When he slides the tin over to me, I stop it with my hand.
He blows out a cloud of white. "Have a cigar with me, Max."
I close the tin. "So we have a deal then?"
A rough sigh leaves him as he stares straight at me. Lies are easy for dishonourable men to tell. But Jimmy is a man of his word, so although I can see the agreement on his face, his tongue is having trouble sealing the deal. I just need to be confident that this proposition is worth more to him than his pride, more than Dustin, and more than whatever he has planned for Ben Slater, because I will surely say no when the time comes to use him.
"I couldn't run a scheme like this without Max. And we can't trust anyone else with this either," Clay states plainly.
I stifle a grin, burying my cocky fucking nature deep for a moment.
Jimmy removes the cigar from his lips, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger. "You, my boy" –he points, waving the cigar– "Facìsti n’affare."
Deal.
Cassidy
Floating on my back in the canal just outside of casa Butcher, I make water angels with my arms, moving the water forward and back to keep myself stationary. There is no current here, but it's deep enough to allow large boats through. Toni and I tried to dive to the bottom a few times, but I couldn't touch the sand and the water is green and dark and slightly murky. It's clean though, or so I've been told.
I glance down at my bathing suit to look for grime, but there's none to be found. A smile curls my lips. I'm wearing the same pink one piece I wore the first time Max and I ever spoke without the added delirium of alcohol. Pink. High riding at the hips. Arching at the buttocks. I like them. They are both modest and somehow not. . .
As the sun's warmth hits my cheeks in a lovely, soft way, I listen to the water swishing against my ears. Combined with the slow relaxed beat of my heart, it reminds me of my blob. Having only heard his heartbeat a few hours ago, I can honestly say it's such a similar sound.
I have no idea why Max booked me in for another ultrasound so soon. It wasn't necessary until twelve weeks gestation. Maybe, it has something to do with his caveman decision to switch my fricking phone off and have me sleep until fricking 10.am. Yeah, maybe it has something to do with that.
Fricking controlling butthead.
So my later than ideal start, combined with a spontaneous midday ultrasound appointment, basically wrote off today for me. When I feel fingers thread through mine, I grin over at Toni, who is now floating beside me. I drop my legs beneath me and begin to tread water so I can talk to him.
Water beads on his bronzed skin and dark lashes. "How does he even know my screen-lock pattern?" I ask.
He rolls his brown eyes. "Firstly, you don't need to know someone's lock pattern to switch a phone off. Seriously, grandma? Secondly, are we still on this?"
"Yes!" I state, splashing him a little. "I'm pissed at him for making a decision like that for me. If he wanted me to have another ultrasound, he could have just asked. I would have said yes. I would do anything for him. I let him run every aspect of our lives but not my daily schedule. He is at work or the gym. I do my own thing. I'm. . . ugh. He's such a butthead."
Toni wiggles his brows. "Speaking of butts and head. You have to stop holding out on the details. So if you love it when he licks your arsehole, just say it."
My mouth drops open; I am once again floored. "How do you find a way to redirect every conversation to suit your agenda?"
He chuckles, tipping his shoulders in delight. "It's a talent of mine."
A cheeky grin forms across his face, provoking flashes of last night to hit me in a rush. Max's tongue and teeth and. . . I press my thighs together, ignoring the pulsing between my legs. "Yes." I breathe the word. "I like it. Can we move on from that?"
His entire face is suddenly bright with mischief. "Well, yes, you can move on from that, but that would be letting him fuck your arse."
Ugh! "Not what I meant, obviously."
Unfazed by my tone, he sings, "You'll like it."
I'm surprised when I shake my head, cause, like, all of a sudden this is the topic of conversation. "It'll hurt."
"Actually, under the right conditions, it shouldn't," he states smugly. "I'm kind of the authority on this topic. No offence waaaas" –he quickly changes the direction the sentence was heading– "needed and Braidy still handcuffs me and takes me like I'm a convict.
I smile hard. "You just did it again."
"Yeah. Sorry," he says, swaying his arms in the water. "Anyway, I'm surprised you haven't already."
I sink down a little, my legs getting tired of kicking. "He's big, Toni. Like big and . . . you know, thick."
He beams at me. "So it wasn't really a starter shaft?"
"Oh no," I say, wide eyed, remembering the ache I felt the first few times he entered me. And still, even to this day, sometimes it's just too much. "It's definitely not an apprentice appendage."
His expression deadpans. "Not a rookie rod? Not a trainee tube?"
I cover my giggle, my cheeks burning. "More like an expert level erection."
Toni smacks his lips in contemplation. "What's above an expert?"
I beam so hard my face hurts, remembering the first time Max and I ever spoke. I thought he was too hot to be human and therefore must be a male witch. . .
A warlock.
"A warlock!" I state with a giggle.
He cracks up, his eyes thin smiling lines. "Definitely a warlock wand then?" Toni pretends to wave
