"And vodka," she murmured against the rim of the gla.s.s.

He was hoping it was just p.u.s.s.y-booze, like Midori, something that was lame that she liked that he would find unappealing about her.

But no.

She had to have the added vodka.

"There's a new Ross," she noted.

"Hmm..." he muttered noncommittally, being the reason why they'd employed a new Ross at the club and not about to explain that.

He reached to his whisky.

She turned to him again. "I'm surprised. I've been a member for years now and they've had no turnover in staff."

He shrugged. "s.h.i.+t happens."

She looked to the scene in a way he knew she didn't see it, murmuring, "I don't like it."

"The woman could have found a higher paying job, or she got married, or a hundred other things, Olivia. Your business is not hers, her business is not yours. It's the way of the club."

She nodded at the scene but said nothing.

"You wanna tell me why dinner with your mother lasted nearly four hours?" he asked.

"I was ambushed," she replied.

He felt his neck start to itch.

Ambushed?

"Say again?" he pushed.

She looked to him. "I was ambushed. It was not dinner with my mother. It was dinner with my mother, one of her friends and her friend's son."

That was when Nick felt his jaw tense and his repeat of, "Say again," was gritty.

"It was a fixup," she explained offhandedly.

But the blazing streak of jealousy Nick experienced at her words was alarming.

And unhealthy.

And last, so severe and unexpected, he had no tools at hand to battle it in order to ignore it.

Completely oblivious to all of this, Olivia kept speaking.

"We all had dinner and he was under instruction to take that further, which meant I had to have drinks with him after. Mom and her friend left. He bought me a drink that unfortunately led to two which unfortunately led to him sharing rather openly he was interested in f.u.c.king me but also interested in taking me to dinner. In order not to earn the wrath of my mother, which I would incur if I did not give him the attention she thinks he deserves, I had no choice but to drink the drinks he bought and make plans for dinner. However, since I already have plans for intercourse, I refused that part of his invitation."

Nick felt his jaw get tighter to a point a muscle danced in his cheek all the way up to his temple.

"You made a date with this guy?"

She shrugged and looked back to the scene. "This is new, Mother matchmaking. As with any motherly attention she turns my way, she'll lose interest in it soon enough."

"You made a date with this guy."

This was a statement voiced in a way that her attention s.h.i.+fted swiftly back to him.

Her eyes moved over his face slowly before she whispered, "Yes, Sebring."

He studied her for any signs he was the player getting played.

As was her norm, she gave him nothing.

"You date him, you do not f.u.c.k him," he ordered.

She twisted her torso, turning fully to him. "Sebring-"

"You take me ungloved. You've never taken me gloved. You make a habit of that with all the men you f.u.c.k?"

Her shoulders straightened and her eyes darkened. "Absolutely not."

"And I believe that...how? I f.u.c.ked you against a wall and took you repeatedly for days, all without protection, all before you even said hi to me."

"This is rather late timing to share your concerns," she remarked.

"Answer my question," he demanded.

"That is not a common occurrence."

"Is it uncommon?"

Her soft voice was a strained snap when she replied, "It's singularly unique."

"I gotta believe that, Olivia."

"I have to believe the same, Sebring."

"Wasn't me walked your way, beggin' with my eyes for you to f.u.c.k me," he pointed out.

He felt the searing fire which was indication she had a formidable temper she had not yet unleashed as she stood, announcing, "This is done."

She bent to put her drink down and turned to her purse but he caught her before she grabbed it and had her in his lap before she could make a move to stop him.

She twisted at the waist, planting a hand in his chest and pus.h.i.+ng hard.

"I said this is done," she reiterated.

"What's done?" he shot back. "You bein' p.i.s.sy I'm askin' pertinent questions after you strut in here tellin' me some guy wants to f.u.c.k you and you made a date with him while you're f.u.c.kin' me and doin' it takin' me ungloved? Or somethin' else."

"We're done," she retorted sharply.

f.u.c.k!

He felt those words too many places, including his b.a.l.l.s, his gut, spearing into his temples and burning around his heart.

He wanted that reaction to be about Hettie. He wanted it to be about his plan. He wanted it to be about vengeance.

But Olivia Shade never smiled, she f.u.c.ked strangers in a way it was clear that was the only connection she'd allow herself and she had nasty scars on her back.

And Nick was drowning in all that.

So in order to control that too, Nick had to admit to himself it wasn't just about Hettie, his plan or vengeance.

It was about Olivia Shade.

"Uh...no we're not," he denied.

She stopped pus.h.i.+ng at his chest and dipped her face closer. "Do not pretend for one moment what started us was by my invitation only. Yes, I invited you to that ride. But that invitation went both ways."

"You took the walk," he noted.

"You made it clear it was a walk worth it to take," she retorted.

"Not sure why we're goin' over this when the point is, you're still takin' that walk every time you come to me. You're takin' that walk, you do not take another guy."

Both her brows shot up. "Are you saying you want exclusive?"

"Woman," he growled, his hand moving up her back to fist in her hair so he could pull her face to within an inch of his, "you take me ungloved. f.u.c.k yes, that's gotta be exclusive. We f.u.c.k, I f.u.c.k you. Not a parade of guys you're f.u.c.king."

He felt more of the heat of her temper as she lost control.

"And now I say f.u.c.k you, Sebring." The pressure came back from her hand at his chest. "Let me go."

He held her fast. "Not a chance. You are not done with me and I sure as f.u.c.k am not done with you."

She pushed harder. "I'll say it one more time, let me go."

He jerked her closer. "You tellin' me you feel so much nothin' for me that you wanna expose me to whatever s.h.i.+t your mom's friend's boy could give you?"

"I'm telling you that you don't get to make a.s.sumptions about the woman you think I am because I was drawn to you to start what we started the way we started it," she shot back, her delicate voice tight with anger, and he couldn't deny it and she wasn't hiding it-hurt. Hurt he did not like to hear. Hurt she felt enough to force her to make a mistake. "I'm telling you I haven't taken any man unprotected. Not even Tommy."

Nick felt his body still.

But doing it, he felt hers lock.

Not even Tommy.

Tom Leary? A Shade soldier?

A f.u.c.king Shade soldier it was known wide felt the wrath of his king and got the drip of acid on his face to learn his lesson. A lesson people knew he'd learned just looking at his face but no one knew why he'd learned it.

This thought s.h.i.+fted from his head when suddenly, her body flew into motion.

f.u.c.k yeah. She'd made a mistake.

He moved instantly to clamp her tight to him.

She emitted a noise of desperation when she found herself immobilized, her arms wrapped round her front, her wrists seized, the only thing she could move was her legs and they were positioned to his side so any movement was ineffectual.

He needed to dig into her comment about Tom Leary.

But he felt at that juncture it would be an error to focus on the mystery of Olivia and not the forward movement of his plan.

"No one but me?" he asked.

"Sebring," she bit off.

"Why me?"

"Let me go."

He shook her slightly. "Why me, Olivia?"

She looked to him, mouth tight, eyes holding unhidden anger and frustration, both, he suspected, for herself but aimed at him for her mental health.

"You're of my world. You get it."

"I know of Tom Leary, Olivia," he probed gently. "He's of your world too."

She gave a slight toss of her head that if their situation was not as intense as it was would have been f.u.c.king adorable. Enough to make him laugh or at least smile.

Instead, it just registered as f.u.c.king adorable, which was bad enough.

"He's in my world. There's a difference."

"I get that," he muttered.

She glared at him, too dignified to fight when she knew she was beaten.

He held her glare and it was f.u.c.king adorable too.

His eyes dropped to her mouth.

"f.u.c.k, I want you to ride me hard right now."

He watched her lips part.