“Every night?” she asks, surprise showing on her face.
“Every other night. Depends,” I mutter.
“On?”
“On whether I’ve fucked or not,” I snap. I’m tired of the questions. She writes on her notepad and that just pisses me off more.
“So, you need to have sex in order to get an hour’s sleep?” I click my neck from side to side to try and relieve some of the tension there. “Do you have a partner? A wife?” she adds, and I laugh.
“Do I look like the kinda guy who has a wife?”
“What does a guy with a wife look like?” she asks thoughtfully. I run my fingers through my hair irritatedly, and she writes more notes in her little pad of witchery.
“I fuck what I want. Sometimes I visit the same woman, but if she’s not around, then whoever.”
“Okay,” she says slowly. “Let’s concentrate on the woman you see most of the time. When you see her, do you stay the night together?” I shake my head. “Why?” she asks.
“Because her husband wouldn’t approve.” I sigh.
“Married. Interesting.”
“Is it?” I snap.
“I’m wondering if you have sex with a lot of married women?”
“I just told you, I fuck whoever I want.”
“Have you had a long-term girlfriend before, Elijah?”
“It’s Cree,” I growl. “Call me Cree. No, I haven’t.”
“Do you think that you avoid relationships?” she asks.
“I think I like the freedom to fuck around,” I snap. She isn’t deterred by my crude talk and writes more notes. “What’s this got to do with anything?”
She looks up from her notepad. “Sorry?”
“Sex. Sleep. I’m on probation because I caved some fucker’s head in. They said I had anger issues, but they forgot to mention he was a dirty fucker and he deserved it.” The paedophile I caught trying to drag some teenager down an alley and into his car was about to take her to a sale. She’d be across the other side of the world now if I hadn’t stopped him. Riggs pulled strings and I got probation with terms instead of jail time. I should be grateful but coming here is part of the terms and I hate fucking talking.
“You don’t think you have an anger issue?” she asks, smirking.
I glance at my watch. “I think my time is up.” I smile, taking great pleasure in walking out.
I step out into the cool evening air. Winter’s coming and the dark nights are drawing in. The London streets are busy with people out for food and socialising. That shit doesn’t interest me. Seeing couples holding hands and chatting happily makes me shudder.
I hear her before I see her. The sound of Eva’s laughter reaches my ears and then I spot her walking towards me arm-in-arm with another man. She looks like all these other loved-up fuckers, only she doesn’t have a boyfriend.
I stop and people tut their annoyance at the interruption to the flow of walking traffic. Eva almost crashes into me before stopping and looking up. Her lips go into an O kind of shape and I resist the urge to press my thumb over them to feel their softness. “What are you doing here?” she breathes.
“Business,” I reply. We stare at each other for a few seconds. The world moves around us, but I swear all I can see is her.
She shakes her head and it breaks our spell. “Sorry, this is Chris. Chris, this is Cree. He’s a friend of Anna’s,” she explains. Chris holds out his hand, but I continue to stare at Eva, and when it’s clear I’m not gonna shake it, he stuffs it back in his pocket.
“Where are you going?” I grit out.
“To see a film and then to get some food,” she replies. I nod my head and then cast my eyes at her date. He’s tall and geeky-looking.
“You like him?” I ask. “Really?”
“Jesus, Cree,” she hisses. She takes my arm, and I glare down at her hand on me and raise an eyebrow. She releases me and I follow her to the side of the walkway, away from her date.
“That’s so rude. I know you think I’m disgusting, but please don’t make every man run a mile.”
“I don’t think that,” I say.
She rolls her eyes. “Oh please. You made it very clear how you feel about me. Chris is a nice guy. He treats me well.”
“You fucked him?” I ask.
“What the hell, Cree?” she hisses. “Keep your voice down.” She takes a deep breath. “You’re so weird. I have to go.”
I watch her walk away. This is what I wanted for her—a nice guy, a normal life. So why do I feel like my heart’s just been trampled on?
I get a text early the next morning to meet the guys at the gym. I’ve been ducking out of our workout sessions with Riggs and Chains lately, choosing to stay up late watching Eva. I left her alone after seeing her last night, but not knowing whether she took that guy back to her place is killing me. A workout is exactly what I need to de-stress. Doctor Chapman is always saying so.
We take turns spotting each other on the weights. “You still fucking that rich bitch?” asks Riggs. I lower the bar to my chest and growl as I push it back up to the bars.
“Why?”
“Her old man called. He needs security again for an event. He requested you, but if you’re still fucking his wife, I thought it’d be best to send Chains,” says Riggs.
“No, I’m good to do it,” I say as I begin another set.
“You sure?” asks Riggs. “I don’t want shit to go down. Pulling off this venture is important to the club.”
“Pres, I’m good to do it,” I mutter, and he nods his head. Since Anna and Ziggy were taken, Riggs has been trying to turn the club around. The security side was Chains’ idea. People pay a fortune for ex-Forces security and we have a whole team of guys. It’s how I met Shelly
