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“No, unless you count my girlfriend in grade school. You?”
I smiled at that. “No. I’ve never had time for it. I was always having to work or fight for scraps of food when there was no work.”
“You had a tough childhood?”
I sat back in my chair, staring at the plates in front of us. “Not my childhood, but adolescence. We were so poor that sometimes I didn’t eat so Hawk could.” My stomach ached with phantom pain at the memories of those days. It was when it was just my brother and me against the world. I shook my head, dislodging the pathetic history from my mind. “What happened to your dad?” I asked.
His eyes darkened a little as he studied my face, wondering whether I was worthy of such secrets. “By the time I was sixteen, I was stronger than him. One night, he came home drunk and started hitting my mom. I got between them this time and baited him into hitting me. As soon as he did, I proved to him it was the last night he would ever raise a hand to her or me.”
I wanted to reach out and take his hand, but I held myself back. Bane was the kind of man to pull away from things like that, so I simply let him talk. “He left?”
“After I broke his arm and a couple of ribs, yeah,” he replied darkly. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Does that disgust you, Little Bird?”
“No. No, it doesn’t. You just did what you had to do to survive, just like Hawk and I had to do. What about your mom?”
“She passed from cancer while I was in college.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Waving away my platitudes, he swallowed what was left in his glass and placed it back down deliberately like he was pulling himself back together inside. “What about your parents?”
I swallowed some more champagne and stared sightlessly at the table in front of me. “Our parents died in a car crash when I was sixteen. Hawk was twelve. We ran away from every foster family we ever had because of the abuse we suffered there. I became emancipated at eighteen, and I’ve been looking after Hawk ever since.”
“He relies on you,” Bane told me softly.
“Yeah, he does because I’m just as much a mother to him as our parents were.”
“Is that why you finally agreed to take me up on my offer?”
Plucking the napkin from my lap, I ran the linen through my fingers a few times. The fabric was thick but still soft, and the motion soothed me just like it did when I was petting the dogs I groomed. “Partly,” I admitted. I looked into his watchful eyes. “The other reason was because I wanted you, Bane.”
“I fucking wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you, Little Bird.”
The intensity of his stare made my blood warm in my veins. “Take me back to your place.” He stood and threw his napkin on the table.
We left an entire table of food behind us, but when I had Bane wrapped around me like he was right now as he escorted me out of the restaurant, I knew I would never hunger for anything ever again.
19
Bane
As I steppedonto the cool marble floor on my foyer, I felt Wren stop. Peering at her over my shoulder, I found her eyes were wide. She was taking in everything, every last detail of the wealth I chose to surround myself with. With a chuckle, I dragged her deeper into my domain. The floor may have been white, but everything else in my apartment was dark gray or black.
The couches were soft leather, big enough for ten people, but it was usually only me. On the wall was a ninety-eight-inch television, which I rarely watched because I was always working, and a copper and glass coffee table I rarely used because I was always too busy to be home and have a beer.
Wren walked into the kitchen, running the tips of her fingers over the dark granite countertop as she walked past it. All the appliances were stainless steel, all pristine. She turned to face me.
“This is stunning.”
“Bianca helped me fit it out,” I replied with a shrug.
She gave me a small smile and continued her exploration of my penthouse. When she reached the start of the hallway, she quirked an eyebrow at me. I gave her a nod, and she started down there too. Stalking behind her, she first went into the master bathroom, then poked her head into both guest rooms.
“You wouldn’t have stayed there,” I said into her ear, tracing the shape of her flesh with my tongue. “You would’ve been staying in here.” I showed her into the master suite, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her back against me. Her firm ass collided with my aching cock, causing her to wriggle against me.
My bedroom had never felt like home to me. It felt more like a place to sleep in between work. There was nothing personal about it—not like Wren’s place. Although hers was messy and everything was falling apart, there was a soul to it that came from all the personal things she had. Mine was merely a room with a bed. Stepping away from me, she walked to the bed and ran her fingers over the black sheets.
“Want to explore the rest of the suite?” I asked.
