Tanner's Devil Part 5.3

Every step he took to walk back over to the bed was like an invisible stab in her chest for her deceit. Dontello didn’t smile, nor did he look as if he knew anything suspicious. “The girl you sent over to the hotel last night. I forgot to ask you who did you sent, since Jamroque told me that you didn’t take me up on my offer.”

The bastard was giving her an out or was he? ‘Do you know, dammit?!’ her mind screamed. She hated playing guessing games. ‘Okay, Tanner, if he knows then you’re going to have to take the beating or disappear for a while until his anger cools off, but if he doesn’t know then you’re going to have to have to remember your lie.’

So upset about it, she said, “Pari went.”

He frowned. “Paridise? Your roommate?”

“Yeah,” she said obviously, even though she knew that Donetello knew she wouldn’t send Pari on an assignment if it involved more than a hand job, because Pari didn’t get down like that, but back in the day when Tanner had an overflow of clients, she would throw Pari some easy jobs that didn’t do hardly anything except enjoy her company. “Jam said the guy only wanted to talk and touch, so I figured Pari wanted the job and it was a favor. Plus, I know you took your cut off the top and it wouldn’t be anything, but pocket change. Pari worried about what you’d do to me if I didn’t accept it and she didn’t want me to get back in the business even if I did want to do it. I was adamant about not getting back in the business - Not like that anymore, baby. I told you.” She pretended there was some misunderstanding about what she had said weeks ago. “Just big medical jobs, not any of that. When she came home, she just went straight to get something to eat and joined me on the couch. She didn’t say much.”

Donetello looked at the door as if he were inclined to call Pari in the room to prove Tanner wrong, but then he looked a little confused as if the information he had been given was positive.
‘So you haven’t spoken to Jamroque? Who the hell did you speak to?’

Tanner was positive that Donetello would not touch a hair on Pari’s hair because even though she was innocent as hell, she did know some pretty powerful people somehow and it took Donetello only one time to mess with Pari before he wouldn’t harm a hair on the roommate’s head, but neither Pari or Donetello would speak about what had happened.

Leaning over to her, Donetello firmly grabbed Tanner’s chin and kissed her cheek. “I’m going to take care of you, Tanner.” He increased the pressure on his grip to her chin. “No more shitting around for both of us. You’re gonna be mine forever, this time. I’ll make you happy. And I’ll make sure no man ever thinks of taking you away from me.”

She took his hand off her chin, kissed his palm and smiled as if honored. “I know, sweetie.”

The kiss he bestowed her lips was with was a passionate, wild promise and it would have even been exhilarating if…

If Tanner was still in love with Donetello.

Tanner's Devil Part 5.2 (c) 2006 Sylvia Hubbard