Bang (Black Lotus #1)(16)

“You need anything?”

“For you to get your head on straight with this one.”

“I’ve got my head on straight, Pike.” I hate when he talks to me like that. Like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing when I’m the one pulling the biggest con here, putting his skills in the sewer. “My focus has never wavered. But I need you to trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

“Just be careful. Hands clean, remember?”

I nod and then grab the remote to turn on the TV. We spend the next few hours hanging out like we used to, but before it gets too late, I know I have to leave and head back into the city.

“With the holidays coming up, don’t get mad if I can’t get away, okay? I’ll try, but until January, it’ll be hard.”

“I get it. Don’t do anything stupid trying to come see me,” he says as we stand up and walk to the door.

I grab my coat and slip it on, then turn to give him a long hug. It’s hard to leave him, knowing he’s here in the shithole. He’s the only family I have and to not have any contact with him is scary for me since I know how easily family can be taken away. So with my cheek pressed to his chest, I take in his scent and hold on to it while he runs the fingers from both of his hands through my hair and down to my face. Cupping my jaw, he angles me to look up at him. His brown eyes are intense when he asks, “Hard as steel?”

“Yeah,” I breathe.

He taught me, at an early age, how to live without emotions. How to wrap that steel cage around my heart, always telling me that no one can ever hurt you if you can’t feel. So I don’t. Outside of Pike, there’s no one I’ll give that to because emotions are what make people weak. And I can’t afford to make that slip. The heart is a weapon—a self-inflicting weapon—that if not trained properly, can destroy a person.





I WATCH AS Bennett moves around the bedroom, getting dressed in his three-piece suit to go in to the office for the day. He arrived late a couple nights ago and as I presumed, his schedule is now packed with travel after the purchase he just made. Even though he’s home now, he’s been living at the office before he heads out again at the end of this week.

The chill in the air is getting to me, and I sink down into the bed and further under the covers.

“Do you need me to adjust the thermostat?” Bennett asks me as he nears my side of the bed.

“Are you not cold?”

He sits on the mattress beside me, leans down to kiss my nose, and then smiles.

“What?” I ask as he pulls away.

“Your nose is cold. Come here.”

I sit up, and he wraps me in his arms in an attempt to warm me up. Slipping my arms around his waist, under his suit coat, I curl into him.

“I missed this,” I breathe. “Having you—here—with me.”

“I know. I missed it too,” he says, moving back to look into my eyes. “You can always come with me, you know? You don’t have to be alone.”

“I know, but Declan has already scheduled appointments out with vendors for the party. I’ll be busy for the next few weeks.”

“How did your visit with the florist go the other day?” he asks.

Running my hand along his silk tie, I tell him, “It went well. I think we got nearly everything picked out.”

“Good.”

He combs his fingers through my hair and leans in to kiss me. Slow and soft, taking his time. Bennett tends to be overly affectionate after he returns from a trip, and I never deny him, so I shift up to my knees and hold his face in my hands. When he grips my hips, clutching onto the satin of my slip gown, I take over his mouth, urging him on. He pulls me down atop his lap, and his growing cock presses against me as I grind my hips into him.

“God, baby. I can’t get enough of you,” he mumbles against my neck, between his gentle kisses.

“You want me?”

“I always want you,” he tells me. “But you’re gonna make me late. I’ve got a meeting.”

Grinning at him, I say, “I’ll be fast,” before slipping off his lap and onto my knees on the floor beside the bed. Quickly working my hands, I undo his slacks and yank them down. And as he sits on the edge of the bed, I wrap my lips around his dick and suck him off while he moans my name.

Once fully satisfied, he kisses me deeply when I walk him to the door before he leaves.

“I hate that I have to leave when all I want is to make love to you all day.”

The ringing of my cell interrupts us, and he waits while I grab it off the kitchen counter and answer.

“Hello?”

“Nina, it’s Declan.”

“Hi.”

“I was wondering if you could stop by the hotel later today. Betty, from Marguerite Gardens, is having a few arrangements delivered for you to look at,” he says.

“Um . . . sure. That shouldn’t be a problem at all. What time would be good?”

“They should be delivered by noon.”

“Okay, I’ll swing by later then,” I tell him before we hang up.

“Who was that?” Bennett asks when I walk back over to him.

“Declan. The florist is sending over some sample arrangements for me to look at later today, so I’ll just take one of the cars to the hotel if Baldwin is going to be with you.”