Chapter Nine
Venom
A sense of pride fills me at not throwing Amaya over my shoulder and storming off to my room and fucking the shit out of her throughout the night. Her snarky attitude is something I don’t remember her ever having around me when I’d been with Emilia. Then again, Emilia blinded me to a lot of things. She spoke about Amaya like she was having to take care of her rather than them being roommates.
Witnessing Amaya throw her fit and say what she did proves to me Emilia lied through her teeth about her friend. She must have seen me noticing her for her to do that. Though I thought I loved Emilia, my eyes always caught Amaya and I felt something inside that always caused me to feel funny. When this happened, I felt guilty for it.
But not anymore, Amaya is standing in front of me, showing me the woman who she has always kept hidden from me. And damn if I’m not about to let her get away from me now. I refuse to let her leave and then something happen to her. She said Lincoln needed me to protect him. She’ll need it just as much. Especially, after I make this call I’m about to make. I’m sure I’ll be regretting it too.
“Give me the keys to your car and sit the hell down,” I command, holding my hand out for her keys, I can see bulging in her front pocket. If she doesn’t want to give them to me, I have no problem seeking them out.
“No, I’m leaving, and you can go to hell with your he-man fit about me staying in your bed,” she snaps with a roll of her eyes.
Shit.
Where had this fire been four years ago?
Stepping forward, I step into her space, her tits touch my chest and I can easily tell my closeness is affecting her. “Oh, Sweetness, you will be in my bed,” I grin wickedly as Amaya’s eyes widen. My hand slips into her front pocket and pulls out her keys.
Holding the keys up in the air toward Whip, I take a step back.
“Now you won’t be going anywhere,” I say, holding her gaze.
“Vete a la mierda. Puedo hacer lo que quiera sin que seas un idiota!” Amaya mutters, speaking in Spanish, her eyes widen, and she snaps her mouth shut, her hand going up to cover her lips. I know a little bit but not enough to decipher everything she’d just said. I do believe she called me a son of a bitch though in there somewhere.
Shaking her head, she lowers her head and shocks the shit out of me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that,” she murmurs quietly.
“Didn’t mean what?” I ask in confusion.
“I would prefer not to repeat the words that came out of my mouth. I don’t like to say mean things and I apologize,” she whispers.
“Amaya, you don’t need to apologize. Sit down and relax, you’re not leaving, so get the thoughts out of your head. I’ve already had a seriously shitty night after a long day on the road and it seems you and I were both on the road today,” I mutter, reaching out a hand, I cup the side of her face.
Nodding, Amaya sits down with her shoulders slumped forward.
Letting out a breath, I excuse myself and go outside. I notice Whip coming back up the driveway with two duffel bags and a stuffed snake. I smirk at the sight of the toy. Kid is definitely mine.
I pull my phone out and unlock it.
“You okay, brother?” Whip asks.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I need to make a call though,” I grunt.
“Save it for tomorrow. Let’s get Nerd in on this shit first and go from there,” Whip states. I completely get where he’s coming from and I nod.
We get Nerd in on it to see what he can dig up. Amaya isn’t one to lie. She doesn’t have it in her. I know this and so does Whip, over the years we’ve been able to pick up the stench of those who are weasels. Amaya definitely isn’t anything like that.
How could she be when her heart is made of pure gold?
The lights of another car pulling into the driveway draws both of our attention to it. “Dinner’s here,” Whip quips and heads inside.
Yeah, dinner’s here.
Time to feed my kid.
By the time we finished eating, Amaya, who I pretty much had to stand over while she ate her pizza has gone completely silent. She’d looked like she wanted to throw up at the sight of the pizza, she’d plucked all the toppings off the pizza and seemed to have a hard time swallowing the pizza down.
Lincoln had been easy to get down for the night and I left the bedroom door to the spare room open. I grab Amaya’s hand and pull her into my room. Her bag has already been tossed in here.
“Bathroom is through there.” I point to the open door in the corner. “Go ahead and get ready for bed,” I tell her and go ahead and climb into the bed.
“I . . . um . . . I can sleep in the other room with Lincoln,” she whispers shyly.
“Not happening, Sweetness, you’re in here with me.” I inform her while leaning against the headboard, my gaze going to hers while I reach out on the nightstand for the TV remote. By keeping my eyes on her, I don’t miss the way Amaya licks her bottom lip. “Go change, Amaya,” I prompt.
Amaya seems to come out of her stupor and goes to her bag, pulls out some things, and goes into the bathroom making sure to close the door behind her.
Sighing, I wonder to myself if I’m doing the right thing.
Of course, I am. Raven isn’t one to lie and she’d told me when she first met me, ‘A time will come and the dreams will lead
