So I left him to it.
Hunter had been amazing. He’d helped with the funeral arrangements, stuck by my side, took care of Josh. Today was the first day we’d been apart since I found out my mother had passed away.
And I could admit, I felt a little lost without him.
I missed him.
The funeral had been a quiet one. Just a few close friends. He’d held my hand the entire time, was my strength when I felt like I had none left.
There’d also been a police presence, and every one of the King Agency guys there as well, just in case, but Pierce hadn’t made an appearance. Thank God.
I tugged on Hunter’s Ramones T-shirt and climbed under the covers beside Josh. I’d slept in Hunter’s bed all week. I don’t know how it happened. It just had. It’d just felt so right, God, and safe. His body wrapped around mine, warm, strong. But with him not here—well, I didn’t want to be alone, so I snuggled closer to my son, blanked my mind, and closed my eyes.
But my mind wouldn’t shut up. Losing my mom had hit hard, the lost time, something that dug at me, festered inside me daily. I wanted Pierce caught. I wanted to go to bed at night knowing that son of a bitch wasn’t living it up on some island paradise, destroying someone else’s life. I didn’t want him to get away with it. I wanted him to pay for what he did to me, to Hunter, and the time he stole, the time he took from all of us.