House of Payne: Rude (32 page)
“I won’t.”
“Fuck that. You call me. I’ll be there. End of story.”
“Right.” Again he nodded before he turned away. “Best of luck, lovebirds. I’m truly happy for you.”
“Be careful, Polo.” Sass couldn’t stop the words from bursting out of her, and she bit her lip as he turned just as Scout and Ivar swung through the door of the stairwell. “Please.”
The man in the fox mask shook his head, a bemused smile curling his mouth. “It’s so strange how sometimes you can be so like Dash, yet at other times so completely different. Like good twin, bad twin, but you both keep switching roles.”
“Dash?”
“No one. Be happy, Sass.” Without looking back, he disappeared into the shadows.
Scout, carrying a box full of party detritus, watched him go, while her husband followed close behind. “Who was that?”
“Family friend.” And it was true, Sass thought as they loaded up the back of the car, said their goodnights and headed for home. Somewhere along the way, the man who had watched over her at the behest of Borysko Vitaliev had gone from Scorpio the soulless, to Polo the friend. She still didn’t know what to do when it came to the issue of moral ground. She only knew that Polo had shown her kindness, even when he hadn’t had to. That meant there was genuine goodness in him, so that was what she focused on.
“What a night.” Sass loosed a gusty sigh when they entered the apartment. She kicked off her shoes, shrugged out of her coat and dumped everything she held on the credenza near the door. “FYI, I always need a couple days to recover from this bash, so if you need anything, contact me in forty-eight hours. Until then, leave a message.”
“All I need is you.” Also ditching his coat, he caught her up in his arms and collapsed into his cushy leather recliner. The king’s chair, as she liked to call it, had been his big Christmas present, and she loved how he enjoyed having her on his lap while watching TV. “Polo didn’t upset you, did he? You’ve been quiet ever since he showed up.”
“He didn’t upset me. He just delivered my inheritance tonight.” Then, feeling his start of surprise, she explained everything while holding up the envelope, now crumpled in her hand. “The thing is, I’m not sure what to do with it. We’re okay, aren’t we? We both making good money and we both love our work. I know this was his gift to us, and he had a thing about making sure I had a roof over my head. But aren’t we okay?”
“Yeah, we’re doing great.” Frowning at the envelope, Rude finally lifted a shoulder and set it aside so he had both hands free to work the zipper going down the back of her dress. “We can put it in a trust for the kids, maybe even add to it as the years go by. I think Borysko would’ve liked that. Hell, knowing that guy, he probably would’ve gotten a kick out of being able to take care of his grandkids.”
“Kids? Grandkids?”
“Remember,” he whispered at her mouth, his eyes staring into hers, “just love them until you lose your mind. That’s all you have to do to make it work.”
“I’m not worried.” And she wasn’t. Over time that panic had faded away as if it had never been, and for a moment she wondered where it had gone. When she searched her feelings, all she found was contentment and an absolute certainty of what it was to love, and to be loved just was fiercely. “You were right.”
The arms around her tightened. “Right about losing your mind?”
“Right about waiting for me to be ready.” She pressed a hand to his cheek and nuzzled his face with hers. “I’m ready now to change my color. This Panuzzi stray is no longer a stray, sweetheart. I’ve found my home in you.”
His smile made her heart soar. “Welcome home, Sassy Pants.”
Hello again!
When I started Rude’s and Sass’s story, I knew that House Of Payne wouldn’t be the backdrop for the story, since the two main characters were only indirectly linked to that famous tattoo studio. That was when I wondered if I was done with the series and needed to move on. But as Rude’s and Sass’s respective worlds unfolded, it became apparent that I was definitely NOT done with the House. It has a few more stories to tell, and I can’t wait to get to them!
But as I wrote this story, I also uncovered another world, and it’s much,
much
darker.
I didn’t plan on liking Polo Scorpeone, aka Scorpio. I have a huge, two-page character essay on him and how awful he is—a Moriarty-type of crazy character that I was prepared to loathe. But no matter how hard I tried to flesh him out that way, he refused to cooperate. Then his story began to unfold in my head, and…well, he’s now holding me hostage until I write his story. Jerk.
There are a couple projects ahead of Polo—a little Christmas story that’ll be ready to go in December, and one more House Of Payne book. But it looks like 2016 will belong to the Year Of The Scorpio. We’ll see. ;)
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There’s more lust, lies and love to be had in the House that Payne built. Look for Essie’s story in 2016:
House Of Payne: Steele
A competitive figure skater from the age of eight, Stacy Gail began writing stories in between events to pass the time. By the age of fourteen, she told her parents she was either going to be a figure skating coach who was also a published romance writer, or a romance writer who was also a skating pro. Now with a day job of playing on the ice with her students, and writing everything from steampunk to cyberpunk, contemporary to paranormal at night, both dreams have come true.
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