demand answers, demand respect.
But I had to tread lightly, there was no way she could know I was on to her. No more trapping her into eating meat. I would treat her like a real girlfriend, disarm her, and she wouldn’t know what hit her.
I pulled around the corner to find her sitting on a bench, hands in her lap, shoulders slumped. For the first time since I’d met her as Ksenya, she looked disheveled.
My stomach knotted. Had she been assaulted? Until I could get her to admit to what she was up to, I had to stay close. To protect her. I had no fucking clue what or who she was involved with.
I stopped the car and she jumped inside. Her skin was dirty, her hair was tangled, and I noticed her dark roots and extensions. Mascara was smeared down her face. Dried spots of blood were on her neck and face.
Fuck me. “What the fuck happened to you? Tell me the truth.”
She bit her lip. “It is nothing. My car, it crash on freeway. These men pick me up and take me to here. I am okay. Thank you for getting me.”
Lying again. Fuck this bitch. I needed to step up my game and figure out what was going on. “Fine, whatever. You’re staying with me tonight.”
“But you said to me last night to get the fuck out.”
“I changed my mind.”
She nodded and didn’t speak, which was probably for the best. I considered giving her an excuse for kicking her out the other night, but I saw no reason to lie. I never made excuses for my actions and I wasn’t going to start now.
I drove back to my place, stopping at a drive-thru. I asked Mia what she wanted to eat, and even though she said she wasn’t hungry, I ordered her a salad.
Back at my place, I took her into the bathroom to clean her up and examine her wounds.
“Take off your clothes.”
She flinched back, but I didn’t have time for her games. Not today. “Now, woman.”
She pulled the tight white tank top over her neck and my eyes zeroed in on her huge tits. Her nipples were barely covered by the black bra she was wearing. I gritted my teeth thinking about all the guys at the bar today who had been eye-fucking her.
She wiggled out of her tight jean skirt, revealing a see-thru mesh black thong. My cock rose to attention. I wanted to bend her over, slap her ass, and take her from behind.
But instead I took out my first aid kit.
Her hair was tinged red and stuck to the gash on her forehead. I cleaned it up with hydrogen peroxide, but the wound wasn’t too deep. My hands made their way down her incredible body, exploring her curves, looking for any more injuries, but besides superficial scratches, she was fine. My hand grasped her neck, pulling her body toward me, and I pressed the tip of my cock on her panties, so she could feel how much I wanted her. She gasped, leaned in to kiss me, and I pushed her away.
I left her in the bathroom and threw her one of my old T-shirts and some sweats.
I ate my meal at the table and Mia picked at her salad on the sofa. This was a fucking nightmare. I had the hottest woman—who happened to be the love of my life—alone in my place, yet I refused to fuck her. I couldn’t stand to be in the same house as her. I had to treat this as a mission—a mission to find out what happened to her baby.
“Where’s your car?”
“I had it towed to shop. I get it fixed and get it back soon.”
She had an answer for everything. I studied her face, which now seemed less angelic and slightly sinister, her blond hair wild and sexy.
From here on out, I would step up my game. Finding out what had happened to Mia’s child was my first priority, then I’d get to the bottom of Joaquín’s stripper’s murder case, though if Julián was Mia’s kid, or even possibly Joaquín and Tiffany’s kid, then the man definitely had a motive. And I didn’t have any other leads. I’d laid low, listening, trying to cull some intelligence. So far I had nothing, other than a few rumors Joaquín was involved in some underground drug ring. But I’d never