Unauthorized

Chapter 14: Exes

As the black cab sped off into the night, loud footsteps clacked across the road. Looking up, Andrés started to dismiss the hooker walking toward him, then did a double take.

Not a hooker. Zoë. Drunk, from the slackness of her features and the sloppy way she was walking, with one of the straps of the designer cami she probably couldn't really afford slung down around her arm. And here he was, shirtless in the street.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Shit. She must have seen him bundle Liv into the taxi but what the fuck was she even doing outside his flat, let alone at this time?

"Who's zat bitch?" the red-haired woman asked acerbically, her French accent thickened by intoxication. Andrés pushed aside all of his confused thoughts and feelings about Liv and focused on Zoë. "None of your goddamn business. You and I are over, Zoë, I don't know how many times I have to say it or how much clearer I can be. What the fuck are you doing here?"

Zoë snarled, her beautiful features contorting with an ugly rage. "You're a motherfucking asshole, you know that?"

Coldness seeped into Andrés. It was late, he wanted his bed, and this crazy bitch had come after his business because she couldn't have him – and his money. A reptilian smile crawled across his face as he remembered that Liv had given him the key to taking Zoë down without paying her off.

"I do know that. And if you keep trying to blackmail me and turning up outside my flat, you're going to find out exactly how much of a bastard I can be. Get the fuck out of here, before you really make me angry."

If this was how she wanted to do things, he'd put extra effort into going after not only her, but her entire fucking department at the Port Authority. It would be the perfect PR opportunity for Surefire Industries, exposing corruption in the Port and casting Surefire as an ethical business struggling against overreaching government agents.

She stood there in the street, a hot mess of smeared makeup and disheveled clothing. "I came to give you one last chance to take me back, but I guess you're going to be stupid," she snarled, venom dripping from every word.

Andrés couldn't even begin to run his mind through the mental convolutions that would have led her to make that statement and was too fed up to bother. "Get. The fuck. Out of here. Before I get a restraining order." At this point, he'd rather just have her killed, and damn his promises to himself and to Chi, but it wasn't worth the police investigation. Better to have her arrested.

For a long minute, she stayed where she was. Andrés was seriously considering calling the police when her face twisted. She spat at his feet, then turned and stalked off in the direction of Turnham Green station. He didn't move to go back inside until she was well down the road and around a corner.

"Perra loca," he muttered as went back in and climbed the stairs to the bedroom. Maybe I should just stick to men. Cillian would probably have me again.

He threw himself on the bed and Liv's amber and orange flower scent puffed up to envelop him. Maybe not. Liv might be worth the chase.

Andrés smiled at the thought as he tugged his jeans off and tossed them in the general direction of the hamper. He'd be annoyed with himself for his untidiness in the morning but was too exhausted to put them away properly just now.

After sending a quick text to Liv to make sure she had gotten home safely, he settled under the covers and buried his nose in the pillow she'd rested on. Her reply back was as short as she had been when she left, so whatever was bothering her hadn't been resolved in the time it took to drive home.

That was fine. He'd give her time. He could be patient, because one way or another he was determined to see her again, if only to figure out why he'd wanted her to stay.