fuck have you been?” She raised her eyebrows and looked down at the phone. That most certainly did not sound like her older brother.
“It’s,” she paused to look at the blinking red numbers on the clock-radio next to the bed, “ten-fifteen on Sunday morning. I believe you informed me you’d be unreachable all weekend.” She glanced over at the man who was currently attempting to burrow into the spot where her shoulder met her neck. “I expected you’d be too busy to call.”
“Meredith, stop being such a fucking ice-bitch and listen to me.” Now her brows flew up, and her eyes widened. Marcus hadn’t raised his voice to her since the night he’d all but called her a whore outside of Velvet Ice. Later she might note the irony that she’d been reeling from the sensation of Tony’s body in hers then, too. Now, she felt her whole body go stiff, and felt Tony’s grumbled argument when she started pushing her way out of his arms.
“Marcus,” she kept her voice level because if she didn’t, she might just begin screaming at him. The rage seemed to come from nowhere, but she knew it had been inside her all along, just waiting for the fuse to be lit. “I know you think you have a good reason to attack me, but trust me, big brother, you don’t ever want to go there again.” The phone was silent for a moment, except for his ragged breathing. “Call Matt and tell him to get his ass into the office tomorrow. I won’t be there.” He wasn’t yelling, but his voice was raw, and Meredith felt her anxiety growing. Marcus didn’t yell at her, and he didn’t call her names. And he never skipped work because of something in his personal life. She felt a little of her anger crack under the weight of her concern.
“Marc,” she let the ice melt from her voice. “Tell me what’s going on.” Now her brother, the quintessential alpha male and Dom most famous for his control in the entire Metro-Detroit area did yell.
“Just tell Matty to get the fuck to work tomorrow.” There was a loud click, and Meredith found herself staring at her phone blankly.
“Shit,” she yanked at the restraining sheets and fought free of Tony’s all-too-appealing bed as she hit the speed dial for Marcus’ cell phone. “Shit,” she snarled with even more feeling when it flipped directly to voice mail.
“Come on, you big bastard,” she muttered as she dialed his house phone. Tony had risen now, too, and had come to stand behind her. He laid gentle hands on her shoulders, but she smacked them away and reached for her clothes, swearing as Marcus’ house phone went to voice mail, too.
*
Tony didn’t know what had happened, but he knew one minute his bed had been full of warm, willing woman, and the next he’d been facing a pissed-off hell cat. And he wanted to know who was responsible for the change.
When Meredith started poking at buttons on her cell phone for a third time, he snatched it from her hand and flipped it shut. Ducking her claws, he held it out of her reach and caught her chin with his free hand, forcing her to meet his eyes.
Her eyes were silver ice, so cold they burned. He felt a sinking dread in the pit of his stomach. Whatever had happened, it had undone most of the progress he’d made last night.
“Give it back.” Her words were low and lethal. He just shook his head, and to his surprise her icy mask cracked just a tiny bit. “Tony, Anthony, please. I have to call Matt.
We have to find Marcus.” He tried to focus on the fact she’d asked for what she wanted, when what he wanted to do was scream out his outrage at how she’d use his full name, the name she used when they made love, to get what she wanted. How she thought she had to use that name to get what she wanted.
“Tell me what’s going on,” he gritted out, frustrated and pissed beyond all words.
“And then I’ll give you your phone.”
“Fine,” she snapped. She took advantage of the moments her explanation took to yank on her
“It’s,” she paused to look at the blinking red numbers on the clock-radio next to the bed, “ten-fifteen on Sunday morning. I believe you informed me you’d be unreachable all weekend.” She glanced over at the man who was currently attempting to burrow into the spot where her shoulder met her neck. “I expected you’d be too busy to call.”
“Meredith, stop being such a fucking ice-bitch and listen to me.” Now her brows flew up, and her eyes widened. Marcus hadn’t raised his voice to her since the night he’d all but called her a whore outside of Velvet Ice. Later she might note the irony that she’d been reeling from the sensation of Tony’s body in hers then, too. Now, she felt her whole body go stiff, and felt Tony’s grumbled argument when she started pushing her way out of his arms.
“Marcus,” she kept her voice level because if she didn’t, she might just begin screaming at him. The rage seemed to come from nowhere, but she knew it had been inside her all along, just waiting for the fuse to be lit. “I know you think you have a good reason to attack me, but trust me, big brother, you don’t ever want to go there again.” The phone was silent for a moment, except for his ragged breathing. “Call Matt and tell him to get his ass into the office tomorrow. I won’t be there.” He wasn’t yelling, but his voice was raw, and Meredith felt her anxiety growing. Marcus didn’t yell at her, and he didn’t call her names. And he never skipped work because of something in his personal life. She felt a little of her anger crack under the weight of her concern.
“Marc,” she let the ice melt from her voice. “Tell me what’s going on.” Now her brother, the quintessential alpha male and Dom most famous for his control in the entire Metro-Detroit area did yell.
“Just tell Matty to get the fuck to work tomorrow.” There was a loud click, and Meredith found herself staring at her phone blankly.
“Shit,” she yanked at the restraining sheets and fought free of Tony’s all-too-appealing bed as she hit the speed dial for Marcus’ cell phone. “Shit,” she snarled with even more feeling when it flipped directly to voice mail.
“Come on, you big bastard,” she muttered as she dialed his house phone. Tony had risen now, too, and had come to stand behind her. He laid gentle hands on her shoulders, but she smacked them away and reached for her clothes, swearing as Marcus’ house phone went to voice mail, too.
*
Tony didn’t know what had happened, but he knew one minute his bed had been full of warm, willing woman, and the next he’d been facing a pissed-off hell cat. And he wanted to know who was responsible for the change.
When Meredith started poking at buttons on her cell phone for a third time, he snatched it from her hand and flipped it shut. Ducking her claws, he held it out of her reach and caught her chin with his free hand, forcing her to meet his eyes.
Her eyes were silver ice, so cold they burned. He felt a sinking dread in the pit of his stomach. Whatever had happened, it had undone most of the progress he’d made last night.
“Give it back.” Her words were low and lethal. He just shook his head, and to his surprise her icy mask cracked just a tiny bit. “Tony, Anthony, please. I have to call Matt.
We have to find Marcus.” He tried to focus on the fact she’d asked for what she wanted, when what he wanted to do was scream out his outrage at how she’d use his full name, the name she used when they made love, to get what she wanted. How she thought she had to use that name to get what she wanted.
“Tell me what’s going on,” he gritted out, frustrated and pissed beyond all words.
“And then I’ll give you your phone.”
“Fine,” she snapped. She took advantage of the moments her explanation took to yank on her
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