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“You okay?” she asks, and my heart melts at the concern in her tone.
“I’m… great.”
“Told ya I’d take care of you,” Phantom says, slipping his hand between us and rubbing my hip with his fingers.
I chuckle. “Yeah, you did.”
“I, uh…” Jez presses her lips together.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I think I’m gonna need that to happen on a regular basis,” she blurts, and Phantom and I both laugh.
“Pretty sure we can handle that,” he tells her.
Jez pushes up onto her elbow. “I had no idea you were so bossy,” she teases him.
“You loved it,” he accuses playfully.
“I did,” she admits. “But I’m still your boss.”
She tries to look stern, but all she’s able to pull off is the most adorable expression.
“Out of the bedroom, you can be whatever you want,” he says. “Butinthe bedroom, we’re in charge.” He tips his head to include me.
Jez rolls her eyes. “Fine. But can I be the boss for a minute?”
“Sure.”
She smacks Phantom’s chest before doing the same to me. “What the fuck, guys? You’re prospecting?” she snaps at him. “And you agreed to it?” she barks at me.
“If we make you come again, can you forgive us?” I ask, sitting up and fisting my hand in her hair.
“I… Yeah, um…” Jez grips my wrist and urges me to let her go. “No, wait. I wanna know what the two of you were thinking. And what happened in church?”
“You know we can’t te?—”
“Don’t you dare say you can’t tell me because it’s club business,” she bites out. “I know you talked about McCormick andmybusiness, so it’s only fair to fill me in.”
Phantom and I exchange a look, and I know he wants to tell her. Shit, I do, too.
Over the next ten minutes, we explain what was discussed, but keep it to as simple an explanation as possible. When Phantom divulges that Soul wants to meet her team, she balks, but it doesn’t take much to make her see that it’s a great way for her twin to see her in her element and to prove to him that she can take care of herself.
“Fine,” she huffs. “I’ll see if they’ll come.”
“Good,” Phantom says. “Now, let’s see what we can do about making you come… again.”
“What the hell happened to you?
Four pissed off faces stare back at me from the monitors. Diabla’s the first one to question my fading bruises, and this is why I waited so long to check in with my team via a video conference call. Instead, I opted to use text messages to apologize for my disappearance and reassure them all that I was fine and handling some personal shit. They’re not stupid, and I knew they didn’t buy it, but I needed time to come up with an explanation for my actions.
Signing deeply, I reply, “That’s what I’m calling about.”
“Where’s Phantom?” Diabla demands. “Is he fucking missing now, too?”
Phantom steps into the frame. “I’m right here.”
Damn it! I told him I wanted to explain things first.