“You do.” His voice was so soft, compelling her to believe him. “Everything except my name and occupation was the real me. I never lied about how I felt.”
She wanted to believe him. But the truth was, she’d fallen for a charming smile, a fake brogue, and a whole lot of smooth lines. If his tenderness and caring had seemed like more, well . . . wasn’t that the point of winning her trust and breaking her barriers down? “Whatever.”
“It’s a lot more than ‘whatever,’ Callie. I swear to you.”
“Even if finding out that Sean wasn’t who he claimed, that doesn’t excuse you for running off without talking to me, pet,” Thorpe jumped in. “What’s your justification there?”
“I didn’t think you knew who I was, so I tried to keep you from this mess. Was I supposed to guess that you cared about me?”
She hadn’t thought it possible, but his face became even more forbidding. “Don’t you ever say that to me again. I sheltered you for four years, Callie. I tried to teach you, help you, comfort you. What part of that indicated to you that I didn’t give a shit?”
“I knew you cared as a friend, but I didn’t think you—” She tried to untangle her thoughts as he leaned across the seat toward her. “The night you . . . that it seemed like we were going to . . . you know.” She still hated thinking about that humiliating event. “Then you just walked away and never explained, never touched me again, so—”
“Because I didn’t fuck you, you imagined that I didn’t care anymore?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” She shrugged. “I might have believed that a lover would go out on a limb for me, but not merely a boss or a friend.”
“There are so many things wrong with that statement.” Thorpe cursed, shaking his head.
“Being your lover clearly didn’t give me any extra perks in the trust department,” Sean piped up from the front seat. “In fact, I think you gave me even less than Thorpe.”
“Well, yeah,” Callie defended hotly. “Everything between us was pretense and bullshit. Don’t try to convince me that I’ve wronged you.”
“He’s not telling his superiors that you’ve run or that his cover is blown because he’s trying to minimize the chances that the FBI will suddenly want you brought in.”
Maybe that was true. Even if it was, she wasn’t ready to be less angry. No, hurt. Damn it. “So I’m supposed to thank you for your kind lies? Was it difficult to get hard on command? Was fucking me a chore?”
Sean slapped his palm against the steering wheel. “That’s it. I’ve had enough. Thorpe . . .”
“On it,” he assured the other man. “We’re done with your lack of trust.”
“And your bratty mouth,” Sean added. “Don’t forget that.”
“Absolutely,” Thorpe agreed. “You will apologize this instant to both of us.”
“Like hell! You two don’t like the way I communicate. Guess what? Your style sucks, too. You lie.” She pointed at Sean, then turned her stare on Thorpe. “And you clam up.”
Thorpe grabbed her by the arm. “You’ve refused to rely on the men determined to help you.”
“I didn’t ask for help,” she pointed out.
“You’ve refused to apologize, and you’ve insulted us.”
“You insulted me, too. Because I’m going to defend myself, I’m bratty?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not the only one slinging words around here.”
“I might have lied, lovely, but I didn’t drug you,” Sean reminded darkly.
“Neither of us stripped for a room full of scum. And it was your third shift in two days?” Thorpe raised an intimidating brow at her.
A gong of foreboding resounded in her gut. Shit, they’d done their legwork. Sometimes, she lost her temper and forgot important details . . . like being at the mercy of two pissed off Doms. Of course, Thorpe probably wouldn’t punish her. In fact, he’d probably never touch her again. But he’d sure give Sean lots of craptastic ideas about how to do it effectively.
“I wasn’t enjoying myself. I was making money.”
“To skip town, right?” Thorpe’s question was sharp as a blade.
“It’s what I do.”
“Along with driving us out of our fucking minds,” Sean growled.
“It wasn’t intended to be a personal affront!” she insisted.
“So we were supposed to shrug that you’d left and move on with our lives. Do you know how worried we’ve been?” her former boss asked.
“Oh my gawd, you both sound like overprotective hens.”
Callie braced for Thorpe’s explosion. Instead, he drew in a bracing breath, nostrils flaring, then with a taut profile and rigidly controlled body, he directed his gaze to the front seat. “Sean, reasoning with her isn’t going to work.”
“Agreed. Go ahead. I need to focus here, but I’ve had more than enough.”
“Excellent. Minus the gloves?”
He sighed. “I doubt anything less will register.”
“I couldn’t agree more. It’s bound to get noisy.”
Sean smiled faintly. “I’ll enjoy that.”
He glanced at her in the mirror at the same time Thorpe regarded her with a frightening smile. Callie felt like an actress who’d forgotten her lines, pinned by a spotlight.
“Apologize, pet.”
It wasn’t a suggestion. But there was no way she was going to say “sorry” for doing what she thought necessary. “I’m sorry if whatever I did upset you.”
“And?” Thorpe’s grip on her arm tightened.
“I’m sorry if I misinterpreted your actions.”
“Anything else?” His voice dropped to a silky baritone that served as its own warning. “Anything you’d like to say to Sean?”
Callie’s belly tightened, but she refused to lie. “No, I think that’s it.”
“Then it’s obvious we need to lay down a few rules and expectations.” Thorpe settled against the backseat, legs braced wide, then grabbed her shoulders and gave a mighty jerk until she tumbled face down across his lap.
“Oh hell, no!” She writhed, trying to twist upright again.
Like that was going to help. He’d dealt with a thousand squirming submissives. There would be no escape. She already knew that from experience.
Expertly, he splayed a hand in the middle of her back, pinning her to his lap. “Hell, yes. It’s past due, pet. You’ve more than earned it. Your attitude needs serious adjusting.”
Thorpe punctuated his assertion by lifting her little skirt, yanking the bills out of her thong and throwing them on the floorboard, then giving her right cheek a quick, blistering swat. Before she’d even finished gasping, he spanked the left. Ouch! Her ass stung. Heat flared. And not for one second did she think that he was done.
“From now on,” he began, “you will keep uppermost in your mind that anything that affects you concerns us. We care. Is that clear?”
Even if she was a little thrilled at the conviction in his words and more than a bit excited at the way he restrained and handled her, Callie wanted to tell him to jump off a bridge. She was about to say something satisfyingly dismissive when he smacked the flat of his hand against each of her cheeks again. A yelp slipped from her mouth.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” A smirk resonated in his voice
Damn him!
“You will never leave our sight without proper permission. If you ever run away again without doing the courtesy of talking to us both, your ass will be a glowing shade of red for a month, I promise.”
Was he serious? “I don’t need babysitters.”
“Since you could have gotten yourself molested in that terrible club or in the fucking alley behind it, if not for us, I’m going to disagree.”