Barely Breathing(57)

Kane

I heard her laugh.

That rich, throaty laugh that made me smile and get horny for her all at once. I’d missed that laugh so damn much.

“I do believe it, actually,” she said. “You seem just crazy enough to do it.”

“Crazy can be fun.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. It was a man’s voice. Viv had just gotten out of a cab near her apartment with another f*cking man. From my spot on the side of her front stairs, up against a stone wall, they couldn’t see me. I couldn’t see them, either, but I could hear them.

“Don’t write me off, Miss Marceau,” the man said. “I know I test your patience, but there’s a lot to me you haven’t seen. The playboy reputation is more for show. I like being a one-woman man, if she’s as feisty and beautiful as you.”

My muscles tensed and I pressed a fist to my mouth, struggling to maintain control. I wanted to fly down to the sidewalk and kick this * into next week.

But I also wanted to know if she wanted him. Had she moved on from me already? Was I too late?

“Henley, thank you,” she said. “I’m flattered. But I’m . . . with someone.”

“Why the pause?”

“It’s complicated.”

He laughed. I could tell by the laugh the guy was a douchebag. It was girly. Fucker.

“Ah, complicated is never good. That usually means ‘I don’t know how to get myself out of this mess’.”

“It is a mess,” she agreed. “But I love him. And love isn’t something I take lightly.”

“Is this the guy you said would kick my ass for being friendly to you?”

“Yes. And he would. He’s fiercely protective and loyal. My unpolished gem.”

The man’s voice got a little lower. “Give a polished gem a shot, Vivian. You’ll find it quite nice.”

I sprang up from the step and jogged down. “She said no, motherf*cker. What’d you say to her? Did you touch her?”

The pretty twentysomething’s eyes got big. “What the f*ck?”

“Kane,” Viv said.

A burly man in dark clothes stalked toward me. “Back away from Mr. Cartwright, sir.”

“Make me, *. That’s my girlfriend he’s trying to get with.”

“Ah . . . this is where I should say goodnight.” Henley looked at Viv. “You know how to reach me.”

“I’m gonna reach you in about two seconds if you don’t get the f*ck out of here,” I said, stepping closer to him.

The bodyguard put himself between me and pretty boy, rushing him into a waiting car.

“Kane,” Viv said again.

I turned and took in her pained expression. “Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m not walking out. You told me not to walk out on you ever again and I won’t. I love you, Viv. Not a little. I love you with everything I am. I can’t go back to life before you. I f*cked up and I’m sorry. I should’ve told you about Cori.”

The corners of her mouth turned down sadly.

“It hurt so much, finding out you were torn between me and her, Kane. I don’t know if I can get past that.”

“It wasn’t like that. Not even close. I was never torn between you and her. For a few hours, maybe, I thought I had to choose between you and Brooklyn. Cori had me wondering if I was supposed to think of Brooklyn’s happiness instead of my own.”

Viv’s brow furrowed. “Because you being with me would make Brooklyn unhappy?”

“No.” I breathed out a cloud of cold winter air. “It makes Cori unhappy, but she f*cked with my head enough to make me wonder if I was being a shitty father. I was a shitty father for so long that I doubted myself.”

She nodded slightly.

“And by the way,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, “what the f*ck did Justin Bieber mean when he mentioned me kicking his ass for being friendly to you?”

“Henley?” She smiled at the Bieber reference. “That weekend I had to fly to L.A. he tried to hit on me. I told him you’d kick his ass if you knew.”

“Hell yeah, I would’ve. But I didn’t get a chance, did I? Because you never told me, Viv.”

She opened her mouth and closed it again. “This is different.”

I moved closer to her. “Like hell.”

“Kane . . .”

“Viv.”

A few seconds of silence passed.

“I love you,” I said. “I’ve never had this before, what we’ve got, and I’m not losing it. I’ll tell Cori no more visits at their house.”

Viv met my eyes solemnly. “You’ll tell her you want time with Brooklyn without her present. And if she says no, we’ll petition the court for it.”

A sliver of hope glowed warm in my chest. “Okay, that’s fair. I’ll tell her that.”

“And you’ll share stuff with me from now on. Not leave me in the dark.”

“I’ll never leave you in the dark again.”

Her eyes softened. “And you won’t let me sleep alone ever again.”

I put my hands on her hips, the soft, familiar curves of her making my blood pump. “Never again.”