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“You told Sarah’s date you were going to let the homeless rape him,” Daffodil answers, raising her shoulders, like this should be obvious.
But I’m done talking to Daffodil as I set the container of soup on the counter and reach for Chloe’s face. “You still haven’t answered me. Who did that to your face?”
Chloe lets out a long breath. “This guy who was with Alexander.”
“What guy?” I look at the marks on her skin and I know that I’m going to end whoever touched her like this.
“His name was Preston. Preston Wingate.”
I go very still. Preston fucking Wingate? Gris has been asking me to take care of this problem and I’ve been putting him off… “Fuck,” I rumble as I wrap an arm under her ass and lift her into the air.
Her hands come to my shoulders, her body molding into mine. “My face will heal,” she says, “But the money I’m going to lose…”
“Baby, you don’t need to worry about that.”
“Killian, you’re not paying for things for me.”
I would. Her tuition means nothing to me. But I already know Chloe’s got a lot of pride in that regard and I’m not trying to take that away from her. “We’ll talk about who pays for what later.”
“Put me down, Killian.”
“Why?”
“Because,” she huffs out a breath. “Alexander and Preston told me they weren’t fans of your family, that I should stay away.”
I stop again. They targeted her, not just because she rejected Alex but because of her affiliation with us. With me.
My teeth grind together. “Do you want me to put you down because you think I’m causing the problems in your life?”
She looks away, nipping at her lip. “I can barely keep myself afloat. I can’t be caught in some…” She drifts off.
Very gently, I turn her face back to mine. “We’re fixing this. Starting with your job. Triston called Leo Kincaid, and Leo said he’d hire you at his nightclub, Temptation, whenever you want. Tips there are off the hook.”
She looks down at me for one second, her lips parting in surprise, before her mouth crashes down over mine. Her legs come around my waist, her arms wrapping around my neck. I slant her mouth open and dive in with my tongue. We haven’t made it to her room yet, so I stop in the hall, devouring her mouth.
She’s got on this cute night shirt, which gives me all kinds of access to her panty-covered pussy and I take full advantage, sliding my fingers over her until I’ve got my middle finger right on her clit.
“Ahem,” Daffodil says from behind us.
“Sorry,” Chloe gasps, but I don’t look back as I open Chloe’s bedroom door and carry her into her room. “We were supposed to sleep in my big bed tonight,” I say against her mouth.
“Did you really get me a job at Temptation?”
“I did. I’ll take you over tomorrow and you can meet Leo. You’ll like him, I think.” Secretly, I add that under Leo’s watchful gaze, she’ll be much safer at work. That guy is tough as nails. “Now tell me what happened tonight.”
In halting words, she tells me what Alexander said, what Preston did, making it clear that it was Triston’s intervention last night that provoked tonight’s attack. It was a message meant for my brother.
When she’s done, I lay her down in the bed, and then I pull the covers up her body. “You’re not staying?” she asks, propping up on an elbow.
“Not tonight.”
“But…” she nips at her lip. “Don’t we do this thing where we return favors. I kind of owe you.”
Satisfaction rumbles through me. I’m going to collect. But first… “How about you meet Leo tomorrow and then we’ll call the favor complete. After that, you can show me your appreciation?”
She nods as I straighten up.
“You could still stay.” She gives me this pleading look that makes me diamond-hard. “I don’t want to be alone.”