Page 50 of Foxx
I take a sip of the coffee. It’s delicious. “I can drive myself.”
“Nope. He wants you to go with me, and a prospect is out there too, ready to follow.”
I huff out a breath. There’s no arguing with that. “Do I have time to shower?”
“I’d prefer it. You sorta smell like the bottom of a whiskey bottle.” Roz grins at me as she sips her coffee. I choke on mine a little, remembering him pouring it all over me.
“Look, it’s obvious the two of you have this little love-hate thing going on, but youarelucky you’re under his protection, you know. What I told you about Dagger was just the tip of the iceberg. You might think you have Aiden figured out, but I promise you, honey, you don’t.”
I don’t know why, but for some reason, I want to believe her.
Because you’re a slut for the way he touches you.
“I don’t know what’s up or down right now, and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface with Aiden.”
“The surface is all he has to offer anyone, honey,” she says, taking a seat on the sofa. “Get moving. I’m on a schedule.”
As I head to the shower, I refuse to believe that about him. I feel like this is the closest I’ve been to seeing more of him, and now it’s a need. I sigh as I strip out of my clothes and ask myself how I got here. Bite marks line my inner thighs. And lookingin the mirror, I picture what Nic’s expression would be if she knew I was staying with Aiden.
But she’s not here. She never will be again.
And the only place I get relief from that grief is when Aiden’s lips are on mine.
* * *
“Turn left at the stop sign and it’s at the back of the street, number 109.”
Roz follows my directions as we make our way through my neighborhood an hour later. I glance in the side mirror and see the prospect behind us, a few cars back.
A vintage late seventies tan pickup truck is still there too, and it unnerves me. It’s been following us since the cutoff at the highway.
I remind myself that Aiden might be making me paranoid because aside from that truck, and Dicky, the streets are quiet. This house has been in my mother’s family since my grandparents were married in 1975. Since my own parents were never officially married, it’s in the Crawford name still and has no affiliation with the Hounds of Hell or Nicola, but I’m sure Aiden wouldn’t have to search too long to realize who Jennifer McNally was before she was McNally.
“This is a sweet area, quiet,” Roz says as she drives. “You got family here?”
I shake my head no. “Most of my family is dead,” I say softly, looking out the window at the familiar surroundings. A neighbor cutting his grass. A kid riding a bike while his mom pushes a stroller behind him. It’s all the same but feels so empty now.
“So is mine,” she says cautiously. “I lost my mother and my sister when I was twenty.”
I turn and look at her. “I’m sorry. Were you close?”
“The closest.” She smiles, but her eyes are far away as she watches the traffic.
“Me too.” I gulp back the sting at the bridge of my nose. “My sister was my best friend.”
“What happened?” Roz asks.
I swallow down the urge to tell her that Nic was raped and her boss might have had something to do with it. Instead, I offer, “She overdosed.”
“Fuck.” Roz glances at me, empathy in her eyes. “Recently?”
I quickly wipe away the tear that spilled down my cheek and straighten up. I can’t give this woman any more information.
“Fairly,” I say in the vaguest way possible.
“I’d like to say it gets easier, but it doesn’t,” she says with a sigh. “My father got drunk and turned the stove on to cook. Burned the whole place down while the rest of the family was asleep. He got out, but he didn’t even try to save anyone else. Just saved himself.”
I can’t even imagine. “You weren’t there?”
