Page 22

Nicola’s lips quirked up to the side and she laughed lightly, happily. “I broke his nose with a really good right hook.”

“You’re kidding me.” Abagail’s jaw dropped. “What the hell did he do?”

“He tried to get me fired, and lied about some of it. Pissed me off.”

Abigail laughed in disbelief, shaking her head slowly. “So what you’re telling me is that I can expect a call from Estelle, asking to pay for medical bills to the best plastic surgeon I can find in the Boston area.”

Nicola shrugged slightly, but she didn’t look remorseful at all. In fact, she seemed pretty fucking pleased with herself. “Maybe.”

“God damn it,” Abagail muttered and dragged Nicola back in for another hard kiss. “You really need to grow up.”

Nicola hummed, pulling Abagail’s lower lip between her teeth and scraping it. “I think you like me like this.”

“I like your ability to fuck for hours without getting worn out. Yes.” Abagail slapped Nicola’s ass. Despite Nicola’s best efforts, it wasn’t going to go beyond this tonight. “I don’t like the fact that you walked out of a job that you might still have if you’d just stayed put and dealt with the situation like an adult.”

“Like you’re dealing with it now?”

Abagail narrowed her gaze. “No. Not like right now.”

Why had she ever thought this was a good idea? Nicola was barely twenty-five and Abagail had turned fifty. She was literally twice Nicola’s age, and this situation really brought that out. Abagail wrapped her hands around the backs of Nicola’s thighs and pulled her in tight before moving to stand up and turning at the same time, plopping Nicola down onto the chair right where Abagail had been sitting.

She grabbed her drink from the side table and raised an eyebrow at Nicola. “Grow up.”

“Abagail!” Nicola squeaked, but Abigail wasn’t going to give in to it tonight.

She ignored Nicola’s plea or objection, she wasn’t quite sure which one it was, and walked straight up the stairs to her bedroom. She needed the quiet to think, and to figure out exactly what she was going to say to Elia when they did finally get together again.

Elia.

Now there was a woman who was perfect for Abagail. Mature. Calm. Strong. And someone who knew exactly what she wanted and was willing to work through the tough times instead of just walk out on them. Abagail pulled off her work clothes and lay under the blankets naked.

She flicked open her phone, again reading the text exchange between her and Elia. If only Nicola was a little bit more like Elia, then maybe this wouldn’t be such a strain. But in all her years of dating, Abagail had never found anyone like Elia.

She was unique.

And Abagail was in love with her.

No one compared.

nine

Nicola twisted the screw on the nipple clamp and then pressed the clamp to release her nipple from its grasp. Blood and sensation flooded into the nipple, a wave of pain following it in an instant. She cupped her breasts and massaged her nipple lightly before she released the second one.

She sighed and lay back into the comfortable bed that Abagail had given her in the room that she’d unofficially claimed as hers. What the hell was she doing there again? Why had she agreed to any of this?

It had felt right and wrong at the exact same time, and yet tonight…

Tonight left everything Nicola had thought about Abagail flipped upside down. Warren had always talked about her being ruthless, that she was the one who controlled everything and put the kibosh on so many things in their lives that they wanted to do—vacations, trips, purchases, business opportunities, significant others.

And yet Abagail had refused to fuck her because they were both upset and angry and had shitty days.

That didn’t scream of the ruthless woman that Nicola had come to know through her ex and his mother. She groaned asshe massaged her breasts again, trying to rid the pleasure and the ache from her skin. She had been ready to fuck, and it had taken her longer than she’d anticipated to convince her brain and her body to work together for that. So when she dipped her fingers between her legs to check, she was still wet.

But the desire to continue to touch herself was gone.

This house was so quiet. It unnerved her in ways that Nicola hadn’t anticipated. Even when she’d been with Warren there was always some sort of party or event that he was taking her to, noise and people surrounding them. But Abagail was silent. In fact, if Nicola closed her eyes, she was pretty sure that the only thing she’d hear was her own breathing and heartbeat. Not the sound of cars passing by as she tried to sleep, or the fear that some cop would knock on her door and wake her up to arrest her, or the constant chatter of the bars that she worked in.

Silent.