Page 20 of Gold Mine (The Diamond Trilogy 2)
Holly sits in the passenger seat, silently shredding a napkin she found in the center console. The floorboard is covered in white confetti. I know she feels bad about what happened this afternoon. I should say something reassuring, but I don’t feel reassuring. I feel pissed off. I’m angry that Liam broke things up, that he assumed the worst, even while I’m wondering if it was right. Maybe I am becoming my father. Where is the fucking line? I should tell Holly that I care about her, that I’m sorry about earlier, but what I really want to do is tell her to finish the blowjob she started while we drive to this meeting.
“We should talk about what happened,” she says finally.
“Should we?”
“Yes.” A firm answer that’s belied by her nervousness. When she runs out of napkin, she picks up the pieces on her lap and tears them into even smaller pieces. “We should.”
“I don’t know what there is to say. My brother caught us fucking.”
“And you thought you were taking advantage of me.”
“Wasn’t I?”
“No.”
“Right,” I say, a hollow feeling in my chest. “Other girls want roses and dates at nice restaurants. You like to be fucked after I teach you to shoot a gun.”
“Well,” she says, her tone reasonable. “I didn’t really learn how to shoot the gun. I don’t think you should count on being an instructor or anything. It’s not really your strong suit.”
Humor licks at the dark cloud that’s been hanging over me, and I have to fight the quirk of my lips. How does this woman manage to make me laugh when I’m ready to pound a concrete block into dust? “What should my profession be, then?”
“I mean you’re very good at this whole fighting soldier thing, but I guess… I guess you don’t do that anymore? Your work for the government? The whole undercover thing?”
“I was honorably discharged.” In other words, they were forced to release me because I had way too much dirt on the higher-ups. In particular, the lieutenant colonel. It was either let me go peacefully or order a hit. Part of me still looks over my shoulder for an assassin.
“So now you work for your brother?”
The hollow feeling is back. “Sure. Unless he fires me.”
“For having sex?”
“For forcing you to have sex. For degrading you. For using you.”
“You’re not giving me any control over the situation.”
I know I’m being an asshole, but I can’t help the taunting tone. “I thought that’s what you like, isn’t it? Me taking the control from you? That turns you on.”
She looks away, and I feel about two feet tall. What a bastard. Maybe I should knock her around for a few hours. Maybe then I’d really feel like my old man.
“Look,” I say, keeping my voice even. “Liam may not have been right about what he saw in that orchard, but he was right about one thing. I’m not good for you.”
“You’re wrong. You’ve already saved my life more than once. And now look, you’re coming with me on a dangerous meeting so I don’t have to go alone.”
“Did it occur to you that I like the danger? That it’s my exit strategy?”
“Your exit strategy? What do you mean?” And then my meaning sinks in, and her eyes widen. “Don’t say that, Elijah North. Don’t you dare say that.”
I turn my focus back to the winding road, but it doesn’t matter. I can say it or not. The truth is I’ve always had a death wish. As long as I can remember, I’ve been waiting for the killing blow.
Pink stucco rises from the cliffs, and I know we’ve reached our destination. Satellite maps already confirmed that Taggart’s compound is large and well fortified. We’re basically walking into a lion’s den. We only walk out if they let us.
If it was only me, I wouldn’t give a shit. That death wish comes in handy.
But it’s not only me. Holly is here, and I need her to be safe like I need to breathe.
“Let me do the talking, okay?” I say as we pull up to a wrought iron gate.
It’s a sign of how nervous she is that she doesn’t immediately argue.
Men with semi-automatic weapons approach the car.
We’re escorted into the mansion, up the marble steps and through a set of double doors of carved wood. The mosaic on the entrance features a large black dog and the words cave canem, a nod to the same flooring at Pompeii.
Sure enough, the sound of barking greets us as we step into an open-air foyer.
I’m not particularly worried about the dogs. I assume they’re like the men holding semiautomatic weapons—they only attack on their master’s orders.
Two large black pit bulls round the corner, and Holly makes a sound of surprise.
Concern strikes my chest, because if Holly acts afraid, if she runs from the dogs, they might chase. Because I’m a bastard who wants her to suck my cock, I’ve never asked her the things I should know. What’s your favorite color? Are you allergic to any food?
