I pretended that didn’t hurt. “If you hardly know me, why are you upset?”
Her eyes narrowed because she knew I had her. “I’m not upset. I’ve just lost interest.”
“Bullshit.” I pushed myself inside, forcing her to back up, and I shut the door behind me. “Don’t ignore me.”
“Don’t ignore me,” she snapped. “You said you were coming by, and you ghosted me.”
“I didn’t ghost you.”
“You sure as hell as ignored me.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Then tell me what happened…this time.”
I didn’t want to dump the intimate details of my business life on her, didn’t want to scare her off, but if I didn’t give her a reasonable explanation, she had every right to think I was a dick. “Work stuff… I had to take care of it.”
She narrowed her eyes like she didn’t believe me at all. “We aren’t exclusive, so if you were out with someone else, you’re perfectly entitled to it. But to lie…that’s so damn hypocritical.”
That was what she thought? “I wasn’t out with someone else. I told you I went to the ballet to see my sister.”
“But maybe you didn’t go alone.”
“You caught me,” I said sarcastically. “I took my father…”
“You don’t get to be an asshole. You completely ditched me—twice now. Shit happens and I get that, but the fact that you aren’t giving me an explanation tells me you were doing something you don’t want me to know about.”
“Exactly.” I moved closer to her. “My personal shit is personal. I don’t have to tell you a damn thing.”
She was still as the words washed over her, not showing any anger at the stupid thing I’d just said. “That’s fair, Damien. You don’t owe me anything. But I don’t have to put up with a man who flakes without explanation. So, get out.”
I’d lost my temper because I wasn’t getting my way, and now I’d put myself in a situation I didn’t want to be in. I could walk out that door and find another woman to warm my bed tonight, but I didn’t want that. Annabella was the only woman I wanted to be with right now. “This is what happened…”
“Forget it.” She walked to the door. “Just go.” She held it open.
I pushed it closed again. “Annabella.”
“You told me you didn’t lie.” She turned around to face me. “You said my ex was an asshole because he didn’t know how to treat me. Well, you’re all talk because you’re just another fuckup.”
Ouch.
“Whatever you were doing, you could have texted me back and said you couldn’t make it. That’s it. I wouldn’t have cared. But you completely ignored me.”
Because I got punched in the stomach, was threatened, and tried to take care of it through back channels.
“And that’s fine,” she said. “But I don’t want to do this anymore. I didn’t put up with my husband cheating on me, and I sure as hell won’t put up with a guy who drops me like that, even if this is just a fling.”
“Let me explain.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, sticking her tongue in the side of her cheek in annoyance, as if she expected me to say something stupid.
“I’m not seeing anyone else, and I’m aware that I can. If I were, I would answer you straight. I’ve got nothing to hide. But since I met you, I haven’t had any time to hook up with anyone else. I’ve been working around the clock, and all my free time has been spent with you—minus last night.”
She stayed silent and didn’t argue, which was a good sign.
“I don’t talk about the details of my life because I don’t want to scare you off.”
That snagged her interest. She stopped playing with her inner cheek. “You already told me you’re a drug dealer.”
“And I have to deal with shit every day because of it. Like last night.”
She stared and waited for an explanation.
“There’s a guy who’s demanding money from me, says I owe him for city services…which is bullshit. I basically told him to fuck off, and he said there would be consequences. So he accosted me last night while my father was in the bathroom.” I lifted up my shirt and showed the bruises on my stomach.
Her eyes widened. “Oh my god…”
“I dropped off my father and headed to a friend’s house…who is this guy’s twin. He owes me a favor, so I asked him to get the asshole off my tail. But that didn’t work. By the time I was done, it was midnight, and all I could think about was painkillers, so I went straight home and totally forgot about you.” I dropped my shirt.
Her eyes lingered on my injury even though she couldn’t see it. “You’re talking about the Skull King, right?”
Maybe I should give her more credit. “You know him?”