My face flamed up about ten degrees at the same time all the air left my lungs. Dex chuckled, reaching across the counter to pick up my spoon. He handed it over with a smile that was as dangerous as a snake in tall grass. “We either need to get goin’ or you’re gonna need to hop up on the counter and give me a taste.”

I take it back, if any miracle had recently occurred, it was when I didn’t fall off the stool after that comment.

My brain scrambled. “Uh…”

Dex flashed me another wicked, slow grin, showing me those even white teeth. “Whatever you want, babe. I’m partial to stayin’ here, though.”

So was I, and I had no idea where these thoughts and needs came from. Hadn't I been fighting all this a day ago?

“We…. I should get a swim in.” What I needed to do was exhaust myself. Definitely. Alone.

He shrugged after a minute, blue eyes narrowing. “That works. I like the idea of waitin’ a few hours.”

I swallowed the obscene amount of saliva that had pooled in my mouth. Wait a few hours for what? I wasn't positive but I knew it was something good. “Yeah… Yeah. “

Dex slid off the stool, balancing his empty bowl in one hand and taking mine in his other.

I needed to get my head straight and quit remembering how his c**k had the slightest upward arch to it. Ahh.

I coughed, trying to clear my thoughts. "Do you know what your dad wanted yesterday?"

"Hell if I know. Nothin' good if he's callin' me. I'll call Lisa or Marie while you swim and see if they know."

Lisa and Marie... why hadn't I thought of that before? "Was your mom an Elvis fan or did she come up with the names on her own?"

Dex locked at me for a moment before chuckling. "Pa wouldn't let her name 'em Priscilla or Lisa Marie so she screwed him like that."

From the little I knew about her, and the significant amount I did know her son, that didn't surprise me one bit. "And you?"

"Named after my great grandpa, C.D. Dyson."

I lifted both my eyebrows. "Fancy. Can I call you C.D.?"

He shook his head. The corners of his eyes tilted up in that mocking little smile that didn't always reach his serious mouth. "Nah. I like you callin' me Charlie."

This friggin' guy.

I'd call him Princess Dex if he wanted me to.

He pulled back and smiled with his mouth that time, twisting me into knots with each millimeter it grew. "You ready?"

"One sec." I flashed him a little smile and darted into the living room, grabbing my stuff for the day.

He waited for me by the door, waving me out of the house and locking the door afterward. With a cool smile, he helped me onto his bike and dropped me off at the front of the center. Dex thread his fingers through mine and bit my knuckles before shooing me inside and taking off after I'd gotten in the building.

I swam and just let myself relax. I wasn't going to worry about whatever precarious relationship I found myself in with Dex, what Sonny would say when I finally called after avoiding him for two days, any of the mess with the Reapers, or who else my dad owed money to. It was one of those things that was completely out of my control.

Dex picked me up afterward, patting my thigh as I threw my leg over the back of his bike. The ride to Pins was broken into pieces when he'd palm my leg at every stop light. As soon as he'd parked his Dyna in his usual spot in front of the shop, he held out a hand to help me off—though he knew I didn't need it—and didn't let go.

I spotted the note on the door first. Dex’s eyes had been on the street, inspecting it up and down like he was looking for something, and I figured he’d crossed that path so many times he could have done it blindfolded. I tugged on his hand, earning those glowing blue embers in return.

“I swear I paid all the bills on time.” I shifted my eyes in the direction of the door with a tilt of my chin.

Dex’s attention shifted to the envelope that had been taped up. His strides got longer, making him pull me just a little as we closed the distance to his shop. He didn’t bother opening the door before tearing the blank white envelope across the top, yanking out an index sized card from inside.

The first sign I had that something was wrong was the flexing of a vein in his temple, then the corners of his eyes wrinkled, and finally his jaw clenched. He looked up and turned around, sweeping up and down the street in one glance. His grip tightened before unlocking the door and shoving me not so gently inside, locking it behind us.

“What happened?”

His eyes cut over to me, wide and battling some unknown war I had no clue of. I kind of expected him not to say anything, to keep me from worrying or something equally chauvinistic-like, but Dex shot me a hard look instead. “Shit’s up with The Reapers. I need to go talk to Luther, babe.” His hand tugged on mine. “Lock the door after me, and don’t open it unless it’s me or one of the guys.”

Oh crap. I nodded at him. “What if you’re late?” It wasn’t unheard of for Blake to get to work fifteen or twenty minutes after opening.

Dex shrugged. “Don’t open it, Ritz. It's nothin' bad but I need to go see Lu.” He trailed his fingers over my knuckles. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He left, leaving me to think about what Liam had said about the deadline for the revised debt. Friggin' crap. Why the heck were so many things out of my control? I wasn't a control freak but the complete absence of it was alarming and frustrating. Everything would hopefully work itself out once Sonny found our dad.

In hindsight, I should have known better than to ever assume that.

Chapter Thirty

There were very few things that ranked higher than calling Sonny on my list of things I didn't want to do.

Like getting my yearly pap.

Or having a root canal.

I’d even go as far as to say that I’d rather get an enema while stuck in a room with a flying roach.

For a few minutes in the break room, I'd even considered having a drink to relax me a little bit before facing the firing squad also known as my brother. But... yeah, no. No. I'd put it off for enough time. Now, with the note that had appeared on Pins' door, my time had run out.

The first thing out of his mouth after he picked up was, "I know your phone's not broken, kid."

I sighed. Of course this wasn't going to be easy. "I'm a big ol' chicken."

Sonny huffed. His tone was rough and straight to the point. "No shit."

"I'm sorry," I moaned pitifully. He had more than enough reasons to be mad at me for ignoring his calls but still. When Sonny was mad it was like having your guardian angel disappointed in you. It hurt. "I know I suck."

He huffed again. "The only thing that sucks is that you couldn't just call and tell me what you did. I had to hear it from Luther. Not you."

This conversation sounded remarkably like one I had with my mom when I forgot to take my medicine. Do you want to end up like me, Rissy? Obviously it was completely different subjects but the point was the same. I seemed to disappoint the people I loved the most sometimes.

And that...

Guilt and pain ripped at the cavern of my ribs.

"What pisses me off is that you lied to me, and then ignored me when I called to talk about it." Ugh, I felt even worse because what he said was mostly true. He would have been mad but maybe not as much?