Fixing Justice (35 page)

Tori snatched her hand away from his grasp when the words he’d just thrown at her sank in.
Oh my God
, she thought. He was rejecting her, after everything they’d done, he was telling her it meant nothing to him. How could she be so stupid? With his illustrious sexual history suddenly hanging over every word and action, he was letting her know she was nothing but one face out of hundreds. Maybe thousands. She thought she might get sick. Ten minutes ago she’d been on her knees with his dick poking at the back of her throat. Hearing him say they couldn’t keep doing this turned her inside out.
This?
What they were doing was just a form of
this
? Covering her mouth with her hand she could only keep silently repeating,
Oh my God, Oh my God
. She had to get out of there, and she had to get as far away from him as she could.

Finding the courage and nerve to turn the tables on his egotistical ass was no small feat but a lifetime of standing up for herself in the face of cruel taunts came to good use. She might be short, and she might not be a sex goddess, but she was nobody’s fool. He was about to find that out.

“You’re right, of course,” she sniped with no attempt to hide the hurt she felt. “This whole thing has been an epic disaster.” Without so much as missing a beat, Tori made her way back to his front door before he had a chance to react.

“Let’s just chalk this up to your
er
…impressive history combined with my foolish inexperience. It’s not every day that a girl gets a chance to bang a bona fide sex machine, Draegyn,” she sneered.

Her hand on the doorknob, she blindly continued, oblivious to the expression on his face or the tears gathering behind her eyes. “It’s best that we avoid each other after this stunning loss of decorum, don’t you think? You do whatever you think is right about ending this farce. I don’t care one way or the other.”

Yanking the door open with more force than necessary, she flinched when it slammed against the wall. “And don’t worry about the pregnancy thing. I’m sure it’s not going to be a problem and even if it is, I wouldn’t bother you with the details, or want you involved in any way, come to think of it. After all, you have a reputation to protect. I hear your
I can’t be married
bullshit loud and clear.”

Stepping out onto the porch she let loose one final withering comment. “You’re so fucking full of yourself Draegyn St. John. Maybe it would do you good to remember that this situation was a two-way street and not a one-lane path. As much as you don’t want to be married, I don’t want to be tied to a man with the emotional depth of a thimble.”

For parting shots, that was the best one she could muster. Just like when she’d marched away from him after the car ride from the airport, so too did she again as he barked after her. “Victoria! You can’t walk half a mile in the dark”

Dammit. He was right. Hiking from the main compound down the winding road to his house had been one thing in the daylight. It was an act of folly to wander the desert, even along a roadway, in the pitch dark. With head held high, Tori turned and stomped back up onto the porch. “Give me your keys,” she snarled.

“I’ll drive you.”

“Oh no,” she ground out. “I’m through being taken for a ride by you. Give me. Your. Keys. Now!” The hand she held out wanted so badly to slap him across the face.

Draegyn stared at her, his eyes dark slits above a mouth drawn in a thin line. She didn’t miss the way his jaw tensed as he considered the hand demanding he surrender his keys. The look she gave in return dared him to say another word at his own peril.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a key ring and dropped it without another word into the palm of her hand. Tori quickly glanced at the insignia on the ring, noted that he’d given her the key to his SUV, turned and skipped down the steps walking briskly to the big, black beast of a vehicle and climbed in. Seconds later she drove into the darkness and away from the insufferable man who she’d been foolish enough to fall for as he stood on his front porch and watched her disappear into the darkness.

Drae couldn’t pack his bags and get the hell away from the Villa fast enough. After Victoria marched off into the darkness in high dungeon the previous night, he’d polished off most of a bottle of really expensive whiskey trying to erase their ugly confrontation from his mind. It hadn’t worked, of course.

Whether the memory of her indignation at his clumsy attempt to cool things down or the vivid scene etched forever in his brain of her licking and stroking his dick, both had the power to reduce him to a tangled mess of conflicting emotions.

She’d landed quite a few direct hits to his ego and his sense of self. She was right on one thing. He hadn’t really considered anyone but himself. It didn’t require a map to figure out that had been the fatal flaw in how he’d handled everything. Victoria was a power unto herself. Unique and without guile, she wasn’t anything like the hoards of women he’d been consorting with his whole life. Women like his cold, calculating mother. By limiting his involvement to an endless parade of experienced females, all possessing a keen eye for the prize, he’d been able to cling to his belief that relationships were a sham and something best left to others.

When she’d told him in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t man enough to be privy to whether he’d gotten her pregnant or not, his heart seized up and hadn’t relaxed since. Seemed like something of a low blow but considering his reputation, he couldn’t blame her for feeling that way. That didn’t mean he wasn’t gutted by the knowledge that she’d vanish into thin air if she was carrying his child and would probably head for the hills even if she wasn’t.

Despite a raging hangover, an unexpected early morning call with a request to provide personal security for a visiting foreign dignitary could not have come at a better time. Even though it wasn’t like him, he was eager to run as far as he could get. Put a bit of distance between him and Victoria. And Alex of course. With his old friend knowing the truth about his and Victoria’s messy situation, he hadn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of pretending everything was fine. It seemed like the best thing all around for him to get out of the line of fire until things calmed down or he found a way to handle the mess without making things worse.

Since the call had come early even by East coast time, Drae had left a text message on Alex’s office computer explaining what was up and leaving him all the details of the assignment. He’d decided to drive himself to the airport, he could leave his car for Ben to pick up later, and booked a last minute seat on an eastbound plane.

Maybe a few weeks in New York City would bring a measure of perspective back into his life. Hiding away in his woodshop hadn’t helped. Nor had trying to work things out with the feisty female at the heart of the matter. With his life turned upside down and nearly everything he’d ever felt about himself and his place in the universe turned on its head, he didn’t know what else to do.

By the time Tori stumbled into Alex’s workspace, after a restless night that left her feeling fuzzy headed from lack of sleep, she still hadn’t decided what she was going to do. She’d made a mess of things, having quite stupidly fallen in love with a man who made a career out of never getting involved with the women he slept with. The signs had been there all along. Even when they were verbally sparring with one another, she’d been gradually warming to him, conceited arrogance and all. She’d briefly considered running home to Mommy but dashed that idea because there was no way she’d give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d rattled her cage that thoroughly. No, she was going to stay put for now.

After checking the calendar fifty times she noted that she’d be getting her period soon. She wasn’t ignoring the fact that their unprotected lovemaking had happened during the one time in her cycle that could really mess with her in a big way. Instead, she simply refused to consider that one foolish moment could have such a potentially life-changing effect on her life. Not even she could be that unlucky. Right?

Letting herself into the heavily air-conditioned tech cave, Tori shivered when the chilly atmosphere cut right through the light shirt she’d worn. After Draegyn’s hissy fit over her wardrobe, she’d vowed never to hide behind that particular masquerade again. She hadn’t actually fooled anybody after all. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out after the tabloid hell she’d been through that schlepping about like the nerd she professed to be was nothing more than a self-defense mechanism while she dug her way out of the mud she’d been dragged through.

Today, she’d opted for a figure hugging, v-neck tunic with a belt slung low on her hips over a pair of black leggings that fit easily inside her favorite boots. Her outfit was simple yet decidedly feminine. In some ways, what she chose to wear this morning was a subtle
fuck off
directed at Draegyn. The cold temperature, a necessity with so much technical gear running, was a bit much so grabbing a baggy sweater off the hook in her cubicle she wrapped herself in its warmth and went to find her boss.

Alex looked up from the phone call he was on when she entered the room and waved a polite hello in her direction. She heard him rattling off numbers to whoever was on the other end and deciding she didn’t need to get involved in whatever he was doing, grabbed a mug of coffee from the brewer and headed back to her area. It wasn’t until lunchtime when she and Alex actually had a conversation that went beyond a couple of quick questions.

Hey,” she called out to him. “I’m going to run out to the kitchen and grab something to eat. You interested?”

“Nah. But thanks for asking, Tori. I’m about finished for now. Was thinking about heading off to the workout room. Too much time perched on that damn stool and every muscle in my body feels like it’s locked.”

“Sounds good, Alex but you really should eat something too. We’ve been working for hours, and you haven’t even stopped for a drink.”

“Okay, Mom!” he chuckled.

Tori whipped off the sweater she’d donned for warmth and tossed it on a chair, earning a wolf whistle from her boss. “Nice boots, lady,” he teased. “No wonder Drae got his shorts in a twist. Shame on you Tori for hiding behind those God-awful clothes you’ve been sporting.”

At the mention of Draegyn’s name, Tori felt a heavy weight thud in her stomach. Out of sheer reflex she snarled at Alex letting him know in precise terms what his friend could do with his opinion.

“I don’t give a good goddamn what that man thinks.” With specific hand motions, she used sign language short hand to let him know how she really felt.

“Whoa. What’s that mean?” Alex’s expression swung between ‘yikes’ and ‘uh oh’ as he waited for her reply.

“I basically said that he could eat shit and die.”

“Oh my. That bad, huh? What’s he done now?”

“Nothing. Nothing, really,” she murmured, feeling guilty for reacting like a bitch. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Let it go, Alex.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. Look Tori, maybe it’s none of my business but you should know that Drae told me a little of what’s going on.”

“What?” she screeched. Her head felt like it was going to explode.

“Calm down,” he pleaded, moving quickly to her side and drawing her with him to sit on a wide bench nearby.

“I can’t believe this!” she cried. “What did he tell you Alex? Oh my God, I’m going to kill that man and his big mouth.”

“Well, judging by your reaction I think you know exactly what he told me.”

Tori dropped her head into her hands and groaned. “This can’t be happening,” she cried. “We agreed not to tell anyone.”

Jumping to her feet she clenched her hands into angry fists and started for the door. “Goddammit. He lied to me. That’s it,” she growled. “I’m going to rip his face off for this!”

“Uh, Tori. Better hang on there. He’s not here at the moment. Left early this morning.”

She stumbled over her own feet and barely got it together before falling flat on her ass. Feeling the dark scowl that ended up on her face start deep in the pit of her stomach, she turned in slow motion. “Where is he?”

Checking his watch, Alex frowned. The tension in the air was so thick you could scoop it up. He seemed to weigh his response for a brief moment. “He’ll be landing in New York City in the next hour.” Lifting a shoulder in a half shrug he added, “I figured he would have told you.”