Page 12

"Mind your business, blondie." Az spoke from behind us.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw him standing just outside the sliding door. "You're just crabby because your ma was a hooker." I snickered, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Your mom was a what?" Victoria sputtered from the pool.

"That's enough, Leighton. We're not here to fraternize with the enemy." Az barked at me as he stalked toward us.

"Oh, hate sex is, like, the hottest." Tiffany interjected, causing me to snicker.

Victoria's friend was definitely a little spitfire all by herself. The pair of them were going to be trouble. I sidled closer to the edge of the pool and leaned down, motioning for Victoria to come closer. She gave me a suspicious look but waded closer to the wall anyway. The view went straight to my dick.

"Az's mom turned to hooking after his daddy passed and some small jobs didn't pan out to keep our poor boy fed and housed. Sadly, she passed when a John didn't want to pay for what he'd purchased." I whispered loudly behind my hand.

Az's shadow cast over the pool, and I didn't spare Victoria's wide, shocked eyes a second glance as I dove into the water to escape his anger. I resurfaced behind her and pulled her flush against me like a shield. Having her so close, I couldn't resist grinding into her.

"Get the fuck up here, Leighton, and answer for that." Az growled through gritted teeth. The look on his face would have been murder if it were anyone else. I probably did owe him a free shot.

"There's no shame in what happened to her," Victoria spoke so softly that her voice was nearly a whisper. "She sounds like someone worth knowing. I'm sorry that you lost her like that."

Az reared back like she'd slapped him. "Don't fucking patronize me, Victoria Bristol." He sneered, spitting her name like a curse, before turning on his heel and storming back into the house.

She freed herself from my hold and moved toward the pool's lip like she wanted to follow him.

"Let him be,ma petit démone." I said, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her back against my chest. "Our boy needs a little space right now."

"Way to kill the mood, crazy eyes." Tiffany snorted. "For a minute there, I thought your friend was gonna give us a show, but you had to overplay your hand."

My face whipped toward the woman. "You play poker Princess Barbie?" I snorted. "Or are you just using words you don't understand?"

"I'm onto your game, crazy eyes. And maybe next time I'll come over and show you how to play, since you appear to fold while you're holding a royal flush."

"You are a bitch." I laughed, wagging my finger at her. "I'm in."

CHAPTER SEVEN

Az

If someone else didn't kill her when all this was over, I just might. She was pure evil, hiding behind those innocent eyes. I slammed the patio doors behind me as I stormed through the house to get upstairs to my room.

"I thought I told you to watch them." Rich's voice came from somewhere behind me.

"Fuck you Rich. You fucking watch them. I'm done." I didn't wait for a response as I climbed the stairs two at a time.

Leighton was going to pay for that shit, one way or another. I slammed my door behind me, hearing the jam crack slightly at the force. I looked around my room, needing to break something. It would have been better to go to the gym, probably, but fuck it. I grabbed a decorative vase from the table beside my door and threw it at the opposite wall. The glass shattering was satisfying, but it wasn't enough. Following it were several other decorative and, more importantly,breakablethings. Before long, the floor was littered with glass and porcelain. A knock at my door broke the angry haze I was seeing for a second.

"WHAT?" I yelled as I yanked the door open.

Rich looked at me calmly, his eyebrow raised and arms folded across his chest. I sneered at him and moved away from the door and let him in, slamming the door behind him because Ifucking could. He took the room in slowly before turning around to look at me.

"I don't know what's got you so angry, but I don't think breaking Prudence Bristol's things is the answer." His voice was stern, but it wasn't harsh.

Guilt washed away the anger that had boiled through my veins before, and I sagged against the door as he spoke. I looked around the room without the red haze clouding my vision and felt worse for every broken trinket on the ground.

"Fuck! How can she be so fucking evil and have come from someone so good?" I shoved my hand through my hair and sank down to the floor.

"The Princess?"

"Of course, the fucking Princess! Who the fuck else would I be talking about, Rich? Prudence was a goddamn saint. When mom lost the trailer after dad died, Prudence made sure we had a place. Hell, even after mom turned to prostitution, Prudence was there. She never said anything about it, just made sure me and mom had what we needed. If it hadn't been for her, who knows where I would have ended up when mom died. I'd have been tossed into the system and who knows if I'd have been able to find my way back to you guys after that?"