Page 16 of Provocation (Den of Deception #3)

‘Send it to me,’ I tell her, ‘I’ll forward it to Dom, and he will fill it out, okay?’

I give Dom another look and he gives me a long-suffering one back as he nods.

‘Fine.’

I usher her out and find the truck in the alley where Blake left it last night after Shade picked him up. The key is in a box under the chassis, which I have to feel around for but we’re soon on our way back to campus.

Daisy stares out the window for most of the trip and I see her eyes close and jerk back open more than once.

‘No more working around the clock,’ I tell her.

‘Won’t have to,’ she says a little stiffly.

Then, she looks at me with a steeliness in her eyes that shows me she’s annoyed.

‘But if I had to, I would.’

‘I know you would,’ I say easily. ‘I wasn’t trying to tell you what to do, but you have two majors and your work in the campus lab, and that project coming up. Don’t run yourself into the ground, okay? That’s all I’m saying.’

‘Okay,’ she murmurs quietly. ‘I’ll ask for help if I need it.’

She’s quiet for a minute before she speaks again. ‘Your brother. He doesn’t like me, I don’t think.’

My jaw clenches hard. I was hoping she wouldn’t notice.

‘He doesn’t like many people,’ I say.

‘Why not?’

I sigh. ‘Our dad wasn’t around when we were kids. Dom remembers him a little, but he was long gone by the time I was born. My mom...she was a waitress in a diner. We didn’t have much, but she tried her best, you know?’

She nods and I force myself to go on. The guys know my sob story, but I don’t tell everyone this stuff.

‘Long story short, she was in an accident. She had chronic neck and back pain, and she was given meds to manage it.’

‘She got addicted to them,’ Daisy murmurs and I look at her sharply, but she’s just staring out the window.

‘Yeah. How did you...’

‘You created the first drug. I know Shade was there with you, but you worked on it the most. I’ve seen all the logs over the past two years.

You’ve spent more time on it than anyone by far.

It makes sense that you wanted to create a painkiller that wasn’t highly addictive, and you put so much into it because of a loved one.

I’ve done a lot of research since I started working in the lab.

I know there’s an opioid epidemic. It’s logical that you’d want to create an alternative. ’

‘Logical,’ I echo, keeping my hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead. ‘She was fine for a long time. At least we thought she was. We didn’t know she had a problem. She OD’d when I was fifteen. Dom was twenty.’

She doesn’t look at me and her voice is devoid of emotion. ‘Your brother and you are close?’

‘Yeah,’ I say, making my hands relax on the wheel as we move into less emotional territory.

‘He worked three jobs to make sure that I was taken care of, that I’d have opportunities that he didn’t.

Things weren’t always...legal. When we opened this place a couple of years ago, we made him the manager, mostly because I wanted him to be taken care of the way he took care of me. It works out that he’s great at it.’

‘I’m sorry that he doesn’t like me, then,’ she murmurs.

‘He’s just protective, forgets I’m an adult sometimes.’

I take my hand off the wheel and find her thigh, squeezing it a little. ‘Once he spends some time with you, he’ll come around.’

She snorts softly as if she doesn’t believe me.

‘He will,’ I insist.

‘If you say so.’

The rest of the journey is made in silence and, when we get to the house, Daisy lets out a long sigh. ‘I smell like the lab,’ she murmurs, wrinkling her nose.

‘Yeah, me too.’ I open the door and jump down, making my way briskly to the passenger side to open hers and lift her out. ‘Let’s take a shower and then get a little sleep.’

She nods, yawning widely as we go inside and up the stairs.

She tries to go to her room, but I pull her to the bathroom with me instead. She looks at me curiously as I turn on the water and pull off my shirt. When she tries to do the same, I stop her.

‘Let me.’

I ease her sweater off and pull her tank top over her head, leaving her in a yellow bra I don’t recognize.

‘Blake?’ I ask and she nods.

My eyes narrow and I make a mental note to buy her something different just from me. I want her to wear my gifts and think of me and only me.

I unbutton her jeans, and she shimmies her hips, so they fall, pooling at her feet and I groan as I find the matching, frilly underwear.

She looks amazing in them, but I want her in what I buy her or nothing at all when she’s with me.

I pull them down with gusto that has her giving me a questioning look, which I ignore in favor of staring at her naked body.

‘Get in the shower,’ I say gruffly and watch as she steps under the spray.

I quickly divest myself of the rest of my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor as I get in behind her. She doesn’t seem to notice me, her head bowed under the water as she just stands there, letting it pummel her shoulders and neck.

I put some of the coconut shower cream I know she likes on the pink loofa Shade bought for her and work it into a lather.

She steps out from under the shower and turns, rubbing the water from her eyes.

She looks surprised to find me behind her, even more so when I begin to wash her slowly.

From her hand, up her arm, and across her chest to the other arm, I work my way slowly and methodically over her body, making sure I don’t miss any part of her.

She closes her eyes while I work and turns when I ask her to so I can do her back and her ass.

My eyes run along the bruises from Joe Banderville, angry all over again when I look at them, but I also see that the arnica that Blake insisted on has worked well and they’re mostly turning yellow already.

I make my fists unclench because my righteous anger and desire for revenge isn’t what she needs right now.

Her small sighs and slow breathing suggest she’s very relaxed in here with me, which was the point.

I was serious when I said I thought we should sleep and I want her halfway there by the time we slide into bed.

I know that Shade has a plan for her this afternoon, and I want to make sure she’s well rested in time for his games.

I lather myself up and draw her out of the water for a second so I can rinse off. I leave the water on when I get out and dry off, making sure that Daisy’s towel is fresh and clean.

I take her hand and bring her out, wrapping her up quickly with the biggest one and putting a smaller one over her hair. I know she likes to have two, and I think from watching her that it’s because she hates the water dripping down her back.

So I make sure it doesn’t. I pick her up and love the way she snuggles against me as I take her to my room for once. I sit her on my bed and dry her. I put a dry towel on one of my pillows for her and the surprised smile she gives me makes me melt a little more.

She lays down and I slide into my bed beside her and spoon with her, draping my arm over her waist. I close my eyes, content the way I always am with her.

This girl is quickly becoming my everything. Maybe that should scare me when no one else has ever come close.

But it doesn’t. For the first time in forever, I think that things might actually work out, that our dreams–my dreams–aren’t impossible. Maybe I really can have everything in this world that I want, and maybe that starts with Daisy.