Page 76 of Shattered King

Lulu slid back onto her seat beside me, a small frown creasing her forehead.

“What’s up?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “Nothing. What did I miss?”

“I’ll fill you in when we get home.”

She nodded, and I loved that she trusted me to share what I’d learned. It was progress. I wasn’t going to fuck that up by keeping shit from her.

Raul grinned at Lulu. “Right, that’s enough business for tonight. Another drink?”

“I’ll get them.” I stood, needing a minute to clear my head, frustration riding me, and went to the bar.

The barman said he’d get someone to bring them to us. I started back to the table.

Someone’s fingers slid through my hair from behind, stopping me, then Cassie moved in, pressing her tits into my side.

“Hey, stranger, haven’t seen you around in a while.”

I gently moved her back a step. Cassie and I had been hooking up off and on since I got out. Nothing more than that. Still, I felt shitty for leaving her dangling. The last few weeks with Lulu and Josh, I’d only had one woman on my mind. Shit, since I first laid eyes on Lulu, it had only been her.

I didn’t beat around the bush; there was no reason to tread lightly. There were no deep feelings between us. We weren’t in a relationship, never had been. “Sorry, Cassie. What we had going on, it’s finished.”

Her soft brown eyes lost some of their light. “Oh, okay.” She bit her lip, tilted her head to our table at the back of the club. “You’re seeing someone?”

Not her business, still I felt I owed her some honesty. “Yeah.”

“You’re not going to mess around on her?”

“No.” Never. I didn’t want anyone else, never would.

She backed up. “Well, you know where to find me if you change your mind.” Then she gave me a little wave, turned, and walked away.

I headed back to the table. A few minutes later, fresh beers were was put in front of Van and me. The waitress smiled at my brother and tried to climb on his lap. He grinned at her, but shook his head, politely declining. I knew he did it because Lulu was there. I smirked at Van, enjoying his scowl, and took a deep pull of my beer. It’d been a while since we hung with Raul. This felt good, more than good, sitting here with Lulu, with my family.

Lulu took my hand under the table, twining our fingers together. My chest tightened, like it always did when she did sweet stuff like that. She was starting to open up more. I finally felt like she was letting me in.

I pulled her into my side. Sometimes it felt like I couldn’t get her close enough. I craved her constantly. She was like a fucking drug, and I couldn’t get enough of her. Now more than ever, we needed this closeness. After what she’d been through, we both needed it. It’d taken all my control to lock it down when she’d frozen up on me last night.

Pierce would pay for what he’d done. I’d make sure of it. Like fuck would he win.

We’d get through this, together. I was getting my Lulu back, little by little. And I wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t back off, not until I had all of her again.

Whatever it took.

Lulu

Hunter had filled me in on what Raul had on Pierce on the way home from the club. Pierce was taking a huge risk staying in New York, and it solidified my belief that he’d completely lost his mind.

It had been good to see Raul again after all these years. I liked him a lot, and you couldn’t miss the affection he had for Hunter. I loved seeing it, seeing them together, the way they interacted.

Hunter unlocked the door. We walked in to find Ruby and Neco, who had been babysitting josh, arguing.

Ruby snatched up her bag as soon as she saw us. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said to me, and then her eyes went to Hunter. “Next time, send a different bodyguard. This one’s an asshole.” Then she stormed out.

Neco stared after her, jaw ticking.

Okaaaay.