"I haven't seen you for a week and the last time I saw you, you told me to back the fuck off. Now you show up and act like nothing happened."

His smile disappeared, and he rubbed his hand over his face. "Can we pretend that didn't happen?"

"No, Nash, we cannot pretend that didn't happen. I'm not a fake friend who is happy to let shit slide. If you want that, you won't find it with me, so I suggest you go back to your skanks, who I'm sure would be happy to provide you with a shallow friendship and a place to stick your dick." God, he riled me up lately and I couldn't even begin to understand why.

"Fuck, Velvet, you make it hard on a man."

"Oh good Lord, get over yourself," I muttered, and tried to shove my way past him to the front door of my car.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and stopped me before I could get past. "I'm sorry for being a prick the other day," he forced out. His eyes flamed with displeasure, and his shoulders tensed; this was hard for him to do, but I wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"And what about the fact you've been a prick to me for months now?" I challenged him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut straight away and stared at me. I waited to see what he would say but nothing came out; he simply continued to stare. As much as I tried to figure out what he was thinking, he was unreadable. To me, anyway.

"Fine!" I huffed, and turned away towards the front door of the car, ready to leave. But before I left, I had one more thing to say, so I spun back around. "We've been friends for four years, Nash. I've always felt like you were there for me and vice versa. It upsets me that you've shut that down, but I'm not the kind of person who will allow someone to keep treating me like shit which is what you've been doing to me for awhile now. So, if you want to still be friends, you know where to find me and what you need to do. Until then, I'm done with this."

I didn't even wait to see his reaction; I got in my car as fast as I could and sped off. It had hurt to say that to him, but there came a time in a friendship where you had to put yourself first and refuse to be walked all over.

As I pulled into my driveway, I realised with a sinking feeling that my day was about to get worse. My ex-husband was leaning against his car, waiting for me.

"Shit," I muttered, and psyched myself up to deal with him.

"Velvet," he greeted me in his smooth, honeyed voice. That voice could charm the habit off a nun. I should know; he'd dazzled me years ago and smooth talked his way into my heart.

"What do you want, James?" I snapped.

"Someone's having a bad day?"

I didn't have time for small talk with him. "I haven't heard from you since the day you trashed my heart five years ago. I'm guessing that the only reason you're here today is because you want something from me."

His cool composure was momentarily challenged, and I saw the darkness cross his face fleetingly, but he quickly pulled himself back together and walked towards me. He'd kept that darkness hidden from me for most of our relationship but when I'd not performed in the manner he'd wanted and had failed to provide him with what he desired, his dark side had shone through and slapped me in the face. I'd been naive in my love for him and he'd taught me that love is a fickle master; one to be avoided at all costs.

He moved into my personal space; he knew I hated that. "I have a proposal for you."

"I'm not interested in any proposal of yours."

"This one will interest you," he stated with the arrogance I knew so well.

I pushed past him and began walking towards my front door. "The answer's no."

He reached out, grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. His grip was hard and I was sure it would leave me bruised. And shit, he scared me. I'd spent years building my walls up against any further hurt this man could inflict on me and here he was, smashing those walls down with ease. "You should know by now that the answer is never no, Velvet," he threatened on an angry breath.

My heart raced with fear. "What do you want from me?" I tried to hide my anxiety, but my voice cracked slightly; just enough for him to notice, and just enough for him to be able to play his manipulative games knowing that he held all the power.

He kept me in his tight grip. "That's my girl," he said, his voice washing over me like poison, "It's very simple really. I'm going to offer you a lot of money and in return you're going to keep your mouth shut if anyone should ever come and ask you questions about me or us."

I broke free of his hold and stared at him. "Why?"

"I'm going into the family business."

Politics. No wonder he was sniffing around me now. I had the power to shatter his dream.

My anxiety eased a little and I faked the confidence I desperately craved. "Make your offer and then get the fuck out of here."

He visibly struggled with my attitude. This was a side of me that James was not acquainted with. "My lawyer will be in touch with the details," he finally said. "And, Velvet, that language is very unbecoming."

My blood boiled. "I don't give a shit what you think of my language. I'm not your doormat anymore, so I can say and think whatever the hell I want."

Disdain dripped from him. "I was right to get rid of you years ago."

His words pierced my heart. As much as I knew he was an asshole, and as much as I knew I was better than what he thought of me, it still hurt to have the man I'd loved and given everything to, say those words. He'd ruined my self belief years ago, and I'd slowly healed myself; I now feared he had the ability to bury me under a layer of self doubt and loathing all over again.

Chapter 5.

This Is Who I Am ~ Vanessa Amorosi Nash Erika was wrong. Her neighbour didn't have a mental health problem; he was just a dickhead. I'd confronted him ten minutes ago about her issues with him. He wasn't happy about it and had proceeded to have a go at me. I let him hurl obscenities at me which he did like a pro. He was obviously experienced at abusing people; he didn't even stop to take a breath.

Once I was sure he was finished, I took a step closer to him and snarled, "You finished?"

I was slightly taller and bigger than he was, but he held his ground; he didn't even blink at my intrusion into his space. "No, one last thing. You tell your sister that this is my fucking home and I'll do whatever the fuck I want whenever the fuck I want to do it. And if she wants to get her big brother involved, tell her to bring it on."

I was already in a foul mood after my earlier conversation with Velvet, but this guy's smugness tipped me over the edge. Even if I'd wanted to contain my fury, I wouldn't have been able to.

"You're the big fuckin' man, aren't you? Treating women like that must make you feel real fuckin' good about yourself, motherfucker," I growled. "You know what makes me feel good?" I continued in a menacing tone. He had the good fucking grace to register concern, but my lust for violence had been fueled, and there was no turning back now. I raised my fist and smashed it into his face, taking great joy in the blood this produced.

I'd caught him unaware and he tried to get in the game, but I was two steps ahead of him and punched the other side of his face before jabbing him hard in the gut. He doubled over, but I wasn't done. I grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him back into the brick wall behind him. The thud he hit the wall with was satisfying, as was the look of alarm on his face.

"Stop!" he managed to get out while clutching his stomach, and trying to shield his face from me.

My arm was raised and ready to rain more blows down on him, but I paused and eyed him. His face was a bloody mess and he appeared to be in some pain. I'd probably done enough damage to make him think twice about bugging Erika again. Lowering my arm, I demanded, "We got an understanding here, asshole?"

He didn't hesitate. "Yes, now fuck off and leave me alone."

"Just one more thing; you fuck with my sister again and I'll be back." I paused, and then threatened him further, "And I won't be alone."

He nodded and once I was convinced he meant it, I shoved him one last time and then left him to it. I was fairly certain that Erika wouldn't hear about this from him which was the way I wanted it. She had a tendency to stress too much about shit and the last thing I wanted was her worrying about me. God knew, she already did that enough.

Five hours later, I met with Scott, Griff and J to discuss where we were at with our investigation of Marcus. Griff was full of bad news.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked in disbelief.

Griff looked at me and shook his head. "No, the lead was a dead end. Marcus has covered his tracks well."

"Fuck," J swore and slammed his hand down on the table. "We're never gonna get this motherfucker, are we?"

I felt his frustration. We'd spent the last two months trying to get a handle on what Marcus was up to and none of the leads went anywhere. Either Marcus wasn't up to anything or he was skilled at hiding shit. We all believed the latter scenario.

"Patience, brother," Scott directed at J.

Unfortunately, patience wasn't J's strong suit and he was pretty agitated with this latest development. "Maybe I need to go back to Adelaide and talk to some of the boys down there. Someone's gotta know something for fuck's sake."

Scott considered this and then gave Griff a questioning look. Griff nodded, and Scott turned to J and agreed, "Okay, you go down there and see what you can find. But you're going to have to keep it quiet, brother; the last thing we want is news travelling back to Dad. You know if we can trust any of the boys down there with this?"

J contemplated that, and then replied, "There's two of them who I'm pretty sure can be trusted."

Griff stood. "Contact them and set it up, J." He checked his watch. "I've gotta go, got a hot date with a brunette."

"Since when do you date?" I asked. I'd never known Griff to date.

"Date is probably the wrong word for it, brother," he smirked, "But I have dated before."

"Must have been before I came to town."

Scott stood as well. "Long time before you came to town, Nash. Griff's a moody bastard; kind of makes it hard to find a woman to stick around."

"That and it's hard to find a woman who won't fuck you over," Griff muttered as he left us.

"That's the fuckin' truth," I agreed as J and I stood too.

"You heading out," Scott asked me.

"No, I'm going to stick around and find a bit of fun for the night."

"Yeah, I bet you are. Heard you haven't been in here for over a week; you having withdrawals?"

I chuckled. "Smartass."

J cut in, "Nash, Madison wants you over for dinner soon. Can you sort that out with her when you speak to her next?"

"Will do," I agreed. J and I still had an uneasy relationship but we were working on it for Madison's sake. Hell, I'd do anything for that chick.

He nodded and then they left together. As I watched them leave, a blonde chick caught my attention. She had her back to me and what a fine sight that was. I watched as she chatted with two men; it looked like she was doing all the talking, because their attention was on her body and it didn't look like any words were coming out of their mouths. I couldn't blame them because she was fucking spectacular in her tight, black dress that hugged her curves and barely covered her ass. Her back was exposed, and most of her skin was covered in tattoos. It looked kind of familiar to me, but I couldn't place it, and as I was wondering if I knew this chick, she turned around and started walking towards me.

Fuck.

It was Velvet in a blonde wig. My fucking dick was hard, and as I took in her killer tits and hips, it only got harder. Shit, who was I kidding; I'd had a hard on for her for years. She inspired it in a man just by existing. I'd flirted hard with her when we first met, doing my best to get her into bed. We'd come close a few times but she'd managed to resist me and block every attempt I made to get her panties off. She'd used the excuse of not wanting to sleep with people she worked with so I'd calmed my flirting down thinking that she'd eventually come to the party. However, we'd become friends and for some fucked up reason, I didn't want to screw that friendship up by screwing her. So here I was, with a four year old hard on, and no chance in hell of getting it taken care of by the woman who caused it.

She didn't stop when she got to me, and she didn't acknowledge me; she kept walking without a backwards glance. I'd really managed to piss her off this time. She was a feisty woman and over the years we'd had our arguments because she was the kind of woman who gave it to me straight. If she didn't agree with something I said or did, she didn't hesitate to tell me. But we'd always moved past every argument; we always knew we could count on each other. When she'd told me to stop getting my dick out for every chick I met, she'd caught me in a bad moment and I hadn't taken it well. And I'd reacted by cutting the friendship. It'd been a lonely few months without her, but being the asshole I was, I'd refused to own up to my shit. But fuck, I'd missed her. I'd realised how much just having her to sit and talk with meant to me. I might have wanted to rip her clothes off over the years but if you gave me the choice between fucking her and talking to her now, I'd give up the sex in a heartbeat. And that realisation right there had done my head in so I'd kept my distance ever since it'd hit me.

Watching her walk away from me without a word exchanged, hit me in the chest. It was painful; not as painful as some things in my life but it fucking hurt. Shit. I raked my hand through my hair. I had to fix this. But first I had to fix the raging hard on I was stuck with. I scanned the room looking for someone to help me with that. Tonight I'd take care of pressing matters and tomorrow I'd take care of my friendship with Velvet.

Chapter 6.

Golden ~ Lady Antebellum Velvet As I opened the cupboard to start putting the groceries away, my mother complained, "You've got to stop spending your money on me, Velvet. I can buy my own groceries."

Why did she always have to whinge about the shit I did for her? Sometimes it felt like I couldn't get anything right where she was concerned. "Mum, we've been over this a million times. I know you've struggled ever since that asshole boss of yours fired you and I like to help you when I can."

"You did enough for me when you moved in and looked after me while I was sick. Now that I'm better and you've got your own place again, it's time for you to live your life and stop worrying about me."

I looked at her like she had two heads. "Like that's ever going to happen."

She huffed. "I just want to see you happy. You deserve that after all the shit you've been through. And fussing over me is a waste of your time."

I stopped what I was doing and gave her my full attention. "I am happy, Mum. Yeah I've had some hard times but I feel like I'm getting my life together. My beauty course is nearly finished so I'll be doing that full time soon and I've made some good friends the last few months. I've got savings in the bank for the first time ever and I've paid off my car. And, I have you and Anna back in my life which makes me very happy." I smiled as I thought of all the good things in my life. The good had been missing for a long time, but it finally felt like I was moving past that phase of my life.

A slow smile spread across her face. "The day you came back to us was one of the best days of my life. Promise me you won't ever leave again."

Regret sliced through me. I'd been so selfish and self absorbed when I walked away from my family all those years ago. I'd cut them out of my life like they were a disease that needed to be eradicated. And for what? To make me feel better about myself by forgetting where I came from. To please a man who could never be pleased. I'd walked away without a second glance thinking my life would be so much better without my white trash family in it. Little did I know that my life would be so much darker and desperate without my family to provide the love and support that my new family didn't have in them.

I pulled her close and hugged her. "I promise, Mama."

She broke the embrace and gave me a concerned look. "James was here this morning."

"Shit. He came and saw me yesterday, said he has a proposal for me. Turns out he's going into politics after all."

"I thought he said he never wanted a bar of that."

"He said a lot of things that weren't true." The memories of all the lies he'd ever told me punched me in the gut. I'd been so dumb to believe anything he'd ever said.

Mum smoothed her hand over my hair. "I know you feel stupid for believing him but that's not on you, Velvet. That's on him and he's the fool for treating you that way. He's the idiot who is missing out on everything you would have given him."

My mother had a way of saying the exact right thing just when I needed to hear it. She might be a difficult woman a lot of the time but when her mothering instincts kicked in, she rocked the mother gig.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"What kind of proposal does he have?"

"He wants to buy my silence. Obviously he realises what a shit he is and knows that it would end his political career if people ever knew what he'd done."