Page 20 of Damon

“Hello?” She sounded nervous. Wary. I loved it.

“Open the door, cupcake. It’s time to start paying your dues.”

There was a pause before she said, “It’s late, Damon. Go home.”

“Nope. I’m willing to scale this building and climb up to your balcony. Is that what you would prefer?” I smiled to myself, knowing that I had already won.

“Are you fucking serious?” Athena muttered. “God, you are such a pain in the ass.”

A moment later the door buzzed as the lock disengaged. I let myself inside with a chuckle. Everything about her was so much fun. As I reached her suite, she jerked the door open, poking her head into the hallway.

“Why must you do this to me?” she demanded, doing her best to block my entry as I shoved inside.

“Get changed.” Ignoring her question, I gestured to the hallway that led to her bedroom. “We have a job to do. Wear something black.”

Athena stood there in loose fitting PJ pants and a tank top that revealed she wore no bra. She stared at me like she wasn’t sure she had heard me correctly.

“A job?” she repeated. “What are you talking about?”

Wanting to mess with her a little, I strolled past her and down the hall. There were two bedrooms. The first was relatively empty of personal objects, so I continued to the one at the end of the hall. Athena hurried behind me, demanding that I stop.

“We need to get moving. As adorable as those PJs are, you can’t wear that where we’re going.” I went to the closet and opened the door, pawing through her clothes for something comfortable and black.

Her small fists pummeled my back. “What do you think you’re doing? Get out of my closet. In fact, get out of my bedroom, and get out of my apartment. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You absolutely are. I need a lookout. Now get dressed before I dress you myself.” Finding a pair of black sweatpants on a shelf in the closet, I tossed them in her direction.

She caught them with a colorful array of expletives. “You can’t just show up here unannounced and start making demands of me. I didn’t agree to be part of your criminal endeavors.”

“Sure you did. You agreed to owe me until I decide I’m done with you. There were no conditions. Now get dressed.” When she continued to stand there and glower at me, I pulled her PJ pants down. I said I would dress her, and I meant it.

Wildly waving both hands, she shoved me away. “All right, all right. I can dress myself, thank you very much. Back off.”

Athena tried to shoo me from the bedroom. I sat down on the end of the bed instead, motioning for her to hurry up. “Get on with it then. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

“Well you haven’t seen mine before so turn around.” She stood there glaring daggers at me until I turned to look at the opposite wall. The sound of clothes being pulled off and on followed. “You really have some audacity, you know that? To show up here like this and start making demands of me. You are so out of line.”

I snickered, enjoying her little tirade. “Just so you know, all you’re doing is making it far more likely that I will show up here and do this again. Your reaction is exactly what I wanted. I’ve always loved a challenge.”

“Challenge this.” Athena’s snarl was accompanied by something soft but heavy bouncing off the back of my head.

I turned around to find a stuffed animal laying on the bed behind me where it had fallen after she had thrown it at my head. Picking up the fluffy elephant toy, I cocked my head to one side. “Come on now. You can do better than that. Don’t you have a snow globe or even a hairbrush or something?”

Athena’s gaze strayed to a wooden jewelry box on her vanity table. “Don’t give me any ideas. You’re lucky you only got the elephant.”

My laughter earned me a middle finger. That only made me laugh harder. I watched with obvious amusement as she retied the braid that fell over one shoulder before tugging on a dark navy hoodie.

“I’ll have you know that if we get arrested, I’m completely throwing you under the bus,” she said before storming from the bedroom.

“I wouldn’t have expected otherwise.” I followed her, trying to resist the urge to catch her from behind. To grab her by the waist and pull her against me. There would be time for that later.

Pulling open the apartment door, Athena motioned for me to exit first so she could lock up behind us. “When this is over, I don’t want to hear from you for at least a week.”

I sauntered from the apartment into the hallway, smirking to myself. “Good luck with that.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

ATHENA