He strides in looking perfectly handsome and expensive and apparently completely out of reach. His features soften when he’s close enough to touch. My eyes fall closed as he gently strokes his palm over my hair in what could be misconstrued as a demeaning, condescending gesture if it didn’t feel so comforting. Like a kitten, I lean into his touch and sigh.
“There’s my girl.” Soft, sweet words from a rigid, often cruel man. “So pretty when she pouts.”
I stick my tongue out, earning a chuckle from him that warms and soothes me. Sure, I’m mad at Winston, but after my rattling text conversation with Leo, I find strength in his presence.
“I don’t want the apartment. I want to stay over at your place tonight.”
“Ready to negotiate?”
I pop open my eyes and meet his stare.
“You can stay the night under three conditions.”
My brow arches up at his words. “I won’t agree—”
He silences me with a bruising kiss. His grip finds my throat as he deepens it. When I’m dizzy and aching for more, he pulls back slightly. “You let Perry show the apartment to you and you keep the key on your chain for emergencies.”
“And?”
“You suck my dick like you want to be awarded another night in my home. Make it good, and you might earn a few nights.”
Determined to win this round, I rub his dick over his slacks. “Deal. But let me warn you, Constantine, I might just suck my way through the month.”
“I knew there was a reason I keep you around.” He smirks and moves his palm down to cup my breast. “That filthy mouth of yours, Cinderelliott. I’m quite fond of it.”
And just like that, I think we’ve managed to drift back to familiar territory. I’m still way out of my depth with him, but he’s still letting me hang on for dear life.
“I’ve researched some new blowjob techniques too.” I grin at him in a devious way that makes him scowl. “Just wait until I stick my finger up your butt when you come. Pure magic.”
“If your finger goes anywhere near my asshole, you’ll be fishing those new apartment keys out of yours.”
“Oooh, kinky.”
“I’m leaving now,” he grumbles. “Go bother Perry. He’s waiting. See you at home later.”
He doesn’t wince at his misstep on his words, and I don’t gloat. Not now. Not when everything feels so brittle and fleeting.
“Bye, Win.”
“I don’t understand why we have to do this,” I grumble, shifting uncomfortably in the passenger seat and shooting Perry an annoyed glare. “We can just go back to Winston’s.”
“If we did that, I’d never hear the end of it.” He chuckles, turning into an apartment building garage. “Besides, it won’t hurt to have someplace to go if he pisses you off.”
“He always pisses me off,” I throw back. “But that’s kind of our thing. It’s what I like about him.”
He pulls into an open parking spot near the elevators and shuts off his loud car. His brows are knitted together as he studies me. “Your feelings are hurt.”
“You think?”
A heavy sigh escapes him as he rubs his thumb along the leather on his steering wheel. “He’s trying to do the right thing, Ash.”
“By pushing me away?”
“By giving you your space. Safety. A place to call home.”
Bitter tears sting at my eyes, and I busy myself with gathering up the bags of Chinese takeout we grabbed along the way. By the time I exit his orange horror show, the threat of crying has passed. We reach the elevator at the same time. He slings an arm over my shoulders and kisses the top of my head.
When I found out I was getting three stepbrothers, I expected this kind of relationship. Someone who I could count on and be friends with. Someone to talk to and have my back. And when everything felt like it was falling apart, someone to hug me, putting it all back together again.
“He’s just panicking,” Perry says when the doors open and we step inside. “Winston’s never been . . .” He trails off and laughs. “He’s never had someone like you before.”
“This apartment is case in point that he doesn’t want someone like me either.”
“No,” he says, pressing the button for the twelfth floor. “That’s not true. He wants you more than he’ll ever allow his stubborn ass to admit. He’s a lot like Mother. When feelings are involved, they harden to ice in an effort to protect themselves. But the person under all that coldness needs to love probably more so than either of us.”
My chest aches at the way Perry speaks of his family. For as rich and untouchable as the Constantines are, they really are human at their core.
The doors open, saving us from any more conversation about Winston. I’m not sure what I expected of this whore’s apartment, but I didn’t expect something so normal. Winston’s place is over the top expensive and new, but this place is older, restored to its original look, and probably has decades and decades of stories tucked away in its walls. I won’t admit it to anyone but myself, but I can breathe a little easier in this building that reminds me so much of the one I lived in with Dad all those years after Mom died.