text:
Fire & Brimstone

by

R.L. Mathewson

A Smashword's Edition
In loving memory of Roni Brown, a mother, sister, friend, daughter and member of Team Bradford.

You are missed, Roni.

**Other titles by R.L. Mathewson** :

The Pyte/Sentinel Series:

Tall, Dark & Lonely

Without Regret

Tall, Dark & Heartless

Tall, Silent & Lethal

Fated

The Hollywood Hearts Series:

A Humble Heart

A Reclusive Heart

The Neighbor from Hell Series:

Playing for Keeps

Perfection

Checkmate

Truce: The Historic Neighbor from Hell

The Game Plan

Double Dare

Double Feature (The Game Plan/Double Dare)

The Neighbor from Hell Collection I

Honeymoon from Hell Mini-Series I-VI

Christmas from Hell

The EMS Series:

Sudden Response

The Cursed Hearts Series:

Black Heart

Misc. Titles

The 2014 R.L. Mathewson Chronicle Collection

The 2015 R.L. Mathewson Chronicle Collection

Nonfiction Titles:

How to Write, Publish and All That Good Stuff...
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events described in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

Fire & Brimstone © Rerum Industries, Inc. 2016. All rights reserved.

http://www.rlmathewson.com

Edited by R.L. Mathewson, Kirstie Grundy, and Necie Navone,

eBook ISBN- 978-0-9885732-8-4
This book is dedicated to everyone who was willing to take a chance on me throughout the years and who has stuck by my side ever since.

Thank you.

And of course to my children who will always be my inspiration, my little buddies and my reason for sleeping with one eye open every night.

Thank you for purchasing this book.

Sign up for my newsletter and receive the latest news about the Neighbor from Hell Series as well as my other series at:

www.Rlmathewson.com

Fire & Brimstone
Chapter 1

"You're fired," Lucifer bit out as he openly glared at the small woman sitting across from him, silently daring her to argue with him, again.

Five goddamn long years he'd been trying to fire the woman staring back at him through deceptively innocent baby blue eyes and every single time she'd somehow managed to get out of it, but not today.

This time she'd gone too far.

"Is this about the uniforms?" Rebecca Shaw, the bane of his existence, asked with a slight frown that only managed to further piss him off.

"Yes," he snarled at the little hypochondriac that missed more days than all his other employees combined as he somehow resisted the urge to throttle the meddling woman that had made his life a living hell since the day that he'd foolishly hired her.

Her frown deepened as she glanced over her shoulder at the stack of boxes that had arrived only an hour ago. "Did they mess up the order?" she asked, having the balls to look adorably confused as she returned her attention back to him.

"You could say that," he said, honestly surprised that he hadn't resorted to shouting at the little pain in the ass yet.

He glanced at the Coca Cola clock hanging above the door and noted that it was still early. It usually took her a good ten minutes or so to reduce him to monosyllabic words and incoherent rants yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Damn it!" she groaned, getting to her feet. Shaking her head in disbelief, she walked over to the boxes that were being returned first thing in the morning and ripped open the box sitting by the door. "I was hoping we'd be able to have them by Friday," she explained as she pulled out a black tee shirt and inspected it.

"I'm sure you were," he said dryly as he watched her inspect a few of the shirts, aprons and pants that were neatly piled in the box.

"I'm not seeing a problem," she said with that damn small sigh of hers that always grated on his nerves as she looked at the shirt in her hands before starting the inspection process all over again.

"Don't you?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow as he leaned back in his chair and-

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded when the woman that he should have realized was crazy years ago pulled off her off-white Fire & Brimstone tee shirt and tossed it on his desk, leaving her in a black bra that looked like it was struggling to keep the large pale breasts that she'd somehow managed to shove inside it from bursting free.

"Trying on the new uniform," she explained with an expression that clearly told him that it should have been more than obvious what the crazed woman was doing while he sat there, watching helplessly as she reached up and adjusted her bra, wondering where he'd gone wrong.

It was in that moment that he would forever be grateful that he was an ass man, otherwise-

"Don't. Even. Fucking. Think. Of, it," he bit out, stressing every syllable to make sure that she'd heard him.

She stopped unbuttoning her pants, opened her mouth to argue, but something in his expression must have clued the psychotic woman into the fact that he was seconds away from throttling her with his bare hands. With a long-suffering sigh that would put every man in his family to shame, she fixed her pants and tossed the slacks that she'd been seconds away from trying on back in the box.

"I still don't see the problem," she said, gesturing to the shirt that she'd had absolutely no business ordering.

"That's because you're-where the hell are you going?" he demanded when she suddenly turned around and left without another word, making her escape just as he was about to fire her ass and bringing his rage to the homicidal stage

He sat there for another minute, refusing to chase after her. He'd planned on firing her in his office, had actually fantasized about it, and he was damn well going to do it in his fucking office. He opened his mouth to demand that she get her ass back in there so that he could live out his fantasy when the next words out of her mouth had him releasing a vicious curse and racing for the door.

"Hey, Tim! What do you think of the new uniforms?"

He was going to kill her, he decided as he stormed out of his office and across the taproom to find the little pain in the ass showing everyone the uniform that she'd ordered behind his back.

"I love it!" Abigail, his bar manager, gushed approvingly, further pissing him off because there was nothing wrong with the fucking uniforms that he'd designed ten years ago!

"It's about damn time," Tim said with a smile that quickly disappeared when he spotted Lucifer walking towards them.

"I think this will go a lot better with the new..." Rebecca started to explain only to let her words trail off with a resigned sigh when he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. "Didn't we talk about the manhandling?" she asked as she settled in over his shoulder, getting comfortable as he walked back to his office.

"We need to have a little chat," he calmly explained, deciding that there really was no need to yell and ruin this momentous occasion.

"Another one?" she asked, not sounding particularly worried as he carried her back to his office, pausing only long enough to kick the door shut behind him before he deposited his unwanted waitress in the rickety old chair he saved for just such an occasion. With a sigh of his own, he returned to his desk, satisfied that everything in the world was as it should be.

He sat down, cleared his throat and opened his mouth to recite the speech that he'd been working on since the moment he'd realized his mistake hiring her, but after a slight pause he took a long, satisfying breath, deciding to savor the moment.

It was a mistake and part of him knew that when he'd decided to do it, but after five long years of hell and bullshit he hadn't been able to help himself. After all the crazy bullshit she'd brought into his life he'd wanted to savor that one precious moment when he finally freed himself of her.

"I was hoping to talk to you this morning," his own personal reminder that hell did in fact exist, said as she stood up and walked around his desk, but this time he'd been prepared and had stacked a large pile of folders on the corner of his desk earlier so that she couldn't-

"What the hell do you think you're doing" he demanded as she simply walked past the large pile of folders he'd stacked on his desk to keep her off her customary spot and hopped up on his desk.

Right. In. Front. Of. Him.

"Nothing," she said, shooting him a frown as though he was the one that had lost his goddamn mind.

"Move," he bit out between clenched teeth as she lazily crossed one leg over the other, leaned back and grabbed-

"Please tell me that you're fucking kidding me," he said when the crazed woman reached back and grabbed the clipboard that had helped make his life a living hell over the last five years.

He still wasn't sure how she did it, but whenever she felt the urge to see if he was willing to do ten to life behind bars for manslaughter, she pulled out that damn clipboard. She never carried it around, but it always seemed to be within reaching distance, something that had driven him nuts until he realized that he was allowing this small, plump pain in the ass to have that much power over him. Once he'd figured it out, he'd forced himself not to care that she was able to pull that fucking torture device from thin air and ruin his whole fucking day with just a few key, "points."

"I had to switch Jen to the morning shift, because I have an appointment this morning. But, I should be back in time for the lunch rush," she began, trying to prolong the inevitable and bringing this whole thing to a new level of fucking pathetic.

"There's no point in you coming back," he explained before finally adding, "you're fired."

"Uh huh," she mumbled absently, clearly ignoring him, which unfortunately for her was one of the things that pissed him off the most about her.

Well, to be honest he hated a lot of things about pretty much everyone. Except for his family. He tolerated them, because he had to or his mother would probably beat the shit out of him.

Then his father would, of course, feel obligated to kick his ass for upsetting his mother.

Then his brothers would try to kick his ass. That is, if he survived the ass whooping from his father, which wasn't likely. So, for self-preservation, he tolerated his family.

To a point.

He might have to acknowledge them and refrain from killing them when they annoyed the shit out of him, but he didn't have to let them in his restaurant no matter how much they bitched and God, did they bitch.

"I'll be back for the lunch rush," the thorn in his side repeated, reminding him that he was supposed to be living out his fantasy.

There was no way in hell that he was allowing her to ruin this for him. He'd dreamed of doing this and now that he was doing it, he was going to savor every second of it.

"You're fired," he repeated, taking perverse satisfaction in letting those two words roll off his tongue.

"I had Eric go through the refrigerator this morning and clean it out today instead of tomorrow since we're getting the delivery in the morning," she said with a little frown that he refused to find adorable as she absently reached down, grabbed his coffee and took a sip before he could stop her. As soon as she was done, he took the cup away from her.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" he asked with a glare as the frustrating woman took the cup out of his and took another sip before handing it back to him, leaving him sitting there, glaring at the woman that refused to leave.

"I also had to let Jeff go this morning," she said, grabbing his attention in a big way.

"You did what?" he snapped, taking note of the time that she'd set a new record for making him lose his fucking mind.

"I fired him," she said with a shrug as though it was no big deal.

It was a big fucking deal!

"Who the hell do you think you are firing one of my employ-," he started to demand only to get cut off and left speechless by the little brat as she tossed the clipboard to him, hopped off his desk and headed for the door.

"He was calling hookers from the business line and using petty cash to pay them. Well, I'll be back in a few hours!" she said cheerfully as he sat there, staring at the door long after she'd left, wondering how she'd managed to keep doing this to him.

It wouldn't happen again, he promised himself as he grabbed his own clipboard and headed for the morning meeting, determined to salvage the rest of the day. When he was done he'd come back and try this again, but this time he would succeed. After he'd finally managed to fire her, he would focus on finding a way to evict the little pain in the ass from the apartment he'd stupidly leased to her.
Chapter 2

"What happened?" Melanie, her best friend since the second grade and roommate, asked as Rebecca quietly closed the door behind her.

"He fired me again," she admitted as she tried to go for casual while she walked through their loft-style apartment and headed towards the bathroom.

"Gonna be sick?" Melanie asked around a yawn from where she lounged on the couch with a magazine, a Coke and her reason for living, a double chocolate fudge Pop-Tart.

"No, no of course not," she lied, barely resisting the urge to place her hand over her stomach, dive for the wastebasket by the kitchen island and finally find some relief from the damn nausea that had been plaguing her since breakfast.

"Really?" Melanie asked, cocking a brow as she continued thumbing through her magazine, pausing only long enough to push back a thick strand of her honey blond hair.

"I'm fine," Rebecca swore, forcing herself to stop a mere twenty feet from her salvation.

"Really?" Melanie asked, not sounding as though she really believed her, which of course was a problem since Rebecca really didn't want to go to this appointment. But, unless she was able to convince Melanie that she was fine, she-

"You're not getting out of this appointment," the bossy woman announced with a bored sigh, making Rebecca regret offering to share her juice box back in pre-school.

"I'm fine," she bit out, outraged that her best friend refused to believe her.

"Then explain why you're pale," Melanie demanded, still not looking up from her magazine. Then again, Melanie probably didn't need to after all these years to know when she was sick.

"Because I'm Irish," she reminded her inconsiderate friend.

"And the trembling?"

"Leftover adrenaline surge from my meeting with Lucifer," she explained with a small sniffle, hoping to play on her best friend's sympathetic heart to get out of this since the last thing that she wanted to do was waste her day at another doctor's office just so they could tell her that it was all in her head.

"Nice try, but you're not getting out of this," Melanie, the cold hearted bitch, said, sounding bored while Rebecca stood there, bottom lip trembling, eyes tearing up as she hugged herself, making sure to look appropriately traumatized.

"It was so t-terrifying," she said, waiting two crucial seconds before she added a little sob at the end there, hoping that it would be enough so that they could end this charade and get on with their lives.

"Uh huh," Melanie mumbled, still not bothering to grant her the courtesy of a glance as she sipped her Coke.

"I don't think I'll ever get over it," Rebecca whispered harshly, taking a discrete step in the direction of the bathroom, praying that the traitor hadn't noticed.

"First off," Melanie began, only pausing long enough to take another sip of her soda, "you are probably the only person alive that isn't terrified of Lucifer Bradford."

Rebecca began to argue, simply to argue, but the damn woman wasn't done yet. "Secondly, you're not fooling anyone with that pathetic lip tremble. If you're going to be sick then get it over with, because you're not getting sick in my car, again," Melanie announced on another bored sigh that earned her a glare.

Rebecca continued to stand there glowering at her best friend while a thousand arguments ran through her head, but her damn stomach decided that it was time to take this to the next level and start cramping, nearly knocking her on her ass and guaranteeing that Melanie won this match.

That didn't mean that she planned on going quietly to this appointment, because she didn't. She'd get out of this appointment like she'd gotten out of so many before. All she had to do was-

"Tick, tock," the annoying bitch that she loathed more with every passing second, said mockingly, forever earning her hatred.

"This isn't over!" Rebecca snapped, simply because it was and they both knew it.

"Whatever you say, sunshine," Melanie said in an annoying singsong voice just to piss her off even more.

Rebecca opened her mouth to argue, but ended up slapping a hand against her mouth as she narrowed her eyes on the woman that should have rightfully been her nemesis and decided to make a tactical retreat to the bathroom before she did something that would prove the gloating bitch right.

The door had just shut behind her when she lost the battle and her breakfast, something that she was doing more frequently lately. It was also something that she'd been trying to avoid doing today, knowing that it would be her downfall. She didn't want to go to this appointment today simply because she was sick and tired of listening to doctors tell her that there was nothing wrong with her all while giving her that look that made her feel worthless. They all thought that she was a hypochondriac and the scary part was that they might be right.

She couldn't remember a time when she hadn't been sick. In school she'd set the record for most absences. Her parents had been terrified that they were going to lose her. That is, until she hit middle school and the doctors that she'd depended on to make everything better had come to the conclusion that she was faking it for attention.

It hadn't mattered how many times she'd sworn up and down that she wasn't feeling good, her parents had refused to listen. They'd followed the doctor's orders, sent her to school every day and when the nurse called them to tell them that they needed to pick her up from school they'd refused.

The only person that had ever believed that there was something wrong with her was the evil woman in the other room, waiting to ambush her and drag her by the hair to see the latest doctor, who in two hours would explain in the politest way possible that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her seconds before he suggested that she may benefit from seeing a psychiatrist. She used to argue, determined to make them realize that they were making a mistake, that they'd missed something, but none of them had ever listened. Eventually, she'd stopped trying, stopped keeping her appointments and eventually stopped hoping for an answer.

She just wished that Melanie would accept the fact that there was nothing anyone could do and let this go so that she could live the rest of her life in misery, but the frustrating woman refused to listen to reason. No matter how many times she'd begged, glared and bitched, Melanie refused to drop it. Melanie had always believed that she was sick and had always been there for her. She'd understood when she was too sick to do anything and never got pissed when she had to cancel plans so that she could spend some quality time curled up in bed, trying to pretend that she didn't hate her life.

It had meant the world to her to have someone in her life that didn't think the worst of her. Having Melanie in her life was the one thing that had kept her sane all these years. It was just too bad that her best friend was driving her insane with all this nagging and threats of violence. She didn't want to go see another doctor, but unfortunately for her, Melanie didn't seem to care about what she wanted. Her best friend was determined to figure out what was wrong with her and fix it even if that meant dragging her kicking and screaming to see every doctor in the world.

Even though it annoyed the hell out of her, it meant the world to her having someone who believed in her the way that Melanie did. No matter what anyone said about her, Melanie always had her back, which was why she resisted the urge to throttle her best friend when she refused to back down and just accept the fact that there was nothing that anyone could do to fix her.

*-*-*-*

"What about the specials?" Rose, a waitress he'd hired a few months ago on the recommendation of his sister-in-law, asked.

"What about them?" Lucifer asked as he leaned back against the wall, looking through the time cards.

"Are there any changes?" she asked as she glanced at the menus for the night.

There should be, but the new recipes that he'd been working on weren't ready yet. "No. They're the same as last week," he said as he glanced up at the whiteboard by the clock to see what last week's specials were.

He looked over the list before deciding that the dessert menu was a little weak. "I'll make a call to Dixon Bakery and see if they have anything they can spare for tonight's dinner service," he said, deciding that it would probably be for the best if he went in person and had a Bradford special to help him recover from this morning's disappointment.

She really was going to be the death of him, he thought as he initialed this morning's time stamps. All except two. He set the first one aside and looked for the matching time stamp. It only took him a few seconds to find it.

Sighing, he said, "Aimee?"

"Yes?" Aimee said, shifting nervously and for good reason.

"You're fired," he said, not bothering to look up from her time card.

"But-"

"You have five minutes to clear out your locker," he said, placing her time stamp aside before selecting the other time card that she'd decided to stamp this morning and making him wonder why he was having such a hard time firing Rebecca.

"You can tell Kelly when you see her that she's fired as well," he said, putting a line through Kelly's timecard.

She didn't say anything else as she quickly grabbed her stuff and left, because she knew better. He didn't take any shit from anyone and he rarely gave second chances. There was a reason why everyone called him Lucifer to his face and asshole to his back. He didn't have a problem with either nickname, because he'd earned both.

Even as a kid he hadn't been someone that you wanted to fuck with. He never took any shit from anyone and if you had a problem with that, he'd always been more than happy to clear up any misunderstandings. Although he was an asshole, and he had absolutely no problems with admitting that, he wasn't a bully and never pulled any shit. If you left him alone, he left you alone, but God help you if he caught you fucking someone over because he'd be in your face before you had a chance to blink.

He wasn't like the rest of the men in his family. They were more laid back, easy going while he was straight-laced and probably took everything too seriously. He'd always been like that and had never thought about changing and why should he? He was happy with the way that his life had turned out.

He had the restaurant of his dreams, which he would admit was still a work in progress, decent friends, a good place to live and a family that accepted him for the asshole that he was. His life was fucking perfect.

He set his own hours, worked on whatever he wanted and ensured that one day his restaurant would be the best in the city. When he accomplished that he would look into opening more locations and hopefully one day he would be able to sit back and enjoy his success. Until that day happened, he was going to put absolutely everything that he had into making this restaurant great even if that meant spending all his time and every last penny he had to make that happen.

*-*-*-*

"Move your ass, Shaw!" the controlling bitch that she loved more than anything, said in a chipper voice as she walked past the bathroom. "We're leaving in ten minutes."

"No, we're not!" Rebecca snapped back even though she knew damn well that she didn't have a choice.

She was going or Melanie would beat the living shit out of her and then drag her unconscious body to the doctor's office. As much fun as it would be to wake up by being poked and prodded, she was going to have to pass and accept the fact that she was going to have deal with another doctor telling her that it was all in her head.

Yup, it was going to be loads of fun, she thought dryly as she grabbed her toothbrush and cleaned her teeth, telling herself that she didn't have a choice. She either went of her own free will or Melanie would walk in here, grab her by the hair and drag her down the backstairs, out the door and shove her unconscious body in the trunk of her car.

Since she really didn't feel like being shoved into the trunk with Melanie's gym clothes that hadn't seen the inside of a washing machine in five years, she decided to suck it up and accept the fact that she was going to sit there and smile politely while another doctor explained in the subtlest terms that she was insane. She was going to-

"Get off me!" Melanie suddenly yelled, sounding pissed and making Rebecca sigh heavily, because by this point Melanie really should have learned how to deal with their sweet, little baby. As Rebecca rinsed her mouth and put her toothbrush away, the bloodcurdling screaming began.

"Screaming will only make it worse!" she yelled over the screams, wondering why Melanie couldn't remember that one simple rule.

"Get him off me!" Melanie screamed hysterically, which was just ridiculous, because Mojo would never hurt her and she knew that.

Muttering to herself, Rebecca stepped into the small hallway that was made even smaller by the fact that Melanie was laying on the floor with the two-hundred and sixty-five pound mastiff laying on top of her, happily wagging his tail as he continued to drool all over the woman that seemed to have a problem with cuddling.

"Are you going to get him off me?" Melanie demanded as she tried, and failed, to turn her head to get out of the path of all that drool slowly dripping down on her face and neck.

"Are you going to cancel the doctor's appointment?" Rebecca countered, realizing that she might actually have a shot at getting out of this appointment. She'd still get her ass kicked. There was no doubt about that, but at least thanks to Mojo and his love for a good cuddle, she'd miss her appointment and really, that's all that mattered to her.

"No!" the stubborn woman that was lying in a large puddle of dog drool snapped, shooting a terrifying glare in her direction as though it was somehow Rebecca's fault that Mojo loved to tackle her whenever the opportunity presented itself.

"Are you sure?" Rebecca asked after a slight hesitation, simply because she knew how this was going to end.

"Yes!"

"Then I'm afraid that there's nothing that I can do," she said with a shrug as she turned around and headed for the back door, deciding that she'd go back to work since it appeared that she suddenly had a few extra hours to kill.
Chapter 3

"I'm going to fucking kill her," he said in resignation as he rubbed his hands down his face, because he no longer had a choice. Not now when every single one of his employees was wearing the uniform that the little demon had ordered behind his back.

He couldn't even say that he hadn't seen this day coming. There had been plenty of clues along the way letting him know that one day he would have no choice but to dump her body into a tub of holy water and let the Devil have his protégé back.

There was the day that Rebecca Shaw had shown up twenty minutes late to her interview, wearing a Goonies t-shirt, flannel pajama pants, pink bunny slippers and carrying a resume that proudly informed anyone who had the misfortune of reading it about the five years she'd spent finding herself as she'd jumped from job to job...to job.

Normally he never would have hired someone who clearly didn't have their shit together, but at the time he'd been short-staffed because he'd mistakenly hired waitresses who couldn't handle a little fucking criticism without bursting into tears. When she hadn't turned into a nervous wreck five minutes into the interview, the time it usually took someone to decide that working at Fire & Brimstone just wasn't for them, he decided to hire her on a temporary basis.

With her work history he'd figured that it was only a matter of weeks before she'd quit and by the time that happened, he should have been able to find a reliable waitress who knew how to do her job without pissing him off. Unfortunately for his sanity and his blood pressure, things hadn't worked out that way.

Like the first time that he'd tried to fire her and had somehow ended up with a new menu, two new waitresses that actually turned out to be pretty good, and renting the apartment across from his to her, her best friend and that fucking dog. He still wasn't sure how she'd managed it, but every fucking time that he tried to tell her to stop fucking with his head, his life, and his restaurant, she somehow managed to change the subject and fuck with his head until he found himself doing exactly what she wanted just to shut her the fuck up, but no longer.

He was fucking done.

Absolutely fucking done.

Shooting one last glare at the uniforms that would make a lovely addition to a bonfire, he headed towards the back, giving customers a slight nod when they waved hello and ignoring the employees that were trying to derail him from his life's purpose with petty bullshit. He didn't stop until he found himself in the employee hallway and was forced to punch in the code to release the security door that lead upstairs to the apartments that he'd added shortly after he'd purchased the building.

As soon as the door clicked open, he was in the stairwell and heading upstairs where he would finally end the little demon's reign of terror. This ended today, he promised himself, refusing to put up with her bullshit for one more day. Thirty seconds later, he was at her door and raising his hand as anticipation coursed through his body.

Finally, this nightmare was about to-

"Good morning, Christopher," the little terror greeted him with a huge smile when she opened the door and spotted him, daring to call him the name that not even his mother used anymore, further fueling his determination to get rid of her. "Did you need something?"

"You're fired," he blurted out with absolutely no finesse, ruining what he'd been working on for years, but at the moment he really didn't fucking care as long as the job got done. The only thing that mattered was finally ridding himself of the biggest mistake of his life.

Instead of crying, begging for her job or arguing with him like most sane people would have done, she simply nodded and mumbled a distracted, "I see," as she glanced over her shoulder at something in her apartment, the move causing her curly black hair that he had to admit that he liked about her to slide off her shoulder.

"You're fired," he said a little louder, determined to make sure that there were no misunderstandings.

"Uh huh," she mumbled, sounding even more distracted as she turned around, grabbed the door handle and ever so carefully, pulled the door closed behind her. She slowly backed away from the door. Licking her lips nervously, she shot a hopeful glance towards the stairwell door as though she was calculating the odds of making it there before-

"You little bitch!" came the feminine roar as the door was suddenly thrown open and Melanie, the normal one in this duo as far as he could tell, launched herself at Rebecca before the much smaller woman could so much as gasp in surprise as she took her down to the ground.

"Get the hell off me!" Rebecca demanded a minute later as she rolled over onto her stomach and attempted to crawl away, but the crazed woman on top of her, who'd clearly been pushed to her limit, refused to let her go.

"No!"

"Bitch!" Rebecca shot back, triggering a verbal duel that he was, unfortunately, all too familiar with.

"Whore!"

"Tramp!"

"Bieber lover!" Melanie growled as she put Rebecca in a headlock and earned a gasp of outrage, because clearly that was crossing the line.

"You bitch!" Rebecca snarled, forgoing her attempts to escape so that she could put her best friend in a headlock of her own.

Sighing heavily, Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how his life had turned into this fucked up existence. He'd like to say that living with these two was like living with his family, but sadly, he couldn't even say that, because they were clearly worse than anyone in his family, which was actually fucking disturbing.

"Are you two done yet?" he asked, not really surprised when they ignored him and continued to fight, argue or whatever they fucking called it.

"You're going!" Melanie snapped with a determined expression as she released her hold on Rebecca and-

"Ow!" Rebecca screamed as Melanie grabbed her by the ear and gave it a good twist, a move that never seemed to fail and one that the little pain in the ass really should have expected.

"I didn't come up here to witness more of your bullshit," he snapped as the pair moved onto ineffectual bitch slaps. "I wanted to make sure that you understood that you're fired."

But, like always, they continued to ignore him and the fact that their "baby," had come out into the hallway to watch them, already looking bored. Thankful that the dog hadn't focused on him, Lucifer decided to give it one more try before he left, secure in the knowledge that he'd accomplished what he'd come here to do.

"You're fired."

"We heard you the first time!" Melanie snapped, looking more determined than he'd ever seen her before as she stood up and attempted to drag her best friend towards the stairwell door by her ear.

"Let go!" Rebecca snapped right back, but it was clear to everyone in the hallway, including the dog now snoring loudly by the door, that she'd lost.

Having had enough bullshit today and wanting to make sure that the worst employee that he'd ever had knew that she was fired, he walked over to the struggling duo, reached down and swept Rebecca off her feet. He ignored the twin sounds of outrage, the dog rolling over onto his side and blocking most of the hallway and headed for his apartment.

*-*-*-*

"Hey! I was winning that!" she argued, even though she'd been getting her ass royally kicked and seconds away from being dragged down a flight of stairs by her ear.

"Shut up and sit down," Lucifer said evenly as he rudely deposited her on one of the large leather couches taking up the large open space, letting her know that she'd finally pushed him too far, because he'd never once in the five years that she'd worked for him allowed her inside his apartment.

No one was allowed in here as far as she knew. This was his sanctuary, his escape from the rest of the world and the one place that she'd never attempted to infiltrate, because she hadn't wanted to see exactly how far she could push him before he snapped and turned the infamous Lucifer Bradford temper on her. It wasn't as though he hadn't lost his temper with her before. It happened on a daily basis and usually more than once a day, but she'd never seen him this angry before.

At other people?

All. The. Time.

Since she really didn't want to be on the receiving end of that aforementioned temper, she decided that it would probably be in her best interest if she made a hasty retreat and gave him a chance to cool off.

"You and I need to have a talk," he bit out with a cold glare that didn't bode well for her.

Yeah....no, she was good.

"We definitely should talk," she agreed with a firm nod, because she'd learned years ago that the best way to deal with Lucifer Bradford was to either distract him or avoid him altogether and since she didn't have her trusty clipboard with her...

She needed to get out of here for a few hours and unfortunately for her, the only thing that would grant her sanctuary until Mr. Cranky Pants here redirected that anger issue of his onto someone else was a visit to the Doctor's office.

Well, there really was no point in putting it off any longer, especially since Lucifer looked liked he was going to try firing her again. He really was cute when he thought that he was in charge, she mused with a resigned sigh as she got to her feet and headed for the door.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he demanded, somehow managing to look downright adorable for a man that could have easily been a cover model with his brooding green eyes, perfect tan, great build and short jet black hair that he swept forward every morning.

It really was a shame that he was such an asshole, she thought as she gave him one of those huge smiles that made always seemed to make the muscle beneath his eye tick and said brightly, "Doctor's appointment!"

Before he could reply, she was out the door and in a chokehold by a woman who could teach Lucifer Bradford a thing or two about channeling all that anger.
Chapter 4

"What are you going to do if he actually fires you?" Melanie asked as though this time her answer would be different.

"Kill you," Rebecca answered with a lazy shrug as she continued to flip through the health magazine on her lap.

"Killing me wouldn't pay the rent," Melanie pointed out smugly.

"It would if your family paid me to do it," she felt obligated to point out as she shot another calculating glance towards the exit.

"My family loves me."

"Your father offered me fifty-thousand dollars to kill you," Rebecca pointed out, wishing that she'd managed to jump out of the car before Melanie had stopped her, but the damn woman had lightening fast reflexes. Besides, the idea of getting road rash at forty miles as hour hadn't really appealed to her.

"He was joking!" Melanie gasped in outrage, giving her the distraction that she needed, because honestly, she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to sit here, knowing what was coming.

"He wrote a check," she answered as she glanced back at the disapproving receptionist, who hadn't taken her eyes off of them since they'd walked in the door, before she returned her attention to the magazine pushing the latest version of Viagra.

"You're lying!"

"You were dating Craig Milton," she said, reminding her best friend of the biggest dating mistake of her life.

"I was ten years old!" Melanie gasped with a chuckle.

"Your father took exception to him," Rebecca said with a shrug as she stared at the magazine in her lap, trying her best not to think about...anything.

But, with every passing second she was losing that battle and she couldn't help but think about the conversation that was to come or the gut wrenching feeling that hit her every time another Doctor looked at her with pity and annoyance as they came to the conclusion that she'd wasted their time. She didn't want to be here, but then again, she really didn't want to be home or at work where a certain terrifying man was no doubt on a rampage thanks to the fact that she'd once again narrowly escaped another attempt to fire her.

Okay, so technically she hadn't escaped anything since he'd flat out told her that she was fired nearly a dozen times over the past five years. If it had been anyone else she probably would have just accepted her fate and moved on by now, but this was Lucifer Bradford, who obviously had no idea what he was doing, so she felt it was for the best if she simply ignored him and focused on saving the Fire & Brimstone before he ran it into the ground.

Lucifer was a very intelligent man, a hard worker and even though she personally thought that he was an asshole, he was also one of the most honest men that she'd ever met. That being said, he was also incredibly stubborn and that just wasn't going to work for her.

She understood probably better than anyone how much the Fire & Brimstone meant to him. She hadn't been able to help but fall in love with the restaurant and its charm the very first time she'd laid eyes on it. She'd do anything to make sure that it was a success even if that meant saving it from the man that had every right to run it into the ground.

Lucifer was stuck in his ways, refused to change anything or look for ways to improve the restaurant and evolve to meet growing trends. As far as he was concerned, the day that he'd opened Fire & Brimstone's doors to the public, the restaurant had been absolutely perfect the way that it was and didn't need to change. She'd admit that it probably had been perfect back then, but that was ten years ago and lot had changed since.

When she'd first started working at Fire & Brimstone she'd realized that the restaurant was in desperate need of a massive overhaul or it wasn't going to be able to keep its doors open for very much longer. The food was horrible, overpriced and, more than often, was charred beyond recognition. Staff turnover was high and the employees that stayed were complete assholes that didn't give a damn that the restaurant was in a downward spiral as long as their checks cleared.

It had been a nightmare.

She'd also noticed that Christopher, (AKA Lucifer Bradford to those that didn't want to piss him off) had been in way over his head. Technically, he still was and if she let him have his way and get rid of her, then the poor man wouldn't know what to do with himself or the Fire & Brimstone. He needed her, almost desperately, she concluded with a pitying sigh and a shake of her head, because really, she had no choice but to stay and help him.

It really was for his own good.

"I wonder what they found," Melanie said with that calculating tone of hers that just made Rebecca want to sneak into the bitch's room one night and smother frosting all over her face so that she could sic Mojo on her.

"They didn't find anything," she said in aggravation, foolishly taking the bait and promising herself that if Melanie kept this shit up that she was stopping at a store on the way home and buying a dozen cans of frosting.

"Then why would they ask you to come in?" Melanie asked, sounding smug, which she knew from experience wouldn't last long.

As soon as the Doctor broke the news to them that she was probably a fucking nut job just looking for attention, Melanie's tone would turn slightly...crazed. At least, that's how the last Doctor had described it.

"Don't get your hopes up," she said instead of allowing herself to be drawn into this pointless conversation.

She absolutely refused to have this conversation again.

It just wasn't happening.

It wasn't.

"They found something. I can feel it," Melanie said firmly, which of course earned an eye roll, because Melanie was always sure that they'd finally found a reason why she couldn't seem to go a day without getting sick.

She should keep her mouth shut, because she knew that if she ignored Melanie long enough that she'd get bored and drop the conversation, but the stubborn part of her that couldn't leave well enough alone just couldn't keep quiet.

"Yeah? And what am I going to do if they find something, huh?" she demanded.

"We'll deal with it," was the immediate response that had Rebecca sighing heavily as she tossed the magazine back on the neat pile in front of her so that she could give her undivided attention to her best friend that she loved more than anything, but was likely to kill one day.

"Really? What if they find out that I'm diabetic or that I have cancer?" she asked, because she honestly wasn't sure what she was going to do if the test came back positive. It would probably take her years to get over the shock that she was actually sick.

"Then we'll find the best cancer treatment in the world if it's cancer and if it's diabetes then we'll cut back on sugar and watch what we eat," Melanie said, sounding completely confident that they'd be able to handle whatever it was and that was great, sweet really, but Rebecca knew that they weren't going to find anything.

"This is the last appointment that I'm going to," she said firmly, because she was done.

"We won't need another appointment after this," Melanie said, sounding so damn sure of herself. "They figured out what's wrong and now they can fix it."

"Uh huh," she mumbled, hoping that Melanie would shut up and drop it.

"And don't worry," Melanie said, reaching over and giving her leg a comforting pat that was going to get her drizzled in gravy one night, "no matter what happens, what they find, you're not in this alone. I'll go through this with you."

"Rebecca Shaw," the nurse said, letting her know that her time had run out, "the Doctor's ready to see you now."
Chapter 5

"This is disgusting!" the middle-aged woman that could have been the poster child for soccer moms everywhere, said with a sneer, making sure that everyone in the restaurant heard her.

"I see," Lucifer murmured thoughtfully as he looked down at the plate she'd shoved in his face before he had a chance to ask what was wrong.

Well, he knew what was wrong. This woman and her three clones, who couldn't decide if they wanted to devour him on the spot or send him bitchy looks in support of their friend, had belittled his waitress and embarrassed her in front of everyone. They were also pissing him off and creating a scene in his restaurant, which unfortunately for them wasn't something that he would tolerate.

"The French fries were ice cold and soggy. The burger was burnt to a crisp on the outside and completely raw in the middle. The bun was completely dried out. The coleslaw was rancid and-"

"Then why did you eat it?" he asked in a deceptively calm tone that had all of his employees that were in the large dining area going completely still and some of the regulars sharing nervous glances as he looked from the empty plate in his hands to the woman trying to force him into giving her a free meal and something to talk about later around the water cooler.

"Because I was hungry and I didn't have much choice since your waitress was too busy flirting with the bartender to come check on us!" she snapped back, probably thinking that taking it to the next level of bitch would help her case.

It didn't.

"Then why didn't you flag down one of the other waitresses or walk out?" he asked as he gave her a look that dared her to continue with this line of bullshit.

"I shouldn't have to wave down anyone!" she yelled. "And if you knew how to run a restaurant then we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"I see," he murmured thoughtfully as he placed her plate back on the table in front of her along with her check. "Pay your bill and get the hell out of my restaurant," he said, more than willing to let her off the hook since he had other things that required his attention, but apparently she wasn't willing to let this go.

"You expect me to pay for this garbage? You can't be serious!" she shouted as she came to her feet, grabbed her purse before she reached down, picked up the receipt, squeezed it into a ball and threw it at his face.

He easily caught it and, keeping his eyes locked on her stunned ones, he tossed the receipt on the table, opened his mouth and-

"No! We don't kill the customers!" the sudden weight on his back yelled. "We are not going over this again!"

"Get the fuck off!" he snarled, keeping his eyes on the bitch, who'd decided to take advantage of the insane woman plastering herself to his back and bolted for the door with her friends right behind her, but only after they'd each thrown a twenty dollar bill on the table.

"This isn't how we handle rude customers!" Rebecca yelled as she tightened her hold around his shoulders and tried to pull him back, but her feet didn't touch the ground so all she ended up doing was pissing him off more.

Cursing her back to hell where she belonged, he reached up, grabbed her by her arms and leaned down, forcing her weight to drop forward. She released a loud squeal as the momentum threw her over his shoulders and sent her careening towards the hardwood floor. Before she hit the floor he had her thrown over his shoulder and was walking towards his office, determined to finally see this thing through to the end even if it killed him.

"Didn't we discuss the manhandling this morning? she demanded, not really sounding all that angry as she grabbed onto the back of his pants and held on when she should have been doing everything in her power to get away from him.

*-*-*-*

"Wait. Where are we going?" she asked when she realized that he'd just walked past his office door and was heading towards the back hallway.

"To have a little talk," he bit out coldly, which really didn't frighten her, but the fact that they were apparently heading back upstairs to his apartment did concern her a tad bit.

"That sounds like a great idea," she said, tightening her hold on the back of his pants as her mind raced for a way to convince him to turn around. "But, wouldn't you be more comfortable having this discussion in your office?" she suggested with a hopeful smile that he couldn't see.

"No," the stubborn man said firmly, making her sigh heavily because they were really going to have to work on that.

"May I ask why?"

"No."

"This isn't really the best way to open the floor for a productive dialogue."

"Did you want me to drop you on your head?" he asked with absolutely no humor, which she would admit was a bit concerning even though she knew that he would never do it.

At least, she was ninety-nine percent positive that he wouldn't drop her on her head, but still...

"No, I'm good," she said, deciding that perhaps it would be in her best interest to vocalizing her desire to stay alive.

"Then be quiet," he said in that damn tone that simply grated on her nerves and made her want to argue for the sake of arguing, but that would be foolish at the moment.

Yet, she found herself opening her mouth and doing just that as he started up the stairs.

"Do you think we could have this discussion downstairs?" she suggested, tightening her hold on his pants past the point of pain just in case the habitually angry man decided to follow through with his threat to drop her on her head.

"Do you think you could shut up?" he shot back, which of course he probably didn't expect an answer to, but she really just couldn't help herself.

"Probably," she mumbled thoughtfully, knowing that she was playing with fire by taunting him, but unable to help herself, especially now when she needed something to distract herself before she lost it and did something foolish like cry.

She wasn't going to feel sorry for herself.

She wasn't.

All the tests had come back negative, confirming everything that she'd suspected before. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her. At least, not medically. Mentally though...

Well, there seemed to be quite a bit wrong with her. According to her newest Doctor, he knew a great psychiatrist that could help her. He'd actually gone to college with him and thought he'd be able to help her come to terms with her condition. Prescription drugs and group counseling on top of individual counseling would help her to one day lead a normal and productive life.

It would take time of course, but one day she'd be able to make it through the day without wanting to get sick, because apparently this was a choice that she was making. Not subconsciously according to the Doctor, but it was definitely something that she could control with time.

"Here's the plan," Lucifer said, reminding her that her day wasn't over yet, not until he got another chance to fire her, "you're going to sit down, shut up and listen to what I have to tell you. You're not going to distract me, grab that fucking clipboard, have that oversized dog of yours jump on my lap and pin me down to the floor or have your partner in crime come running in with some bullshit story to save your ass. This ends today."

"Okay," she said distractedly, because he was right.

Everything ended today.

She had no idea why this was bothering her so much. She hadn't expected them to find anything and when the Doctor had suggested that it was all in her head, she'd been ready for it. So, why was she crying?

Because even though she'd always told herself that she hadn't expected any real answers, she'd always secretly hoped for one and now, it was all over. There would be no more appointments, tests or Melanie getting on her ass about seeing another Doctor. Now it would be about keeping weekly appointments so that they could get to the root of her problems and figure out how to change her.

She should be glad that it was over, but she wasn't. No matter what she told herself, told Melanie or anyone else, a small part of her had always hoped that they'd figure out what was wrong with her so that everyone would stop looking at her like she was crazy.

"Put me down," she whispered, needing to get out of there.

She didn't care where she went just as long as it was somewhere that she could be curl up, close her eyes and feel sorry for herself for a little while, but Lucifer ignored her request and continued carrying her until he had her inside his apartment. As soon as the door closed shut with a click behind them, he was dropping her ass back on the couch, kneeling down in front of her and-

Froze.
Chapter 6

"I'm fired. I get it," the woman that was driving him insane said with a sniffle as she got off the couch and walked out of his apartment. Before she made it to her apartment door he was on his feet and going after her, because there was no way after five years of fucking with his head that she'd actually let him off that easily. Which meant that she was once again fucking with his head.

She had to be, because he honestly wasn't sure if he could handle knowing that he'd made her cry. He'd never cared if a woman cried before, but for some reason that he couldn't explain it bothered him to see her like this. Maybe it was because he'd never seen her cry before. No matter how many times he'd fired her, yelled at her, or questioned her demonic origins, she'd never cried.

Not once.

It actually amazed him that she took his shit without complaint when everyone else usually broke down after only a few angry syllables left his lips. Rebecca would either take his shit with a smile or distract him to the point that he was forced to question his own sanity. She'd never tried to play him with tears before. It was the one thing that he'd always respected about her, which was why the thought of her suddenly trying to play him with tears pissed him off.

Before she could close the door in his face, he slammed his hand against it, forcing her to keep the door open and stopping her from running away before he got a few answers.

"What the hell is going on, Rebecca?" he asked, pushing the door open wider.

"I'm fired. I get it. Now, can you go away so that I can feel sorry for myself in peace?" she demanded, sounding pissed at him as she moved to shove the door shut, but he wasn't having that.

Not until they'd settled this.

"We're not done here," he said evenly, which earned him a shake of the head and a muttered, "I give up," as the woman who'd made his life a living hell turned around and walked away, leaving him to either stand there like an idiot or follow her like a fucking moron.

Apparently he was a fucking moron, because he followed her over to the couch where someone was apparently camping out. Grabbing a Hostess pie off the coffee table, she climbed onto the couch covered in blankets and pillows, curled up onto her side and pulled a majority of the blankets up to her chin as she let out a pathetic little sigh and began to stare blindly at something already playing on the television.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, because...shouldn't she be trying to manipulate him? Make him feel bad? Turn up the water works until he apologized for being an asshole and promised that she wasn't fired?

"Wallowing in self pity," she muttered, gesturing for him to get out of the way, because he was apparently blocking her view of-

"Child's Play?" he asked with a frown, because he really didn't understand this woman.

"It soothes me," she explained with a sniffle before adding, "Now, you may leave."

"Child's Play soothes you?" he asked slowly, almost positive that he'd misheard her. "A serial killer trapped inside a doll soothes you?" he asked, deciding that perhaps it would be best if he clarified this for his own sanity.

"Yes!" she hissed in aggravation with another sniffle as her hands appeared out from beneath the blanket, holding that Hostess pie that was actually looking pretty good...

"What the hell?" she snapped as he reached down and snatched the pie from her, because as far as he was concerned, she owed him for all the bullshit that she'd put him through over the years.

"I need this more than you do!" he snapped right back, using the Bradford mantra that usually ended arguments over food pretty quickly.

"Asshole," she muttered angrily as she reached over and grabbed another pie, this one looking just as good.

"Oh, come on!" she snapped in outrage as he helped himself to the second pie.

"You going to tell me what's going on?" he asked, deciding that he could pretend that he actually cared since she'd so graciously shared her fruit pies with him.

Shifting her attention back to the television, she muttered, "It's not important."

"Then why are you upset?" he asked, glancing around the large apartment for that damn dog and her wingman so that he could push her off onto them and make his escape now that he knew that he wasn't the cause of her mental breakdown.

"Because it's my right as a woman to get pissed off for absolutely no reason," she said with a shrug as she stared blindly at the television.

"Uh huh," he said absently, wondering why Melanie wasn't here to handle this.

"She took Mojo out for a walk after I threatened to kill her if she didn't stop bugging the shit out of me," she said, answering his unasked question and letting him know that there would be no escape for him, because he couldn't leave her like this.

Could he?

Well, he could, but he was pretty sure that would make him an asshole and right now, being an asshole somehow felt...wrong.

*-*-*-*

"Don't you have a restaurant to run?" she asked, wondering why he hadn't left yet.

He was really wrecking this for her.

He ignored her question and asked one of his own. "When's Melanie coming back?"

"Well, since she's attempting to take a two hundred and sixty-five pound dog for a walk by herself, I'm guessing that we won't be seeing her until she calls and asks for a crane to help drag Mojo back," she said absently while she continued to stare numbly at the television as Chucky slashed and diced his way through another bad joke, wondering why Lucifer was still here.

As soon as she'd given him what he wanted he should have left, satisfied with the knowledge that he'd finally managed to kick her out of his restaurant. Actually, as soon as he'd realized that she was crying, he should have shown her the door and washed his hands of the whole situation. It was something that she'd seen him do in the past when he had to fire a waitress and they'd foolishly decided to see if they could manipulate him with a few tears to change his mind. It usually had the opposite effect on him.

The same could be said for the women that he'd dated over the last few years that thought pretty little pouts and a few crocodile tears were enough to wrap him around their little fingers. They actually seemed to have the opposite effect on him as well. Not that she'd been paying attention.

Okay, so she had probably paid a little too much attention to his love life, but then again, who hadn't? It was hard not to! The women that he dated brought endless hours of entertainment to them all and for that alone, they would always have a special place in her heart.

Every single one of the women that he'd dated, and there had been quite a few over the years, seemed determined to bring him to heel. For whatever reason they all seemed to look at him as some poor wounded soul hiding behind an asshole exterior that only they could break through.

They were wrong, but she never had the heart to tell them, mostly because that would have meant putting an end to the entertainment that they provided and there was no way in hell that she would ever do that. Not when their obvious attempts seemed to really annoy Lucifer and put a smile on her face.

She wasn't sure if it was the challenge of breaking Lucifer or the fact that he was incredibly hot that had women going nuts over him. Whatever it was, it didn't matter to her just as long as they didn't stop doing it. There was really nothing like watching a woman try to break Lucifer so that the rest of the world could see what a kind, generous, and caring man he really was.

It was always fun watching him prove that he wasn't.

"What's really going on, Rebecca?" he asked, rudely disturbing thoughts of happier times and making her wonder why it mattered.

It wasn't like he didn't already know. So, what was the big deal admitting it?

"Haven't you heard? I'm a hypochondriac," she said with a shrug as she continued to stare blindly at the television, surprised at how little she cared anymore.
Chapter 7

"Get up," Lucifer snapped, wondering why he had to repeat himself.

"Fuck. Off," Aidan, the laziest fucking bastard in the world, said as he buried his head beneath his pillow in a useless attempt to escape the bright bedroom lights that Lucifer had turned on so that he wouldn't trip over all the medical books, clothes and empty food wrappers thrown everywhere.

"Get up," he said, hating to repeat himself and his brother knew it.

"No," Aidan said, reaching blindly for the quilted comforter and yanked it up, over his head to help block out the light and further pissing Lucifer off, because he really didn't have time to play these games. He was supposed to be going over second quarter taxes tonight, but instead he was here, dealing with this lazy bastard.

"Are you going to stay in bed all fucking night?" he had to ask, because this was really starting to get fucking old.

"All fucking night? It's barely two in the morning, you asshole!" the fucking prima donna of the family snapped, sounding unreasonably pissed.

"Then you have plenty of time to help me!" he snapped right back as he ripped the comforter off the bastard.

With a growl, Aidan shoved his pillow aside, turned over and...frowned.

"Why do you have a woman thrown over your shoulder?" Aidan asked, shooting the temperamental woman that was no longer speaking to Lucifer, as though that were somehow a punishment, a curious look.

"She's the favor," he said, although he felt that it should have been more than obvious.

"Does the favor have a name?" Aidan asked with a calculating gleam in his eye that Lucifer didn't really care for.

"Pain in the ass," he said, taking perverse satisfaction in the way that Rebecca's entire body stiffened against his at the insult.

She wanted to say something, was probably dying to tell him to fuck off, but she wouldn't say anything since she'd promised never to speak to him again after he'd refused to release her. Why she thought that threat would work on him, he would never know. As soon as she'd said it, it had all but guaranteed that he wouldn't release her until he got to the bottom of all this bullshit.

"Is Pain in the Ass the favor?" Aidan asked as he sat up.

"She think she's a hypochondriac," he said, biting back a smile when he heard her grumble something angrily.

"Is she?" Aidan asked with real curiosity.

Was she?

Probably.

At least, that's what he'd always thought, but something about the way that she'd called herself a hypochondriac tonight hadn't sat well with him and he couldn't figure out why. He should have just nodded, congratulated her on finally figuring out what the rest of the world already knew, but that lost expression when she'd said it had him wondering if there was really something going on.

"No," he said, surprised to find that he actually believed the little demon.

If she'd looked even remotely happy when she'd announced that she was a hypochondriac, he would have walked away in a heartbeat, happily washing his hands of her, but she hadn't done that. She'd looked genuinely miserable when she'd said it and that alone had told him that maybe she hadn't been faking it.

Aidan stood up and said around a yawn, "Make an appointment with my office in the morning and we'll see what we can do," as he walked past them and headed towards the bathroom, but unfortunately that just wasn't going to work for him.

"It is morning," he pointed out, wondering why his brother was being so difficult about this.

"Make. An. Appointment," his normally considerate brother bit out, emphasizing every word and making him wonder why he'd come here instead of going to his father with this.

Probably because his father would have kicked his ass as soon as he flicked the lights on. God, his family was so fucking trying sometimes, he thought, deciding that he'd just wait until the office opened in the morning and drag her inside.

*-*-*-*

"Open the fucking door!" the man that had apparently lost his mind in the last twenty-four hours demanded as he continued to pound on their door.

"Yeah, let me get right on that," she said, biting back a yawn as she stepped over Mojo, pausing as she did so that she could rub the big lazy dog's large stomach with her foot for a few seconds.

The terrifying snores that she'd become used to momentarily stopped so that he could groan in pleasure, but before she was done giving his stomach a good foot rub he was already snoring again. Smiling, she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a Coke, needing it desperately after the bastard currently banging on her door and threatening to wring her fucking neck if she didn't get her ass in gear and get ready to go see his brother in five minutes, had kept her up until four this morning.

She still couldn't understand what had possessed the normally sane, and severely assholish, man to drag her off like that. What she'd actually expected when she'd confessed her worst fear was for him to nod, remind her that she was fired and tell her to have a nice life.

Okay, so the "have a nice life" part was pushing it and she knew it, but she had expected him to wash his hands of her and leave after her grand life-altering announcement. She'd hoped for it at least, but once again life had played a nasty trick on her and decided to make her really screwed up day even more fun by dragging her kicking and screaming out of her apartment just when the movie was getting good.

"Open the fucking door!" the surprisingly persistent bastard demanded.

She really thought he would have given up after she'd managed to facilitate her escape by cleverly deceiving him into believing that she was going to be sick. Within seconds she was on her feet and he'd put a good fifteen feet between them. It hadn't been much of a head start, but it was enough for her to make it to her apartment and slam the door shut just in the nick of time.

He'd been fast, very fast, but thankfully luck had been on her side for once. She'd made it into her apartment, gasping for air and managed to slide the deadbolt shut before he could shove the door open and drag her back to his apartment where he'd planned on holding her hostage until it was time to leave for an appointment that he had no business making.

She was done with doctors, tests and all that bullshit. She might be a hypochondriac, but she wasn't a masochist. There was no way in hell that she would ever willingly put herself through that kind of hell ever again. Twenty-nine years had been more than enough as far as she was concerned.

"What did you do now?" Melanie demanded, looking exhausted as she stumbled into the large open kitchen.

Blinking innocently, she asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Open the fucking door!" Lucifer yelled as Rebecca continued to stand there, looking innocent and pretending that she hadn't noticed Lucifer's psychotic break.

"Why is he banging on our door at eight in the morning?" Melanie asked, really not looking all that concerned or really interested as her attention zeroed in on an unopened box of Pop Tarts sitting on the counter.

"Oh, that?" she said with a shrug. "He wants me."

Melanie nodded absently as she pulled out a fresh pack of Pop Tarts and headed for the toaster. "That's nice."

"I thought so," she said in agreement as she grabbed her iPad off the table and headed for the couch, determined to get her mind off of everything for a little while and figure out her next step.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Melanie asked as she sat down next to her on the couch and pulled one of the many blankets that covered the couch onto her lap.

"Got fired," Rebecca said as she searched through job listings, wondering if she had what it took to be a bouncer. For fifteen dollars an hour, she was willing to find out.

"So? That doesn't explain why you're not at work," Melanie pointed out as she grabbed the remote and started her morning ritual of flicking through over two hundred channels until she finally gave up and signed into Netflix.

"I decided that I needed a change," she said with a shrug, deciding that it was for the best not to mention her confession to Lucifer last night or the fact that she wanted a fresh start so that she could start over somewhere new where nobody knew her and she could pretend, even if it was just for a little while, that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her.

"But, you love the Fire & Brimstone," Melanie reminded her, which was something that she didn't need this morning.

"And I'm sure that I'll love the next place just as much," she said with a small smile as she continued to scroll through all the job listings that she wasn't qualified for.

"Maybe you could-" Melanie started to suggest, but whatever she was about to say was cut off when the persistent bastard ruined everything by opening his big, fat mouth.

"You're going to this fucking Doctor's appointment!" he shouted, sealing her fate, because if there was one thing that she knew about her best friend it was that Melanie would never give up on her, no matter how much it pissed her off.

Chapter 8

"Move," the ungrateful woman said as she glared up at him, probably trying to intimidate him, not that he really cared, because he didn't.

"No," he simply said, reading the texts that his supervisor was sending him and wondering if he should make a quick trip over there to make sure that things were running smoothly.

He probably would have done that if Rebecca hadn't already tried to make fifteen escape attempts, selfishly trying to ruin his attempts to solve this medical mystery of hers. Inconsiderate woman, he thought with a sigh as he sent a text back to Adam, the supervisor that was probably more hated than him, letting him know that he wouldn't be able to get back there for a few hours.

"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do here, I really do, but this has absolutely nothing to do with you. If I want to leave, then I'm going to leave and it's none of your business. So, I would really appreciate it if you would move out of my way," she said, sounding completely rational as she stood there waiting for him to comply. If she had been anyone else, he probably would have reconsidered holding her hostage in this exam room, but this was Rebecca Shaw he was dealing with here and it was for her own good.

"You're not going anywhere," he said, wondering if he should change meat venders.

"I really am," she said evenly as she glared up at him.

"Think again," he said, deciding that the overall cost wouldn't justify the switch.

"Look," she said, getting in his face, or at least she'd tried to, but since he had a good ten inches on her it was an epic failure on her part, "I don't like you and you don't like me. So-"

"Wait," Melanie, who'd demanded to tag along and had been surprisingly helpful during Rebecca's failed escape attempts, said, interrupting her friend's tirade, "I thought you said that he was in love with you."

Cocking a brow, he looked up from his phone, curious to see how she was going to talk her way out of this one only to discover that the furious expression on her face had suddenly turned calculating. His own expression shifted from curious to suspicious when he recognized that look. It was the same look that most of the women who'd foolishly married into his family got right before they fucked over the love of their lives.

He really didn't like that look.

"He is," she said with a forlorn sigh, looking so damn innocent that he almost bought it, but thankfully he remembered who he was dealing with.

"I'm not," he bit out as he glared down at her, wondering if his brother or father had a barrel of holy water lying around the office somewhere that he could borrow.

With a pitying look that was honestly going to get her killed, she said, "There's really no need to be embarrassed, Christopher. You're madly in love with me and I think it's sweet. Really, I do. I can't return those feelings, because," she paused to shrug, "you're just not my type."

He ignored Melanie's snort of amusement as she visibly struggled not to laugh and glared down at Rebecca. Not her type? Fucking please.

He knew for a fact that he was definitely her fucking type. She only dated tall, good-looking, muscular men and he more than fit into that category. If anything, she wasn't his type. He wasn't exactly sure what his type was because he'd really never thought about it, but he knew that it wasn't a part-time waitress, who annoyed the shit out of him!

"I'm sure that one day you'll meet someone that will return those feelings," she continued, obviously deciding that taunting him into killing her was the best way to get out of this appointment, "but that person just isn't me."

God, how he wished that he could fire her again, but since he couldn't live out that dream again, he would do the next best thing. He would make sure that the little brat didn't get out of this doctor's appointment.

"Look, why don't I go sit in the waiting room? That way you can be alone, maybe cry if you need to, hmm? How does that sound?" she asked in the most patronizing tone that he'd ever heard and all he could think was that his family had absolutely nothing on her.

"You're evil, you do know that, don't you?" he said with a dismissive shake of his head as he looked back down at his phone, refusing to get drawn into another one of her bizarre arguments.

"Yeah," she said, sighing heavily, "I know, and that's probably why you're in love with me."

"Uh, huh," he said absently, refusing to take the bait.

"He does seem rather taken with you," Melanie added, sounding helpful, but they both knew that she was only doing it because she was bored and encouraging Rebecca to fuck with his head amused her.

"I really didn't mean to lead him on," Rebecca said, sounding almost sorry.

God, she was fucking good.

"It's really too bad that you're not willing to lower your standards," Melanie said, and yeah, he fucking hated her.

"I know, right?" Rebecca said, making him grind his teeth before he said something that would encourage them.

Lower her fucking standards?

That was fucking bullshit, because she'd be lucky to land someone like him. He'd point that out to her, but once again, he refused to say or do anything that would make this worse and he knew from experience that it could always get worse.

"You could always pretend that he was someone else," Melanie suggested and yeah, that fucking did it.

"Sorry, but I'm just not into hypochondriacs," he said, quickly shooting her wink before he returned his attention once again to his phone, making sure to look bored and really not caring that he'd just crossed a line.

*-*-*-*

"Did he...did he seriously just call you a hypochondriac?" Melanie asked, sounding absolutely stunned while she stood there, struggling not to smile, because he really was so damn cute when he thought that he could keep up with her.

Actually, based on that little smug expression that he wasn't even trying to hide, he thought that he'd just won this match. Wrong. If anything, he'd just made things interesting, which meant that it was time to teach him the rules of this game.

Unfortunately that would have to wait until another time, because right now she needed to get out of here before they said or did anything to get her hopes up again. She couldn't do it anymore and wouldn't. The last time had really been the last time and no matter what Melanie or the gloating bastard wanted, she was done.

With that in mind, she turned to Melanie. "Could you run down to the car and get my purse?" she asked, taking her best friend by surprise since she was probably expecting Rebecca to go for Lucifer's balls.

Frowning, because she'd clearly expected a violent response, she asked, "Didn't you hear what he just said?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, brushing it off, because she had better things to focus on at the moment. "My purse?" she asked, chewing on her bottom lip as she sent her best friend a hopeful expression she knew Melanie would fall for.

Sighing heavily, Melanie reached into her bag and pulled out her keys. "He's an asshole," she said pointedly, shooting Lucifer a glare as he stepped aside and allowed her to pass.

Once she was gone and the door was shut, he leaned back against it and for the first time since they'd been ushered into this room, he looked up from his phone. "You didn't bring a purse," he reminded her as though this should mean something to her.

"Well," she said, glancing around the room, looking for anything that would aide in her escape, "you didn't exactly give me a chance to grab one. Not with all the manhandling."

"What's that devious little mind of yours up to?" he asked, not looking as though he really cared that he'd just been called an asshole. Then again, he'd been called worse.

"Escape," she said, seeing absolutely no point in lying.

"Don't you want answers?"

"I already got my answer," she said, wishing this place had a window or a backdoor.

"It was the wrong answer," he said confidently, which made her chuckle because she knew for a fact that he'd always thought that she was a hypochondriac, or, at the very least, crazy.

"And what makes you so sure that the answer will be any different than last time?" she asked, giving up on escape and decided to sit on the chair stuck in the corner and wait for the doctor. As soon as he found out that the insurance company wouldn't cover all the expensive tests that he would want to run and that she was now unemployed, she had a feeling that this appointment would be over in record time.

"And what if the answer comes back different?" he shot back, like there was even a remote chance of that happening.

"It won't. So, there's no point in being here," she said impatiently, wondering what the hell was taking the doctor so long.

"Then what if I said that I would give you your job back if you gave this a chance?" he said, instantly putting her on guard and making her wonder if he was screwing with her, but one look at his face told her everything that she needed to know.

He had something to prove.

She should say no, walk away and find a new job and hope that her past didn't follow her, but Melanie had been right about one thing this morning. She did love the Fire & Brimstone. As much as she hated to admit it, he'd probably offered her the only thing in the world that would make her even consider going through with this hell again.

Knowing that he probably wouldn't make this offer again, she nodded and graciously said, "Only if it comes with a raise."
Chapter 9

Two soul-crushing weeks later...

"What if we put a couple of computers on the tables by the back corner?" his own personal version of hell asked distractedly as she continued to gaze around the large open dining area, looking for more changes to make.

"No," he said evenly, taking a bite out of his cheeseburger as he looked over last night's sales, hoping that she would take the hint and leave him alone.

"It might bring in a new customer base," she said, using the three words that she seemed to have fallen in love with over the last two weeks.

"No, it wouldn't," he said, wondering why she couldn't leave him alone for five minutes so that he could enjoy his after lunch snack in peace.

"But, it might if you gave away free internet and-" she started to explain in that excited tone of hers that she'd developed recently, the one that told him that she was about to try to explain her latest idea in under thirty seconds as though that would somehow make him say yes.

It wouldn't.

What it did do was give him one hell of a headache.

"It's not happening," he said, hoping that she would let it go.

She really needed to stop before he lost his goddamn mind, he decided as he reached for his drink only to find it empty. Glaring at the bartender busy at the other end of the bar, he grabbed her Coke instead and finished it off. Not seeming bothered by the fact that he'd stolen her drink, she simply walked around the bar and refilled both their glasses while she continued to look for new ways to improve his restaurant.

Then again, over the past two weeks he'd been forced to steal her food since she was always bugging the shit out of him. At first she had simply stood there, shifting her gaze from him to the food he'd stolen and back again before she'd inform him that he'd stolen her food. When he pointedly kept his gaze locked with hers and helped himself to the rest of her food, she shrugged it off with a sigh and returned to her sale's pitch.

"Have you given any more thought to the brunch buffet?" she asked as she placed his soda back in front of him.

Picking up his glass, he repressed a shiver of revulsion at the idea, and said, "No."

"It's a good idea," she said as she returned to looking around the restaurant, once again determined to prove that he needed her.

He really didn't and he would point that out, but that would probably only encourage her to try harder and he definitely didn't want that. Today was the day that he was going to be proven right and she was trying to do everything in her power to show him that she was an essential part of the team so that he wouldn't fire her ass.

The last part was a summarization of what she'd said when he'd asked her why she was driving him out of his fucking mind. She was worried that once they found out the test results that he would immediately fire her. Normally he would probably do that, because she did have a tendency to annoy the shit out of him, but he'd once again found himself in a moral dilemma.

Firing her after she'd agreed to do something that she hadn't wanted to do felt...wrong. He couldn't explain it and he didn't like it, but there it was. He wasn't going to fire her and he should have probably told her that so that she wouldn't have to worry, but that would only create more problems. It was for the best that she didn't know that her job was safe, otherwise he would probably have to deal with the devious woman pulling more shit behind his back and to be honest, he liked her better this way.

Even though she was still bugging the shit out of him, she was on her best behavior. So far, in the past two weeks she hadn't gone behind his back and did anything major, tried managing him with that damn clipboard or that innocent little smile of hers.

It had been fucking perfect.

"New dessert menu?" she suggested, obviously getting desperate if she was starting to repeat herself.

"There's nothing wrong with the dessert menu," he said, shifting his attention back to the paperwork in front of him even though he was already thinking about changing the dessert menu. Not that he would tell her that since it would only encourage her.

"It needs pie," she said matter-of-factly.

"It doesn't need pie."

But, it really did.

Damn it, now he wanted pie.

"Shouldn't you be working?" he asked, wondering if he had time to go down the street and get a few pies before his brother showed up with the test results.

"Today's my day off," she said with a heavy sigh as she walked back around the bar and sat down on the barstool next to him.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Killing time and covering for Jane and Erin so they could take a break," she said with another one of her shrugs as she stole a fry off his plate, making him wonder if she was suicidal.

Momentarily distracted by the fact that she'd had the audacity to come within twelve inches of his plate, he looked up from his paperwork and glanced around the dining room. The dining area was packed, but the customers were smiling, had their food, their drinks were filled and there wasn't a waitress in sight.

"There should be four waitresses on right now," he mumbled to himself, wondering where everyone was.

"Yes, yes there really should be," Rebecca readily agreed. "But Tammy called in sick and Jenny quit last night so-"

"Jenny quit?" he asked, trying to picture her face, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember who she was.

"Ummm, you made her cry yesterday?"

No, that still didn't help. "And she quit?" he asked, wondering how he kept ending up hiring waitresses that couldn't handle a little criticism.

"Yeah, imagine that," she said dryly as her attention shifted to the door where two of his waitresses were walking in, smiling and carrying a plastic takeout box.

"Thank you so much for covering for us, Rebecca," Jane said with a warm smile as she placed the takeout box on the bar in front of Rebecca, which is where his focus may have shifted.

"You're welcome," he vaguely heard Rebecca say as he sat there, glaring down at the box, trying to figure out why he was smelling apples, cinnamon, pumpkin and vanilla.

"Melanie thinks that your brother is going to tell me that I'm diabetic," she explained as she reached over the bar and grabbed some silverware.

"They would have already caught that," he pointed out, wondering if it was some kind of Danish.

"That's what I said, but she's determined that's what it is," she said with a heartfelt sigh as she flipped the cover open and-

"Oh, God," he groaned as he took in the beautiful sight before him.

Three, no four, large slices of pumpkin and apple pie topped with a massive amount of French vanilla ice cream. All that flaky, buttery crust just begging for his attention...

"Here," she said, stabbing a second spoon in the ice cream.

Not needing to be told twice, and willing to overlook the fact that she expected him to share, he dug in.

Digging into a slice of pumpkin pie, she said, "She's been going nuts on WebMD and is convinced that all my symptoms are a perfect match for Type II diabetes."

"She's that convinced, huh?" he asked as he stole a bite of her pumpkin pie.

God, this was good. He was going to have to find out where they got this pie from and start ordering from there for the restaurant.

"Yeah, she's so sure that's what this is that she's promised to go on a diabetic diet with me, cutting down on the sugar and all that crap."

"Doesn't she have a sweet tooth?"

Shaking her head, she finished the bite of pie that she was working on and said, "No, she's addicted to carbs, like cakes, cookies, muffins, donuts, that sort of thing. She's decided to cut back on those if I have diabetes to be supportive."

"That's nice of her," he said absently, not sure that he'd be willing to give up one of the five food groups for anyone.

"Yeah, I guess," she said, absently breaking apart a small piece of crust as she sat there, gazing down at the pie, looking lost in thought.

"Is that why you're binging on pie? Just in case it comes back positive?" he asked, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

She shrugged as she continued turning that piece of crust into a small pile of crumbs. "I have a tendency to eat too much when I'm stressed."

"I see," he said, wondering if it would be considered rude if he finished off the rest of the pie and ice cream and wondering why he suddenly cared.

"Yeah," she mumbled, starting to look a little pale.

"Are you okay?" he asked when it became obvious that she wasn't. He knew that look well enough to know that she was about to race to the nearest bathroom, making him wonder if Melanie was right about her being diabetic.

He reached over and pulled her stool out for her, nodding when she gave him a muttered, "Thanks," and watched as she raced towards the back of the restaurant where the bathrooms and the backstairs leading upstairs were located.

Sighing, he returned his attention to the pie, absently stabbing it with his fork as he made the decision to kick his brother's ass if he didn't figure this out before it broke her.
Chapter 10

"Mojo, move," she said weakly as she dropped on the bed and curled up on her side, not at all surprised when Mojo ignored her request and did the opposite, stretching out and nearly shoving her off the bed.

"Thanks," she said dryly as she curled up, kicking herself for not grabbing a can of Coke on the way to her bedroom so that she could die in comfort.

"Mojo, go get Mommy a Coke," she said as she closed her eyes and curled up into herself, thankful for the small space the dog allowed her.

Maybe she should look into obedience class again, but at nearly two years old he was probably set in his ways. Maybe if she promised to let him have all the leftovers in the fridge he'd let her have the bed? It was worth a shot, she decided as she mentally prepared herself for the grueling task of crawling off the bed and walking the thirty or so feet to the kitchen and back.

She really needed to look into getting a mini-fridge for her room.

Groaning, and no, she really didn't care how pathetic she sounded at the moment, she opened her eyes and tried to roll over onto her back, but Mojo's massive paws stopped her. Deciding that it was just too much work after all, she closed her eyes, curled back onto her side and tried to think about anything other than how much her stomach hurt.

"Mojo, move," Lucifer, a man that she was pretty sure that she hadn't invited into her bedroom, never mind her apartment, said.

Too sick to open her eyes, she grumbled, "He's not going to listen," just as she felt the massive dog that clearly didn't understand the meaning of loyalty, move away from her. A few seconds later, she heard Mojo grunt as he climbed off the bed.

"How did you get in here?" she asked, although she had several questions, she decided to ask the only one that mattered at the moment.

"You left the door unlocked," he said as she felt the bed dip next to her, which of course led to her next question.

"Tell me that you didn't just climb in bed with me," she said, praying that she was mistaken.

"Fine. I wont," he said, but she knew that the large son of a bitch had done exactly that.

"Get out," she said, too tired to play this game with him.

"Can't do that."

"And why's that?" she asked, wishing that she'd trained Mojo to attack, but with her luck, he probably wouldn't listen to her anyway.

"Because I'm not done with my pie yet," he said around a mouthful of her pie.

That would teach her for sharing, she thought bitterly with a wince as her stomach cramped up, forcing her to wrap her arms around her stomach and try to breathe through the worst of the pain. You'd think that she would be used to this, but every time the pain hit, it felt worse than the last time. The only thing that even remotely helped was a hot bath, but right now it would hurt too much to try and climb into the tub right now.

Besides, she was saving all of her energy to throw her unwanted guest out.

"I'll be right back."

She opened her mouth to tell him not to bother only to gasp in pain as the move caused more pain to tear through her stomach. Okay, so maybe right now was not the best time to kick him out, she decided as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly and pressed her arms more firmly against her stomach to stop the pain from spreading.

"Here," Lucifer said, taking her hand and placing it on something cold, but more pain instantly shot through her stomach. Shaking her head, because she thought that she was going to be sick again, she pulled her hand back and placed it on her stomach.

She heard him mutter something and then, she felt him climbing back on the bed and-

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, going completely still as she told herself that she was imagining this.

"Is it helping?" he demanded instead of explaining why he'd thought that it was a good idea to climb in bed with her and spoon her, wrapping his arms tightly around her and pulling her closer.

"It's definitely creeping me out!" she snapped, because she couldn't tell him that it was actually helping her and that some of the pain was subsiding.

"That didn't answer my questions," he said, adjusting his hold around her and making the pain bearable.

It didn't go away, but at least she didn't feel like she was seconds away from screaming in agony anymore.

When she didn't answer him, because she stubbornly refused to admit that anything he did was helping, he started to pull his hand away. "I guess if it isn't helping..." he said, letting his words trail off as he continued to pull his hand away.

Glaring at the wall and hating the bastard for toying with her like this, she grabbed his arm and yanked it back in place. "It's helping! Are you happy?"

"Overjoyed," he said with a chuckle that she refused to find pleasing as he wrapped his arms back around her and held her close.

"Asshole," she mumbled even though it delighted her to hear him chuckle again. It was definitely something that he didn't do often, but when he did, she couldn't help but smile even when all she wanted to do was cry.

*-*-*-*

"Do you want the Coke I brought you?" he asked, noting that she'd tightened her hold over his arms before he had a chance to finish that sentence, letting him know just how much pain she was in.

"Do you have to let go in order to get it?" she asked after a slight pause.

"Yes."

"Then no," she said, shifting against him to get more comfortable.

He sighed as he glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand. He really should be downstairs preparing for the dinner rush and looking into hiring a new waitress, but here he was holding the biggest pain in the ass that he'd ever known. He still wasn't sure what had possessed him to come up here and check on her in the first place. She wasn't his responsibility, but for some reason he felt protective of her and he couldn't quite explain it.

"Do you want anything?" he asked, hating to see her in this much pain and wondering what the fuck was wrong with all those doctors that told her that this was all in her head.

He wasn't a fucking doctor and even he could see that there was something wrong. She was always exhausted, sick and in pain. He felt like an ass for even thinking that she was faking. She never tried to get special attention or used it as an excuse to get out of doing something. In fact, she usually got pissed if someone pointed it out and always tried to pretend that she wasn't sick even when it was more than obvious to everyone around her that she was.

"I'm fine," she said tightly and he knew just like always that she was trying to hide how much pain she was in.

God, he was a fucking moron.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

Sighing, he shifted behind her so that her head was right beneath his chin and found himself giving her an honest answer. "I don't know."

"You do realize that you're ruining your reputation as an asshole, don't you?"

"Not if no one finds out," he said, hoping to tease a smile or a laugh out of her, but instead she simply yawned.

"Your secret's safe with me," she said around another yawn as he debated leaving her to nap so that he could get some work done, but the way she wrapped her hand over his had him accepting the fact that he would be here, at least for a little while longer.

He'd wait until she fell asleep and then he'd go downstairs and make sure that everything was taken care of so that he could be here when his brother delivered the test results, confirming that he really had been an asshole.
Chapter 11

"Rebecca, Dr. Bradford is here," Melanie announced, sounding amused which she found rather annoying first thing in the...umm, afternoon? Evening? She really had no freaking clue how long she'd been asleep.

"What?" she groaned unhappily as she shifted and realized that something very bad had occurred while she'd slept.

Was that a hand on her ass?

Yes, yes it was, she realized with a resigned sigh as she cracked one eye open and confirmed her suspicions. Not only was she using Lucifer, who was still sound asleep, as a mattress, but at some point while she'd slept she'd apparently felt that it was necessary to snake her hand beneath his shirt and feel up his six pack.

Or maybe this should be considered an eight pack? Yeah, definitely an eight pack, she decided, tempted to find out if his muscles dipped into that "V" shape that she was a sucker for, but that would be wrong, very, very wrong. Granted, having her leg thrown over his probably was wrong too, yet here she was, practically straddling him.

This wasn't the worst way to wake up, but it was definitely something that the bitch standing over her bed, taking pictures with her phone wasn't going to let her forget.

"This is my new profile picture," Melanie said, sounding happier than she'd ever heard her before.

"Mine, too," Aidan, Lucifer's brother, said as he angled his phone to get the perfect picture.

For a few seconds, she simply glared at the duo who were smiling and comparing pictures, noting that while Aidan was an incredibly handsome man with an easy smile and vibrant green eyes, he wasn't as striking as his brother. Maybe that's because Lucifer gave off that homicidal vibe that tended to make men sexier, she mused for a few seconds even as she considered the pros and cons of killing them and destroying their phones before they could upload those pictures.

"Are you caressing his stomach?" Melanie asked as she took another picture.

"No!" Rebecca snapped a little too quickly as she forced her hand to ignore temptation and remain still.

"Uh huh," the traitorous bitch said, snapping yet another picture.

"Are you done yet?" she asked, acting like she could care less that she'd just been caught groping her boss.

"No," Melanie said with a shake of her head as she continued to take pictures.

"Evil bitch," Rebecca muttered as she pulled away from Lucifer and sat up.

"Umm, his hand is still on your ass," Melanie pointed out with a slight nod and another freaking picture!

Blinking, she looked down and yup, there was his hand, curled around her ass. She looked back up at the duo, who looked like they'd just won the lottery and said, "Can you blame him? It's a really nice ass."

Melanie nodded as she solemnly agreed, "It really is."

"I don't think I've ever been happier," Aidan said with a smile that said it all.

Lucifer was probably going to kill him before the day was over.

"Why don't we get this over with?" she suggested as she climbed off the bed and headed towards the living room, knowing that there was no point in trying to put this off any longer, especially since she already knew how this was going to end.

*-*-*-*

"Do the tests again!" a woman screamed, waking him up from the first nap he'd taken since he was a kid.

"No!" Lucifer heard his brother yell as he rolled over onto his back and rubbed his hands down his face, wondering what time it was.

"Do them again!"

"No!"

"They're wrong! Do them again!"

"No! Oh, my God, stop going for my nipples!" Aidan screamed, hitting all the high notes and making Lucifer shake his head in disgust as he reluctantly got up and headed for the living room where all the screaming was coming from.

"What the hell's going on in here?" he asked as he stepped into the living room.

"Take it back!" Melanie demanded as she gave up her hold on his brother's nipples and decided that the best approach to making him change his mind was to start throwing pillows, blankets and basically everything soft enough that it wouldn't leave a mark at his brother's head.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Aidan demanded as he tried to duck out of the way of an extra firm pillow.

Many things, Lucifer thought with a yawn, admittedly already bored with the scene before him. He shifted his attention to the woman sitting on the couch, looking as though she'd just been hit by a freight train. Fucking Aidan, he thought walking over to the fridge and grabbed two Cokes. He'd given his brother one fucking job and he'd fucked it up miserably.

She was sick. Anyone with two working eyes could see that, but these fucking doctors didn't know how to do their fucking jobs. He'd thought that his brother was the exception, but he'd been wrong, because there she sat on the couch with her arms wrapped around her indrawn knees, looking completely broken.

"Nice job, asshole," he said as he passed his brother, deciding that he'd deal with him later.

"Are you going to help me?" Aidan demanded, sounding desperate as Melanie continued with her attack.

"No," he said, already dismissing his brother's cry for help as he sat down on the couch next to Rebecca and handed her a Coke.

Without a word, she took the Coke. She popped the top and took a sip as he did the same. What the hell was he supposed to say to her? He'd promised her answers and nothing had changed. They still didn't have any idea what was causing her to be sick and worst of all, she probably believed whatever bullshit his brother had told her.

"I'm sorry, Rebecca," he said when he couldn't figure out anything else to say to her. She didn't respond as she sat there, taking another sip so he didn't say anything else.

"The tests were wrong!" Melanie yelled as she gave up throwing pillows at his brother and settled on beating him with a particularly fat throw pillow.

"Look," Aidan said, looking just as pissed and taking Lucifer by surprise, because he couldn't remember a time when his normally easygoing brother lost his cool. "I ran the tests myself and I even had my father double check the results. You may not like them, but they're accurate. So, get the fuck off my back!"

Melanie opened her mouth, no doubt to tell his brother where he could shove those tests, but Lucifer had had enough. "Get out."

Melanie snorted at that. "This is my apartment, buddy. I'm not going anywhere," she said, but one look from him had her rolling her eyes, calling him an asshole and dragging Aidan out the door behind her.

Within seconds they were alone and Rebecca still hadn't said anything, making him wonder how badly he'd fucked up. It looked like his tenth grade science teacher had been right, he really was the devil reincarnated. He should have never stuck his fucking nose where it didn't belong. She'd accepted things the way they were, but he hadn't been able to let them go. He had to push her into doing something that she didn't want all because he had to know the truth and now look at her.

Broken, depressed and-

"I have Celiac's disease," she said with a watery smile that quickly disappeared as she lost it.

"Christ," he swore, reaching over and pulling the sobbing woman closer so that he could wrap his arms around her and hold her while she cried.

"It's not in my head," she said, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight. "It's not in my head!" she cried on a broken laugh as he sat there, smiling, holding her tightly and not really giving a damn that he had absolutely no idea what Celiac's disease was, not while she was holding onto him like this.

"Thank you, Christopher," she whispered as she pressed a soft kiss against his cheek and it was in that moment that he realized that he really didn't mind being called by his real name.

Well, he didn't mind when she called him Christopher, but if anyone else called him that he would make them wish they'd never been born.
Chapter 12

He needed to leave before she died of humiliation. Then again, if he so much as thought about taking his hand away from her stomach she was going to have to kill him, she decided as she lay on the couch, breathing slowly through her mouth as her stomach continued its violent assault, threatening to send her running for the bathroom or a trash can.

She wasn't picky.

She was however, a moron, she thought, cringing as she continued to pretend that she was asleep, but the death grip that she had on his hand most likely gave her away. What was wrong with her crying like that in front of him? It probably wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't also decided to crawl onto his lap, wrap her arms around him and sob against his shoulder for an hour.

Okay, so it was probably more like five or ten minutes before her stomach had started to act up again, reminding her that her stomach wasn't happy with the food choices that she'd made earlier. When she'd been forced to wrap her arms around her stomach and curl up onto her side, Lucifer had laid down behind her, placed his hand on her stomach and somehow made everything worse.

She'd tormented this man for her own entertainment for the past five years, taking great joy in seeing just how far she could go before he lost his temper and released one of those ferocious little growls that she thought was so cute. She'd purposely screwed with his head, simply because she hadn't been able to help himself. There had just been something about him that drew her in and made her want to see just how far she could push him and that was the guy that had dropped everything to help her.

There was absolutely no doubt about it...

She was a complete bitch.

God, she just wanted to curl up into herself and disappear, but the strong arm wrapped around her wouldn't let her do that. He was keeping her safe and protecting her when she didn't deserve it. He'd gone out of his way to help her when they both knew that he would have probably given anything and everything that he had if he never had to see her face again.

She should apologize, but honestly, how do you apologize to someone for everything she'd put him through? It didn't matter that she hadn't done it out of spite or because she hated him, which she didn't. She'd done it, because...

Well, she really wasn't sure why she'd toyed with him. The only thing that mattered was that she felt like a complete bitch now that he'd done everything within his power to help her. She should make things easier on him by telling him goodnight, that she was going to be okay and didn't need him, but she couldn't force the words out of her mouth, because she honestly wasn't sure that she could handle being alone right now.

Twenty-nine years of hell and it all came down to a grain. She still couldn't believe that the solution to her own personal hell was eliminating one food source out of her diet. All those years thinking that there was something seriously wrong with her, secretly terrified that she was actually dying of cancer or something more horrifying if that was even possible and all this time the pain, exhaustion and believing that she wasn't going to be able to make it through another day was all because of something she'd ate.

She felt like an idiot.

"Is your stomach worse?" Lucifer asked, sounding genuinely worried about her as he pressed his hand against her stomach a little more firmly.

She really wished that he'd stop being so nice to her.

"It's fine," she said, giving up the pretense of sleeping and opened her eyes so that she could stare at the blank television screen. "You don't have to stay. I'll be fine," she said, not entirely sure that was true.

"When's your evil twin coming back?" he asked, shifting behind her so that he could hold her more tightly against him.

"She'll be back soon," she said, having absolutely no idea if that was true or not since Melanie wasn't exactly what she would consider a night owl.

Melanie was usually home, in her pajamas, devouring a pint of Ben & Jerry's and designing websites around this time. She was probably out devouring baked goods or crying over that asinine promise to go through this with her. As much as she appreciated the offer, she wasn't going to let her best friend give up her precious baked goods.

"Listen," she said, placing her hand over his as she told herself that this was for the best and moving it aside so that she could sit up, "I really appreciate this, but I'll be fine. I'm going to call it a night and get some sleep."

Throwing him a warm smile, she said, "Thank you for everything," as she headed for her room, hoping that he understood just how much everything he'd done for her meant to her.

"You're welcome," he said absently with a nod as he stood up.

Returning his nod, she headed towards the hallway that would take her to her bedroom, not bothering to show him to the door since he already knew how to find it. On her way to the bathroom she grabbed an old tee shirt and a pair of shorts so that she could change out of her clothes, which sometimes helped when her stomach hurt like this.

Coke and a warm bath helped too, but since she was now out of Coke and too lazy to draw a bath, she was going to settle for sleep. That is of course, if she was able to fall asleep. With the way that her stomach felt right now she'd probably be up all night until she finally said the hell with it and either got off her lazy ass and drew a bath or walked down the street for some more Coke.

Then again, if she was going to be up anyway, maybe she should consider making Lucifer breakfast as a thank you for everything that he did for her. It really was the least that she could do for him was the last rational thought that went through her mind as she walked back into her bedroom and spotted the large, and apparently half-naked, man in her bed.

Frowning, she paused by the door and ran every word they'd exchanged in the last twenty minutes, which really hadn't been that many, through her head. But, as hard as she tried, she just couldn't remember inviting him to strip naked and take over her bed. Just in case she was wrong, she did it again, but nothing changed.

"Would you hurry up? Some of us have to get up early in the morning," Lucifer, who was clearly in the middle of some sort of mental crisis, said as he gestured for her to get her ass moving and join him in bed.

Yeah, that really wasn't happening, she thought as she reached behind the door and grabbed the baseball bat she kept for just such an occasion. Instead of jumping out of bed and apologizing for being an asshole as he ran for the safety of the door, he simply cocked a brow and waited.

"Feel free to leave now," she said, hoisting the bat up against her shoulder to show him that she meant business.

"And feel free to stop being a pain in my ass and put the damn bat down before you hurt yourself," he said, sounding a little too cocky for her peace of mind. So, she hefted the bat higher up on her shoulder before remembering that she was right-handed and swung the bat over to-

"Ow!"

Hit herself in the face.

Sighing heavily while she gasped in pain, he threw back the covers, got up and headed for the door. Glaring at his back, she decided to put the bat down before she did any further damage and cupped her poor jaw.

"Cocky bastard," she mumbled grumpily as she walked over to her bed, climbed in and closed her eyes as she pretended that she'd meant to hit herself in the face so that she could get him out of her bed.

It had given her a tactical advantage to reclaim her bed from-

"Here," the man that refused to go said as he placed an ice pack on her face.

"I'm fine," she argued, as she grudgingly reached up and held the ice pack to her head.

"Yeah, you're doing great," he said dryly as he crawled into bed next to her and without being asked, because at this point she felt that he owed her for all the bullshit that he'd put her through in the last ten minutes, placed his hand back on her stomach where it belonged.
Chapter 13

"Do you ever stop talking, woman?" he snapped, wondering how it was humanly possible for one person to talk so God damn much.

Instead of getting insulted or bursting into tears like most women would, Rebecca simply pursed her lips up in thought while he laid there, wondering why he hadn't left when she'd given him a chance.

"Probably not," she admitted with a shrug as she lay there, absently tapping her fingertips against the back of his hand as he continued to provide light pressure against her stomach.

Despite the fact that he wanted to strangle her, his lips twitched.

"You should probably give it a try," he said, absently noting that the annoying woman was a blanket hog.

"I have," she said, sighing heavily as though her inability to stop talking somehow pained her.

God, she would fit so well in his family, he realized with something close to terror before he managed to push that horrifying thought aside and just focus on how soft her skin was since he couldn't help but notice how pretty she was when she wasn't purposely trying to piss him off.

"You didn't answer my question," she pointed out as he shifted more comfortably on his side, careful not to put any weight on his left hand.

"Yet, you keep asking," he murmured softly while he watched as the small, lightly tanned hand came to rest on top of his.

"How else am I supposed to entertain myself?" she asked with a mischievous little smile.

"By sleeping?" he suggested, still wondering why he was here when he could be in his own bedroom, enjoying the only downtime that he usually allowed himself.

"I'm not really tired," she admitted with a sigh, sounding bored while he lay there frowning, because he wasn't tired either.

He was always fucking exhausted.

When he wasn't at the restaurant, he was going over paperwork, trying to make the numbers work, trying to make schedules work, testing new recipes for the restaurant and reading everything that he could get his hands on about business, marketing and anything he could to make his business better. Everything in his life was about the Fire & Brimstone.

Absolutely everything.

No matter where he was, or what he was doing, he was focused on his business. It was the main reason that none of his relationships lasted more than a month and why his mother kept an extra fork by her side when he visited just in case she needed to discretely stab him beneath the table if it looked like he was reaching for his phone.

He hadn't really used anything that he'd learned yet, but he would. He just wanted to make sure that everything was perfect, but in order to do that he needed to have a plan and that was going to take time.

"So?"

"So, what?" he asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable about lying here when there was about a million other things that he should be doing.

"Why does everyone call you Lucifer?" she asked, shifting more comfortably against him. If it had been any other woman snuggling up next to him he would have just assumed that she wanted to be closer to him, but since this was the blanket hog, he knew that she was only trying to push him over so that she could hog the pillow.

"Because they don't want to die," he answered, refusing to move over since he was comfortable right where he was.

"So, you gave yourself that nickname?" she asked in a teasing tone that he refused to find adorable.

"No," he said with the glare that he found most effective in shutting someone up.

Unfortunately for him, he was trying to use it on the only person in the world who could care less that he was seriously contemplating her death. Maybe he should gag her? he idly wondered as she shifted so that she could look at him during her interrogation.

"So, then how did you get it?" she asked, folding her arm beneath her head to get more comfortable.

Since it was obvious that she wasn't going to give up until she got her answers, he decided that it was time to call it a night. Only thing was, he didn't want to leave. For the first time since he could remember he wasn't in a rush to get back to work. He didn't want to go finish that article on time saving scheduling that he'd started this morning or test out the recipes that he'd been working on all week.

The only thing that he wanted to do was to lay here with the adorable demon, hog the pillow just to piss her off and pretend that the only job that he had was to keep his hand on her stomach and keep her safe.

*-*-*-*

"Are you going to tell me?" she asked as Lucifer shifted to mimic her position, but careful to keep his hand on her stomach.

"No," he said flatly, but he didn't have that homicidal glimmer in his eyes that he normally had when someone asked him about his nickname.

"Then what are we going to do to pass the time?" she asked as she shifted closer to him until their knees and elbows almost touched and she could see that scowl marring that handsome face of his.

Sighing, she reached up and gently ran the pad of her finger over the crease between his eyes, smoothing it away. "If you're not going to tell me how you got your nickname then tell me something else about yourself," she said, placing her hand beneath her head since he refused to let her have the whole pillow to herself.

"Like how many people I've killed?" he drawled lazily, but the scowl didn't return, she noted with satisfaction.

"Thirty-five," she said with a teasing smile, hoping to coax a smile from him, but the stubborn bastard refused to play along.

Still...

He answered so she took that as a win.

"Thirty-six," he said and she would swear to the day that she died that the corner of his mouth started to pull up into a smile.

"What else you got?" she asked, happy to have something else to focus on for once instead of her own problems.

"What else do you want to know?" he asked, honestly surprising her because the man was not known for his conversational skills.

He was known more for glaring...shouting...and making grown men cry...and many other things that probably gave people nightmares.

"Well, since you won't tell me how you got your nickname, maybe you can tell me about those men that hang out in the parking lot every day calling you over a hundred different combinations of bastard?" she asked, biting her lip as she waited impatiently for him to answer, because that was one question that she'd been dying to know for the last five years.

"Pass."

"Can you do that?" she asked with a frown.

"Yes," he answered with a mocking frown of his own, further surprising her, because she honestly never would have thought that he could be playful.

She was definitely learning a lot about him lately, she inwardly mused as she tried to come up with something else to talk about, but it was proving difficult now that the pain in her stomach was starting to subside and the timber of his voice was lulling her to sleep.

"Go to sleep," he said softly as he removed his hand from her stomach and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"I'm not tired," she argued even as her eyes began to close, calling her a liar and making it difficult to wrangle more answers out of him.

Maybe just a few minutes of sleep, she thought as she reached over and placed a hand on his arm, hoping that he would stay just until she was asleep. She felt the slight hesitation and then with a sigh he was pulling her closer and wrapping his arm back around her.

She considered telling him to keep his hand off her ass this time, but given the circumstances that seemed kind of rude. So, instead she stopped fighting sleep, prayed that Melanie didn't come in here to get more photos for her Facebook page and let everything go, knowing that for once, she didn't have anything to worry about.
Chapter 14

Thirty-Six Hours Later

"You're being ridiculous," Rebecca said, doing her best to resist the urge to yank one of the dozen or so pillows shoved under Melanie's head free and smother her with it.

"Shut up. I'm dying," Melanie muttered, sounding miserable as she curled up into a ball on the couch and pulled the comforter up to her chin.

"You're not dying," she said with a sigh as she stood there, wondering how she was going to talk sense into her best friend when she was so damn determined to go through with this asinine plan of hers.

She didn't need to do this, but no matter how many times Rebecca tried to explain that to her, Melanie refused to budge. She'd made a promise and she was determined to keep it even if it killed her and judging by the last thirty-six hours, it just might do that.

"Just let me die in peace," Melanie demanded as she squeezed her eyes shut and placed a hand over her stomach even though her salvation was less than a foot away.

Rebecca looked down at the pile of Hostess products that Melanie had declared upon reluctantly accepting the Celiac's diagnosis that she would never touch again. She'd assured Melanie that wasn't necessary, but Melanie was determined to support her. Granted, she probably wouldn't have offered to do it in the first place if she'd known that she'd have to give up her precious baked goods or that she'd end up feeling like she was going to die.

It was kind of funny, well, not for Melanie, but for the first time in her life, she didn't feel like she was going to be sick. She actually felt a lot better than she had in years. She was still exhausted, but it wasn't so bad that she thought that she was going to be sick if she didn't lie down and close her eyes soon. She actually felt like she could function without getting bitchy and wanting to kill everyone and everything for existing.

God, she was starving.

For the past day and a half she'd only been eating Hershey milk chocolate candy bars and drinking Coke, because those were the only things in the apartment that she was one hundred percent certain were gluten free. After she'd woken up to discover that Lucifer had disappeared at some point during the night, she'd jumped on the computer and did a little research to figure out what she could eat and what she couldn't, but after six hours, she'd felt like pulling her hair out and kicking something.

There were so many things that she couldn't have because they had some form of gluten in them and so many more things that she should have been able to have, but couldn't because they were made in the same factory with gluten and now they were off limits. That was the part that sucked the most. According to the hundred or so websites that she'd scoured over, cross-contamination was a huge problem for Celiacs.

It was the other reason that Melanie was determined to give up gluten for her. She didn't want to be responsible for making her sick. Rebecca didn't think it was going to be a problem as long as they were careful, but Melanie being Melanie was determined to make their apartment one hundred percent gluten free.

"This is stupid," Rebecca said with a shake of her head, because she was running out of things to say to convince Melanie that this decision of hers to give up gluten was a mistake.

"Shut up. I'm being supportive," Melanie grumbled as she curled more tightly into herself.

"No, you're being an idiot," she pointed out, loving the fact that she had someone in her life that was willing to go through this with her even though she wanted to smother the life out of her if she didn't eat a Hostess pie or a freaking Pop Tart soon.

"Ungrateful brat," Melanie bit out as she cracked open an eye simply to glare at her.

"I'm not ungrateful," she said, biting back a sigh, because as irritating as Melanie was being right now, and God, was she fucking irritating, she was also the only one that was there for her.

She wasn't counting Lucifer, because he'd abandoned her the other night, which she could have overlooked if he wasn't acting like nothing had changed between them in the last month. When she tried to say hello to him, he ground his jaw and ignored her like he used to. When she tried to talk to him, he glared at her. She didn't know what his problem was, but honestly, she wasn't sure how much of it she was going to be able to take before she told him to go to hell and quit. So, as far as she was concerned, he was a prick and no longer worthy of her time.

At least Melanie had stuck by her. Once she'd accepted the news with the help of a late night drive and a bottle of tequila, she'd been there for her, accepting the fact that she couldn't eat gluten again unless she wanted to spend the rest of her life being miserable and chance an excruciating death from cancer. Even her parents, who she'd thought would be happy that they'd finally had some answers hadn't given a damn. To them this diagnosis had just been the final proof that she was a hypochondriac.

The second that she'd explained what Celiac's disease was, they'd shut down, believing that she was grasping for straws. According to them there was no such thing as a gluten allergy. Gluten-free diets were just the latest diet trend and the fact that she was going around claiming that she was allergic to it only proved that there was something seriously wrong with her.

They hadn't been willing to let her explain, so she hadn't tried. She'd simply cut her mother off when she'd started pushing for her to see a therapist and said goodbye. She didn't know what she'd expected, maybe an apology, hearing them admit that they were wrong and that they'd regretted giving up so easily. She really should have known better.

She'd told them and they hadn't believed her. It wasn't her problem and she wasn't going to lose any sleep over it. They lived their lives and she lived hers. Other than the occasional phone call, a birthday card and her parents randomly showing up with the name of the latest psychiatrist that they truly believed could help her, they barely saw each other.

That probably wouldn't change, she realized, forcing her mind away from that depressing thought as she grabbed a Hostess pie and tore it open. Melanie wasn't going to listen to reason, so she wasn't going to waste her breath. They both knew that she wasn't allergic to gluten thanks to the fact that she actually felt sick from giving it up. Aidan had explained that anyone that gave up gluten unnecessarily usually ended up feeling sick. In turn, she'd explained that to the stubborn pain in the ass, but Melanie refused to listen.

So, now Rebecca was done talking.

"What the-" Melanie started to scream, but the Hostess pie that Rebecca shoved in her mouth muffled out the rest of her bitching.

Melanie was going to eat every damn crumb or Rebecca was going to beat her to death. With a glare, and a hungry little whimper, Melanie took over and devoured the rest of the pie all while glaring accusingly at her.

"Eat the damn pie and shut the hell up!" she snapped just in case Melanie decided to argue with her.

Judging by the way that Melanie angrily tore into her pie as she glared at her, it was probably for the best if she stopped putting this off and moved her ass. Grabbing another pie off the pile, she tossed it at Melanie, uncaring that it hit her in the face before she grabbed the shopping list that she'd made with the help of Google and headed for the door.

"Mojo!" she groaned pathetically a few seconds later when her little baby plopped down in front of her and inadvertently tripped her, but thankfully she managed to catch herself at the last second and didn't end up smashing her face into the wall and needing to make a quick trip to the emergency room for stitches, again.

They were really going to have to work on that whole dropping thing at some point, she decided as excitement coursed through her.

She was going food shopping!

Okay, so it probably didn't sound exciting to anyone else but her, but she'd been looking forward to doing this since last night when she'd devoured her last chocolate bar. She was going to finally have food that didn't make her want to beg for death.

At first she'd been a little depressed that she had to give up a lot of her favorite foods, but after spending some time reading posts on several Celiac forums, she wasn't too worried anymore. Gluten free foods had apparently come a long way in the last decade and they now had everything from gluten-free bread to cookies and everything in between. She just needed to know what to look for and now that she did, she was going shopping!

*-*-*-*

Two Depressing Hours Later...

She was going to starve to death, she thought miserably as she stood outside the downstairs door, hugging her grocery bag filled with baby carrots and Hershey candy bars against her chest. Who would have thought that grocery shopping could lead to a major depression? She certainly hadn't seen this one coming, but here she was, numb and staring blindly at the keypad that stood between her and the stairs that would lead her to her apartment where she would have to deal with a fridge full of food that she couldn't eat.

Instead of entering her security code, she somehow found herself walking towards Lucifer's office, hoping that he wasn't there so that she could lie down and feel bad for herself for a little while until he kicked her out. When she arrived at his office and found it locked, she breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that at least one thing was going her way today.

Knowing that he could have locked the door for privacy, she knocked on the door and waited for him to tell her to get her ass back to work, the greeting that he normally used when someone bothered him. She waited a few seconds before she grabbed her keys, let herself in and headed for the couch. She tossed the bag holding the only two things that she would ever be able to eat again and dropped down on the couch with a miserable moan.

This sucked, she concluded with a scowl as she curled up on her side, wondering why Lucifer couldn't have been considerate and left a blanket and pillow on the couch so that she could be bitchy in comfort. Then again, she mused a few seconds later when Lucifer walked into his office with an incredibly beautiful woman by his side, perhaps she should have been more concerned with pushing him too far, again.

Of course, if he killed her then she wouldn't have to worry about how she was going to survive on carrots and chocolate for the rest of her life and just like that, she'd found the upside to Lucifer's homicidal tendencies.
Chapter 15

"Use the envelope opener," the woman who was going to be responsible for his conviction to a federal prison said, sounding helpful as she gestured towards the vicinity of his desk.

"What the hell are you doing in my office?" he snapped even though this wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for the little pain in the ass.

She was always where she wasn't supposed to be, finding new ways to push his buttons just to see what it would take to drive him over the edge. He swore that sometimes he could see her holding back a little smirk of satisfaction, confirming his suspicions that she was the devil and not just one of his minions.

But, she wasn't biting back a smile now.

Right now she looked like she was seconds away from screaming or crying. Hadn't he fixed her, he wondered with a frown, because he was pretty sure that he'd just fixed her. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't cooking him a home cooked dinner or quitting and promising never to bother him again as a thank you. Some groveling and worshiping him as her personal savior wouldn't go amiss either.

"Get out!" he snapped as he tossed the application that he was holding on his desk, barely aware that he'd startled the woman that he was supposed to be interviewing and not really caring. After he'd almost seriously fucked up everything the other night, the last thing that he wanted to do was to see her vulnerable like this.

"Fine," Rebecca said, sighing heavily as she reluctantly sat up, grabbed a badly abused grocery bag and headed for the door, all without arguing with him or trying to screw with his head.

He should just let her walk out the door and go pout somewhere else. He should, but something about the way that she'd given in so easily didn't sit well with him. Calling himself a fucking idiot, he reached out and placed his hand on her arm to stop her.

"What's going on?" he asked more softly as he forced himself to ignore how good it felt to run his fingertips over her baby soft skin.

"Nothing. It's fine," she said, giving him a forced smile that told him everything that he needed to know.

His normally chipper and annoying tenant/employee was anything but fine, because she was usually better at bullshiting him than this. Keeping his eyes on her, he reached back and threw the door closed.

"Hey! Wait!" someone cried as the door slammed shut.

Rebecca's fake smile shifted to a frown. "Umm, who was that?" she asked, gesturing towards the door.

"Who was who?" he said, wondering what she was talking about.

This time when she smiled, it was real, beautiful and made him feel like an idiot, because he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. "The woman that was with you," she explained, nervously chewing on her bottom lip as he stood there, trying to make sense out of what she was saying.

Frowning, he glanced back over his shoulder at the door and shrugged. He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about and really didn't have time to play any games with her today.

"You going to tell me what's going on or do I have to go upstairs and ask the other pain in the ass what's going on?" he asked, hoping like hell that she didn't make him go upstairs and talk to Melanie, especially after he'd been forced to listen to Aidan, his normally sane brother, bitch up a storm about her last night.

Who knew that his brother was capable of getting that angry? He'd barely had a chance to tell his brother to fuck off so that he could hang up on the whinny little bastard.

"It's nothing," Rebecca said, shaking her head as she stepped away from him and headed for the door. "Don't worry about it."

He should just let her go, but...

Fucking hell!

He was truly a fucking moron, he decided as he reached back and pushed the door shut before she could walk out. When she opened her mouth, no doubt to continue bullshiting him, he decided that he'd had enough bullshit to last a lifetime and snatched the bag away from her.

"Hey!" the little pain in the ass said in indignation as she tried to take the bag back, but he just ignored her, opened the bag and-

"Carrots and chocolate?" he said, completely at a loss, which wasn't exactly something new when it came to her.

"Yes!" she hissed as she took back her bag. "It's my dinner tonight," she snapped defensively as she pushed past him, threw the door open and stormed out of the room, leaving him standing there, hating himself because he knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to let her walk away like this.

Sighing, and wishing that she didn't have this effect on him, he went after her, forced to glare at some woman standing in the hallway until she moved out of his way. Once she'd moved, and God, people were so fucking rude, he was jogging to catch up with the little demon. He caught up to her before she could punch in the final number of her security code.

"Seriously?" she demanded on a tired sigh when he threw her over his shoulder and brought her back to his office, thankful that the inconsiderate woman loitering in the hallway jumped out of his way this time.

"Wouldn't have to do this if you'd stopped fucking with my head and just told me what was going on," he pointed out as he deposited her back on his couch.

"It's none of your business," she said, grabbing the bag of baby carrots and ripped it open with a pathetic little sigh.

"What's going on?" he asked, not bothering to argue with her, because she was right. This wasn't his business, but for some seriously fucked up reason he kept trying to make it his business even when he knew that it was time to step away.

"Rebecca?" he said, reminding her that he didn't have all day as he was forced to snatch the carrot out of her hand when she took a bite and immediately gagged, apparently forgetting that she had a sensitive gag reflex and that raw vegetables were not her friend.

"God, that's gross," she said, reaching desperately for the bag and grabbed a candy bar to chase the taste of carrot away.

"Then why are you eating it?" he asked, tossing the carrot aside.

She groaned pathetically as she took a bite of chocolate and let her shoulders drop in defeat. "It's the only thing that I can eat," she mumbled, sounding crushed as she took another bite of chocolate.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, slightly confused because according to the internet there was still a lot of choices out there for her.

"I couldn't find anything," she admitted on a mumble as she placed another piece of chocolate in her mouth and sighed dejectedly.

Reaching over, he helped himself to a piece of her chocolate. "Did you ask for help?" he asked, wondering why she'd had so much trouble when there were plenty of gluten free options available now.

"They told me that I would have to check the packages," she said with a shrug.

"Why didn't you buy some fruit at least?" he asked, already knowing that fruit and vegetables were completely safe for her.

She sighed heavily as she sat back against him. Since he was comfortable, and only because he was comfortable, he didn't move. "They had baked goods displayed throughout the produce section right next to everything that I could have."

He didn't have to ask to know that she'd been worried about cross-contamination. He'd read about it last night, because he'd been curious about the changes that she was going to have to make. He also knew from his late night search that it was going to take some time and practice to learn how to shop gluten free.

He glanced up at the clock. He had a lot of shit to do today, but he could probably get away with killing a few hours. Besides, he could always use more groceries. Decision made, he reached over, snatched the rest of her candy bar out of her hand and devoured it in one bite.

"Hey!"

"Let's go," he said, getting up and taking her with him.

"Where are we going?" she asked even as she allowed him to lead her towards the back.

"Shopping," he said, deciding that she was clearly in over her head and needed expert help.

She snorted at that. "Good luck."

He didn't need luck, not when it came to food.

When it came to avoiding his relatives...

That was another issue, he thought with a glare when he spotted the two most annoying assholes on the planet waiting for him outside.

This really wasn't his fucking day, he thought as he shoved the door open and dragged the small woman behind him.

"Fragile!" she yelled. "Handle with care! Handle with care, damn it!"

Deciding that he didn't have time for this, he stopped just long enough to throw her over his shoulder. "Better?" he snapped.

"Much better. Thanks," she said with a haughty little sniffle that had him shaking his head in disgust.

She really was a pain in the ass.
Chapter 16

"Christ, what do you want now?" Lucifer asked, sighing heavily as he set her down on her feet between him and the two large, handsome men eying her curiously.

"To see our dear sweet cousin that we missed so much," the smaller of the two, and that really wasn't saying much, said with an innocent expression that she one day hoped to master.

"Don't even think about it," Lucifer ground out, obviously knowing where her thoughts had gone.

Damn it.

"Didn't you miss us, Lucifer?" the other one asked, but he was watching her with a curious expression on his face.

"No," Lucifer said flatly as she stepped back and glanced from Lucifer to the two men that were obviously related to him.

While they were handsome enough they just didn't do anything for her. That didn't mean that she wasn't going to kill a little time by screwing with their heads. She did a quick glance, noting the wedding bands that they proudly wore on their ring fingers, the "Bradford Construction," shirt the larger of the two wore, the pristinely ironed shirt and tie the other one wore and the knowing looks in their eyes that told her that they both knew just how good looking they were and didn't care.

Unless it got them what they wanted.

Unfortunately for them, it was something that she could, and would, use against them if she got bored. For now though, she would just sit back and watch the show.

"Aren't you wondering why we're here?" the larger one asked, and she really needed to find out their names, because it would make it easier for her to keep track of who was who in her head.

"No, not really," Lucifer said, sounding bored, but she knew him well enough to know that he'd reached level one in his complicated, yet entertaining, highly devised system that he'd developed over the years to properly display the various levels that made up his temper which would one day lead him to his very own episode of Cops.

The shorter one chuckled as he gestured towards her with a tilt of his head. "Who's this?"

She was about to answer when Lucifer said, "No one."

No one? she mused inwardly as she digested what he'd said. She could honestly say that she hadn't expected that. Pain in the ass, annoying waitress, the devil were all things that she'd expected to hear, but no one?

"No one, huh?" the tall one asked, shifting his attention between the two of them. "Then why were you carrying her?"

"Why do you care?" Lucifer asked in that same bored tone that she really didn't much care for at the moment.

"Because I'm curious by nature," he said as she waited for Lucifer to rectify his answer so that she wouldn't be forced to do something that they'd both regret, but she'd do it if it meant screwing him over and teaching him a lesson.

She'd worked too damn hard over the past five years to be a "no one," to him. She'd earned her place as the annoying pain in the ass and no one, not even him, was going to take that away from her. That's why she was pissed and not because hearing him call her no one had actually disappointed her.

"So," the smaller of the two drawled as she stood there telling herself that she should just walk away before she did something incredibly stupid, but since when did she listen to reason? "Where are you and 'no one' going?"

Lucifer just stared at him in that unnerving way of his as she stood there, deciding that the least that she could do after everything that he'd done for him was to give him an opportunity to see the error in his ways. When he continued to stand there, glaring at the two men who were watching her as though they knew that she was about to do something incredibly stupid, she'd decided that she'd waited long enough.

She turned around, grabbed him by his shoulders and yanked him down so that she could wrap her arms around him and kiss his stunned lips before he had a chance to react. She brushed her lips seductively against his, once, twice and then one more time because she couldn't help herself. His lips were surprisingly soft for a man that spent most days frowning that she just couldn't help herself when she brushed her lips against his one last time before reluctantly pulled away and-

Found her lips back on his, parting along with his so that they could deepen the kiss. At some point she'd threaded her fingers through his short hair, cupping the back of his head as she moved closer, desperate for more. She felt his arms wrap around her and his hands pulling her closer until their bodies were pressed together as he did his best to devour her mouth.

This was the kind of kiss that most women fantasized about and here she was nearly groaning in frustration because it wasn't enough. She wanted more, she wanted him and she'd do anything to have him. She'd-

"I hate to interrupt this incredibly awkward moment, but we came here to discuss something with you," one of the men said, sounding amused while she stood there, holding onto Lucifer as her world spun out of control.

As Lucifer slowly pulled away from her and looked down at her as though he was just now seeing her, she realized that for the first time since she'd met him that she was in way over her head.

"Excuse me," she mumbled, feeling a little lightheaded as she stepped away from him and started walking back towards the restaurant, deciding that it might be time to take another look at those want ads.

*-*-*-*

"Aw, what's the matter, big guy?" Jason, the annoying bastard that his parents swore was related to them, asked mockingly while Lucifer forced himself to stay where he was, terrified of what he would do if he moved so much as an inch from this spot.

Christ, what the hell had she been thinking kissing him like that and why was Trevor watching him with that knowing look on his face?

Fuck, he just needed to stop thinking about how good it felt to hold Rebecca in his arms.

"Rejection hurts, huh, big guy?" Jason said with an exaggerated sigh that was going to get him killed.

"First kiss?" Trevor guessed with an anticipatory gleam in his eye that Lucifer really didn't care for, not now when he felt like he was about to lose control.

"Fuck off," he said, rubbing his hands roughly down his face as he tried to forget that fucking kiss.

"Sorry," Jason said, not sounding sorry at all, "we can't do that."

"You really can," he said, struggling to figure out how this just happened.

One minute he'd been dragging Rebecca to a grocery store to help her and the next he'd been seconds away from reaching down, cupping her ass and forcing her legs to wrap around him so that he could push her up against his truck and find out just how hard he had to fuck her to make her scream his name. God, this was bad. This was really fucking bad, because she'd actually ran away triggering something in him that he couldn't explain and making him want to go after her.

He was definitely going after her, he decided, licking his lips as anticipation like nothing that he'd ever experienced before coursed through his veins, making him feel really alive for the first time in his life. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that if she'd stayed here and shrugged their kiss off like it was nothing that he wouldn't be feeling this way.

"She's your neighbor, right? The one that Aidan had a look at?" Trevor asked as he leaned back against the truck that Lucifer couldn't stop picturing Rebecca bent over.

"What do you want?" he bit out, knowing exactly where Trevor was going with this line of bullshit.

"Came to remind you about the barbeque this weekend," Jason said while Trevor continued to watch him.

"You could have called," he pointed out absently as he thought about just how good it was going to feel when he finally caught her.

He was in so much fucking trouble here, because as much as he wanted to believe that he couldn't end up with a woman like Rebecca, he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to hear her moan his name in his ear as he slid deep inside her.

"We figured that in person was so much better. That way you could invite us in for a bite to eat as a thank you," Jason, the devious bastard, said, but instead of fucking with his cousin's head as he usually did when one of the intrusive bastards tried to get inside the Fire & Brimstone, he simply shoved the bastard aside and headed for his restaurant and the little demon that had triggered something deep inside him.

"That was unnecessary, you asshole!"

Yeah, it was, but at least it had managed to help him forget about the pain in the ass for a few seconds. He had absolutely no idea what he was going to do with her now, but he knew that he couldn't keep pretending that there wasn't something seriously fucked up going on between them.

Until he figured it out, he was going to have a little fun, because for the first time since they'd started playing this game, he was going to be the one calling all the shots.
Chapter 17

"Oh, God, Oh, God, oh, shit!" she whispered frantically as she struggled to punch her code in with fingers that refused to stop trembling.

The high-pitched beep when she hit the wrong numbers wasn't helping. She tried to focus, tried to stop thinking about what just happened, but she couldn't and so here she was, punching random numbers into the keypad like a madwoman, trying desperately to put a little space between her and the man that had looked at her as though she was the next best thing to lunch.

Since she'd seen exactly how much he loved to devour his lunch, she knew that was not a good thing.

She was an idiot for screwing with him like that. She should have known better. Hell, she had known better, but she'd stupidly let her pride talk her into crossing a line that she should never have been crossed.

God, that had been such an amazing kiss, she thought with something close to panic, because she really wanted to go back out there and kiss him again and there was no way that she was kissing him again.

This ended now.

She was going upstairs, double-locking the door, getting Mojo to lay in front of the door and start packing. She'd always heard that England was nice this time of year. The fact that she was broke, didn't have a passport or a job didn't matter. All that mattered was putting some space between her and Lucifer before she did something incredibly stupid like tackle him and rip all his clothes off.

It's not that she didn't do relationships, because she did. Badly, but she did try to make them work. No, the reason that Lucifer wasn't a possibility was very simple, because she...well, he...

Okay, it wasn't simple.

Why the hell wasn't this door unlocking?

"Here," the man that she was willing to flee the country from, said softly as he reached past her, making sure that his lips tickled the back of neck, and typed his code in for her.

As soon as the alarm beeped and she heard the door lock release with a click, she threw the door open and ran as fast as her short legs would carry her. In record time, she was in her apartment with the door slammed shut, the bolt slid into place and her back against the door to add extra security while she struggled to catch her breath.

"What's wrong?" Melanie asked, looking up from her computer with a frown as she took in Rebecca desperately clinging to the door.

"I...," she started to say only to stop when she thought she heard something out in the hallway.

"Rebecca?" Melanie said, sounding understandably worried since Rebecca had her ear pressed against the door and was holding her breath as she waited for the knock that she wasn't ready for to come.

When it never came, she breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back against the door. "Pack your bags. We're leaving the country in the morning," she said, hoping that would be enough for Melanie to move her ass, because she wasn't sure that she had enough energy to explain what just happened and pack her things.

"Is there a reason why we're fleeing the country?" Melanie asked instead of being the supportive friend that she needed and packed without question.

"Yes!" she snapped, pushing away from the door on wobbly legs.

"Are you going to share that reason with the rest of the class?" Melanie asked, picking up her bottle of water and took a sip.

"No!" Rebecca snapped, heading for her bedroom only to end up groaning pathetically a few seconds later when Mojo walked in front of her, dropped to the ground and promptly fell asleep without warning, causing her to stumble over him and trip over her feet.

As she lay there on the floor, she couldn't help regretting that time when she'd vetoed Melanie's decision to buy an area rug for the hallway. When Mojo rolled over a few seconds later and landed on top of her, she couldn't help but regret deciding against signing him up for obedience class and when she heard that first knock at their door, she regretted pretty much everything she'd ever done to Lucifer, because now it seemed as though she was about to pay for it.

*-*-*-*

"Stop kicking me out of my own apartment!" Melanie yelled after he deposited her in the hallway.

When she continued to yell, he decided that it would be for the best if he closed the door on her since all that yelling would only annoy him. She still yelled, but thankfully the solid wood door was able to muffle most of it out. When he spotted his prey lying on the floor with that horse they liked to call a dog laying on top of her legs, pinning her to the floor, he couldn't help but smile.

"Melanie?" she said, sounding hopeful as she tried to look over her shoulder to see what was going on, but thanks to the position that Mojo had her pinned in, it was impossible.

"Guess again," he said, noting the way that her entire upper body went still at the sound of his voice.

"Ummm, this really isn't a good time. Maybe you could come back later?" she said as she tried to pull her legs free, probably hoping that he wouldn't notice the move.

"Am I interrupting something?" he drawled lazily as he helped himself to an ice cold Coke from her fridge.

"Yes," she said, clearing her throat as she planted her arms on the floor and tried her best to pull her legs free, but that damn dog wouldn't budge, "Yes, you are."

That was a damn shame, he thought with a sigh as he popped his soda can open and took a sip. He walked over to the wiggling woman and leaned down to pet the dog that had earned a steak. Other than grunting his approval, Mojo didn't bother opening his eyes as he settled in for a nap.

Secure in the knowledge that she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, he stepped over her squirming body and sat down with his back to the wall in front of her. While she glared up at him, he took another long, satisfying sip of his ice cold drink as he thought back on all the bullshit that she'd put him through over the last five years and sighed.

She really did have this coming, he thought as the bitter woman gave up trying to escape and stole his drink. He allowed it simply because he was in a generous mood. As soon as she was done, she glared up at him, slammed the empty can on the floor and grabbed onto his legs, obviously deciding that her only chance of escape was to pull herself free from the dog currently sleeping on top of her.

"So, what exactly do you want?" she asked as she used his legs to pull herself free.

"To talk," he said as he allowed his gaze to run down her back to that generous ass that he'd stupidly ignored for all these years.

Christ, he couldn't wait to squeeze her ass as he slid inside her...

"Are you staring at my ass?" she asked after a slight pause.

"Yup," he said, seeing absolutely no reason to lie about it.

"Well, stop!" she snapped, pausing in her escape attempt long enough to lightly slap his leg to make him stop doing what he was clearly put on this earth to do.

That ass deserved to be admired.

"Pathetic," she mumbled as she returned to her escape, but unfortunately for her, sometime in the last thirty seconds or so, Mojo had woken up and readjusted his position so that his large body now pinned her knees down to the floor.

This really was not her day, he thought with a sigh as he allowed himself to enjoy the fact that Rebecca was draped over his legs. Definitely not a bad way to end the day, he thought as he reached down and plucked her out from beneath Mojo and settled her on his lap with a satisfied sigh.

So, when she opened her mouth to argue, he really had no choice but to lean down and kiss her before she could do something stupid like kick him out of her apartment.
Chapter 18

Shouldn't she be having some moral dilemma about doing this, she wondered at the back of her mind as she adjusted herself on his lap until she was straddling him and could wrap her arms around him as he kissed her in a way that left her hungry for more. Never in a million years would she have pictured Lucifer, the straight-edged asshole, capable of being this passionate, but now that she knew, she couldn't help but wonder how it was going to be like when she got him out of these clothes.

She moaned at the thought, because she was definitely going to have to find out. Even though she didn't make a habit of jumping in bed with whatever guy that caught her eye or took her out, it also wasn't something that she lost sleep over or had internal debates about. She was the kind of woman who liked to be turned on, lived by the moment and if a guy managed to make her lose her mind and made her feel like she would die if she had to go one more second to feel him sliding between her legs then she went for it.

She didn't do regrets, overanalyze her choices or live in the past.

With that being said, she could still count the number of men that she'd slept with on one hand and she'd never slept with a guy that she hadn't been dating for at least three months. She liked having an emotional connection with a guy before sleeping with him and she usually needed it in order to get this turned on.

Then again, she'd never actually been this turned on before, she thought with a smile as she lowered herself until she was sitting on the hard bulge hiding behind Lucifer's zipper that told her that she wasn't the only one on the verge of losing control. The groan that he released had her adjusting herself on his lap and moaning when the friction from the movement hit her in all the right places.

Even though she didn't have many hang-ups about sex, she did have some rules, like never sleeping with your friend's ex, her friends' brothers, co-workers, or more importantly, her boss. But, since she was in the process of quitting this really didn't count, she told herself as she ground down against that large bulge as Lucifer drove her out of her mind by gently sucking on her tongue as his hands found her ass.

He used his hold on her ass to help her move against him and God, was there really anything sexier than a man that was aggressive in bed? As she slid her hand beneath his shirt and caressed the muscles jumping beneath her touch, she couldn't help but wonder if they should move this to a bed.

It would definitely be more comfortable, she decided even as she continued to grind down against him, her breaths coming faster as she realized that she was seconds away from having an orgasm that was guaranteed to leave her devastated. They really needed to move this to a bed.

She kissed him one last time before she pressed her forehead against his and tried to focus on something other than how good it felt to grind against him. Licking her lips, she forced the words out that would guarantee that she would have to quit her job in the morning.

"Lucifer, we need to move this to the bedroom," she ground out with a whimper as she pushed down against him and-

"I have a better idea," he said, allowing her one last grind that brought her closer to the edge, but wasn't enough to push her over, before carefully picking her up and setting her down on the floor.

"What?" she asked, feeling a little dazed as he managed to stand up, because she was pretty sure that they should definitely be taking this to the bedroom.

"Let's go grab something to eat," he said, reaching down and helped her to her feet while she struggled to make sense out of what he was saying.

Eat?

He wanted to eat?

She threw a wistful glance in the direction of her bedroom and almost cried when he took her hand in his and headed for the door.

*-*-*-*

"You should probably put some ice on that," Rebecca said from where she sat in the passenger seat of his truck, fidgeting with everything within reach and driving him out of his fucking mind, because every movement made him more aware of her.

He could be inside her right now, his fucking dick reminded him as it angrily pushed against the zipper, demanding that he pull over and finish what they'd started, but he couldn't do that. Not until he made sure that she wanted him just as badly.

He refused to take her until she said his name when he slid deep inside her. He didn't care if she moaned it, whispered it, groaned it or screamed it at the top of her lungs, but he had to hear it. He had to hear her say his name the first time he took her.

He had to hear her call him, "Christopher."

There was something seriously wrong with him.

"I'm fine," he said, resisting the urge to check his shoulder for blood.

"You're lucky that she has bad aim," Rebecca said with a sigh as she gave up fidgeting with the air-conditioning and sat back in her seat.

"Remind me to remove that fire extinguisher when we get back," he said even though he doubted that it still worked.

"Knowing Melanie, she probably already used it to coat your door in foam," Rebecca said, sounding bored while he was still struggling to get his body back under control.

Great, one more thing to get in the way of his schedule, he thought as he pulled into the back parking lot of Dixon's Gluten-Free Bakery and parked his truck. He looked at Rebecca to find her slumped in her seat, looking defeated.

"What's wrong?" he asked, turning off the truck.

"I can't eat here," she mumbled softly.

"Because of the gluten thing?" he asked, opening his door.

"Because of the gluten thing," she repeated with a dejected sigh as she opened her door and jumped out.

He climbed out of the truck and headed to the sidewalk, unsure of how he should proceed. They weren't a couple. Hell, they weren't even friends, but he couldn't act like she was nothing more than a pain in the ass employee anymore, could he?

Fucking hell.

This was already getting complicated and there was nothing that he hated more than complicated. So, when she started walking by his side and stuck her hands in her back pockets he was relieved.

To a point.

"This place is gluten free," he said, mostly to have something to say so that he could get his mind off how good it had felt to finally cup that beautiful ass in his hands.

"It's gluten free?" she asked as she worried her bottom lip, no doubt trying not to get her hopes up. "Are you sure?"

"Since I helped build it, I'm pretty sure that it is," he explained as they reached the front door.

"Your family's in construction, right?" she said, sounding a little nervous as he held the door open for her. She hesitated before throwing him a small smile and stepping inside.

"Among other things," he murmured as he followed her inside. "But, it's the one thing that we all have in common."

"What do you mean?" she asked, glancing around the small shop nervously.

"Relax," he said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead, because she looked like she could use a little support and not because it felt like an eternity since the last time he'd touched her. "Everything in here is safe for you to eat."

After a slight pause she nodded and ventured closer to the large menu posted on the wall. She stood there for several minutes, not saying anything as she took in what they had to offer.

"What do you recommend?" she asked, chewing on her bottom lip as she started at the top of the menu and worked her way down again, obviously wary of her first real taste of gluten-free cooking.

He hadn't actually tried anything here, because of the obsession he had with dissecting recipes and recreating them for his restaurant, but his brothers had. As far as he knew they'd given every item on the menu the Bradford seal of approval so he pointed at the first item on the menu.

"The baked macaroni and cheese is pretty good," he said, praying that his brothers hadn't made him a liar, otherwise he was going to have to hunt them down and beat the shit out of every last one of them.
Chapter 19

"Would you stop doing that?" Lucifer snapped as he was once again forced to pluck an ice cube out of his glass and place it on the back of his hand.

"Probably not," she said, taking her time to scoop up another spoonful of that delicious beef stew and dumplings that she'd let him talk her into ordering after she'd devoured the baked macaroni and cheese.

"You could share," he pointed out, on the verge of pouting as he sat there looking from his empty bowl to hers and then back again.

"I could," she agreed, pausing long enough so that she could enjoy that perfect spoonful of beef, gravy, vegetable and dumpling before adding, "but I'm not going to."

His eyes narrowed dangerously on her and she knew that look well enough to know that he was seriously considering stealing the rest of her food, but lucky for him, he didn't try. She really hated the idea of sending him to the ICU after everything he'd done for her, but if he tried to steal another bite of her delicious food she wouldn't have much of a choice.

"You're mean," he grumbled, signaling to the waitress for another bowl.

"Yup," she agreed as she scooped up another spoonful, already planning on stealing his bowl of beef stew when it came, "that's me."

"And it doesn't bother you?" he asked with a curious tilt of his head as he studied her.

"Not at all," she said with a shake of her head as she reached for the hot roll that she'd noticed Lucifer eying. "Does it bother you that everyone thinks you're an asshole?"

He chuckled as he grabbed the roll before she could. "No."

"Seriously?" she asked, not because she didn't believe him, because she did, but because she was honestly just curious.

"Why would it bother me?" he asked with a careless shrug as he broke off a piece of his roll. He dipped it in her bowl and soaked up some of the gravy.

"Because most people would have a problem with everyone believing that they're an asshole," she explained as she watched him.

"Most people are fucking morons," he said unapologetically as he took the bowl of stew from the stunned waitress, who practically ran away as soon as she placed an extra basket of freshly baked rolls on the table.

"And why's that?" she asked, grabbing a gluten free roll, still surprised at how good it tasted. It didn't taste exactly like a regular roll, but it was close enough that she didn't care.

"Because they care what other people think," he said as he stole the roll out of her hand.

Sighing, she reached for another roll. "And you don't?"

"Not one fucking bit," he said as he dug into his stew, leaving her to wonder how that must feel.

It was definitely a tactic that could have come in handy for most of her life, she thought as she picked up her spoon and-

"Did you want me to kill you?" the selfish bastard asked with a cold glare that had her sighing as she continued with her mission to steal a large chunk of dumpling out of his bowl.

"Yeah, because you really scare me," she said, making a show of stealing that large delicious bite of food and eating it all while keeping her eyes locked with his.

A small smile touched his lips. "You're not scared of me, are you?"

"Not in the least," she admitted with a wink as she put her spoon down, pushed her chair back and decided that it was time to check out the large selection of gluten free baked goods for dessert.

So many pretties, she thought wistfully as she tried to decide between the cheesecake brownie that had caught her eye or the vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting.

"Get it to go," the harsh whisper teased her ear as she felt Lucifer's arms wrap around her and pull her closer.

She opened her mouth to ask him if something was wrong when she felt it, that very large and very hard bulge pressed against her lower back. She licked her lips as she tried to come up with a witty response, but all she could manage was a nod as Lucifer released his hold on her so that he could grab his wallet and pay the bill.

As she stood there, waiting for the waitress to figure out what was wrong with the credit card reader, she couldn't help but wonder if she should give him her two weeks notice before she pinned him to her bed and stripped him naked or after.

*-*-*-*

"Where are we?" she asked, breathing heavy as she finished climbing onto his lap and straddling him, barely giving him a chance to throw his truck in park.

"Don't know. Don't fucking care," he said, breathing just as heavy as he shifted them towards the middle of the seat and away from the steering wheel that had absolutely no chance of surviving this encounter.

Although he couldn't say with a hundred percent certainty, he was pretty sure that they'd made it to the Fire & Brimstone's back parking lot before she'd stopped rubbing his cock through his jeans and started to climb onto his lap. He should put a stop to this and carry her inside where they could finish this in his bed, but that would mean that he had to stop kissing her and there was no fucking way that he was going to stop kissing her.

The needy little moan that she made when she sat back on his legs only guaranteed that he wouldn't be leaving this truck until he found out what other noises he could get out of her. He wouldn't fuck her, not until she gave him what he wanted, but he would do absolutely everything in between and probably a few things that could be considered sex instead and he would make sure that she enjoyed every last fucking second of it.

He wanted her so fucking badly that he didn't care that he had strict rules about this sort of thing. Never in public, never lose control and never with a woman that drove him out of his fucking mind. He liked being in control of his life, his career and his future and women like the one threading her fingers through her hair as she sweetly suckled on his tongue made that fucking impossible.

If he had a type, she definitely wasn't it. He normally dated serious women who were married to their careers and didn't want anything more than a good fuck when their schedules permitted it. He never lost control, texted them during the day just to say hello or thought about them twenty-four/seven. Granted, most of the women that he dated took his indifference as a challenge and usually ended up pissing him off, but...

Christ, he couldn't think straight with her running her fingers over his fly like that, teasing his cock into a frenzy. When she stopped tracing his cock with her talented little fingers he nearly begged for more, but seconds later she had him groaning and losing control of that kiss as she pulled down his zipper, reached inside his pants and wrapped her warm, soft hand around him.

"Fuck!" he groaned as he was forced to break off from that kiss as a shot of pleasure surged through his body, making his cock harder than it had ever been before.

Gasping for air, he watched as Rebecca licked her lips hungrily while she watched her hand move over his cock. Groaning when she ran her hand over the tip, he found himself following her gaze. He watched, entranced by the lightly tanned hand slowly moving up and down his shaft.

He couldn't remember the last time a woman had given him a hand job, probably because it had never felt this good. He watched as her hand slid down to the base and paused long enough so that she could squeeze a groan out of him only to work her way back up to the tip and use her thumb to spread the drops of excitement that were already forming there over the head, making the already sensitive skin tingle with indescribable pleasure.

"God, that feels good," he groaned, licking his own lips as he continued to watch her lazily run her hand over his shaft, applying just the right amount of pleasure at just the right time.

"You like that?" she asked with a seductive smile that made him think about how good those full, pouty lips would feel wrapped around his cock.

He nodded as he leaned in to kiss her. "Keep doing that and you'll find out just how much," he promised her as he placed his hands on her thighs.

"Then maybe I should stop," she teased with a smile against his mouth as he reached for the fly of her pants.

"Maybe you should," he murmured as he pulled her zipper down and reached for the waist of her pants.

With a little effort and some wiggling on her part, he had them pulled down along with her panties far enough to give him access to her soft slit that he fully planned on tracing with his tongue soon. Moaning as she continued to kiss and stroke him, he leaned in a little closer and moved his hand over her smooth supple ass until his hand was between her legs and his finger was moving over her wet slit sliding deep inside her.

They groaned together as she pushed back against him, taking his finger deeper as she held onto to him, her hand never stilling on his cock. If anything her grasp on him had become a little more urgent. Her strokes had increased when she started to ride his finger, pushing back with every stroke. The position wasn't comfortable and it took a lot of effort to manage, but the pleasure that they were giving each other more than made up for it.

He knew that he could get her off like this, but he wanted more. Slipping his finger inside her one last time, and God, he'd never knew a woman could get this wet before, he pulled his hand free, wrapped his arms around her and turned so that he could lay her down on the bench seat. She kept her arms around him as she kissed him almost desperately as he yanked her pants off. By the time she managed to kick her shoes off, he had her pants shoved down to her ankles and in seconds, thrown onto the dashboard.

Shoving his pants down to his knees, he followed her down, groaning when she wrapped her bare legs around him and pressed his cock against her wet slit.

"Lucifer, please!" she cried, moving against him, making him groan in pleasure, but it wasn't what he wanted to hear.

So, he rocked against her, telling himself that this was going to have to do for now, because there was no fucking way that he was going to settle for anything less than-

"Christopher!" she yelled on a frustrated sob as she rocked urgently against him and just like that, he lost control.

One minute he was grinding his cock against her wet slit and the next he was buried deep inside her and fucking her hard enough to rock the truck. She felt good, so fucking good, he thought as he pulled his cock out until just the tip was inside her and slammed back inside her, loving the way that she was digging her fingers into his back and moaning his name like a prayer.

"Oh, God!" she cried out, tightening her hold on him as she held on for the ride.

She felt so fucking good, so fucking good...so fucking wet and tight...

He leaned down and kissed her before he pulled back, needing to watch her as he pushed her over the edge. When he felt her sheath tighten around him, he thrust harder and ground his teeth as he fought off his own orgasm.

Several thrusts later he thought that he was going to fucking die when she started screaming. Her back bowed, nearly throwing him off, but he wasn't going anywhere. He leaned down and kissed her, swallowing her screams as he fucked her hard and fast. He kept going until long after she'd stopped screaming and his own orgasm threatened to break him in two as it ripped through him.

Gasping, and more satisfied than he'd ever felt in his entire life, he dropped his head onto her shoulder and chuckled, because he couldn't believe the most amazing woman that he'd ever met was also the one that he'd spent the last five years fantasizing about-

"I quit."

-throttling.
Chapter 20

Closing her eyes with a defeated sigh, she demanded of the large man sulking after her, "Why exactly are you following me?"

"We need to talk," Lucifer said and she really couldn't help the pathetic groan that escaped her or the fact that she was becoming increasingly bitchy since all she wanted to do was sleep and all he wanted to do was argue.

Why couldn't he just enjoy the afterglow like a normal man and leave her alone? she wondered as she struggled to drag herself through her apartment. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed, close her eyes and savor the way her entire body hummed with pleasure from the most incredible orgasm that she'd ever experienced, but the stubborn son of a bitch following her to her bedroom wouldn't let her have that.

Selfish son of a bitch, she thought as she forced her feet past her bed and instead headed for her dresser, because today was Wednesday and she was supposed to work the evening shift. She was tempted to say that hell with it and go to bed for the night since she'd just quit. The problem was that she didn't have a job lined up and after she finished her two weeks, money was going to be tight enough as it was.

She needed the hours, she told herself over and over again in her head, hoping that it would give her the energy that she was going to need to survive the next eight hours. Forcing herself not to look at that inviting, messy bed where Mojo was currently snoring, she focused on getting ready for work.

Oh, to be a dog...

"What are you doing?" Lucifer asked when it should have been more than obvious.

"Getting ready for work," she mumbled, grabbing a fresh Fire & Brimstone tee-shirt, jeans, socks and panties before turning around and once again forcing her feet to take her away from her bed.

"I thought you'd just quit," Lucifer snapped, not really sounding all that happy for a guy that had been trying to fire her for the past five years.

Before she got a chance to respond, the reminder that the walls were thin cut her off. "You quit?" Melanie asked from her bedroom, which just happened to be next to hers.

"Yes!" she hissed with a glare at the wall.

"Oh...," came the response from the other side of the wall. "Are you going to apply for that bouncer job?"

She probably would if it was still available, but it had been weeks since she spotted that ad so it was probably already filled. She was going to have to dust off her resume, think of new explanations to explain her checkered work history and start spending all her free time searching for jobs and filling out applications.

"Maybe," she said, hoping that would appease their audience.

"You're not quitting," Lucifer snapped, making her cringe, because if there was one thing that Melanie liked, it was gossip. She loved to know everything that was going on, but she was surprisingly tight lipped, refusing to share anything.

"Oh, this should be good," she heard Melanie mumble to herself.

Yeah, this was going to be great, she thought dryly as she paused by the towel closet, blindly reached inside, grabbed a semi-folded towel and headed towards the bathroom, praying that Lucifer would lose interest so that she could take a shower in peace.

"You're not quitting," he said more firmly as he shut the bathroom door behind them as though that would somehow make her change her mind.

Sighing, she tossed the crumpled towel on the sink counter. "I have to quit."

"Why do you have to quit?" Melanie asked, obviously too curious to wait until later to start her interrogation.

"Mind your business, bitch!" she yelled, deciding that the next place they moved to was going to have walls lined with lead.

"You are my business, bitch!" came the reply, making her shake her head and Lucifer glare at her, because apparently he wasn't happy about having an audience either.

"Look," she said, too exhausted to argue, "do you think that we could talk about this later?"

His scowl said it all.

"Right," she sighed, moving to turn the shower on when Melanie, who apparently had nothing better to do than to hang on their every word, announced, "There's no more hot water!"

Well, that would explain why Melanie hadn't been in her usual spot on the couch with her laptop powered up and a pile of Hostess wrappers decorating the couch and floor. Whenever Melanie got stumped on a design or code, she took a bath to think it through and that usually meant a really long bath with the help of fresh hot water added every fifteen minutes or so.

"Great," Rebecca said, giving up the idea of a hot shower, which she desperately needed if she had any hopes of making it through this shift.

"We need to talk," Lucifer said, taking her hand in his and leading her to the door.

"We can do that later," she mumbled pathetically as she allowed him to drag her through her apartment only because she was too damn exhausted to argue.

"Wait! You're leaving?" Melanie yelled from the other room, sounding disappointed that she was going to miss everything.

Ignoring Melanie, Lucifer led her across the hallway and into his apartment. Before his door had a chance to close behind them he was dragging her towards the back hallway.

"You seriously need to stop dragging me everywhere," she said even though she actually liked the way that he held her hand. His grip was firm, but far from punishing, especially since every few seconds or so he would absently caress the back of her hand with his thumb.

"And you seriously need to stop pissing me off," he said as he dragged her down the hall, through a surprisingly neat room and into-

"What the hell...," she breathed as she walked into the large bathroom.

It was definitely a lot larger than her bathroom and a hell of a lot nicer. Not that she lived in a rat's nest or anything, but where her bathroom was basic, his was something that she would expect to see in a five star hotel.

Her entire bathroom could fit in the custom-made shower with room to spare. There were his and hers sinks, the toilet had its own little room and there was actually a closet! As she gazed around the bathroom that should have rightfully been hers, she couldn't help but wonder how she'd got stuck with the lame bathroom.

While she was looking around, she started to pull her clothes off, not really caring if he'd dragged her in here with the intentions of letting her use his shower or not, because she was damn well using it. After what he did to her in the truck she needed one, she thought, trying really hard not to think about what he did to her in that truck. Unfortunately for her, it was going to be hard enough getting through the next eight hours without wanting to rip his clothes off.

With that in mind, she shimmied out of her panties and stepped inside the shower, amazed at how many showerheads there were. They were built into the sides, in front of her, and on the ceiling. It was really a thing of beauty. While Melanie loved baths, she was more into showers. Besides the fact that sitting in her own filth really didn't appeal to her unless her stomach hurt and she really had no choice, she enjoyed standing under a spray of hot water as she washed the day away.

When Lucifer wrapped an arm around her waist and reached around her to play with the complicated dials, she simply closed her eyes and leaned back against him so that she could relax and enjoy herself. As soon as the spray of hot water hit her from every angle, she sighed and felt herself relax completely in his arms.

He kissed her shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. "Talk."

"Too tired to talk," she mumbled as she tilted her head to the side so that he could kiss her.

Sighing heavily, and that was probably because she was putting off this argument and not because she demanded a kiss, at least it better not be, he leaned down and tenderly brushed his lips against hers.

"You're a stubborn pain in the ass," he whispered sweetly against her lips, making her smile as she leaned her head back against him and allowed herself to enjoy what would probably be the last moment of peace that she would have for the next two weeks.
Chapter 21

"Mr. Bradford?"

"What is it, Patrick?" Lucifer asked, pretending that his mind wasn't on his bed upstairs and the small woman currently curled up in it, hogging all the blankets. She was going to be furious when she finally woke up, he thought with a small smile as he tallied the credit card slips for the night.

"I can take care of that if you want," Patrick offered after a slight hesitation, making the same offer that he made every night around this time.

"I have it, Patrick," he said, not bothering to look up from his desk as he shifted his attention to the order slips.

God, he was so fucking exhausted.

All he wanted to do was call it a night, go upstairs and curl up with the woman that was going to kill him as soon as she woke up, but he knew that he would never get that far. He'd be lucky if he made it to the couch at this point.

"Well, goodnight, Mr. Bradford," Patrick said, sounding like he wanted to say more, but in the end he left, locking up and setting the alarm on his way out.

He needed some fucking sleep soon or he was going to burn out, but one look at the pile of work waiting on the corner of his desk that needed his attention had him biting back a yawn and getting back to work. He only had a few hours to put a dent into all this paperwork before he had to oversee meal prep and the breakfast service. He also needed to make sure that the bar was fully stocked since tonight was going to be one of the busiest nights of the week.

College night.

It was one of his most profitable nights of the week, but it was also his busiest day. It was Thursday, which meant that he had to make sure that they were set up for the rest of the week. That meant calling venders, taking in orders, food prep, going over the schedule and making sure that the majority of his senior staff was scheduled to work, running to the bank to get change and make deposits, and making sure their online ordering system was working flawlessly.

Just thinking about everything that he had to do today was making him tired, but that was too fucking bad because he had a job to do. For the next four days the Fire & Brimstone was going to be a mad house. They'd have the mornings and afternoons to prepare, but even those meal services were going to be brutal, especially since they were still down four waitresses, a bartender, a dishwasher and a cook. Sighing, he made a note to put another ad in Monday's paper with the hopes that this set of applicants would actually bring him more than just college kids looking for beer money.

Then there was the problem of the woman sleeping in his bed...

He had absolutely no idea what he was going to do about her. The only thing that he was absolutely sure about was that he should be relieved that she was quitting instead of sitting here trying to figure out a way to make her stay. For five goddamn years he'd wanted her gone and just when he was finally about to get what he'd wanted, he'd not only backed down, but he'd also given her a raise to keep her around.

As much as he'd like to say that he'd regretted manipulating her into staying, he couldn't. She'd needed answers that she would probably never have gotten, because she'd long since given up. So, no, he couldn't regret helping her when he'd had the chance, but he wasn't sure that he could say the same about sleeping with her. He should have never slept with her, but he knew that he'd do it again in a heartbeat if he ever got the chance.

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and wondered what he was going to do about her. She was a complication, which was something that he really didn't need in his life. He had too much going on in his life to add a pain in the ass girlfriend whose soul purpose in life seemed to be driving him out of his fucking mind.

He didn't need that in his life, especially not right now when he was still doing everything that he could to make Fire & Brimstone into something special. There was no way that he was going to be able to do that with Rebecca around. He should let her go, keep his hands to himself and focus on what really mattered, but even as he told himself that it was for the best, he found himself thinking about how much he wanted to go upstairs and put his arms around her.

Letting her go wasn't an option, he realized, not until he'd let this thing between them run its course. He had no idea if she was the one or just the one that his body wanted right now, but either way he wasn't giving her up just yet. But, letting her take over every waking moment like this wasn't going to work either.

He needed to get his mind off her and back where it belonged and in order to do that, he was going to have to start treating Rebecca like he would any other woman and hope that she didn't lose her fucking mind like the rest of them had.

*-*-*-*

"Why is Lucifer glaring at you?" Melanie asked from where she sat, perched at the edge of her seat with a fresh chocolate milkshake on one side, her computer in front of her and a half-eaten cheeseburger on the other.

She chuckled as she placed Melanie's bill on the table. "He's always glaring," she said, wondering why Melanie was suddenly unnerved by Lucifer's favorite pastime.

"True," Melanie readily agreed with a nod as she continued to watch Lucifer with a perplexed expression on her face, "but normally he likes to diversify his glares to include everyone in the general facility."

"Maybe he's glaring at you?" Rebecca suggested even as she glanced over her shoulder to find Lucifer not quite glaring at her as much as he was staring at her as though he was trying to figure something out.

"No, he's definitely looking at you," Melanie said with a thoughtful expression as she took a sip of her milkshake. "Any idea why?"

"Not a clue," she said, honestly having absolutely no clue what was wrong with him.

It had been an entire week since that amazing day they'd spent together doing, umm, things. She'd hoped that it would lead to something, at least an attempt at something, but as soon as she'd woken up the next morning she'd realized that she probably shouldn't get her hopes up.

After waking up and finding herself in her own bed, she'd realized that she'd missed her shift. Cursing Lucifer for exhausting her with amazing sex, she threw her clothes on, ran downstairs, only slightly looking forward to seeing him so that he could wrap his arms around her while worshiping the very ground that she walked on. Instead, she'd managed to make it downstairs in time to sneak into the morning meeting where Lucifer pretended that he hadn't noticed her.

That hadn't bothered her since they were at work and needed to maintain a professional relationship. What had bothered her was when the meeting was over and they were the last two people in the room. He'd barely acknowledged her when she said hello and before she could get a chance to talk to him, he was walking out the door.

By the end of the day she'd realized two things, she might not have to quit after all and Lucifer wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. Since then he'd all but ignored her, acknowledging her when he needed something and only then if he couldn't find someone else to do it for him. She tried to tell herself that she wasn't disappointed that it had been just a one-time thing. When that didn't work, she tried to convince herself that the two of them together was a really bad idea.

It had taken a few days and several trips to Dixon's Gluten Free Bakery, but she was eventually able to get over it. She would probably never forget just how good it felt to be in his arms, but she was surprisingly okay with that. She also realized that she would probably never meet another man that could make her feel the way that he did, which had the power to depress her so she tried not to think about it.

"What happened between the two of you anyway?" Melanie asked.

She'd ruined him for all other women.

But, she couldn't say that, because it would give away too much and Melanie would never leave her alone. So, instead she settled for a shrug and a lie.

"He professed his undying love for me, but alas, I just couldn't-" she started to explain when the man that had just walked through the front door caught her attention. "Oh, shit."

"Oh, shit," Melanie seconded as Rebecca reacted like any sane woman would when her biggest dating mistake came waltzing in through the door.

She looked for the fastest escape route before he spotted her.

"Run," Melanie whispered, but she was trapped.

There was nowhere for her to run, because she was out in the open and the biggest jerk that she'd ever met had spotted her. Great, she thought miserably as she tossed her notepad on the table and prepared herself for a discussion on everything that made Brian so wonderful.

She should have never agreed to go out on that one date with him, but she'd felt bad for him. He was now the reason that she refused to give out on a pity date ever again. From the moment that he'd actually had the balls to tell her that he was incredibly good looking and that she should feel flattered that he'd asked her out, she'd realized that she'd made a mistake in saying yes. She'd mumbled her agreement to shut him up, realizing too late how conceded he was and nearly cried when she realized that the appetizers hadn't arrived yet.

It had been the most boring night of her-

"Get the fuck out of my bar," Lucifer, who at some point had crossed the room, said softly with a glimmer in his eyes that told everyone that had the balls to look that he wasn't playing around.

Secure in the knowledge that Brian would do the smart thing and run away, which he did, Lucifer turned around, locked eyes on her and-

That's when she decided that someone, namely her, should go count the napkins in the back room to make sure that they had enough to last them for another year or two.
Chapter 22

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you," Melanie said offhandedly as she picked up her empty glass and proceeded to nibble on her straw as she gave him a pitying look.

"I'm not doing anything," he said, pushing a chair out of his way so that he could go after Rebecca and continue staring at her like a fucking moron.

"You're out of your league on this one," Melanie called after him.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," he said, ignoring the new waitress that he'd hired, who was desperately trying to get his attention as he headed towards the back hallway.

"Don't I?" she said, sounding a little too smug for his comfort.

Slowly, he turned around to face her as he told himself that there was no way that Rebecca had told her anything, but one look at her face told him everything that he needed to know. Cursing, he ground his jaw, turned right back around and stormed off in the direction of his office, knowing damn well that she would be right behind him.

He walked into his office and waited for the smug woman to waltz past him before he slammed his office door shut. As soon as he made sure the door was locked he sat down behind his desk all while keeping his eyes on the woman who apparently knew too much.

Or did she...

"What did she tell you?" he asked, deciding that it was for the best to play on the side of caution.

"Everything," she said without batting an eye.

Narrowing his eyes on her, he said, "You're bluffing."

Cocking a brow, she leaned back in her chair as she folded her hands over her lap and gave him that smug smile that was really going to get her killed. "Am I?"

For a moment he studied her, trying to decide whether she was bullshiting him or not, but in the end it was that damn smile of hers that had him convinced that she knew a lot more than she should.

"Start talking," he said, already deciding that if she didn't say anything useful in the next sixty seconds that he was tossing her out of his office and hunting Rebecca down so that he could fit in a few more minutes of staring at her like an idiot before the dinner rush arrived.

God, he was fucking pathetic.

"First off, you really need to stop glaring at her all the time," she said before adding, "It's seriously disturbing."

"I'm not glaring at her!" he snapped even as he conceded that it would probably be for the best if he stopped doing that.

"No, of course you're not," she mumbled absently as she studied him.

"I'm not!"

"Uh huh."

Sighing, he gestured for her to get on with it so that he could get back to work. Well, at least pretend to work since he couldn't seem to keep his mind off Rebecca. This plan of his was seriously fucking with his life, but it was the only one that had ever worked in the past.

He just needed to give it a little more time, he told himself, already knowing that it was bullshit. Rebecca wasn't like the other women that he'd dated. Whenever she was near him, he found himself watching her and when she wasn't around he couldn't stop thinking about her. He'd hoped by putting some space between them that he'd be able to focus on the restaurant, but instead she'd somehow become his entire world and he hated her for that.

"So, you want to tell me why you're stalking my best friend?" Melanie demanded, reminding him that he needed some answers.

"I'm not stalking her," he bit out, wondering why she was pissing him off even as he noticed that she didn't have anything on Rebecca. While Rebecca could torment him with a devious little smile and drive him out of his fucking mind with barely a word, all Melanie was doing was pissing him off.

"Really? Then what would you call it?"

"Dating," he bit out.

For a minute she didn't say anything as she sat there, staring at him as though she couldn't quite understand what he'd just said.

"Dating," she said slowly as though she was testing the word.

"Dating," he ground out, having had about enough of this bullshit for one morning.

"Umm," she said, pursing up her lips in thought, "is Rebecca aware that you're dating?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes!" he snapped as he shoved away from his desk and headed for the door, deciding that he'd wasted enough time on this asinine conversation when her next words had him snarling every curse word that he knew and throwing the door open.

"Because I saw Jon follow her to the back and he looked like he had more than inventory on his mind," she said with an innocent expression and a shrug, making him realize that he really might want to reevaluate his dating rules.

*-*-*-*

"Let me help you with that," Jon offered with that boyish smile that all the waitresses talked about.

"Thank you," she said, returning his smile as she stepped back so that he could reach the box on the top shelf.

"No problem," he said as he easily grabbed the box and hefted it into his arms. "Where would you like this?"

"The floor's good," she said, taking another step back so that he had enough space to place the large box on the floor between them.

"Is this okay?" he asked as he placed the box on the floor and then opened it for her without being asked.

As nice as it was to have a man smile at her and actually acknowledge her existence, she couldn't help but miss the grumpy bastard. He'd entertained her, made her smile, not on purpose, and for a short time he'd actually made her feel like...

She was being stupid, she told herself as she forced her thoughts away from what had obviously been a mistake and focused on helping the man smiling at her. Jon was a nice enough guy, always had a smile on his face, always willing to help her when she needed it and had even asked her out a few times.

She'd always turned him down because they worked together, but maybe she should say yes the next time that he asked her. It might get her mind off of-

"You're needed up front, Jon," Lucifer said, cutting into her thoughts and reminding her why getting involved with someone that you worked with was a bad idea.

"Sorry," Jon said with an apologetic smile, obviously meaning it and making her wonder why she couldn't find herself thinking about a guy like Jon instead of the seriously pissed off man standing in the doorway.

Maybe it was time for a fresh start, she thought as she returned Jon's smile with a murmured, "Thank you." He shot her a wink before he stood up and headed for the door, careful to avoid Lucifer who was still standing there...glaring.

"Did you need something, Lucifer?" she asked as she ignored him and focused on sorting through the box filled with miscellaneous items like salt and pepper shakers, metal napkin holders, old menus that they no longer used, but kept to spice up the special's menu every now and then, and about a hundred other items that they should probably throw away, but the man who was seriously starting to piss her off refused to part with.

"Yes," he said right about the time that she realized that he'd not only closed the door behind him, but was now unbuckling his belt and pulling down his zipper, cluing her into the fact that he was done ignoring her.

It really was too bad that she was going to have to bash his balls in with the paper napkin dispenser, she thought with a sigh as she grabbed the aforementioned item and stood up, more than prepared to make Lucifer sing soprano for the rest of his life.
Chapter 23

"Why are you holding that like you're about to bash my brains in?" he asked with a frown as he stood there with his hand on his zipper.

"I was actually thinking of bashing in something a little more south depending on how the next few seconds played out," she said, giving the napkin holder a little shake to emphasize the threat and making him roll his eyes, because this was just fucking pathetic.

"Keep your mind out of the gutter," he said with a sigh as he finished pulling his zipper down, turned around and pulled his shirt off over his head to show her the reason why he was in here. Okay, so it was an excuse, but he was out of his element on this one and had to work with what he had.

There was a heavy pause before she mumbled, "Mojo?" and he could tell by the way that she'd said it that she was wincing. Not that he could blame her, because if he owned a psychotic dog that liked to tackle people to the ground so that he could drop down on top of them with the sole purpose of using them as a mattress, he would probably be wincing, too.

"Apparently he got out again," he said dryly as he stood there, trying not to relive the memory of being used like a bitch by a two hundred fifty pound plus dog.

"I'm really sorry, Lucifer," she said as he felt her fingertips brush softly over the cuts and bruises the large bastard had left behind.

One day he was going to turn that dog into a rug...

But, until that day came, he would use him as a means to get closer to the woman examining every mark her "baby" had left on his body. The cuts and bruises really didn't bother him, but since they gave him an excuse to talk to her, he decided to use what he had. At least it would give him some time to figure out how to fix the fuck up that he now referred to as this past week so that she wouldn't go off with some prick bartender.

"There's a first aid kit in the break room," she said, quickly stepping past him and opened the door, but since that really wasn't going to work for him, he turned around and tried to look appropriately innocent.

"Oh my God! What the hell did he do to you?" she gasped as she placed her hands over her mouth, staring at the bruises covering his chest and stomach with something close to horror.

He shrugged, making sure to cringe so that it looked like the movement pained him. "He kept knocking me down," he said, which was technically true since his asshole cousins and brothers had taken their turns knocking him down during a pickup game of football this past weekend as payback for banning them from the Fire & Brimstone. It hadn't mattered if he had the ball or was even on their fucking team.

Assholes.

He really hated those bastards, he thought with a sigh even as he was forced to bite back a smile at the memory of knocking each and every one of those assholes down until they'd screamed for their wives and mothers to make him stop.

"These look like they really hurt," she said, worrying her bottom lip as she took in one horrible bruise after another.

"They really do," he lied, hoping that she didn't notice that the bruises on his chest were a few days old since that would just wreck everything.

Still worrying that full bottom lip of hers that he'd imagined sliding up and down his shaft over the past week, she said, "Maybe we should put some ice on it?"

Ice was good. Ice meant avoiding the break room and all the nosy bastards that worked for him. It was probably for the best if he wanted to fix his fuckup. Deciding that it was best that he move on this before she changed her mind, he nodded, grabbed her hand, threw the door open and headed for the security door.

"Again with the manhandling?" she asked, sighing heavily, but she didn't pull her hand away or suggest that they just grab some ice from the machine and do this downstairs.

As long as he got her upstairs where they could be alone, he was happy. While she tended to all the marks on his body he could figure out a way to get her to forgive him for being an asshole. It was a long shot, but at the moment it was all he had.

In less than sixty seconds he had her upstairs, in his apartment and the door securely closed and locked behind them. Thankfully he didn't have to convince her to stay and tend to him since he'd already played out the Mojo bullshit to make her feel guilty enough to do it on her own. Yes, it was a fucked up thing to do and no, he really didn't fucking care as long as it got him what he wanted.

Rebecca back in his arms where she belonged.

*-*-*-*

"You want to tell me what really happened?" she asked while she filled a large Ziploc bag with ice from the ice dispenser in his kitchen.

"Your vicious, psychotic dog beat the shit out of me, stole my wallet and then went on a joyride to Vegas where he married a slutty poodle named Fluffy," he said dryly, making her chuckle as she pressed the bag closed.

"I see," she murmured thoughtfully as she walked back into the section of the large open room that he'd set up as his living room and tossed the bag of ice to him.

"He's a cruel, fat bastard," he said with a wink as he easily caught the bag and placed it on his chest, reminding her that under that asshole exterior that he showed the world that he was actually charming.

When he wanted to be, and apparently right now, he wanted to be.

"That he is," she murmured in agreement as she walked over to the leather chair across from him and sat down. "So, you want to tell me what's going on?"

"Your dog viciously attacking me isn't enough?" he asked with a wince as he shifted the ice pack to a particularly nasty looking bruise.

Frowning, she nodded towards the bruises covering his chest. "What really happened?"

"Family gathering," was all he said, but there was a look in his eye that told her that he'd gave as good as he got, maybe even better.

"So, why the pretense to get me up here?" she asked, in absolutely no mood to play anymore of these games with him.

The women that he'd dated in the past might have been okay with this hot/cold treatment that he seemed to be dishing out to her, but she wasn't. If a man wanted to be with her then she expected him to act like it, not ignore her unless he wanted something from her. The moment that he'd decided to act like she didn't exist was the moment that he'd lost whatever chance he might have had with her.

He watched her for a moment before he closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the couch. "I fucked this up, didn't I?"

"Big time," she readily agreed.

"I'm a fucking idiot," he said and she honestly couldn't agree more.

"You said it, not me," she said, getting to her feet and headed for the door, deciding that it would be for the best if they just let whatever this thing was between them die a quick, merciful death. "I have to get back to work," she said, walking towards the door.

"Before you go, could you do me a favor? Could I have a Coke?" he asked and even though she wanted to tell him exactly where he could shove that Coke, she couldn't forget what he'd done for her.

"Sure," she said with a sigh as she headed right back into that meticulously organized kitchen, wondering why he was bothering with her now. He knew better. At least, she thought he did, but then again-

"What the hell?" she mumbled as she opened the refrigerator door and realized that he might have a small problem with OCD, but also that he'd marked more than half the items in the refrigerator with a "Gluten Free," label. Frowning, she shut the refrigerator door and opened the cabinet door closest to her and found the same thing had been done for all the dry goods.

Why would he do something like this?

"I wanted to make sure that you had something to eat when you were here," he explained as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "I fucked up and I'm sorry, Rebecca. The Fire & Brimstone has been my life for as long as I can remember. It's always come first in my life and the fact that you make me want to forget that scares the hell out of me," he whispered, holding her tightly as though he never wanted to let her go.

Closing her eyes and telling herself that this was probably the biggest mistake of her life, she placed her hand over the arm that held her tightly and took the biggest risk of her life.

"Don't screw this up," she said, knowing that next time it would be more than her pride that took a hit.
Chapter 24

"Are you on the verge of having a panic attack?" Rebecca asked teasingly as they stood in line, waiting to purchase snacks before they went into the theatre to watch the latest horror flick to appease her disturbing obsession with paranormal movies.

"No," he said, still surprised that he hadn't tried to sneak off so that he could check his email or called the restaurant to make sure that everything was running smoothly.

He'd never gone this long before without checking in to see how things were going back at the Fire & Brimstone, but then again, he'd never been out with a woman like Rebecca, who would happily drop kick him in the balls if he so much as touched his phone. At least, he was assuming that she would since she hadn't actually said anything about it yet.

He was basing this assumption on the fact that he'd seriously fucked up and needed to be on his best behavior and that meant no touching his phone when he was out with her. Rebecca on the other hand didn't seem to feel the same way since she was currently checking her phone for the tenth time since they'd arrived.

He was starting to see how people found this annoying. It was also really fucking insulting! Here he was, doting on her and she was on the phone as though his company wasn't good enough.

What. The. Fuck?

It didn't matter that he'd done the same thing during every date that he'd been on since the invention of the smartphone. It was fucking rude and-

"Patrick says that everything is running smoothly. I also checked on the orders you placed this morning and they should be delivered tomorrow morning," she said with a mischievous little smile as she slipped her phone back into her bag.

"You checked for me?" he asked, smiling as she wrapped her arm around his and leaned into him.

"Couldn't have you crying," she said as she slipped her hand into his.

"We wouldn't want that," he agreed as he entwined their hands together and stepped up in line to buy snacks for the movie.

Normally he would buy one of everything, but he couldn't do that with Rebecca since she couldn't have most of the stuff that they had here. He didn't feel right about eating something that she couldn't have in front of her. So, already knowing that he couldn't have his customary triple order of his beloved nachos, he took out his phone and checked with the gluten free app that he'd found to see what she could have.

Just as he'd suspected, there was really nothing here that she could have. He was going to starve to death, he realized, trying not to panic, because he honestly couldn't imagine going two whole hours without eating something. Maybe he could sneak out to use the bathroom and scarf down a few nachos and a hot dog without her knowing, he thought even as he realized that he couldn't do that to her.

"What are you getting?" she asked as she looked at the selection before them, no doubt already realizing that she couldn't have anything here.

"Nothing. I'm good," he said, wondering why she was looking up at him with a frown.

"Yeah...," she said, not really sounding like she believed him, which was actually really fucking insulting. "Sure you are."

"I'm fine," he lied, wishing that he'd grabbed something before they'd left, but he'd been in such a hurry to get his paperwork done so that they wouldn't miss the movie that he'd forgot to have customary pre-date snack.

Shaking her head and mumbling something that he couldn't quite catch, she returned her attention to the cashier waiting on them and with a smile, said, "We'll take one of everything and could we please have two Cokes? One extra large and a small, please?"

"Sure," the cashier said, throwing him a nervous look, no doubt well acquainted with a few of the other Bradfords in town.

"You didn't have to do that," he said as he pulled out his wallet, praying that she didn't listen to him and cancel the order, because honestly, he was fucking starving and wasn't sure that he'd survive the next two hours without food.

"And risk you passing out on me during the best part of the movie?" she asked with a smile that told him everything that he needed to know.

He couldn't risk fucking this up again and losing a woman like her.

*-*-*-*

"Are you sure that's going to be enough?" he asked as she settled the big tub of extra buttered popcorn on her lap.

"More than enough," she promised him, still wishing that they'd at least had some plain M&M's, but this was better than nothing.

As soon as she'd spotted the snack selection on display she'd realized that her days of enjoying high calorie/high fat snacks at the movie theater was over. That is until the manager overheard Lucifer mention that she couldn't have gluten and he'd suggested the popcorn. The popcorn was safe to eat so at least she had something to snack on while she watched bimbos get torn apart by zombies.

It really was the little things in life, she thought with a wistful smile as she nibbled on some semi-warm super buttery popcorn. While Lucifer systematically devoured every last morsel of junk food that she'd ordered for him, they sat there in silence as they watched all the previews. It was the first time that she'd ever been out with a man that she didn't feel the need to fill the silence.

It was actually really nice to be able to sit here and not worry about that horrible awkward silence setting in. She hated that, but it always seemed to happen. That didn't seem to be the case with Lucifer.

She was actually enjoying herself, she realized as she popped another small handful of popcorn in her mouth. A few bites later she was regretting only getting a small Coke to wash away the taste. For a second, she considered stealing Lucifer's soda, but she didn't want to risk cross contamination or losing her hand since he did have a really unhealthy obsession with his food that occasionally turned violent.

She wondered if that was hereditary as she ate more popcorn and finished off her Coke, which lead to other questions about his diet. How much food did he actually consume in a day? What was his food bill like? God, she'd probably die of a heart attack if she ever found out. She...

Oh, no.

"Are you okay?" Lucifer asked as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying her best to ignore the violent cramping tearing through her stomach.

"Yes," she lied through her teeth, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she sat back and folded her arms over her stomach, hoping that he didn't notice the move.

He looked at her for a few more seconds before he reluctantly returned his attention to the big screen, but she wasn't fooled. She could tell that he was keeping an eye on her.

When that position didn't help, she shifted a little bit to the right and winced when that made it worse. She tried telling herself that this wasn't from gluten, but she was all-too familiar with the cramping and nausea surging through her body.

As discretely as possible, she pulled out her phone and Googled, "movie theatre popcorn," hoping that her hunch was wrong. It wasn't. Apparently regular popcorn cooked in real butter, air popped or in oil was safe, but movie theatre "butter topping," wasn't. It not only didn't contain real butter, but bleached flour was one of the first ingredients, which explained quite a bit at the moment.

"What's going on?" Lucifer whispered, leaning in close to her as she sat there, trying to ignore how badly her stomach hurt and the way that the movie theatre suddenly felt like it was a hundred degrees hotter than it had been only a few minutes ago.

"Nothing," she whispered back, telling herself that she could make it through this movie.

Apparently, she was a lying bitch, because she'd barely lasted five more minutes before she was slapping a hand over her mouth and running for the bathroom, ruining their first, and probably only, date in a matter of seconds.
Chapter 25

"Mr. Bradford?"

"What is it, Patrick?" Lucifer asked as he tossed another folder on the stack of folders currently taking over a corner of his desk.

"I can take care of that if you want," Patrick offered, letting him know that it was that time of night again when he normally settled in to catch up with work before going upstairs and trying to sneak in an hour or two of sleep before he had to get up in the morning, but not tonight.

"That would be great, Patrick. Thank you," he said, already heading for the door and barely registering the look of shock on Patrick's face.

He considered going over what needed to be done, but he had somewhere to be. Besides, this was Patrick's job and he should know what needed to be done by this point. Telling himself that everything was in good hands, he headed to the back door, punched in his security code and went upstairs, hoping that he hadn't already fucked this up again.

He should have never left her side, but the stubborn woman had insisted that they call it a night. She'd been embarrassed about what happened at the movie theatre. Not that he could really blame her, because he couldn't. He only wished that she'd given him a head's up that she was going to be sick so that he could have warned her that she was running into the men's bathroom.

Live and learn, he thought with a sigh as he let himself into her apartment, not exactly surprised when he spotted Melanie curled up on the couch, wrapped in a pile of blankets and playing on her computer while she nibbled on some kind of baked good.

"The men's room, huh?" she said without bothering to look up from whatever she was doing on her computer.

"Hell of a good time," he said dryly, grabbing two glasses and filling them both with ice before helping himself to a six-pack of Coke.

"I bet," she murmured absently while he was forced to step over Mojo, who at some point in the last thirty seconds had dropped down behind him and started snoring.

Without another word to Melanie, or an explanation of what he was doing in her apartment, he headed towards the back bedroom, making note of the sounds of a shower running. He stepped into Rebecca's semi-chaotic bedroom and closed the door behind him so that he could strip down to his boxers since comfort was important.

By the time that he was stripped down to his boxers and climbing into the small bed, Rebecca was walking into her room, looking absolutely miserable in her oversized The Walking Dead tee shirt. When she saw him waiting for her, her lips pulled up into a shy little smile that made him feel like a fucking king.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not quite able to meet his gaze and letting him know that she was still embarrassed about earlier, but she would have to get over that, because he wasn't going anywhere.

"Finishing our date."

*-*-*-*

"You didn't have to do this," she said as she lay down beside him and desperately tried not to think about what happened two hours ago.

One thing was for certain, she decided as she accepted a glass of Coke from him and took a small sip to settle her stomach, she was never going to that movie theatre again. Not because she'd been banned or anything, but simply because self-preservation demanded that she never set foot in that place again out of the fear that she would die of mortification.

"Yes, I did," he said as he took the glass from her and placed it on the nightstand and then before she could ask, he was placing his hand gently on her stomach.

She groaned with relief because one touch from him did what a hot shower, three Advils and a Coke hadn't been able to do. Her stomach didn't stop hurting, but at least she wasn't on the verge of crying anymore.

"What do you want to watch?" he asked as he pressed a kiss against her temple, making her stupidly want to smile.

He really was a sweetheart, she thought as she settled in closer to him so that she could swipe the remote from out of his reach. Definitely a sweetheart, she thought as she turned on the television and went to Netflix, making sure that she didn't get stuck watching sports or something sports related.

"Horror movie?" he asked with a heavy sigh that said it all.

"Yup," she said with a nod as she found a particularly gruesome movie and hit Play.

"Of course you'd pick another zombie movie," he murmured as he settled in next to her and closed his eyes, taking the coward's way out.

At least that's what she thought until she took a good look at him. He looked exhausted, but that wasn't anything new. He always looked tired...and grumpy, but tonight he looked like he'd finally reached his limit. He really needed to cut himself some slack and let someone else help him, she thought as she lowered the volume on the television and cuddled up next to him, wondering why he was so hard on himself.

Fire & Brimstone was a huge success. In her opinion, it was the best restaurant in town. It had taken some time, but it now had the highest reviews online, was constantly packed and had the best food and staff in town. It was also packed every night of the week and in her opinion, could probably use an addition or a new location to help manage the demand. She liked the fact that he was always trying to change it up to stop it from becoming boring, but at some point he needed to realize that he'd struck gold with the Fire & Brimstone and stop being so damn hard on himself.

As she lay there next to him, she couldn't help but smile as she looked at his handsome face. She wondered if anyone would believe her if she told them that he was actually kind and funny. They probably wouldn't believe a single word out of her mouth and that was actually okay with her.

She liked being the only one who knew that he wasn't an asshole, but a seriously sleep deprived man with a possible problem with OCD. It made her feel special as well as entertained her when she watched as everyone paled whenever they heard his name.

It really was the little things in life that made her happy, she thought as she leaned closer so that she could kiss him goodnight. She brushed her lips against his as gently as she could so that she didn't wake him. As she pulled back she couldn't help but smile as Lucifer followed her, keeping his lips on hers.

"What are you doing?" he whispered against her lips, sounding half-asleep.

"Saying goodnight," she whispered back as her head touched the pillow and Lucifer shifted so that his lips never had to leave hers.

"What if I'm not ready to say goodnight?" he asked, teasing her bottom lip.

"You're exhausted," she reluctantly reminded him since there was nothing that she wanted more at this moment than to repeat what they did last week in his truck.

Christ, she couldn't even think about his truck without trembling. She'd never been with a man like that, needing him inside her so badly that she seriously thought that she would die without him. One minute she' been standing next to him in the bakery and the next they'd been in his truck making out as she cupped him through his pants and nearly screamed in frustration when she realized exactly what he'd had waiting for her.

She'd never been like that with anyone else, wild, desperate and reckless. She wasn't a saint when it came to men and sex, but she'd never had sex with a man in his truck in broad daylight right outside a busy restaurant without a condom. Even though she still couldn't believe that she'd lost control like that, she knew that she would do it again in a heartbeat if she got the chance.

There was just something about the way that he touched her that set her body on fire. When he touched her, she couldn't think about anything but him and how badly she needed him and right now was no exception. Her stomach was still angry with her for the popcorn, but she didn't care. She wanted him to touch her, taste her and slide back inside her all while she ran her hands over him as he fucked her, but apparently he had other plans tonight.

Plans that were most likely going to get him killed.

Sighing heavily, he pressed one last kiss against her lips before he pulled back. "We shouldn't be doing this when you're not feeling good."

She opened her mouth to explain that him touching her would make her feel really good, but one look at the stubborn bastard's face told her that she'd be wasting her time. As he grabbed the remote and raised the volume so that they wouldn't miss a single growl and scream as zombies tore humans apart, she couldn't help but wonder if he knew just how close she was to beating him to death with a pillow for leaving her this frustrated.

Maybe he really was an asshole?
Chapter 26

Maybe she had a life insurance policy on him and she was trying to collect? he absently wondered as he watched that generous ass of hers sway back and forth...back and forth...as she wiped down another table.

Or maybe she was trying to get back at him for all those times that he'd tried to fire her?

Whatever it was, it was fucking killing him.

It had been almost two weeks since he'd last touched her and he wasn't sure that he was going to survive one more day without gripping that beautiful ass of hers as he slid inside her. For the past week he'd somehow found the willpower to keep his hands to himself, but that all ended today.

Or at least, it should have.

She was feeling better today, which meant that he could touch her without feeling like a complete asshole, but there was a problem. One that he would happily get out of if he could, but he knew that if he even tried to get out of going tonight that his mother would kill him since he'd skipped the last three family dinners.

Four times a month his mother made a huge family dinner and unless you were dying or had a really good fucking reason, you were expected to be there. She usually checked in with everyone before she planned a family dinner so that she could pick a day and time that worked for everyone. Thanks to some of his employees quitting, he'd been forced to find and train their replacements he'd been able to get out of going, but not tonight.

Tonight his mother expected him there and to start answering some questions courtesy of his fucking cousins and their big fucking mouths. Now everyone in his family wanted to know about Rebecca. They were probably expecting him to bring her tonight, but he wouldn't do that to her until it was absolutely necessary and right now, it wasn't necessary.

"Are you aware that you're drooling?" Melanie, his newly self-appointed sidekick, whispered conspiratorially as she sat down on the stool next to him.

"Go away," he said, forcing himself to look around the busy dining area to make sure that everything was going smoothly when all he wanted to do was watch Rebecca as she moved, bent over and scrubbed her little heart out.

Actually, what he really wanted to do was-

"I can't believe they did this to her," Melanie said, looking seriously pissed off while she sat there, looking at Rebecca with something close to pity.

He didn't like that look, especially since it was directed at Rebecca.

"What's going on?" he asked, trying to go for casual, but he was an asshole so casual really didn't work for him.

Just like that, the pissed expression was wiped clean from her face and in its place was a mixture of pure shock and curiosity, which he also really didn't appreciate.

"She didn't tell you?" she asked with a calculating expression on her face that was going to get her killed.

"No," he bit out with a glare that should have told her that he wasn't in the mood for any bullshit today, but this was Melanie that he was dealing with here and she didn't seem to have any sense of self-preservation when it came to pissing him off.

"Really?"

"Melanie."

"Fine!" she snapped with an over-the-top sigh, reminding him why she was Rebecca's best friend. "Her parents are having a huge thirtieth anniversary party tonight and they didn't invite Rebecca."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, glancing at Rebecca to find her smiling at Mr. Jenkins, one of their favorite lunchtime regulars.

If she was upset, she wasn't showing it, but then again...

"Does she know?" he asked, immediately realizing it was a stupid question. Of course she knew. If his annoying sidekick that wouldn't leave him alone knew about it, then she did as well since the two of them didn't appear to keep secrets from each other.

"Yeah, she knows," Melanie sighed as she gestured to the bartender for a drink while he sat there, trying to make sense out of what she'd just told him.

One thing became clear as he glanced back at Rebecca to find her shooting him a cute little wink, bringing her with him had just become necessary.

*-*-*-*

Maybe she shouldn't be doing this, she thought, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she stood there, contemplating the pros and cons of breaking into Lucifer's apartment and using his shower. Not that she was having a moral dilemma about breaking into his apartment, because she wasn't.

The reason that she hadn't broken into his apartment, yet, was simply because she wasn't sure if he'd left for the night yet. Before she broke into his apartment and rightfully used that large, luxurious shower of his, she wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to suddenly show up and start asking questions that she had absolutely no plans on answering.

"You'll pay for this, you bitch!" Melanie yelled from the safety of their apartment where she was currently tearing the place apart looking for her stash of sweets that Rebecca may have hidden in retaliation for betraying her.

"Maybe you'll learn to keep your big fat mouth shut, biatch!" she yelled back, still furious that Melanie had opened her big fat mouth and told Lucifer about her parents.

"And maybe if you didn't have trust issues then I wouldn't have to tell your boyfriend so that he could be there when you break down and cry like a bitch, biatch!" the traitorous bitch yelled back.

"I'm not going to cry!" she yelled back, because she wasn't.

She was over it now.

She was.

She'd spent the last few days claiming that her stomach still hurt so that everyone would leave her alone so that she could feel bad for herself while watching horror movies and binging on Hershey Kisses. It was something that she needed to do and now that it was out of her system, she was fine with it.

Absolutely fine!

"Bitch!" she snapped back a little late, deciding that she needed to add the insult to emphasize just how fine she was.

"You're the bitch!"

"Says the bitch!" Rebecca yelled back with a glare.

"I hate you!"

"I hate you!" she said, just as their apartment door opened and Melanie stuck her head out.

"Hey, I was thinking about going out later and picking up some Chinese food from that place down the street that has a gluten free menu. Do you want me to pick you up anything?" Melanie asked with that warm smile of hers that made it nearly impossible to stay mad at her.

"Yeah, that would be great. Thank you, sweetie," she said, returning Melanie's smile as she reached down and jimmied Lucifer's door open.

"You breaking in?" Melanie asked, nodding towards Lucifer's apartment.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh as she opened the door. "Figured that I'd put that shower to good use while he was out."

Melanie nodded as though this made perfect sense. "I'll put your food in the fridge then."

"Thanks," she said as she walked into Lucifer's apartment.

"You're welcome, sweetie," Melanie said as Rebecca shut the door behind her and sighed with relief when she didn't see the large brooding man that she'd been avoiding for the last couple of days.

Not that he'd done anything wrong, because he actually hadn't. He'd been sweet, kind and considerate even though it made her want to wring his damn neck. She missed being with him, touching him and losing herself in his arms, but she'd had too much on her mind the last couple of days and hadn't wanted to chance doing something stupid like breaking down and venting all her crap to him.

She wasn't one of those women that cried and complained about absolutely everything to their boyfriends, hoping that he'd fix it for her or tell her that she had every right to be mad. She didn't need that and she honestly liked Lucifer too much to chance turning him off with all that drama. He'd already accepted all her medical baggage and the fact that dating her came with limitations. She didn't want to add this on top of everything else.

She also didn't want to dwell on this all night. So, she pushed it out of her mind and focused on what she came here to do, take a long, hot shower in her new home away from home, because of course she'd been sneaking in here all week and helping herself to his bathroom. She knew that if she'd asked to use his shower that he would have said yes, but she didn't want to bother him at work. So, she'd taken it upon herself to break into his apartment every day for the past week, once or twice a day, and enjoy a long, luxurious shower in peace.

That's just what good girlfriends did...

He really was so lucky to have her, she decided as she grabbed two large, neatly folded towels from his linen closet and headed towards that shower that had helped her get through the crap that her parents put her through. She opened the bathroom and didn't waste any time in stripping out of her clothes and stepping into the shower.

If she hadn't been so focused on the shower and those triple jets, she probably would have noticed the large man leaning back against the wall with his large arms crossed over his chest, waiting for her. It definitely would have saved her from screaming like an idiot when she finally spotted him...and an unnecessary ass injury.
Chapter 27

"What the hell were you thinking sneaking around like that?" Rebecca demanded on a pained gasp as he carefully took a left turn onto Maple Street.

"I wasn't sneaking around," he said, trying not to panic as he kept his hand on her back to stop her from rolling off the seat and slamming into the dashboard before dropping to the floor and scaring the shit out of him, again.

If he had known that she'd bounce like that he never would have hit the brakes so damn hard. He really hoped that unfortunate incident hadn't further damaged her beautiful ass, but the way that she'd suddenly gone pale and stopped talking had actually scared the shit out of him.

"Are we there yet?" came the muffled question against his leg as she tightened her grip on his pants.

"Almost," he said absently as he risked a glance down to find her still lying on her stomach with her face pressed up against his leg as she held on for dear life. "How are you feeling?"

There was a slight pause before she admitted, "My ass kind of hurts."

"Kind of?" he asked, trying to sound hopeful, because maybe she hadn't broken her ass after all?

He could hope at least, and he was really fucking hoping that he hadn't broken her beautiful ass.

He raised his hand to provide some comfort to the damaged area, but thought better of it since she'd screamed the last time that he'd done that. Not knowing what else to do, he placed his hand on her back and ground his jaw when she let out a pathetic little whimper.

"Lucifer?"

"Yes?"

"I think I broke my ass," she whispered softly, making him roll his eyes.

Little smart ass, he thought, fighting back a smile as he carefully took another turn.

"Do you think they'll have to take an x-ray?" she asked with a little sigh as she shifted to get comfortable, but since she was stuck lying on her stomach like this in the front of his truck, it most likely didn't help.

"Probably," he said, hoping that his brother was already at the office waiting for them.

"It's just your brother, right? No one else is going to be there?" she asked, sounding anxious as shifted again, accidentally kicking him in the process.

"I told him to come alone," his said as he pulled into the parking lot of his family's medical practice and saw all the cars and trucks filling up the parking lot, realizing too late that he'd just been fucked over.

He was going to fucking kill the little bastard, he thought as he reluctantly threw his truck in park and watched as his brothers and several of his cousins surrounded them.

"What's going on?" Rebecca asked as she tried to sit up, but of course she couldn't move, which was the only reason why he wasn't turning his truck around and getting the hell out of there.

"I'm going to fucking kill my brother," he said, deciding that yes, killing the little bastard would be worth going to prison for the rest of his life and becoming intimately acquainted with the showering practices of inmates.

*-*-*-*

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" the handsome doctor that was apparently Lucifer's father asked.

Doing her best to appear sweet and innocent, something she'd actually practiced in high school, she looked up, allowed her bottom lip just the slightest of trembles and said, "I forgot the safe word again."

"Oh, my fucking God! Stop saying that!" Lucifer shouted from the hallway where his mother, who actually turned out to be a very sweet woman, had banished him so that she could be examined in peace.

Dr. Bradford's lips twitched with amusement. "You like torturing my son, don't you?"

Sighing heavily, because there was no point in lying, she nodded. "I really do."

He chuckled as he pulled out his pen and made another note on her paperwork. "Well, the good news is that you didn't break anything."

"Really?" she asked, instantly perking up at the news.

"The bad news is that you bruised your tailbone," he said with a look of pity that she didn't quite understand.

Bruised was better than fractured, right?

"How exactly is that a bad thing?" she asked, wondering if she'd missed something.

"You'll see," was all he said before he gave her a reassuring smile that actually frightened her a bit and left the examination room, leaving her to panic as she struggled to get dressed. When sharp pain shot through her ass when she tried to undo the thin cloth ties holding her examination gown closed she decided that it was time to call for help.

"Lucifer?" she said, hoping that he was close by, because she really didn't feel like trying to shuffle after him while clinging to her gown as she tried to make her way through throngs of Bradfords, who apparently hadn't been able to pass up the chance to come mock him for breaking his girlfriend's ass.

She would fit in so well with this family, she thought with a heavy sigh as she gave up on trying to hold up her gown. She let the gown slip down her arms as she held onto the examination table, trying not to fall on her ass. God, her ass hurt. Maybe she should try to climb back on the table and lay down on her side? After moving her leg to try just that, she decided to give up on that plan and just stand there and wait for Lucifer, who didn't appear to be coming anytime soon.

*-*-*-*

He really fucking hated his family.

"So, what's the safe word?" Arik, the little shit that should have been drowned at birth, asked to the amusement of all his fucking brothers, cousins and uncles.

"Fuck. Off," Lucifer said, wondering why he'd allowed his mother to herd him out of the room like that.

"Fuck off?" Jason, the reason that everyone in their fucking family was here tonight, said in a thoughtful tone that was going to get the shit kicked out of him. "That could be a little confusing, don't you think?"

"You do realize that I'm going to kill you one day, don't you?" he asked as he glared at the little prick, making sure to include Trevor, his accomplice in every fucked up thing that he did, in that glare.

Jason shrugged it off like it was a given.

"So, how long have you been dating?" Darrin asked as he lounged in the waiting room chair across from him, officially starting the interrogation that he'd been trying to avoid for weeks now.

"How'd you break her ass?"

"Does she realize that you're an asshole?"

"Can I have her number after she dumps you?"

"What's wrong with her? Because there has to be something wrong with her."

"I'm still waiting to hear how he broke her ass."

"Fuck that. I want to know why he wont let us in his restaurant."

"That's a good question," someone seconded, which started them on a whole new line of questioning that ended with him putting Jason in a chokehold.

"Seriously, what did he do to her ass?"

"Umm, since you're busy rolling around on the floor with another guy, I'm going to go ahead and get a ride with your brother," the soft voice that used to make his right eye twitch, said ripping his attention away from the little bastard trying to tag team his way out of this and onto the brother that had waited until he was distracted so that he could swoop in and steal Rebecca out from under him.

Aidan.

When his eyes narrowed accusingly on his brother, the little prick swallowed nervously, took a step back, turned around and made a run for it and if it hadn't been for the small woman rolling her eyes as she shuffled towards the door, he would have gone after the little bastard. As it was, he had some major damage control to do and he couldn't do it with an audience.
Chapter 28

"How's that?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head, trying not to cry as Lucifer reached into the tub and helped her onto her other side only to end with the same results.

"Do you want to try laying on your stomach again?" he suggested, already helping her move back onto her stomach, which in theory should work, but since she was short and didn't want to drown, that position required her to get on her hands and knees with her ass in the air.

"I just want to call it a night," she said, trying to sit up so that she could climb out of the tub and curl up in bed so that she could lose herself in a marathon of horror movies. Instead, she was suddenly forced to grab hold of the side of the tub and hold on for dear life when Lucifer suddenly let her go.

"Hold on," he said as though she actually had a choice in the matter.

"Umm, could really use a hand here," she said, trying to draw her knees closer so that she could sit up, but she quickly gave up on that idea when her ass screamed in agony.

"Just hold on," he said, sighing heavily, which at the moment she really didn't appreciate.

"What do you think I'm doing?" she snapped, tightening her hold on the side of the tub as she tried to figure out a way that she could possibly crawl out of the tub without causing further injury to her ass.

"Being a pain in the ass," he said dryly as he once again grabbed her and shifted her around the bathtub full of water.

"Ha, ha, ha," she said dryly as she allowed him to move her aside so that he could step into the tub.

"What? Too soon?" he asked, chuckling as he carefully sat down and once he did, he rearranged her so that she was sprawled out on top of him.

"Better?" he asked when she was able to relax.

She nodded as she savored the feel of the hot water covering her backside, which was actually starting to provide some relief. Closing her eyes, she decided to let him live and forget all the manhandling that he'd done tonight.

"We're having a hell of a time figuring this thing out, aren't we?" Lucifer asked as he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head as she closed her eyes.

"We're not doing so bad," she said, drawing wet circles on his chest as she laid there, trying not to think about how many people had seen her bare ass tonight.

"You really think so?" he asked as he traced her spine with his fingertips, careful to avoid the bruise marking her tailbone.

"Yeah," she said, a little surprised at how easily she could say that, because Lucifer really wasn't what she would have called "Relationship material."

Then again, could she honestly say that she knew him that well before? She'd teased and tormented him over the past five years, but before he'd decided to take an interest in her medical mystery, she really hadn't known him well enough to assume anything. Maybe this was the norm for him, asshole to the world but an incredibly sweet, understanding and funny guy to whichever woman was lucky enough to be with him?

No, that wasn't it, she decided as she thought back on all the women over the last five years that had taken his indifference as a challenge and went a little nuts. So, maybe it was her? She liked to think it was at least. Not that she was one of those women that was going to lose her mind if he ever started ignoring her, again, because she wasn't. If he ever pulled another stunt like that again she'd walk away, no matter how much it hurt and something told her that it was really going to hurt.

"Your parents are assholes," he suddenly said, surprising a laugh out of her, because she could honestly say that she hadn't expected that.

Most of the guys that she'd dated would have either asked her what happened or pretended that he didn't know what was going on so that he wouldn't have to deal with her crap. Not Lucifer it seemed. He liked to cut to the chase and get to the point. Her parents were in fact assholes and it was really nice to hear it from someone besides Melanie for a change.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked, making her smile, because she seriously doubted that he wanted to hear another "Poor Rebecca," story. He was probably sick of hearing about all the things in her life that sucked.

God knew that she was.

She'd rather the focus be on someone else for once and she had a feeling that after tonight's events that Lucifer would most likely be that someone else. Poor, hot bastard, she thought, biting her lip to stop herself from laughing, but she couldn't fight it. The look on his face when his mother had dragged him out of that room had been priceless.

She tried to stop laughing, tried to hold it in, but trying to hold it in only made it worse. It also hurt her ass, which effectively stopped the giggles.

For now.

But, she knew that years from now when she needed a good laugh that all she would need to do was close her eyes and think back on this day and picture the look on his face when his mother had dragged him out of the room by his ear.

Bruising her ass had been worth that memory alone, she decided with a pleased little sigh as she settled more comfortably on top of him. He really did make a great mattress, she thought sleepily as the warmth of the bath and his arms around her made it impossible to stay awake.

"Are you done laughing at my expense?" he asked, rewarding her with another one of those kisses that she liked and letting her know that he wasn't mad.

"For now," she admitted, turning her head so that she could press a kiss against his shoulder in apology.

"Are the pills kicking in yet?"

"Some of us are trying to sleep here!" Melanie, their constant companion, yelled from the other room before she could answer.

"We're trying to soak in here!" Lucifer shouted back as all the warm fuzzy feelings that were making her fall asleep instantly evaporated.

"The two of you are going to drive me to drink," she said, shaking her head in disgust, because really, the two of them never seemed to stop bickering.

Even when the two of them were hanging out, and yes, they did that now. Lucifer would walk in with his laptop, sit down on the couch, forcing Melanie to move over and steal her baked goods while she glared, stole them back and explained in minute detail what would happen if he kept touching them. Then there were the times when Lucifer would be downstairs sitting in the dining area, doing paperwork while he ate lunch and Melanie would sit down next to him and start talking his ear off while he would occasionally glare at her, but other than all that glaring, he really didn't seem to mind.

It was actually nice not having to worry about her best friend and boyfriend getting along for once, she thought with a disgusted shake of her head as she shifted to climb out of the tub.

"Where are you going?" Lucifer asked with a frown as she carefully, oh, so damn carefully, climbed over the side of the tub.

"To get away from you bickering hens so that I can get some peace and quiet," she said with a wince as she tried to straighten, failed and settled for grabbing a towel.

"We're not bickering!" Melanie yelled from the other room, sounding highly offended.

"No, no of course you're not," she murmured with a pained gasp as she struggled to wrap a towel around herself.

"Rebecca, wait," Lucifer said, getting out of the tub and grabbed a towel. "Where are you going?"

"I just need to lay down," she said, stepping out into the hallway to find Mojo, who'd been pouting since Lucifer had started coming around more, lying in front of her door.

Since there was no way in hell that she was going to be able to step over him with a bruised ass, she stopped shuffling in that direction, sighed heavily, turned around and began to shuffle in the direction of her front door when she realized that her new meds that were supposed to make her happy were not in fact working yet.

So, instead of trying to shuffle her way to the door and probably do more damage to her poor, abused bottom that would require another disturbing trip to his family's medical practice, she waited for Lucifer to step out into the hallway. Once he was beside her, she sighed heavily as she regally gestured to him. "You may commence with the manhandling."
Chapter 29

"A little to the right."

Please, someone fucking kill him now!

"No...yes, oh, God, right there!' the woman that was determined to drive him out of his fucking mind said as he settled her in the middle of his bed.

Completely. Naked.

"Oh, wait. Can you shift me a little more to the right?" she asked, sounding completely innocent, but there was no way in hell that she didn't know the effect that she was having on him.

Licking his lips, he tried to make his hands stop trembling, but he couldn't get his mind off how good it felt to touch her. He tried to keep his eyes trained on the spot between her shoulders, but every time he touched her, he lost control and allowed his eyes to devour every fucking inch of her.

His only saving grace was that she was lying on her stomach otherwise he probably would have been reduced to a slobbering moron by now. It had only been two weeks since they'd had sex, but it felt like fucking decades. Sex had never ruled his life before, but since the moment that he'd touched her that's all he could think about.

He thought about how good it was to hear her moan his name, how it felt when he slid inside her, so fucking wet and tight, and the way she licked her lips as he fucked her. When he was supposed to be going over timecards, making schedules or talking to venders, he was thinking about all the different ways that he could slide deep inside her.

It was seriously fucking with his head.

The only time that he could focus on anything besides sex was when he was near her. It should have had the opposite effect on him, but being near her was usually enough to help him relax, but that probably had something to do with the fact that she was normally wearing clothes.

It would really fucking help if she would wear some damn clothes right now.

Maybe he should take Melanie up on her offer and let her take over? At least then he wouldn't be on the verge of losing his mind. He opened his mouth to suggest that he carry her back to her apartment when he realized that he couldn't do that. She needed him and that was all that mattered.

His cock bounced hard against his stomach in protest, letting him know that it wasn't on board with this plan. Telling his cock to get over it, he reached down, and oh God did she feel fucking good, and gently shifted her to the right, praying that this was the last time that she was going to put him through this hell tonight.

"Could you could rub some of that lotion on my back?" she asked only to follow that up with, "Did you just whimper?"

"No," he said quickly, clearing his throat as he reached over and grabbed the lotion off his nightstand that his father had given them earlier.

Telling himself that he could handle this, and also to move his ass since there really was no need to prolong this kind of torture, he squirted a large amount of lotion into his hand, not really caring when he got some on his sheets, and proceeded to quickly, yet carefully, rub it on her back.

"I could fall asleep," she said, and he prayed that was true, because that meant that he could escape into the bathroom and drown himself in a cold shower.

"That's probably a good idea," he said encouragingly as he tried to tell himself that his hands were nowhere near her ass.

"Mmm, that feels so good," she moaned, making him wish that he knew what he was doing, because he would stop doing it immediately for the sake of his sanity.

"Just like...oh, yeah, just like that," she continued to moan, shifting a bit beneath his touch and inadvertently making his hand brush against the top of one beautiful cheek.

"Oh, God," he whispered, grinding his teeth together as his breath caught in his chest.

He'd barely brushed his hand against her ass and here he was, kneeling on the bed beside her, panting as though she'd just licked his cock and moaned like she fucking loved it. He was so fucking pathetic.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, sounding sleepy.

"Yes," he said soothingly, refusing to do anything that would break through this sleepy haze that was going to save him.

"Oh, oh! Right there!" she suddenly moaned, shifting beneath his hands. "Oh, that feels so good. Yeah, just like that, baby."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously on the little brat that had spent the last five years tormenting him for her own fucking enjoyment.

"Oh, God! Don't stop now!" she yelled dramatically, giggling like a fool as he decided that yes, yes she did have a death wish. "That's it! That's the spot!"

Sighing, he looked from her to the angry erection between his legs and thought about all those times that she'd fucked with his head simply because she could and decided that she definitely had this coming.

*-*-*-*

"I was kidding!" she yelled, trying to stop giggling, but she just couldn't stop.

The look on his face had been-

"Oh my, God!" she screamed as Lucifer, the meanest bastard alive, brought her into his massive shower and stuck her beneath what felt like a hundred jets of ice cold water stabbing into her.

"Is something wrong?" the bastard asked, all innocence as he moved her out of the cold water and then just as quickly, put her back in.

"Lucifer!" she managed to yell before she was hit in the face with a particularly cold spray of water.

"Did you want to say something?"

"No!"

More cold water hit her, this time on her ass!

"Really?"

"You'll regret doing-argh!" she ended her promise of violence on a high-pitched scream as he somehow managed to get her ass and face at the same time.

"Are you sure that there isn't something that you wanted to say?" he asked, chuckling when she gasped as cold water continued to assault her body.

"I hate you!" she snapped when he stepped away from the spray of ice-cold water.

"Are you sure?" he asked, innocently.

"Yes!"

"That's really too bad," he murmured as the large bastard once again stepped back into the cold water and managed to rip a hysterical scream out of her.

"Lucifer!"

"Was that 'I'm sorry, Lucifer, for tormenting you for shits and giggles'?" he asked, sounding like he was really enjoying himself, which he probably was.

Not that she could blame him after everything that she'd done to him over the years. Still...

"Don't make me hurt you!" she snapped, deciding that they'd reached the point of no return.

She was going to have to kick his ass.

"You're going to kick my ass, huh?" he guessed as he paused just right outside the stream of ice cold water.

"Yes!" she hissed, swearing on everything that she owned that if he so much as looked at that water that she was going to-

Scream her head off as he stepped back under the ice-cold spray.

"I'm still waiting to hear those special words," he said tauntingly, and she couldn't help but respect the man for his commitment to screw her over.

He had learned from the best after all.

"Come on, Rebecca. Don't you have something to say to me?" the bastard asked, continuing to taunt her as he turned around so that she received the majority of the cold water on her back and ass.

When the water hit her in a particularly sensitive area, she screamed the one thing that she hoped would save her, "Christopher!" before she found herself back on her feet, pushed up against the wall and having her mouth devoured by the sexiest man that she'd ever met.

*-*-*-*

"Oh, God!" Rebecca gasped against his mouth as he continued to slowly trace her wet slit with his fingertips.

"You like that?" he asked, kissing her chin as he watched her lick her lips in pleasure.

"Mmmhmm," she moaned with a nod as she spread her legs further apart to give him better access.

"Is this okay, baby? Or do you want to lie down?" he asked, not sure that he would be able to survive if she made him stop even if it was only for a minute.

"This is fine, more than fine," she swore as she wrapped one arm around his shoulders to steady herself as she leaned back against the warm shower tiles, careful not to press her lower back against the wall.

"Are you sure?" he asked, shifting her slightly to the side so that she was closer to the hot water mist.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she promised him, but he felt the way that her body tensed up when he shifted her.

"No," he said, pausing just long enough to brush his lips against hers, "you're not."

Before she could argue, he carefully swept her up into his arms and carried her out of the bathroom. He loved the way that she wrapped her arms around him, but he loved the way that she kissed him even more.

He carried her back to his bed, laid her down and followed her. He was careful to keep his weight off her as he leaned down so that he could continue to kiss her. God, she felt so fucking good, he thought as he reached up and pushed several wet strands of her hair out her face.

"I know your secret," she said, smiling as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, and what's that?" he asked, pulling back far enough so that he could watch as he run his fingers down her chin, her neck and between her large breasts, fascinated by the trail of goose bumps left behind.

"You like it when I call you Christopher," she said, sounding smug as she continued to run her fingers through his hair.

"Yes," he said, smiling as he leaned back down and kissed her, "I do."

"And when anyone else calls you that?" she asked, teasing his bottom lip.

"I'll fucking kill them," he admitted, gently running his fingers from one breast to the other, stopping just before he touched either nipple.

"So, what makes me so special?" she asked, making him wonder how it was even possible that she didn't already know.

He looked into her eyes as he finally allowed his fingers to skim across one hard nipple and said, "Because you drive me out of my fucking mind."
Chapter 30

"We're going to get your sheets wet," she said, absently wondering if they should go somewhere else before they ruined his bed as she licked her lips and enjoyed the feeling of having Christopher's very talented lips kissing a path from her jawline to her neck.

"The only thing that I care about getting wet," he said softly, pausing to press a kiss against the spot where her neck and shoulder met, "is you."

Oh....God...

She could cry. She really could. Not only did he talk dirty, but he did it really well. If there was one thing that had always disappointed her, it was that none of the men that she'd been with knew how to talk dirty during sex. They'd tried, but no of them had ever been able to pull it off.

Their attempts had always left her cringing and wishing that they'd just hurry up and finish so that she could grab something to eat and maybe catch an episode of The Walking Dead before she called it a night. Well, that wasn't completely true. That one guy who'd thought calling her a dirty whore and a slut while he slid his hand beneath her shirt was a good idea had ended up walking home with a limp.

"Do you have any idea how many times I've thought about getting you in my bed?" he asked as he ran his palm over her nipple, just touching it enough to make it harden in response.

Biting back a smile, she said, "Why don't you tell me," curious to see just how far the uptight, straight-edged, questionably OCD, man was going to try bringing this.

He chuckled as he pressed another kiss against the spot that she'd never realized was so sensitive before. "How about I show you instead?" he asked with a wink and an unbelievably sexy grin that had her heart doing an odd little flip that took her by surprise and left her feeling like she'd just been shoved off a ledge and was falling fast, a lot faster than she was probably ready for.

But, she also wasn't ready to stop yet.

Returning his smile was probably the most terrifying thing that she'd ever done, but the way that his expression warmed as he looked down at her made her want to risk everything as long as he kept looking at her that way.

"Have you thought about me?" he asked as he cupped her face in his hand.

"What makes you think that I've thought about you?" she asked, laughing when his glare turned mocking.

Sighing heavily, he wrapped his arms around her and-

Tore an embarrassingly high squeal out of her when she suddenly found herself sitting on top of the large bastard.

"Stop manhandling me!" she said with a huff as she stubbornly folded her arms over her bare breasts and pointedly looked off to express her displeasure at being thrown about.

"How else was I supposed to show you?" he asked, all innocence as he placed his hands on her hips and gently rocked her, startling a startled moan from her when she realized exactly what he'd done.

Licking her lips, she let her arms drop so that she could place her hands over his where they continued to guide her, back and forth over the large erection now cradled against her wet slit. Allowing him to continue moving her slowly against him, because it was the polite thing to do, she pursed up her lips while she considered the man devouring every inch of her with his eyes.

"How exactly is this showing me what you've been thinking about doing to me?" she asked, running her hands over his forearms, savoring every muscle bulging against her hands.

"This is the considerate version," he said, licking his lips in a way that had her wondering if he was imagining licking her breasts.

"How is this the considerate version?" she asked, grinding down against him with a moan as she savored the feel of thick, hard erection pressing against her in all the right ways.

"I didn't think your bottom could handle anymore abuse tonight," he said with a shrug as he continued openly admiring her body.

Well, that was true, she mused. While the damaged area no longer made her want to cry and demand a quick and painless death thanks to the pills she'd been given, it probably wouldn't feel too great later if she allowed the area to be abused now. Which inadvertently brought the question to mind, was he a spanker?

Was that too much to ask for?

Probably, she decided with a sigh, telling herself that there was no need to be selfish and that she should just be grateful that he was great in bed, considerate and knew how to talk dirty. Anything more would just be asking too much.

"You still haven't explained how having me on top is showing me what you've been thinking about," she teased with a smile as she leaned down so that she could kiss him.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, playfully nipping at her bottom lip.

"No, not really," she admitted, smiling as she sat back up and-

"This is where you make every one of my fantasies come to life."

"By doing all the work?" she teased as she returned to slowly rocking against the hard erection that somehow seemed harder than it had been only a few seconds ago.

"That's just a plus," he explained absently as he watched her move back and forth over his cock.

"I see," she murmured, licking her lips as she started to lose herself in what she was doing.

God, he felt so good.

"This is every man's fantasy," he said with a groan when her slit spread open and allowed her swollen little clit to tease the tip of his cock.

"Really? This is it?" she asked with a chuckle, because she honestly thought that every man's fantasy was two women-

"Having the woman that you can't stop thinking about moan your name as she puts every fantasy that you've ever had to shame," he said as he sat up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

Smiling, she wrapped her arms around him. "You can't stop thinking about me?"

He groaned as his lips found hers. "What do you think?" he asked as he gave her the sweetest kiss.

"I think," she said, using her hold on him so that she could sit up higher off his lap, "that we're wasting time talking."

Smiling, she reached down and wrapped her hand around his shaft, loving the way that he groaned when she started stroking him. She stroked him from base to tip and moaned when he growled in pleasure. She loved touching him. It didn't matter if it was something as simple as an accidental touch when she was walking past him or when she wrapped her arms around him, closed her eyes and let the rest of the world drift away. Whenever she was near him, she felt...complete.

It was an intoxicating feeling and one she knew that she could easily become addicted to if she let herself. She was so tempted to let herself fall for this man, she thought as she looked into a pair of intense green eyes that always seemed to soften when they saw her.

"I missed you," he said as he reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

Giving his shaft one last stroke, she shifted until the tip was at her core and carefully guided it inside herself as she held his gaze. "I've missed you, too," she admitted with a smile as she leaned down and kissed him.

For several minutes they sat like that, holding each other as they slowly kissed, savoring their connection and every touch that brought them closer together. Soon it wasn't enough for her and she found herself slowly riding him.

She expected him to take over or at the very least, encourage her to move faster, but he never did. He simply held her close as they kissed, only breaking away occasionally to kiss a trail down her neck as his hand found her breast and caressed it. They never stopped touching as she continued to slowly ride him, enjoying the feel of him inside her and it was then that she realized that for the first time in her life, she was actually making love to a man.

To Lucifer.

Stunned at the realization, she pulled back from their kiss and found herself looking into kind, emerald eyes.

"You're so beautiful," he said, leaning in to kiss her when she took them both by surprise and said the one thing that she never expected to hear herself say.

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

Judging by the panicked expression on his face, she probably should have kept that to herself.
Chapter 31

"Oh, my god! I take it back!" Rebecca screamed as she frantically tried to crawl away, but every time she managed to grab hold of the pillows or headboard he simply pulled her right back to the edge of the bed, flipped her onto her back and buried his head between her thighs.

As he licked her from core to clit, he couldn't help but wish that she'd stop screaming like that. It was really making it difficult to think. Sighing, he continued to lick her as he thought about what she'd said.

She thought she was falling in love with him.

"Oh, god!" she screamed again, making him wonder why she was being so damn inconsiderate at a time like this.

He still wasn't sure why he hadn't shown her to the door yet since that's what he normally did when a woman professed her undying love for him. But, then again, she hadn't actually professed her undying love for him, had she?

Glaring at her as he slid his tongue inside her, he couldn't help but wonder why that pissed him off. When she told him that she thought that she might be falling in love with him, asking her to leave had been the last thing on his mind. He'd wanted to smile, to pull her in his arms and kiss her, but instead he'd felt like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer and not because she was falling for him.

But, because he already knew that he was falling for her.

"Christopher!" she yelled as she gave up on trying to escape, which he appreciated, and threaded her fingers through his hair.

Groaning, because she tasted so damn sweet, he ran the flat of his tongue over her clit before flicking the excited little nub with the tip of his tongue. When she released a sexy little moan he nearly said fuck it and rammed his cock back inside her, but he needed more time to think, which meant...

"Oh, god, yes..." she moaned, licking her lips hungrily as she ground her hips against his mouth so that she could ride his tongue.

He groaned as he ran his tongue around her clit, loving the little sounds of pleasure that she was making. She really was fucking beautiful, he thought as he slid his hands from her hips to her breasts. He cupped her breasts, enjoying the weight in his hands as he flicked his thumbs over the hard nipples that he fully planned on tracing with his tongue before the night was over.

He had no idea when he'd started falling in love with her, but he knew that there was absolutely no way of stopping it now. He was falling for her, harder and faster than he ever thought was humanly possible. A few times over the years he'd thought that he'd felt a glimmer of something for a few of the women that he'd dated, but nothing like this.

He knew that he could live without her, but the problem was that he didn't want to. He wanted to wake up with her in his arms every morning and fight over the remote with her every night. He wanted to see that little devious smile play on her lips every time she screwed with someone's head because she was bored. He wanted to be with her, but he wasn't ready for this yet.

He still had so much to do, to accomplish, before he could even think of getting serious about anyone. There was still so much that he wanted to do with the Fire & Brimstone, so many things that needed his attention and falling in love with a woman like Rebecca wasn't something that he was ready for. He couldn't give her what she wanted, what she needed and that wasn't fair to her. He needed to do the right thing and walk away before either one of them got hurt, but unfortunately for her, he was a Bradford and they were selfish bastards. There was no way that he could let her go, he realized.

Not now.

Since putting some space between them and trying to slow this thing down wasn't going to work, he was going to have to figure this out at a run. He had no idea how he was going to do it, but he had a feeling that sex was going to play a big part of it. As he palmed her breasts and fucked her with his tongue, he decided that sex was definitely the best way to handle this.

"Christopher," she moaned, reaching for him.

Grinning, he flicked her clit with his tongue one last time before he crawled back up her body, pausing along the way to take one of those large nipples into his mouth so that he could gently suckle on it. He gently pulled on her nipple with his lips so that he could run his tongue around the tip while he reached between them and cupped her wet mound in his hand.

She felt so fucking good, he thought, groaning as he slid a finger inside her. She was so fucking wet and tight. His cock jerked at the thought of sliding deep inside her and fucking her hard.

"Christopher," she moaned, sounding like she was begging him to fuck her.

At least, that's what he told himself as he released her nipple with a flick of his tongue and moved the rest of the way up her body. He groaned when she fisted her fingers in his hair and brought his mouth down to hers. She was so fucking demanding, something that normally turned him off, but with her he couldn't seem to get enough.

She groaned in frustration when he pulled his hand away only to gasp with pleasure when he shifted his weight so that the tip of his cock was nestled at her entrance. He slid his tongue against hers, inviting it to play when he pushed forward, sliding deep inside her tight sheath. Christ, she felt so fucking good.

"Fuck me, please! Fuck me, Christopher!" she begged, having absolutely no idea what she did to him.

*-*-*-*

She really needed to use some control when using his name, she decided as a scream was ripped out of her.

"You feel so fucking good wrapped around my cock," he whispered in her ear as he pulled back only to push back inside her with a twist and a grind that left her gasping in pleasure and nearly crying when he pulled away.

She wanted to wrap her arms around him and keep him deep inside her as she savored the pleasure that each thrust brought her. He felt so good, she thought as she kissed him. She rolled her hips with each thrust and moaned when he slid back inside her.

"So fucking good," he groaned, arching his back so that he could slide back inside her at a new angle that had her digging her feet into the bed and pushing down to meet his strokes.

She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight as they developed a rhythm. It felt so good, better than anything she'd ever experienced before. When she needed more, harder, faster, all she had to do was to change the way that she pushed against him and he seemed to know exactly what she wanted.

Their movements were more hurried, more frantic than they had been twenty minutes ago, but she knew that the meaning of what they were doing hadn't changed. They were still making love, but there was an edge of desperation to what they were doing now.

"Christopher," she moaned his name, loving the way that he lost control whenever she said it.

His thrusts became a bit unsteady, rougher and faster until the only thing that she could do was hold on and lose herself in his arms. When he rolled over onto his back, bringing her with him for the second time that night, she nearly cried in frustration.

She was so close.

"Time to live out that fantasy," he said, reaching up to cup her face so that he could kiss her as she pushed back against him, experimenting at first, but soon she found her rhythm and decided that turnabout was fair play. Kissing him one last time, she teased his bottom lip before she sat up, wanting him to see absolutely everything.

At first, she watched him, enjoying the way that his eyes followed every movement, every jiggle of her breasts and the way that she rode his cock. He liked what he saw. She knew that much from the way that he groaned with every movement as well as the way he swelled inside her.

He liked it a lot, but she wanted more.

Licking her lips, and honestly curious how far she could take this before she lost control, she slowly reached down between her legs and ran her fingertips over her clit, making sure that he saw everything.

The way he groaned...

Watching him, she continued to ride him slowly as she took her time pleasuring them both and she knew that he could feel it. Every time she pressed down against her clit she could feel him inside her. He felt so fucking good. She moaned as she found herself reaching up to palm her own breast.

"Like this?" she asked, wanting to tease them both.

"Exactly like this," he growled approvingly as he watched her, his breaths coming a little unsteadily and matching hers as she continued until she forgot that she was trying to tease him and simply lost herself.

When he sat up, she didn't hesitate in leaning forward and capturing his lips with hers. He wrapped his arms around her as he slowly kissed her.

"I have to tell you something," he said, confusing her, because she was pretty sure that right now wasn't the time to get chatty.

"Can it wait?" she asked, moaning as she shifted her hips and pushed back on him, loving the way he felt when he slid back inside her.

"It could probably wait, but I figured that you'd probably want to know since you just declared your undying love for me and all," he teased, making her kind of wish that she didn't want him so badly so that she could find the willpower to stop what she was doing, climb off this bed, storm off and make an epic exit that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Sadly, she just didn't have that kind of willpower, but he didn't know that so...

"Please, don't make me kill you," she said, leaning back in to kiss him so that he wouldn't discover just how weak she was when it came to him.

Brushing her lips with his, and denying her the kind of kiss that she needed right now, he said, "Thought you might want to know that I'm falling for you, too," he announced and before she could say anything, or freak out since that's what she was most likely going to do given the circumstances, his lips were back on hers and he was kissing her with everything he had.

After a few minutes, she moved her fingers faster between her legs, pushing against him so that he could feel her fingers gliding over her clit. She dropped her hand away from her breast so that she could wrap her arm around his shoulders to help steady herself as she moved harder and faster on him.

There was no finesse or rhythm to her movements, but he didn't seem to care. He kissed her as his hands found her hips, encouraging her to keep moving and she tried, she really did, but she couldn't keep going. One second she was kissing him, sucking his tongue almost desperately and the next she found herself back on the bed and Lucifer taking over, fucking her in a way that she'd never been fucked before.

Her back arched as he slammed back inside her one last time, triggering an orgasm powerful enough to tear one last scream from her throat until all she could do was lay there, trying to catch her breath as the realization slowly hit.

Her pain medication had worn off and that's when she found herself screaming for a whole new reason.
Chapter 32

"My ass," Rebecca whispered hoarsely as she lay there on her stomach, her bottom lip trembling ever so slightly while he stood there, glaring down at her. "My poor abused ass."

His eyes narrowed dangerously on the little brat.

The disapproving sigh that came from his right had him seriously considering smothering her with a pillow. "What part of no physical activity for a week did you not understand?" his father asked as they stood there, watching the little fake milk this thing for all it was worth mostly to fuck him over.

Why couldn't he fall for a normal woman? he wondered when she added a little sniffle into the act.

"He doesn't listen," Aidan, the asshole that was supposed to come alone, added with a sigh matching their father's.

"Was waiting a week really asking too much?" his father asked, shaking his head in disgust.

"No one told me that she wasn't supposed to do anything for a week," he bit out, because if he had known about it he would have resigned himself to cold showers and inappropriate thoughts to help himself get through the week.

"I wanted to wait for marriage," the little demon whispered.

"I know you did, sweetheart," his father said, nodding in agreement, but Lucifer didn't miss the way his old man's lips twitched with amusement as he betrayed him.

"He always was a selfish bastard," Aidan added.

"Can we get anything for you?" his father asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle her.

A sniffle. "A Coke, please? I'm ever so thirsty."

"You poor thing," his father said and he knew that his father was going along with this just to fuck with him.

"Thank you," the little traitor murmured softly as she shot him a shy look that honestly scared the living shit out of him, because she was a little too good at this.

"You are so fucked," his brother whispered next to him and he could only nod in agreement.

"I'll get you that drink, sweetheart. You just lay there and take it easy," his father said with a reassuring smile as he stood back up and headed for the door, pausing long enough to shoot him a glare. "Do you think that you can keep your hands to yourself for that long?"

"I didn't know!" he snapped, wondering how he'd ended up in such a fucked up family.

"I just wanted him to like me," she murmured as she lay there, looking completely innocent.

"So. Fucking. Screwed," his brother said, deciding that enunciating every word was fucking helpful.

It wasn't.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked the little brat trying to get comfortable as he elbowed his brother.

"Oh,...shit," Aidan choked out as the shot to his stomach knocked him on his ass, freeing Lucifer up to handle other matters.

"Probably because no one told me?" Rebecca said, dropping the innocent schoolgirl act that was going to get her spanked once she was medically cleared.

He shot his brother a questioning look.

"She was dad's patient," Aidan managed to get out as he rolled over onto his side.

"It was in the print out," their father said as he walked back into the room.

"Oh," Rebecca said with a wince, letting him know that the little brat was at fault on this one.

"Why didn't you read it or at least tell me about it so that I could read it?" he demanded.

Sighing, she gave up on getting comfortable and simply bunched up her pillow. "I stopped reading handouts a long time ago," she admitted with a shrug, reminding him that she wasn't exactly on the best of terms with the medical profession after all the years of bullshit that they'd put her through.

"Where is it?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose and wondering if he should invest in Advil.

"In my bag," she grumbled, not looking particularly happy, not that he fucking cared.

She was following the doctor's orders whether she liked it or not.

"I'll be right back," he said, shooting her a glare that told her exactly what he would do to her beautiful ass if she even thought about getting out of that bed.

Once he was sure that she got the message, and he was assuming that's what that eye roll of hers meant, he stalked out of his bedroom, determined to find her bag and get back here before the little demon could get into any trouble.

*-*-*-*

"So," Rebecca said, nibbling on a French fry as she simultaneously slapped Aidan's hand away from stealing her hamburger patty, "why doesn't Lucifer let you in here?"

"Because he's an asshole," Aidan said, glaring at her as she picked up a fry and dipped it in the large puddle of ketchup that covered most of her plate.

"Aidan," Ethan, as she was now allowed to call him, said in warning, sounding like a dad. Well, not her dad, but a dad in general.

"What?" Aidan asked. "It's true."

"He's not an asshole," she said, shaking her head absently as she took another bite out of her fry.

"No, he's not," Aidan grudgingly agreed with a chuckle as he once again-

"Are your five cheeseburger platters not enough for you?" she asked, blinking at the large man pouting, and yes, he was in fact pouting, across the table from her.

He glanced down at three platters still filled to the brim with food and shook his head. "No."

"He got this from his mother," Ethan said as he picked up a cheeseburger off of one of the six-cheeseburger platters that he'd ordered.

"I suspected as much," she said, nodding in agreement as she cut a piece of her hamburger patty off with her fork and popped the tender piece of meat in her mouth as she considered the two handsome men sharing the large booth with her.

"How long have you been tormenting my son?" Ethan asked, cutting one of his many cheeseburgers in half.

"A little over five years," she answered proudly as she popped a fry in her mouth.

Ethan chuckled as he bit into his burger.

"How did he end up with the name Lucifer?" she asked, deciding that they were probably her best bet at getting an answer to the question that everyone in the restaurant had been dying to know.

Instead of giving her the answer that she'd been waiting five long years for, they laughed. "Sorry," Aidan said, grinning hugely as he shook his head, "you're going to have to ask him and that includes finding out his real name."

Shrugging, she said, "I already know his real name."

Aidan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."

Before she got a chance to respond, the man in question was there, glaring down at her, which was a little unsettling since his hair was messed up, his shirt was a bit torn and there were familiar looking scratch marks on his arms and chest.

"Did you find the bag?" she asked as she nibbled on a fry.

"Run," he snarled and since she was almost positive that he was talking to her, she decided that it was probably for the best if she called it a night.

"Lovely seeing, you gentlemen, again," she said with a smile as she carefully scooted to the end of the soft bench, stood up and took a step towards safety when she remembered the ice pack that had been keeping her bottom comfortably numb.

"Excuse me," she said softly, shooting Lucifer a smile as she reached around him, grabbed her ice pack and with another murmured, "Goodnight," quickly shuffled towards the back door where she found Mojo, lying on his side, drooling and wagging his tail like the naughty little boy that he was.

"You let me down, buddy," she said, sighing as she carefully scooted around him so that she didn't slip in the puddle of drool that he'd created, "you let me down."
Chapter 33

"I like her," his father said with a fond smile as the three of them watched Rebecca shuffle towards the back entrance.

He considered going after her, but...

It was probably for the best if he took this opportunity to calm down before he did something irrational like spank that bruised ass of hers. He'd give her twenty minutes to make it back upstairs, get ready for bed, curl up beneath the covers and come up with some asinine excuse that would explain why she'd left his apartment and decided to sneak his father and brother into the Fire & Brimstone, the one place on earth that he'd worked his ass off to keep Bradford free.

He didn't do it because he hated them or because they embarrassed him, but because he wasn't ready for them to see what he'd done. If there was one thing in the world that his family took seriously, it was food. He wanted to make sure that everything was fucking perfect before his family finally managed to break into the place.

He'd always been like that. It was the reason that he'd had his own room when he was a kid, why his parents never had to ask him to do his homework, clean his room or do his chores. The problem they had with him was getting him to stop cleaning his room, doing his homework and glaring at anyone that came near the sink when he had dish duty. Things really hadn't changed that much when he got older and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing anymore.

"This is the best burger I've ever had," his father said, pulling his attention back to the fact that he had two Bradfords in his restaurant for the first time since he'd opened its doors.

Aidan nodded in agreement as he tore into his burger. "Is this your recipe?" his brother asked, and if it had been any other Bradford he would have assumed that they were fucking with him, but this Aidan, the brother who had always accepted his fucked up ways without question.

"Yes," he said, eyeing them both carefully, looking for any signs that they were just trying to be polite.

"You need to give your mother this recipe," his father said, devouring the last bite of his cheeseburger before moving onto the next platter and digging in.

Aidan murmured his agreement as he continued to tear into his food. Every few seconds he would glance over at Lucifer, probably waiting for him to kick him out, but thanks to the little brat upstairs, he had other things on his mind.

He waved Pauline over and gestured to the two men eying him suspiciously. "Bring them a few orders of the House Special and four orders of the dessert sampler, please."

"You got it, Mr. Bradford," Pauline said with a smile as she made a quick note of it.

"Thanks for coming," he said with a nod of thanks to his brother and father, who had apparently forgotten that he was alive since they'd discovered the coleslaw that had taken him two years to perfect.

"Yeah, no problem," Aidan mumbled as he reached for a small bowl of coleslaw only to end up grabbing air when their father snatched it away from him.

Praying that he didn't regret this, he headed upstairs, counting on the fact that his father wouldn't fuck him over and start a riot. He could hope at least, he thought as he made his way upstairs where a very beautiful woman better be waiting in his bed with a fully thought out apology and a sexy little smile just for him.

Just thinking about her waiting in his bed had him moving his ass faster. He knew that sex was out of the question and surprisingly he didn't care. He just wanted to see her. Pretending that didn't scare him wasn't even an option anymore. He'd still had absolutely no idea why he'd told her that he was falling for her.

He should have kept that to himself, had actually planned on doing just that, but the second that she'd blurted out that she felt the same he'd lost control of his fucking mind. The truth was that he'd never felt like this about anyone and he still wasn't sure what it meant, because he'd never been in love before.

The thought of falling in love with Rebecca terrified him, but it also excited him. She was an annoying pain in the ass that got way too much fucking pleasure out of fucking with his head and he couldn't stop thinking about her.

"Shit," he muttered to himself, backtracking to the refrigerator when he remembered the fourth item on her aftercare list, ice.

After quickly putting together an ice pack, he headed towards his bedroom and the woman that was most likely going to be responsible for his stay at either a mental institution or a high max security prison. Either way, she was guaranteed to make him lose his fucking mind.

"What...the...fuck...," he said when he walked into his room to find it empty.

Maybe she was in the shower? he wondered, but he knew before he opened the door that she wasn't there.

Sighing, he tossed the bag of ice into the bathroom sink and leaned back against the wall. This was probably for the best. She needed her rest and he had a lot of shit to do anyway. He'd check on her in the morning. He headed to the kitchen, deciding that this was a good time to play around with those recipes that he found last week.

*-*-*-*

"Hurry up!" Melanie whined from the hallway.

"I'm hurrying!" she said, trying not cringe when she finally managed to turn just enough so that she could see the damage from her latest episode of breaking and entering.

She groaned when she saw the large bruise covering most of her lower back and bottom. Sadly, even after seeing the damage and spending the night crawling back and forth to the kitchen for ice she couldn't say that she'd learned her lesson.

Fighting back a yawn, she reached past the prescription bottle of painkillers and grabbed the bottle of Advil. As much as she would love to spend the day curled up in her bed trying to pretend that her ass wasn't on fire, she was going to have to suck it up and go to work. Rent was due next week and she couldn't afford to miss the hours. It didn't matter that she had enough in her checking account to cover next month's rent and bills. She had a job and she needed to be there to ensure that the customers were taken care of properly, that everything was clean, the condiments neatly organized and-

Okay, fine so she really just wanted to see Lucifer.

She wanted to see him, because she missed him!

God, she was pathetic, but then again, so was staying up most of the night waiting for him. Around three this morning she'd finally accepted the fact that he wasn't coming and that her ass wasn't going to stop throbbing and gave up. She tried to fall asleep, but it never happened. Now she was trying to pretend that her ass wasn't throbbing so that she could see him.

Definitely pathetic.

"Move your ass, Shaw!" Melanie snapped, sounding unreasonably irritated for a woman who liked to stay up all night eating junk food and watching sappy romance movies.

"Stop rushing me!" she snapped back, wondering why they kept settling for apartments with only one bathroom.

"It's your turn to take Mojo out!" Melanie said, obviously desperate if she was resorting to using Mojo, who was probably passed out by the door.

"I know it's my turn!" she said, which at this point was the only thing that she knew, because she had absolutely no idea how she was going to walk Mojo this morning without falling on her face. She could barely walk and here she was getting ready to work an eight-hour shift right after she took a two hundred and sixty-five pound dog for a walk. It was going to be the best day ever, she thought miserably as she pulled her shirt back down.

"Seriously, move your fat ass!" Melanie yelled.

"I'm trying to get my fat ass ready for work!"

"I see," Melanie murmured thoughtfully instead of arguing with her, making her wonder if today was actually going to end up being a good day after all.

Biting her lip, she carefully tucked her shirt in. Once she was done, four or five minutes later, she zipped her pants up, buttoned them and-

Rolled her eyes when the banging started all over again.

"I'll be out in a minute!"

"You are not working today or any day this week," the incredibly sexy deep voice that she loved said, letting her know that there was a traitor that needed to be dealt with.

"I really am," she said, wondering why he was bothering to argue with her when they both knew that she was going to-

"In two minutes I'm going to open this door and if I don't find your beautiful ass soaking in that tub, then you and I are going to have a problem," he said evenly, making her roll her eyes.

It was so cute when he thought that he could intimidate her.

"A minute and a half," he announced as she stood there, shaking her head with a sigh, because they both knew that he wasn't going to do anything.

"I'm getting ready for work," she said, checking her hair to make sure that everything was in place.

"A minute and fifteen seconds," was his reply.

He wasn't going to do anything except glare at her while threatening to spank her ass. It was cute, but it wasn't going to work. She was going to work and that was all there was to it.

"Sixty seconds."

She was going to work.

"Fifty seconds."

He was just going to have to deal with it.

"Thirty seconds."

It was so cute that he thought that he was in charge.

"Twenty-five seconds."

"Don't care," she said, fixing her shirt even as she shot a nervous glance at the door to make sure that it was locked.

He wouldn't...

"Twenty seconds."

"You're not scaring me!"

And he wasn't, because they both knew that-

"Ten seconds."

Shit!

Panicking, she struggled to yank her clothes off as she tried to start a bath. She'd barely kicked her panties off when she heard the doorknob turn.

"Oh, crap!" she whispered frantically as she tried to climb in the tub only to slip, fall and land on her side in ice cold water just as Lucifer, looking exhausted and pissed, walked in.

"I'm taking a bath!" she screamed, somewhat hysterically to the large man glaring down at her. "Oh, my God! I'm taking a bath!"

Narrowing his eyes on her, he stood over her for another few seconds before abruptly turning around and walking out, leaving her laying there, wondering how she was going to survive a week of house arrest.
Chapter 34

"No!" Melanie yelled as she stormed into the kitchen. "I'm not watching anymore horror movies with you, you demented bitch!"

"Aw, come on! Just one more movie!" he heard Rebecca yell from her bedroom where he'd made damn sure that her beautiful ass had stayed for the past few days.

"No!" Melanie yelled back at Rebecca.

"I found this zombie movie that looks promising!"

"Rot in hell, bitch!" Melanie yelled back.

"This one's not that bad! They only eat rotted corpses!"

When Melanie spotted him standing there she came to a stop five feet away from her beloved couch, looked at him, over her shoulder and then back at him again before he found himself being dragged towards the back hallway. Before he could ask the obviously insane woman if she'd lost her fucking mind, he found himself shoved into Rebecca's messy room.

"Please forgive me," Melanie whispered before she slammed the door shut and, by the sounds of it, ran away.

"Hey, handsome!" Rebecca said, smiling when she saw him standing there, which should have pleased him, but...

Christ, he wasn't sure that he could take anymore.

Every day she greeted him with a huge smile and a new and terrifying way to kill time. The first night of her doctor ordered bed rest she'd suggested a friendly game of Monopoly. Even though he normally avoided playing board games because of his intense dislike of losing, he'd figured that he could handle one night of letting her win if it would make her happy and get her mind off her current situation.

What he hadn't counted on was Rebecca turning into a fucking psycho as soon as the dice were rolled. She went from being cute and bored to vicious and calculating. She'd taken her time, learning the way he played, his property preferences and before he'd realized what happened, she'd managed to outmaneuver him, built monopolies and completely destroyed him.

That's when he got serious.

He'd challenged her to a rematch, but apparently the little demon had already lost interest, leaving him fuming for the rest of the night. It wasn't that she'd beaten him, it was that she'd fucked with his head while doing it and she'd done it every fucking day since.

But that was fine, because tonight that bullshit was finally coming to an end.

"How was your day?" she asked from the bed where a dozen books, DVDs, magazines and empty Hershey Kiss wrappers surrounded her.

Instead of answering her, because he'd learned his lesson last night when he'd tried to distract her from her latest challenge, he reached down, picked her up and carried her out of the room.

"No checkers?" she asked with an adorable little pout that he wasn't falling for.

Not this time.

He'd learned that lesson when she'd suggested they play Tetris.

"Thank God," Melanie said, sighing with relief when she spotted them heading for the door.

"Walking Dead marathon when I get back, biatch!" she said with a huge smile and that devious glint in her eye that he knew so well.

She was purposely fucking with her best friend's head for the hell of it.

"You're evil," he said, chuckling as he carried her across the hallway towards his apartment.

"I got bored," she admitted with a shrug as she reached over and opened his apartment door for him. "So, what are we doing tonight?"

Grinning, he stepped inside his apartment and kicked his door shut behind them. "Research."

*-*-*-*

"How exactly is this research?" she couldn't help but ask from her position on the couch where he'd placed her three hours ago and handed her the television remote.

"Because I need to test a few recipes on someone," he said from the large, heavy-duty kitchen island that Melanie would probably kill him for if she ever found out about it.

"And how does me being here help?" she couldn't help but ask since she wasn't exactly in the position to help him right now.

Not unless he was going to stop being so freaking anal about following that damn aftercare sheet that he carried everywhere, she thought. But, since he "consulted" with that damn list every five minutes to make sure that she was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing to ensure a full recovery, she really doubted that he was going to let her help.

He wouldn't even let her walk and if he found out that she did, and he always did thanks to that betraying bitch that she loved more than anything, he would pull out that damn piece of paper, read the whole thing over even though he already had it memorized, and glare at her until she promised that she wouldn't do it again. Not that he believed her, but at least he would let the matter drop.

"Because you're going to be my guinea pig," he said, shooting her a wink as though that was going to somehow stop her from panicking.

He wanted to use her as a guinea pig to test recipes? Because spending a week curled up in her bed praying for death was so much fun that she would jump at the chance to make that dream a reality? Yeah, no she was good.

"Umm, you do remember that slight problem of me not being able to digest gluten without becoming violently ill, right?" she reminded him as she gave up on watching him work and returned to scrolling through horror movie selections on Netflix, thoroughly disappointed with this month's selection.

"It's all gluten free," he said, sounding excited, which was actually kind of cute coming from a large man packed with muscle and a serial killer glare.

"Really?" she asked, unable to help but smile at his excitement, because he was definitely cute.

Not that she would actually tell him that since it would just result in one of those glares and probably some bitching since men like Lucifer didn't like to be called cute. God, he really was a lot of work, she thought with a sigh as she settled on Dexter, deciding that it was close enough.

Maybe she should go back to her place and screw with Melanie's head some more? she thought, because the idea of being anyone's gluten-free guinea pig wasn't exactly how she wanted to spend her incredibly boring night. After living the past few weeks gluten-free, she could honestly say that she was now prepared to live on a diet of chocolate and carrot sticks.

At first she'd been really excited to discover that there was a gluten free version for pretty much everything that she liked to eat. Thanks to her visit to Dixon's Gluten Free Bakery, she'd been pretty optimistic about her gluten-free prospects. Then she tried to cook gluten free pasta...

That had been the beginning of the end.

Gluten free muffins, pancakes, toaster pastries, and so on and so forth all ended up being huge disappointments and incredibly expensive. Everything came in smaller packages for at least four times the cost of the normal stuff. Flour, pasta, cereal, it was all too expensive, bland and in some cases, terrifying.

Some of the food was crunchy, some, like the Oreo knockoffs, fizzed in her mouth as they dissolved. The taste, god, the taste was...

Well, she really didn't want to think about the taste or the after taste for that matter.

Since she'd ended up blowing her entire paycheck on food that she couldn't stomach, she'd decided to keep it simple, meat, veggies, fruit, Hershey's chocolate and gallons upon gallons of Coke. The only time she made an exception to this rule was when she went to Dixon's Bakery and that wasn't often since she usually found herself spending too much money there.

"It's ready," Lucifer announced, right around the time that she decided that pretending to be asleep was the best for everyone concerned.
Chapter 35

"I think I'm going to be sick," Zoe said hollowly as she sat in the middle of their bed staring blindly at all the paperwork and pamphlets laid out in front of her.

"It's going to be okay," Trevor found himself saying even as he wondered what they were going to do, because there was no way in hell that they were ever going to be able to afford the sixty thousand dollars a year that Radcliffe Academy was asking for to send the boys there next year.

"We'll apply for scholarships," Zoe said as though that was going to somehow make a difference.

It wouldn't, not with the boys' school records. Jonny and Sebastian were smart, too smart, were gifted athletes and unbelievably kind, but they were also a handful. They caused havoc everywhere they went, had already been kicked out of two schools and had a file two inches thick at the police department. Getting them into this school was going to be hard enough, but paying for it was going to be impossible.

Even if they got partial scholarships for the boys they were still going to have to find a way to come up with forty thousand dollars every year for the next six years. With a mortgage and seven mouths to feed that wasn't going to happen, but he didn't say anything.

They'd been homeschooling the boys since September, but that wasn't really working. Every night they worked together to find something challenging for the boys to do and every morning the boys tore through their lessons over a bowl of cereal, leaving them with absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the day. They tried to fill the time with self-study, learning about the things that interested them, but it wasn't enough anymore.

The boys needed to be around other children and finding something else to do instead of burying their noses in books and coming up with new and terrifying ways to get in trouble. They needed structure and with him working and Zoe returning to work, they weren't able to give the boys what they needed. For several months now they'd been trying to get the boys back in school, appealing to nearby towns for admission, but they weren't accepting students from outside their districts.

They were running out of options. Let the boys continue homeschooling, put themselves in debt that would probably destroy them, or move with the hopes that things would be different were the only options they had right now. He didn't want to move and leave their family, especially knowing how much they meant to Zoe. His family was the only family that she'd ever had and he couldn't stomach the idea of taking that away from her, but he might have to do it for the boys.

"We'll think of something," he said, telling himself that everything would be fine, but for the first time in a long time he wasn't sure if he believed that.

He just wished...

Christ, there were too many things that he wished were different and that made him feel like an asshole.

"The boys can write their essays while I'm running errands in the morning," she said with a reassuring smile as she picked the papers off the bed and returned them to the large envelope that Radcliffe Academy had sent them.

"It will be fine, sweetheart," he said as he reached for Zoe and pulled her off the bed and into his arms.

"I know," she said, sighing heavily as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his chest. "I just wish that it didn't feel so damn hopeless."

"It's not hopeless," he said, because he knew that they would figure this out.

They always did.

"I should go do the dishes," she mumbled, but didn't make any move to leave his arms.

"Do you want me to draw you a bath instead?" he asked as he kissed the top of her head, savoring the scent of lavender.

"No," she said, sighing heavily as she absently traced the Bradford Construction logo on his shirt with her fingertips.

"Then what can I do to get your mind off of things for a little while?" he asked, closing his eyes as he held her and savored the feel of her in his-

"I was actually in the mood to give you a blowjob tonight," she admitted with a careless shrug as he stood there frozen as all the blood in his head suddenly changed direction and headed south.

"But, if you want to take a bath or-" she started to say only to end on a squeal and a laugh as she found herself thrown on the bed and him wrestling with the fly of his jeans.

He'd just managed to get his zipper down when the doorbell echoed throughout the house. He stared at his wife who was lying back on the bed, smiling that sexy little smile of hers and then back at the locked bedroom door, trying to decide whether he should kill the asshole ringing his doorbell at ten o'clock at night or pretend they weren't there and proceed to shove his pants down the rest of the way and let his wife have her way with him.

Definitely allow her to have her dirty way with him, he decided when she started unbuttoning her blouse and revealed what looked like a new black bra with lace trimming. He licked his lips hungrily when she undid the front clasp and pushed the two cups aside, revealing the large, pale breasts that he loved to-

"Fuck!" he snarled, angrily fastening his jeans as he headed towards his bedroom door, deciding that killing the asshole ringing his doorbell was going to have to be dealt with first.

"Touch that fucking bell again and I'll-" he started to yell as he headed down the stairs only to get cut off as the asshole hit the bell again.

He was seriously going to fucking kill someone if they woke up his kids. Quickening his pace, he made it downstairs in record time, crossed the small space to the front door, shut the alarm off and unlocked the door. As soon as he threw the door open he found himself holding a bag giving off heat and the most incredible scent that he'd ever encountered.

"Where's your wife?" Lucifer asked as Trevor stood there, struggling to ignore the mouthwatering aroma that was permeating his senses and making it difficult to the do the right thing and kill his cousin.

"Ummm," he managed to get out, but it was quickly becoming difficult to focus...was that steak? Yes, that was definitely steak that he smelled. He couldn't wait to-

"Hey, is that steak?" he heard Johnny ask from upstairs, reminding him that he was in a houseful of vicious, backstabbing Bradford children that would be more than willing to hobble him to get their hands on his precious bag of delicious morsels.

"And macaroni and cheese," Sebastian said as he heard the first bedroom door click open.

"Shit!"

"Might want to run," Lucifer said absently as he stood next to him, sorting through a handful of files.

Beat the shit out of his cousin or save his precious food?

Shit!

No one should ever have to make this choice!

"Seriously, I would run if I were you," Lucifer said as he finished sorting through the files and glanced up at him.

"Why are you here?" he snapped, already knowing that it was too late to make a run for it. They would be on him before he made it off the front porch.

"I missed you," Lucifer said dryly, throwing the bullshit excuse that they normally used on him when they went to the Fire & Brimstone to fuck with his head, back in his face.

"You son of a-"

"Thanks," Sebastian said with a wink and a smile as he swooped in and stole the bag out of his hands.

"You're the best," Jonny said, throwing him a wink to match his brother's as they walked away, carrying the bag that he needed more than his next breath.

"Here," Lucifer said, pressing something into his hands. "This is for Zoe. That's all my account information, passwords, employee rosters and everything that she'll need to take over doing the books for the Fire & Brimstone. She can start in the morning."

"Books?" was all he managed to get out as his eyes narrowed on the twins setting the food on the living room table.

"Uh huh," Lucifer said, heading for the door, "I don't have enough time to do it anymore."

"Okay," he found himself saying as he headed for the living room where his sons were standing over the large selection of food that would make any Bradford cry.

As he joined his sons in a moment of silence so that they could truly appreciate the bounty that the biggest asshole on earth had brought them, he couldn't help but wonder if a certain waitress had anything to do with this.
Chapter 36

"I-I thought you knew," Patrick said, stumbling over his words as he shot a nervous glance over his shoulder towards the busy dining area where Rebecca, wearing a black Fire & Brimstone shirt, was smiling as she took a couple's order.

"Didn't I tell you not to let her back on the floor until Saturday?" he asked, keeping his gaze locked on the small woman that was supposed to be upstairs chained to her bed.

"Yes," Patrick said, swallowing hard as he stood there, most likely waiting for Lucifer to take his anger out on him, but tonight his anger belonged to one person and one person only.

"You need to find someone to cover Rebecca's tables," he said, keeping his eyes locked on the woman that had finally spotted him.

"I think she was just trying to help," Patrick said, quickly coming to Rebecca's defense when it became obvious that Lucifer's glare was locked on Rebecca, who just happened to be the staff favorite.

"I'm sure that's it," he drawled while he watched as Rebecca shot him a nervous smile and a wave while she glanced to the front door and then quickly towards the back, obviously debating which exit would save her ass.

Neither one would, but he decided to let her choose her fate.

If she went for the front door he'd head towards the back door, cut her off and explain in great detail what bed rest meant and if she went towards the back then he was just going to put her over his knee and spank her ass until she stopped pulling this shit.

When she shifted to the right, he shifted right along with her. Smile gone now, she narrowed her eyes on him as she slowly shifted to the left. He mimicked the move so she stopped and shifted back to the right. He met the move and cocked a brow in challenge.

Smiling, because she was the only woman in the world that would think that challenging him was a game, she shifted right back to the left and cocked a brow as she waited for him to mimic the move. He did, but then he upped the game by following through with that move. When she realized that he was no longer playing, she gasped, mumbled a quick apology to the customers that she was waiting on and made him realize that he'd missed the third option.

His office.

"Shit!" he snarled, pushing past Patrick, who looked absolutely terrified, and went after the little pain in the ass.

When she saw him, she mouthed an, "Oh, shit!" of her own, ducked beneath a tray being carried and rushed towards his office. He was gaining on her quickly and would have caught her if it hadn't been for one of his waitresses jumping in his path with a wince as she waited for him to tear into her, but he didn't have time for this bullshit.

Not when the love of his life was waiting for him and there was absolutely no doubt in his mind now that he loved her. He loved absolutely everything about this woman from that cocky little grin that she was shooting him to that sad little victory dance that she was doing.

He fucking adored her.

"Please don't kill me, Mr. Bradford!" the waitress squealed as she closed her eyes and cringed, waiting for the yelling to start.

"You're fine," he absently said as he picked her up and moved her out of the way.

"Thank you for not killing me!" she called after him, sounding truly thankful to be alive.

"Oh, crap!" Rebecca said with a wince as she spotted him coming after her.

"Run," he said, taking his time going after her, because there really was no rush. Sooner or later he was going to get his hands on her and they both knew it.

She must have realized it as well, because her cheeks flushed red while she ran her eyes over him, licking her lips and nodded, "Okay."

With that, she turned around and rushed down the hall towards his office. The door had barely managed to shut behind her when he caught up with her. He threw the door open, stepped into his office and with a surprised grunt, he stumbled back against the door, slamming it shut in the process when he suddenly found himself pinned to the door.

"You're supposed to be upstairs," he said as he watched her work his belt loose.

"You were shorthanded," she explained, nibbling on her bottom lip as she focused on the snap of his jeans.

"And how exactly would you know that?" he asked, leaning down so that he could kiss the side of her neck as she pulled his zipper down.

"Because Patrick called upstairs looking for you," she answered as he felt her reach into his pants and-

Made him moan as her fingertips brushed along the underside of his shaft, making it harder than it had been a few seconds ago. Cupping the back of her neck, he angled his head and kissed her, groaning when he felt her warm, soft hand wrap around his cock.

"You have no idea what you do to me," he said, groaning as she pulled him free and ran her hand lightly over his cock.

"Probably the same thing that you do to me," she whispered, smiling as she wrapped her hand around his cock and gave it a slight tug that ripped another groan from him.

"And what do I do to you?" he asked, letting his lips linger against hers and knowing there was no fucking way that he affected her the same way.

She fucking devastated him.

"Everything," she admitted with a smile, giving him one more kiss before she slowly got down on her knees and-

"Oh, fuck," he growled as Rebecca destroyed the fantasy he'd been having about this very thing for the past month.

As she lowered herself to the ground she ran her tongue down the underside of his cock. By the time that her knees touched the floor she'd run her tongue back up his cock and was taking the head into her mouth. Licking his lips, he told himself that he should look away before he lost control, but he just couldn't force himself to listen.

He watched as she slowly, really fucking slowly, took his cock into her mouth. Inch by excruciating inch, he watched as his cock disappeared past those pink lips that had starred in every single fantasy that he'd had about her. When she moaned around his cock all he wanted to do was turn her around, shove her pants down and fuck her hard and fast, but the hands running over his legs kept him right where she wanted him.

"Mercy," he whispered hoarsely, dropping his head back against the door with a soft thud and licking his lips as he couldn't help but wonder if she was about to finally drive him out of his mind. When he felt that warm hand slip beneath his shirt and run over his stomach, he decided that she'd definitely achieved her goal.

"So, lately I've been having this fantasy about you," she said conversationally as she allowed his cock to slip free from her mouth so that she could tease the underside of his cock with the tip of her tongue.

"Oh, yeah?" he managed to ask, matching her tone as he glanced back down to watch as she continued to tease his cock.

"Mmmhmm," she murmured, taking his cock back in her mouth.

"Are you going to tell me about it?" he asked, groaning at the end when she flicked her tongue over the very tip of his cock.

She shrugged it off casually before saying, "I'd thought I'd show you," she said, making him groan as she used his words against him.

"You really are evil," he said with a pained chuckle as she wrapped her hand around his cock.

"You really think so?" she asked, batting her eyes innocently as she stood up and started to walk backwards, keeping her hand firmly wrapped around his cock.

"Absolutely," he said as he allowed her to lead him over to his desk.

Smiling, she kicked off her shoes while she ran her hand over his cock one last time. She placed her free hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss that he was more than happy to return. He was vaguely aware of the sounds of her pants hitting the floor and may have growled when she broke their kiss for five seconds so that she could take her shirt off.

By the time that her shirt hit the floor he had her back in his arms and was kissing her. When she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, his knees nearly buckled when the move made his cock brush against her wet slit.

"This is right around the time that you make my fantasy come true," she said as he pushed forward and slid inside her.

Shifting so that he could slide back inside her, hitting the angle that he knew she loved, he broke off the kiss and touched his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. Everything else faded away as he lost himself in her. All the work that waited for him, the Fire & Brimstone, everyone outside his office door along with the rest of the world just disappeared until the only thing that existed in his world was her.

He thrust inside her as she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. As he leaned back in to kiss her, he wished that they'd managed to take this upstairs to his bed where he could take his time kissing and licking every inch of her body. Christ, what he wouldn't give to run his tongue between her slit again.

"Christopher," she moaned as she threaded her fingers through his hair and took over the kiss, guaranteeing that he wasn't going to last much longer.

When she gasped against his mouth he slowed his thrusts so that every time he slid back inside her, he was able to ground his cock inside her. He slowed their kiss to match his pace, savoring every slide of their tongues, the feel of his cock sliding inside her where her silk walls tightened around him, gripping his cock better than anything ever had before.

He tried to make it last, but a week had been too fucking long to keep his hands off her and Christ, he was never going to be able to keep his fucking hands off her again, but he lost it when she whimpered his name. He held her close, thrusting inside her until he felt her sheath squeeze his cock one last time.

Trying to catch his breath, he kissed her forehead and said, "Run."
Chapter 37

"Run."

As she sat on the edge of the desk, leaning heavily against him while she willed her body to stop trembling even as she wondered if it was too soon to ask him to do that again. That would probably just make her sound greedy, she decided as she tried to sit up on her own, but her extremely satisfied body wasn't having it.

"Are you going to run?" he asked, keeping his arms firmly wrapped around her, which of course would have made it impossible to comply even if she had the energy to move, which she didn't.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," she managed to get out as she gave up on trying to move and resigned herself to another lecture, spanking, glaring match or whatever he had planned for her.

"I need to sit down," he announced with a sigh, understandably alarming her since without him she would probably fall flat on her face.

"Wait!" she gasped as she tried to sit up on her own, but she was still too weak to manage it.

Thankfully, he decided to take her with him, whether it was because he was sympathetic to her current predicament or because he realized that she wasn't capable of letting him go, she didn't know and didn't care. When he sat down on the couch, she settled in more comfortably against him and closed her eyes, still wondering why the inconsiderate bastard hadn't thought of getting a blanket for his office.

Maybe she should steal one of Melanie's precious blankets? she thought as she laid her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes and-

"Since I'm assuming that my father didn't clear you to return to work during the two hours that I was gone, can I assume that you're still supposed to be upstairs pretending to be asleep?" he asked as he dropped his hold on her and settled for resting his hands on her ass.

His obsession with her ass was starting to become a little concerning.

"Patrick needed help," she mumbled sleepily, wondering what he had against post sex naps.

"He had plenty of help," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"You need to put an extra waitress on Saturday nights," she mumbled, shifting to get more comfortable.

He sighed heavily as he shifted beneath her, still keeping his hands on her ass, she drowsily noted as she started to fall asleep, but of course she should have realized that he wasn't quite done yet.

"Since you're obviously feeling better there's no point in hiring anyone new."

"Not for a few weeks at least," she agreed, hoping that this was going to be the end of their little heart to heart. She needed a few minutes of sleep before she had to get dressed and get back out there, but the way that he suddenly went still beneath her told her that it wasn't going to be that simple.

"What happens in a few weeks?"

"You know what happens," she said, not particularly thrilled by the idea of quitting either, but what else was she supposed to do now?

They were serious, or at least, she was serious about him, which meant working for him was no longer an option. She was really going to miss the Fire & Brimstone. She loved working here, loved the staff, the customers and what she did. While most people wouldn't consider being a waitress a career, she did.

She didn't care that she would never get rich doing it. The only thing that mattered to her was that she loved her job. She could care less what anyone else thought about it. She loved working in a restaurant and one day if she was lucky enough, she might get the opportunity to run a restaurant of her very own.

"No," Lucifer said, making her sigh, because she really wasn't in the mood for this argument again.

"Yes," she said, hoping that he'd just let it go.

"Not fucking happening," he said, shaking his head so that his chin gently brushed against the top of her head.

"Can we talk about this later?" she asked, wishing that he'd just let it go.

"No."

Sighing heavily, because she should have known that he was going to make this difficult, she sent a silent apology to her trembling limbs, and carefully climbed off his lap. "I have to get back to work."

"You're not on the schedule tonight," he pointed out evenly as she started searching for her clothes.

"You're short-staffed," she said, grabbing her shirt off the desk only to end up frowning when she realized that her bra wasn't with it.

"Patrick can cover it," he said, while she continued searching for her bra.

"He can't cover my section and run the restaurant," she pointed out while she stood there, nibbling on her bottom lip as she tried to remember what color bra she'd been wearing.

"He'll manage," he said, tucking himself back into his pants as he walked over to the desk. Throwing her a look that told her just how pissed he was, he reached past her and plucked her bra off the computer.

"Look," she said, taking the bra from him and quickly donning it as she glanced around the room for her panties, "I don't want to quit, but-"

"Then don't," he snapped.

Giving up on finding her panties, because they'd apparently fallen off the face of the earth, she grabbed her pants and pulled them on. "It's not that easy and you know it," she said, wondering why he had to make this so difficult when they both knew that she no longer had a choice.

"You're going to quit because you don't want people knowing that you're sleeping with your boss?" he guessed.

"Exactly," she said, pulling her shirt on, glad he finally understood.

For a minute he didn't say anything, he just stared at her in that unnerving way of his making her think that he was going to argue with her, but then he surprised her by stepping away from the door. "If that's what you want, Rebecca, then I'm not going to argue with you."

Relieved, and more than a little surprised that he'd given in so easily, she murmured, "Thank you," with a frown and walked to the door.

"You're welcome," he said, opening the office door for her, further taking her by surprise, because she really hadn't expected him to give up without a fight.

She was relieved that he wasn't going to make this harder than it needed to be, but she was also disappointed that he was letting her go this easily after five years. Where was the loyalty? The adoration?

He could at least pretend that he was going to miss her, she thought with a little pout as she walked past him and headed down the hallway so that she could return to work when all she wanted to do was to turn around, head back to that office and kick the shit out of his shin while she read him the riot act. He might be fine with her leaving, but they both knew that he would never find another waitress like her. She was one in a million and he'd realize that sooner or-

Why was everyone staring at her? she couldn't help but wonder as she stood there watching as several waitresses, busboys, a chef and the bartender along with Patrick were standing there, staring at her like she had two heads. Frowning, she looked down to find everything in order. Her shirt was neatly tucked in, her pants were on right and her shoes-

Oh, shit.

She'd forgotten to put her shoes back on. No big deal. She shrugged it off, because it could have been a lot worse and said, "I threw them at him," expecting them to nod in understanding.

Patrick shot her a horrified look that she thought was a little over the top. "You threw your panties at him?" he asked, sounding horrified as she stood there, telling herself that he hadn't just said what she'd thought he had.

She must have misheard him, because there was no way that...that...why were they all looking to her right? she couldn't help but wonder as she reluctantly followed their gazes even as the tiny hairs on the back on her neck stood up in protest, trying to warn her that she shouldn't look back or waste another precious second standing there. She needed to run away as fast as her still tingling legs would take her, but she couldn't seem to move.

"You left these in my office, sweetheart," Lucifer said, shocking her into silence as he reached around her and gently tucked the matching lavender panties that she hadn't been able to find in her front pocket as he leaned down and kissed her stunned lips.

As he pulled away, she tried to form a coherent sentence, but the only thing that came out was the sound of choked rage. She was going to kick his ass!

He shifted his attention from her to their audience and narrowed his eyes on the terrified group. "Don't you have work to do?" he asked in that cold tone that he was so well known for, managing to break through their shock and had them scurrying away as fast as humanly possibly while she stood there, absolutely amazed that the bastard had finally managed to beat her at her own game.

"Son of a bitch," she said, shaking her head in awe as she found herself turning around and heading for the backstairs where the large bastard had disappeared thirty seconds after he'd fucked her over.
Chapter 38

"Son of a bitch!" he heard the lovely shout accompanied by the sound of what he assumed was his apartment door slamming shut.

"Wow, she sounds mad," Melanie said from the next room.

"I can't imagine why," he drawled as he stole Rebecca's pillow and shoved it behind his head, deciding that he might as well be comfortable during his last moments alive.

"What did you do?" the ever nosy woman asked with absolutely no shame, making him chuckle.

"Leveled the playing field," he said, knowing that his partner in crime would understand.

"She's going to kill you."

"Probably," he said, unconcerned over his impending doom.

"You!" Rebecca said, choking out that one word as she stood in her doorway, glaring at him in a way that told him that his balls might very well be in danger this very night.

"Yes, my love?" he said with a smile, simply to piss the woman off to return the favor.

"You," she repeated, since that was obviously all she could manage at the moment.

"Is something amiss, my love?" he asked, copying that innocent expression that she'd used on him a hundred times over.

"You had no right," she finally managed to get out.

"And what exactly didn't I have a right to do, hmm?"

"You know what you did!" she snapped, quickly losing her temper once again and giving him such joy, because it was rather nice to see the tables turned on her for once.

"I don't!" their audience yelled.

"The bastard just made sure that everyone downstairs knew that we were sleeping together!" Rebecca snapped with a glare to emphasize her words.

"Oh," came the reply, which apparently wasn't the reaction that Rebecca had expected.

"What the hell do you mean by 'oh?'" she demanded, shifting her glare from him to the wall.

"I think they already knew," Melanie said, making him frown, because there was no way in hell that anyone outside this little trio and his family knew about them. They'd been careful to keep a professional relationship when they were at work. There was no fucking way that anyone had found out about them.

None.

"Well," Melanie said, suddenly appearing by Rebecca's side in the doorway, "I believe they found out about a month ago when Patrick asked Jon to help some of the waitresses take out the trash. They spotted the two of you going at it in the truck like the sick perverts that you are," she explained with a shrug.

"No freaking way!" Rebecca gasped, giving up on glaring at him to shoot her best friend a pleading look. "Please tell me that you're kidding."

"Sorry. Can't do that," Melanie said, shooting him a curious look while he sat there, digesting everything that she'd just said.

"And when were you going to tell me?" Rebecca demanded, reaching over to flick Melanie's arm.

"Ow! What the hell? I just found out about it a few days ago!" Melanie snapped as she rubbed her sore arm.

They knew, had known for a little more than a month now, he realized, which meant...

"There goes your reason for quitting," he said with a satisfied smile, because it looked like she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

*-*-*-*

"Do you think that you could ask Mr. Bradford if I could have next weekend off?" Marcy asked instead of helping her fill the salt and peppershakers like she was supposed to be doing.

"Why can't you ask him yourself?" she asked, pointedly placing an empty saltshaker in front of the woman, who was too busy standing there doing absolutely nothing.

"Figured that I would have a better chance of getting the time off if you asked," she said with a shrug as she picked up the saltshaker and absently toyed with it instead of filling it up and pissing Rebecca off, not only because she was once again getting stuck doing all the work, but because this was the ninth time that she had to deal with this bullshit today.

Everyone, and she meant everyone, had found a way to corner her this morning to ask her for a favor like she had some magical power to control their fate now that she was dating Lucifer. They'd hinted around for what they wanted and when that didn't work, and it didn't, they tried to give her some bullshit sob story to manipulate her into asking Lucifer for time off, to switch their shifts and, of course, for a raise.

When they weren't trying to get her to do their dirty work, they were ignoring her, which was just the best time ever. Yup, there really was nothing like being ignored by the people that she'd busted her ass with for the last five years. Whenever they saw her, they would walk away, pretend to suddenly find cleaning tables and counters interesting or acted like she wasn't there. Dating the boss was the best, she thought dryly as she popped the bottom off another saltshaker and began filling it.

"Will you ask him?" Marcy asked as she continued to toy with the saltshaker.

"No," she said, not even bothering to explain herself as she placed the saltshaker that she'd been working on back on the table and walked away, leaving Marcy to do the chore herself because she'd had enough for one day.

She'd told Lucifer that this wasn't going to work out, but the stubborn bastard had insisted that she give it a chance. The only reason that she'd gone along with it was that up until now, the rest of the staff hadn't acted differently since they'd found out. Apparently they'd been waiting for the news of their relationship to become public before deciding to pounce on her.

"Are the salt and peppershakers filled?" Adam, the supervisor who she normally avoided working with because he was an asshole, asked as she walked past him, reminding her of the other problem she'd been having today.

She'd been there longer than any of the other staff, which normally granted her the freedom to decide what needed to be done, when it needed to be done as well as working the best section in the dining room. All those perks were gone now, because Adam, the real asshole of the Fire & Brimstone, had been on her ass all morning, letting her know that he wasn't happy.

She'd barely punched in when Adam was chewing her out for punching in a minute late. While he was screaming at her in front of the rest of the staff he'd failed to remember that he'd been standing in front of the clock, blocking her from punching in on time. When she'd pointed that out, he'd snapped at her and told her to go pick up the trash in the parking lot. It wasn't part of her job, but she'd needed to leave before she said something she would regret.

When she came back inside, he'd told her to go scrub the ovens, which also wasn't her job. She was a waitress, not an hourly wage employee and he seemed to have forgotten that, but she hadn't. She fully planned on putting in for those hours at the busboy rate, which was ten dollars an hour. At least that's what she told herself when he made her scrub the windows, clean the sinks at the bar, fill the ketchup bottles, do dishes for an hour, scrub the bar stools, and finally, fill the salt and peppershakers, which was Marcy's job.

She'd considered telling Lucifer what was going on, but she wasn't a snitch and she also wasn't going to run crying to her boyfriend every time someone treated her like crap. Instead, she was going to be that girlfriend that quit and found another job.

"Did you fill the shakers or not?" Adam snapped when she kept walking.

"Nope," she said, fully intending to go upstairs where she could feel sorry for herself in private, but Adam had other plans in mind, plans that included getting in her face and yelling at the top of his lungs, announcing to one and all that she wasn't going to get special treatment for fucking the owner and ensuring that her resignation was going to be memorable.
Chapter 39

"Oh, shit!" was his first clue that something wasn't quite right at the Fire & Brimstone this morning. The sound of several people running past his door and someone screaming, "She's going to kill him!" told him that he might want to see what was going on.

"Eat it, bitch!" he heard Rebecca, and why was he not surprised, yell.

That of course was followed by, "Get her off me! Please, someone get her off me!"

Sighing heavily, because this really was the last thing that he needed today, he walked into the dining room and found his girlfriend trying to shove a saltshaker down his supervisor's throat while two old women, an old man, three waitresses and Jon were either trying to join in and beat the shit out of Adam.

Okay, so he was pretty sure that Jon was the only one trying to put an end to this since everyone else seemed determined to get their hands on Adam. When the old woman shifted her walker so that she could kick Adam in his side while yelling, "You horrid man!" he decided that it was time to put an end to this.

Sighing, he walked over, grabbed Rebecca and threw her over his shoulder, but of course, she wasn't done.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again, you prick!" she yelled, making everything in him go still, because Rebecca didn't waste her time or energy in getting mad like this, not when she could get even.

"What did he say to you?" he asked softly.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter. Just let me down," she said, trying to push off him, which also wasn't something that she normally did.

Nodding, because that's really all he needed to know. He carefully placed Rebecca down on her feet, turned around and helped Adam to his feet. When Adam opened his mouth, either to bitch him out about Rebecca or thank him for helping him up, he shoved him towards the door.

"What the hell?" Adam asked, stumbling back and before he could right himself, Lucifer was there, giving him another shove and then another until Adam was stumbling back into the parking lot where several of his cousins and brothers were standing around, having a cup of coffee and looking genuinely surprised to see him shoving one of his employees around.

"You get one chance to tell me what you said to her," Lucifer said, giving Adam another shove.

"She's fucking insane!" Adam yelled, gesturing angrily towards the building where Rebecca was probably being restrained.

Nodding, Lucifer punched him, knocking him to the ground. "What did you say to her?" he asked, his tone never changing as he grabbed Adam by the shirt and yanked him back to his feet. As soon as he was back on his feet, Lucifer shoved him back again.

"What's going on?" Jason asked as his family walked over to see what was going on, but Lucifer ignored him and focused on the asshole shifting nervously in front of him.

"What did you say to her?"

"She wasn't doing her job so I had a word with her. That's it!" Adam said, holding his hands up in front of him as he stumbled to get out of the way of Lucifer's next punch, but he didn't move fast enough.

Grabbing Adam by the shirt, he calmly picked him back up and shoved him before giving him another chance to tell him why Rebecca was upset.

"What did you say to her?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Adam yelled, wiping the blood off his chin with the back of his hand as he stumbled back.

"What did you say to her?" he asked, moving to go after him when Rebecca jumped between them and pushed him back.

"It's fine! I quit! He was an asshole. It's over now," she said, placing her hand on his chest as though that was going to stop him.

"What did you say to her?" he asked, gently pushing her hand away so that he could step around her and go after the little prick.

"I-" Adam choked out, shooting a desperate look at the crowd that was now gathering around them.

"He called me a whore. Happy now?" Rebecca said, shaking her head in disgust as she pushed past him and stormed off past the onlookers glaring at Adam.

"I'm sorry!" Adam shouted, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry!"

Grinding his teeth together, Lucifer nodded as he glanced back in time to see Rebecca push past Jon and head back inside. As much as he wanted to tear Adam apart with his bare hands, he couldn't, not with Rebecca this upset. So, it was with real regret that he followed after her.

"What did you call her?" he heard Jason drawl as he stepped inside, letting him know that the problem was being handled.

"I never liked him," the little old woman that had kicked the shit out of Adam's arm said with a huff as she shuffled past him slowly with her walker.

"Me neither," he absently agreed as he searched for the short, pissed off woman and when he didn't find her, he swore and took off across the dining area.

He checked his office, hoping to find her in there, ranting about Adam, but she wasn't there. Cursing, he quickly checked the back parking lot and made sure that her car was still in its parking spot before he ran upstairs. When he didn't find her in her apartment, he sighed with relief because that meant that she was in his apartment, which he was taking as a good sign.

Already knowing where he was going to find her, he shut the door behind him and headed towards the bathroom, taking his clothes off as he went. When he opened the bathroom door, he nearly smiled when he spotted her standing in his shower with her arms folded over her chest and glaring at the wall.

Stepping in the shower, he tried to figure out what to say to make this right, but since he had no fucking clue how he'd screwed this one up, he settled for stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. He didn't say anything and neither did she, but he knew that wouldn't last long.

Sooner or later they were going to have to talk, but until that time came, he was going to hold her. They stood there for a long time before Rebecca reached over and shut the water off. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around herself and walked out of the bathroom, leaving him standing there trying to decide how he was supposed to handle this. He didn't know if he should approach her as her boss or her boyfriend, making him finally realize why Rebecca had been so dead set against working together.

Fucking hell.

He should have listened to her. Not that he thought that she was right, because she wasn't, but because he shouldn't have been so fucking naïve to think that things weren't going to change for her. He also should have fired that prick a long time ago, but he'd never really pissed him off until today.

"Rebecca," he said, not one to put this off and deciding that he would play it by ear.

If she wanted to have this handled as her boss then he would do that, figure out how to fix this and make sure that it never happened again. But, if she wanted him to handle this like her boyfriend, then he would go find that little prick and beat the shit out of him. Then again, knowing his family he would probably have to wait until Adam was released from the hospital before he got another chance.

"Do you mind if I pick the movie?" she asked when he stepped into the living room to find her laying on the couch beneath the blanket he kept there for her and her towel discarded ten feet away.

"I think we should talk," he said, walking over to the couch.

Sighing softly, she rolled over onto her stomach and folded her arms beneath her head so that she could lay on her stomach comfortably as she scrolled through the movie guide. "I don't think there's really much to talk about, do you? I told you that continuing to work for you was a bad idea and I was right. Your supervisor thought that I was screwing you for special treatment, got pissed and tried to make an example out of me. I quit. You beat the shit out of him and now we have one less complication," she said with a shrug. "There's really nothing to talk about."

"You're not quitting," he said, pulling his towel free and tossing it aside.

"I just did," she pointed out as she flicked through a list of zombie movies that were guaranteed to make him fall asleep.

"No," he said, lifting the blanket to reveal her beautiful body to his greedy eyes, "you really didn't."
Chapter 40

"I quit," she said, wondering why he was having such a hard time accepting her decision to move on and find a new job. It wasn't like she was breaking up with him or anything. She was just going to start spending eight to twelve hours a day doing something other than drive him crazy from now on. They'd still see each other, but not as much and maybe that was for the best.

That was actually one of the reasons that she'd decided to quit in the first place. She didn't want to destroy whatever was happening between them because they were spending too much time together. She wanted to give him his space and if that meant finding a new job, then that was exactly what she was going to do. Instead of doing what she'd wanted, she'd foolishly let his killer smile and the way he touched her body convince her to stay.

Then again, in his defense she really hadn't thought that it was going to turn out this badly. She'd thought she'd have to deal with constantly being asked if she'd lost her goddamn mind or people watching what they said around her. What she hadn't expected was all the bullshit that had gone down today.

People sucked, she decided as she lay there, scrolling through a list of titles and not really caring what she watched as long as it got her mind off of things for a while. When she felt Lucifer lift the blanket off her, she sighed, because she really wasn't in the mood for company.

Okay, granted this was his apartment, but she figured with Adam being fired and all that the Fire & Brimstone would keep him busy for a few hours. To be honest, she was actually looking forward to having a small reprieve from the argument that she knew was coming.

"Shouldn't you be downstairs?" she asked, hoping that it would be enough to buy her a few hours of peace.

"I'm sure Jon has it all under control," he murmured as he placed the blanket on the couch next to her, taking her by surprise because the Fire & Brimstone was his baby.

"There's probably a lot angry customers," she pointed out as Lucifer kneeled beside the couch.

"I'm sure that Jon can handle them."

She opened her mouth to..to...okay, she had absolutely no idea what she was going to say, not when Lucifer was giving her the most incredible body massage that she'd ever experienced. Not that she'd experienced many, but she was sure that even with her limited knowledge of body massages that the massage that he was giving her was incredible.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he ran his hands down to the small of her back.

"I'm fine," she said, because really, what else could she say?

She was pissed and embarrassed over what just happened, but she was also depressed about her decision to find a new job, but that was just a given. There was nothing that she could do to change what just happened and she wasn't willing to give Lucifer up to keep her job so she kept it to herself, closed her eyes and lost herself to Lucifer's touch.

"Are you still determined to quit?" he asked conversationally as his hands moved over her bottom.

"Are you going to start an argument if I say yes?" she asked as he continued to rub her bottom.

"No," he said, taking his time to gently massage both cheeks, "but, I thought that we could negotiate the terms of your quitting."

"Why exactly are there conditions to me quitting?" she asked as he continued to-

"Seriously, what is with your obsession with my ass?" she demanded, because it was really starting to concern her.

"It soothes me," he said seconds before she felt his lips brush against her left cheek.

"My ass soothes you?" she asked, rolling her eyes, because this was just too much.

"Yes," he said, pressing a kiss to her other cheek.

"Your conditions?" she asked, hoping to distract him from his obsession, but not from the body massage because she'd probably kill him if he stopped that.

"Just one really," he said, returning to his duties as her own personal masseuse.

"And that is?"

"That if you don't find a job within two weeks that you come back to work at the Fire & Brimstone," he said, sounding completely reasonable as he moved onto her legs.

"I'll find a job," she said, shifting her legs apart to grant him better access when his hands slid down to her thighs and began focusing his attention on rubbing the tension out of her legs.

"But if you don't..." he said, letting his words trail off as his hands skimmed over her inner thighs, up to her bottom and down again, sending a delicious shiver through her body.

"I will," she said, trying to focus, but it was a tad bit difficult with Lucifer running his very talented hands all over her.

"But," he began, only to pause so that he lean down and press a kiss against the small of her back, "if you don't find a job within two weeks then you'll come back."

She sighed.

Well, she tried to sigh, but what came out was something between a mutilated groan and a moan as Lucifer lightly ran his hands down over her bottom, between her legs and back over her thighs. For several minutes, she laid there, trying to remember what he'd just said, but the way he ran his hands over her body made it impossible to focus.

"So, we have a deal?" he asked just as his fingertips skimmed between her legs while they made their way back down her thighs, further distracting her.

A deal?

What the hell were they talking about? she wondered, further spreading her legs apart in an effort to help him and not because she was some big slut or anything.

"Two weeks?" he asked, kissing the small of her back as his fingertips traced her slit.

Biting her lip, she forced herself to focus, because this was important. Very important, she told herself as he continued to brush his lips against the small of her back. He was a sneaky bastard, she realized with a smile. Fortunately for him, she rather liked that about him, but then again, so was she.

Sneaky that is, and not the bastard part.

Biting her lip to hide her smile, she turned over, forcing him to lean back and take his hand away. Once she was on her back, she said, "Three weeks," deciding that the best way to handle him was to make a counteroffer.

"Two," he said, not missing a beat as one of his hands returned to massaging her inner thigh.

"Four," she said, comforted in the knowledge that she would most likely have a job by then.

"Two," he said, leaning down to kiss her.

"Four," she said against his lips, smiling when she felt his hand press down against her mound.

"Fine. Three," he said, kissing her bottom lip as she felt one of his long, thick fingers slide between her slit.

"Four," she said, standing her ground, because that was the only way to deal with a man like Lucifer.

"Fine. Four," he conceded, kissing her chin as he slid that finger deep inside her.

"And then you'll accept my decision to quit?" she asked as she reached down and wrapped her hand around the large erection that needed her attention.

"Absolutely," he promised with a smile that she didn't quite trust, but as long as he kept his word and gave her four weeks to find another job she was willing to pretend to negotiate anything he wanted.
Chapter 41

One somewhat depressing week later...

"Time to get up," Lucifer, the surprisingly chipper bastard, said as he gave her bottom a playful slap.

"Ow," she said hollowly as she lay there trying to find the willpower to get out of bed and go through the hell that was now her life.

"Where are you going today?" he asked, pressing a kiss against her shoulder as he curled his body around hers and pulled her closer until that monstrous cock of his was pressed against her bottom.

Normally that would have been enough to make her smile, but after the depressing week that she'd had, she wasn't sure that she could manage a smile this early in the morning without drugs being involved. Thankfully, he couldn't see her face so she didn't bother trying to fake a smile this morning.

"Around," she said, shrugging as she lay there, trying to find the willpower to get up and face another day of filling out applications, dropping her resume off anywhere that had a "Help Wanted" sign and staring at her phone, waiting for calls that never came.

"Have you applied with my uncle or sister-in-law?"

"I'm doing that today," she said, still a little unnerved by how helpful he was being in all this. He still wanted her to come back, which comforted her, but he was also going out of his way to support her in finding a new job, which was actually starting to terrify her.

When he'd suggested his two-week proposal she'd expected him to do everything within his power to ensure that she didn't find another job. She'd expected pouting, a possible offer of a raise and sex, a lot of sex, to get her to change her mind. Well, she still got plenty of sex, but he hadn't offered her a raise, pouted or even tried talking her into coming back.

Instead, he went through the want ads every morning, circling the jobs that he thought that she might like, helped her with her resume and even made her a large breakfast to give her the energy that she was going to need to face another day of rejections. Every day when she came home to stare at her phone, he would check on her, bring her a snack and make sure that she had plenty of Coke and Hershey Kisses to get her through the night. When it became clear that no one was going to call her, he would take her for a walk, make her dinner or just hold her in the shower before ending the night making love to her and making her forget about everything around her.

He really was being so sweet about this, which made her feel like the heartless bitch that she was. It was also making her second guess her decision to quit. He was doing everything he could to make this work and here she was having a pity party for herself and putting in applications for jobs that she didn't want. She didn't want a new job with new people and a new boss that wouldn't be as much fun to annoy as Lucifer had been. She wanted to go back to the Fire & Brimstone and get her old job back with the judgmental bitches that she missed so much.

As much as she wanted her job back, she couldn't seem to find the willpower to suck up her pride and ask for it back. She couldn't remember ever being this miserable. Her and her stupid pride, she thought with a pout as she felt Lucifer's large, warm hand mold itself to her breast.

"Have I told you how much I like waking up with you in my bed?" he asked, kissing her shoulder and adding to her misery.

"Yes," she said, close to crying, because he really was so sweet and she...she...

Oh, let's face it, compared to him she was a heartless bitch!

"Are you pouting again?" he asked, chuckling.

"Yes," she mumbled even as she raised her leg to give him better access when she felt that large cock of his push against her slit.

She was mildly depressed, not dead after all so when the incredibly hot man that she loved offered her the use of his large cock she did the polite thing and graciously accepted his offer. Moaning, she closed her eyes and lost herself to his touch, the feel of his hand on her breast, his lips on her neck and the way that he felt as he slid inside her. There really was no better way to wake up, she thought as she reached back and placed her hand on his hip, hoping that he would never stop.

"You feel so good," he whispered as he continued to slowly take her.

Smiling, she turned her head and waited for him to take the hint and kiss her. When his lips touched hers, she decided that maybe things would be better today. At the very least, it was off to a great start.

*-*-*-*

"But-"

"But, what?" Lucifer asked the waitress trying to bullshit her way out of covering section one, the slowest section in the dining room.

Licking her lips nervously, she shifted anxiously in her chair as the rest of his employees did their best not to draw his attention. He kept his glare leveled on her, waiting for her to keep trying to bullshit her way out of working section one while trying to simultaneously take section eight, the best section, which was coincidentally Rebecca's section.

When he'd first opened the Fire & Brimstone the roles had been reversed and section eight had been the section that everyone hated to get stuck with until the day that he'd hired Rebecca. He'd assigned her that section, figuring that she couldn't do much damage with it and over time she'd surprised him. Within a few months the regulars started asking to be seated in her section. They all knew her, loved her and missed her.

They wanted her back and made sure that he knew it each and every single day. The only reason that they hadn't tried to drag her back themselves was because he'd promised them that he was on top of things. He'd asked them to give him a month, but he knew that it wouldn't be too much longer before Rebecca came back with that mischievous little smile of hers and took up the reins once again.

"I miss Rebecca," one of the waitresses mumbled, which normally would have pissed him off, but since it let him know just how miserable his staff was without her, he let it pass.

Well, he let it pass without making her cry.

"Then perhaps you shouldn't have treated her like shit," he drawled as he glanced down at the clipboard in his hands.

When she didn't say anything, he took that as a win. They knew they'd fucked up by treating her like shit and now they were paying for it. Then again, they were also seriously contemplating quitting because Rebecca wasn't here to act as a buffer between him and the staff any longer. For the first time in five years they were on the receiving end of his full temper.

A few days ago they'd realized just how important Rebecca had been in keeping his control issues in check, and so had he. Rebecca had annoyed him, teased him and driven him out of his fucking mind while taking the brunt of his attention so that he didn't drive his staff insane. Now that she was gone, temporarily, they realized just how important she was.

They also missed her and regretted their bullshit treatment of her. He knew that much from overhearing them talk anytime he walked past the break room. They'd made an assumption about their relationship and not only had it bitten them in the ass, but it had almost cost them a valuable friendship. He said almost because he knew that over the past couple of days they'd all taken turns sneaking off to apologize to her and begged her to return.

Since it helped with his end game, he allowed it, but once she came back he was going to have to make sure that they understand that he didn't give second chances.

"Mr. Bradford?" Jon, his newly promoted supervisor, said, getting his attention. "There's another one on hold for you."

Nodding, he held the clipboard out to Jon and ignored the collective sigh of relief. "Can you take over?" he asked, shooting a glare at his staff that looked a little too happy to see him go.

"Yes," Jon said, stepping into the room to take over.

Promoting Jon had been a good idea, he decided as he walked to his office. He was well respected among the staff and was a fair man. He was also more liked than Adam had been.

Closing the door behind him, he sat down behind his desk and picked up the phone. "Can I help you?"

"Is this Mr. Bradford?" the woman on the other line asked.

"Yes, it is. How can I help you?" he said, sighing as he leaned back in his chair.

"I'm calling for a reference for one of your employees, a Miss Rebecca Shaw. Do you have a moment to answer some questions?"

Smiling, he answered, "Yes, yes I do."
Chapter 42

"Mind moving your fat ass off my notebook?" Melanie asked around a bite of Hostess chocolate pie.

Sighing heavily, Rebecca shifted to the side, grabbed the notebook and threw it at the insensitive bitch.

"Thanks!" Melanie said cheerfully as she leaned over and picked the notebook off the floor where it had landed after hitting her in the arm.

"You're welcome," she muttered moodily, knowing that she was being a bitch and not really caring.

"No luck today?" Melanie asked, finishing off the last bite of her delicious looking pie and making Rebecca hate her to the very core of her soul.

She really missed being able to binge on junk food during times like this.

"No," she said, still wondering what she was doing wrong.

She knew that her resume wasn't going to land her a position as a CEO, but it should have been enough to land her a few interviews. So far, she hadn't received one single call and she doubted that today would be any different.

"You could always work for me," Melanie said, offering her a pity job, which was sweet.

"You don't need me," she reminded her annoyingly helpful best friend as she picked up the remote and selected an oldie but goodie.

"Nightmare on Elm Street? Really?" Melanie asked, shaking her head in disgust as she grabbed another Hostess pie and took a bite.

"I need it," Rebecca muttered pathetically as she sat back and settled in for a long night of pretending that she wasn't staring at her phone and waiting for it to ring.

"Why don't you just go back to work for Lucifer? We both know that's what you want," the know-it-all-bitch said as she devoured her pie.

"Because..."

"Because, why?" Melanie asked a bit distractedly as she searched the empty wrappers on the coffee table for another pie.

"Just because," she said, in no mood to get into this argument again.

"Because you're a stubborn bitch with too much pride and not enough common sense to realize that you'll never be happy anywhere else?" Melanie said, earning a furious glare.

"I really hate you," she said, deciding that if Melanie managed to find another pie that she was going to take it from her and stomp the shit out of it.

"You love me and you know it," Melanie said with a sigh and a shrug as she gave up on her search for more junk food and returned her attention to her laptop.

"You're lucky that I do," she said as she glanced down at her phone and felt her stomach sink when she saw that she didn't have any missed calls.

"That's what I tell myself everyday," Melanie said with a smile and a wink for the sole purpose of trying to make her forget that no one was calling.

Feeling even more depressed than she had this morning, she tossed her phone aside and forced her lazy ass to get up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Let me know if anyone calls."

"Will do," Melanie mumbled, already lost in whatever code she was working on.

Deciding that tonight's theme was going to be self-pity, she stepped over Mojo, who had fallen asleep by her feet in the hopes that Melanie would share her junk food with him, and walked to the bathroom, replaying all the conversations that she'd had today in her head. She'd been polite, smiled and had taken her time filling out all the applications. So, why wasn't anyone calling her?

Shutting the bathroom door behind her, she walked over to the sink, looked at her reflection in the mirror and-

Screamed somewhat hysterically.

*-*-*-*

"Could I ask you a few questions about Rebecca Shaw?"

He sighed heavily for effect. "I don't think my wife would like me talking about her. Not with the trial around the corner."

"I'm sorry?" came the confused response after a heavy pause.

"So am I, but if you're calling about getting me to drop the charges I'm afraid that you're out of luck. My wife is determined to see this thing through."

"I-I'm just calling for a reference."

"That's how it starts. She comes in with this adorable little smile, neatly typed resume and then before you know it you're trying to remember the safe word and hoping that your wife doesn't figure out where all the olive oil is going," he said as he scrolled through next week's schedule, seeing if any changes needed to be made.

"I think I'm going to hang up now," Rebecca's latest interested job prospect whispered nervously.

"It's probably for the best," he agreed, clicking Save.

Satisfied that he'd saved Rebecca from making a terrible mistake, he pushed his chair back and left his office. It was time to check on the stubborn woman and make sure that she hadn't been offered any jobs on the spot, because if she had then he was going to have to figure out a way to get her fired before her first day.

So far today he'd helped her dodge five-prospective jobs. He wasn't counting the jobs that he'd threatened his relatives not to give her. They knew better then to do something that would encourage him to focus his attention on them. While Uncle Jared would normally take any threat of revenge as a challenge, he knew exactly what Lucifer was capable of. While most of his brothers and cousins would try to annoy the shit out their uncle, he usually took the more subtle route and found a way to turn someone's life upside down to the point where his intended victim would start to wonder if they were going insane.

He didn't take shortcuts, not like his cousins. When he did something, he gave it his all and his uncle knew that. Which was why...

Was that screaming?

"Shit!" he snapped as he hurried up the stairs and ran straight for her apartment door. He didn't bother knocking since it was never locked these days. He swore if that fucking dog knocked Rebecca on her adorable ass one more time that he was going to-

"Stop screaming!" Melanie screamed.

"What the hell do you mean stop screaming?" Rebecca screamed back.

"Because you're freaking me out!"

"Freaking you out? Are you insane, woman? What the hell do you expect me to do?" Rebecca shouted, hysterically.

"I don't know!" Melanie shouted back right around the time that he stepped up behind her in the bathroom doorway.

"You don't know?" Rebecca demanded, waving around a thick white stick. "Of course I'm going to freak out!"

"What the hell is going on?" he heard himself asking, barely noticing that both women had gone completely still or that Mojo had joined them. The only thing that he knew was that he was looking at a pregnancy test.

Swallowing hard, he said the only thing that he could think of, "Rebecca?"

"Hmm?" she said, still holding that stick up in the air.

"Is that positive?" he managed to get out as he was forced to reach out and grab onto the doorway when black spots began dancing along his vision.

"What's this now?" she asked with a frown.

"Oh, god," came Melanie's muffled response as she buried her face in her hands and leaned back against the door.

"The test...," he said, wondering when breathing had become so difficult, "is it positive?"

"Oh," she said, blinking as she glanced at the test that she was holding in her hand. "Umm, no?" she said, lowering her hand and trying to discretely toss it in the trash, but she had terrible aim.

"Damn it!"

It hit the rim of the trashcan, bounced back and landed on the floor between them. Swallowing hard, he looked down at the test and clenched his jaw tightly shut.

Positive.
Chapter 43

"What's he doing now?" Melanie whispered, hiding behind her as Rebecca cracked open the bathroom door a little wider and stuck her head out the door.

"Still ransacking my room," she whispered back.

"Why is he ransacking your room?" Melanie asked, making her roll her eyes.

"How the hell would I know?" she asked, seconds before she was forced to shove Melanie back when Lucifer suddenly stormed out of her room, so that she could shut the bathroom door shut and lock it.

"This is bad," Melanie mumbled, stating the obvious.

Sometime in the last twenty minutes of so, her boyfriend had lost his damn mind. As soon as he saw the positive test result he'd nodded to himself several times, went pale, kind of wavered on his feet a bit there, mumbled something about New Hampshire and stormed off, kind of freaking them out a bit. Since that special moment that terrified them to their very being, he'd gone a little...nuts. When he wasn't tearing apart her room, he was raiding their kitchen, and mumbling something about needing "sustenance," with the help of Mojo, the little traitor that she'd once considered her sweet little baby.

Speaking of baby...

She folded her arms over her chest, turned around to face the woman that had started it all, cocked a brow and said, "Explain."

Melanie worried her bottom lip as she said, "I can't."

"Yeah, you really can."

"I really can't," Melanie said, leaning back against the counter.

"Oh, I really think you can," she said, narrowing her eyes on the woman that had broken her boyfriend, a job that was rightfully hers.

Looking down at her feet, Melanie shook her head. "I really can't."

"He thinks I'm pregnant, Melanie," she reminded her.

"I know," Melanie said, sounding absolutely miserable.

"So, start talking," Rebecca said, guessing that they had ten minutes before Lucifer broke this door down and took his mental breakdown to the next level.

"There's nothing to talk about," Melanie said, and as much as she hated pushing her best friend to talk about something before she was ready, right now she didn't have a choice.

"That pregnancy test says otherwise," she said, leaning back against the door. "Who's the father?"

"I'm not ready to talk about that."

"I didn't even know that you were dating someone," Rebecca said, listening as Lucifer stormed past the bathroom and headed back to her room. The sounds of Mojo following after him followed a few seconds later.

"I'm not," Melanie said, shaking her head. "It was a one time thing. I haven't even spoken to him since it happened."

She digested that for a minute before asking, "Are you going to tell him?"

"When I'm ready," Melanie said, and she didn't have to ask if she was going to keep the baby. There were just some things that you didn't have to talk about when it came to your best friend.

"I'm going to have to tell Lucifer," she said, sighing when she heard what sounded like him tearing through her bureau. She had absolutely no clue what he was looking for, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"I know," Melanie said, quietly.

"You know I'm here when you're ready to talk, right?" she said, reminding Melanie that she was always going to be there for her even though it was a given.

Melanie looked up at her and blinked. "Is this our Hallmark moment?"

"It is," Rebecca said, sighing heavily.

"Should we get a cup of tea, hold each other and cry with Michael Bolton playing in the background?"

"We should," Rebecca said, solemnly.

Laughing, Melanie pushed away from the sink and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you."

"You should be," she said, returning the hug. "Are you happy?"

"Terrified," Melanie admitted with a nervous chuckle, "but yeah, I'm excited about this even though it doesn't feel real yet."

"Well, it's not going to until you're the size of a whale," Rebecca pointed out, because she was just that helpful.

"Bitch," Melanie said, laughing as she playfully pushed her away.

"Whore," Rebecca said, sighing heavily as they returned their attention to the locked door.

"Takes one to know one," Melanie said, grabbing her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Will you go with me when I visit him in the insane asylum?" she asked.

"No," Melanie said, shaking her head slowly as she released her hand so that she could push Rebecca towards the door.

"Bitch," she said, sighing as she reluctantly unlocked the door, knowing that it was for the best if she explained everything to Lucifer before it was too late.

Opening the door, she took a deep breath and-

"Who's the father?" Lucifer demanded, looking incredibly pissed.

*-*-*-*

"I'm sorry. What's this now?" Rebecca asked, shifting a nervous glance to her partner in crime.

Glaring at Melanie, he repeated himself, "Who's the father?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rebecca, always the faithful friend, asked as she came to Melanie's defense.

He gestured to the walls and reminded them, "Paper thin walls."

Rebecca shrugged as she pushed past him, or at least tried to, but he wasn't quite done. "Congratulations," he said to Melanie, but his eyes were locked on Rebecca.

"Um, thank you?" Melanie said, shifting nervously. "Is there any chance that I can leave?"

"Are you going to tell me who the father is so that I can beat the shit out of him?" he asked, never taking his eyes off Rebecca, who was now glaring at him.

"That's sweet, but no. I can handle this one on my own," Melanie said, sighing with relief when he nodded and moved aside so that she could leave. Once she was gone, he stepped inside the bathroom, giving Rebecca no other choice but to step back so that he could close the door behind him and lock it.

"Is there a reason that you're keeping me hostage in my bathroom or is this part of your nervous breakdown?" she asked with a glare that most likely matched his own.

"It's most likely part of my nervous breakdown," he admitted, shifting his attention to the medicine cabinet.

"What exactly are you looking for?" she asked as he searched for the one thing that would return his sanity.

"I'll let you know when I find it," he said, shutting the medicine cabinet and shifted his attention to the drawers beneath the sink.

"If you're looking for antipsychotic medication, you're out of luck. I crushed the last pill up this morning and sprinkled it on my gluten free Cheerios," she said, dryly while he struggled to keep it together.

"Smartass," he said absently as he pushed aside a box of tampons and-

Sighed when he found what he was looking for. Grabbing the pink box, he shut the drawer and forced himself to breathe. Licking his lips, he turned around and held the box out to her.

"I'm going to need you to do this," he said, holding the pregnancy test out to Rebecca, who cut him some slack and took the test from him without an argument.

"I'm not pregnant," she said with a helpless shrug.

"Then you won't mind taking this test," he said, opening the bathroom door and stepping out into the hallway when all he wanted to do was stay with her, but he knew that she would just kick his ass if he tried that shit.

"I'm not pregnant!" she yelled through the door.

"Take the test, woman!" he yelled back, rubbing his hands down his face as he stood there, trying to figure out how he was going to handle this if that test came back positive.

"Fine!"

"She's on the pill," Melanie said as she walked past him, carrying a bag of candy bars with her.

He already knew that, but he needed to make sure that everything was fine. Seeing that pregnancy test in her hand had fucking terrified him, because he wasn't ready for this. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to be with Rebecca and that he would do the right thing if the test came back positive, but a baby?

"It's going to be negative," Rebecca said in a singsong voice as she opened the door and strolled towards her bedroom.

He hoped like hell that she was right, because he wasn't sure that they were ready for a baby. They'd only been together for a few months and he knew that it probably made him an asshole, but he'd been hoping to have more time with her before he had to share her.

Rubbing his hands down his face, he pushed away from the door and walked into the bathroom, deciding that there was no point in putting this off. The closer he got to that white stick on the counter, the heavier his legs felt.

She was on birth control, he reminded himself as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. They were going to have to start using condoms, he decided as he took another deep breath. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at the eight letters flashing on the small screen telling him that he didn't need to worry about buying condoms anymore.
Chapter 44

"So, what exactly were you trying to achieve by tearing my room apart?" she asked as she looked around at the mess that was her room and really wished that she could blame him for it, but sadly, it seemed as though he'd cleaned up whatever mess he'd caused as he'd torn through her room.

They really needed to discuss the possibility of OCD one day, she thought even as she wondered if she could talk him into organizing the rest of her room. Maybe if she was really nice to him he would-

"It's positive."

"What?" she asked absently as she glanced at her messy bed.

"The test," he said weakly, "It's positive."

"That's not funny," she said, praying that he was joking, but the problem was that he would never joke about something like this.

"I'm not laughing," he said softly, standing there, looking completely lost and making her sigh, because he'd obviously read the test wrong.

"You probably just read it wrong," she pointed out, giving him a reassuring smile as she headed back towards the bathroom, "It's no big deal."

She should have waited for the test results, she realized as she carefully stepped over Mojo, who had apparently given up trying to make it to the kitchen and had flopped down on the hallway floor to conserve his energy. She walked into the bathroom and grabbed the test. As soon as she had it in her hand she walked back to her room, sighing when Mojo forced her to wait so that he could slowly flop over onto his other side.

As she stood there, waiting for Mojo to finish the impossible, she couldn't help but wonder how they'd ended up here. Her best friend was pregnant and she'd had absolutely no idea that she was even seeing someone, which made her realize just how selfish she'd been lately. She was so damn wrapped up in Lucifer and everything else going on in her life that she'd forgotten to make sure that her best friend was okay.

Melanie was pregnant, she thought, slowly exhaling and shaking her head in wonder, because it didn't feel real. Shouldn't one of them be panicking? Because this felt like a panic kind of moment, but she just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Maybe once Melanie started puking day and night or became a crabby bitch who had to waddle everywhere it would finally sink in.

That's probably around the time that they would both panic, because they weren't ready for this and yes, they were in this together. Melanie was her best friend and pretty much the only family that she had. She was going to need help and even though Rebecca had absolutely no idea how to work a diaper, she was going to be right there by her side.

The small, disgruntled grunt let her know that Mojo had given up and was ready to allow her passage. After leaning over to scratch behind Mojo's ears, she carefully stepped over him and headed back to her bedroom where she'd left Lucifer on the verge of another nervous breakdown.

Walking into the room, she gave him a reassuring smile as she raised the pregnancy test and-

"Oh, what the hell," she said, shaking her head in disgust as she turned around and walked back out of the room. "How old are these pregnancy tests?"

"What?" Melanie asked with a frown as she came into view, holding a spoon and a tub of raw chocolate chip cookie dough.

"The pregnancy tests. How old are they?" she asked, holding up the faulty pregnancy test.

"I just bought them yesterday. Why?" Melanie asked as she took a bite of cookie dough.

"Because they're faulty," she said, shaking her head as she dropped her hand to her side.

"No, they're not," Melanie said, frowning in confusion.

"Yes, they are," she said, because clearly the one in her hand was broken.

Reminding herself that there was still a good possibility that she wasn't allowed to beat Melanie for the next nine months, she forced herself to take a deep, calming breath, because obviously Melanie wasn't seeing the big picture here. "They don't work," she said evenly.

"Yes, they do!"

"No, they don't!" she yelled back, getting more pissed with every passing second.

"How the hell would you know?" Melanie finally asked, realizing that they weren't getting anywhere like this.

"Because according to this test, I'm pregnant," she said in exasperation as she held up the white test that she was barely resisting the urge to throw against the wall.

Melanie eyes widened at that announcement while her mouth worked soundlessly for a few seconds before she finally managed a gasped, "You whore!"

*-*-*-*

"Then you carefully roll the condom down the banana," Melanie said brightly as she finished rolling the condom that she'd apparently forgotten to use, down a large banana while he stood there alongside Rebecca, glaring at her.

"Not. Fucking. Funny," he bit out, wondering how Rebecca had managed to resist the urge to wring her neck.

"Bitch," Rebecca added with a glare of her own.

"Did you want me to go over this again?" Melanie offered, smiling as she pulled out another condom.

Instead of answering her, he reached over and snatched the banana out of her hand. Pulling the condom off, he tossed it aside, peeled the banana and took a big bite out of it, all while glaring at the woman that was taking too damn much pleasure in their downfall.

"So," Melanie said brightly as she clapped her hands together, "what shall we talk about?"

They simply glared at her until she took the hint, tossed the condom back on the kitchen counter with a sigh and muttered, "Kill joys," before she walked back to her precious couch. As he stood there beside Rebecca, staring at the kitchen cabinets, he realized that he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say to her.

He didn't know if she was happy about this, scared, or pissed since she'd decided to shut down once Melanie had explained that she'd gone to the doctor yesterday morning to confirm the test results. He glanced at the clock on the stove and realized that it had been forty minutes since she'd realized that the positive reading might be correct.

"Any chance that Aidan would be willing to see me today?" Rebecca asked, sounding pissed.

So, he had his answer.

She was definitely pissed.

Great, the one response that he had absolutely no idea how to deal with, but at least she'd given him something to do besides standing around, trying not to panic.

"He'll fit us in," he assured her, tossing the banana peel in the trash.

"Good," she said woodenly with a nod as she headed for the door. She opened the door and paused. "You coming with us?" she asked Melanie, who was now lost in the world of computer code.

"To see that annoying asshole that was obviously dropped on his head as a child?" she asked, not bothering to look up from her computer.

"That would be the one," Rebecca said, sounding distracted while he stood there feeling like he'd been hit by a mac truck.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks."

Nodding, Rebecca turned around without another word and headed out the door. Taking another deep breath, he walked after her.

"I'd better see a ring on that finger by the end of the week!" Melanie called after him.

He didn't answer her as he closed the door behind him, because there was nothing left to say. If that test came back positive, he'd be putting the birth certificate that he'd found in her room to good use and making a trip up to New Hampshire in just a matter of hours.
Chapter 45

"It's okay," Lucifer said, placing her back on the chair and helped her bend forward, "just breathe."

Shaking her head, she tried to calm down, tried to take a deep breath, but every time she tried she kept seeing that pregnancy test telling her that she was pregnant. That had been close, too close, she realized, making the panic that had settled in on the way here worse.

She was an unmarried, unemployed waitress with no insurance, no job prospects and absolutely no idea how to change a diaper! She wasn't ready to have a baby yet. Not even close. She was still trying to get her act together and...and...

"It's going to be fine. It was a false positive, sweetheart," Lucifer promised as he knelt by her side and put his arms around her. She opened her mouth to tell him that she knew that everything was going to be okay, but nothing came out so she settled for shaking her head urgently, praying that he would understand.

"These things happen, Rebecca," Aidan assured her, taking a knee by her other side. "Sometimes the home tests give a false positive. It's rare, but it does happen."

Still unable to talk, she settled for nodding.

"Are you okay?" Lucifer asked as he kissed the top of her head, probably hoping that she wouldn't start hyperventilating and screaming about baby wipes and Huggies diapers, again.

She shook her head, not sure that she would ever be okay again.

That had been close, too close, she told herself, deciding that from this moment on that she would refrain from pre-marital sex. Then again, since having a ring on her finger wouldn't save her from the unbearable pain of shoving a nine-pound bundle of joy out of her body or from having to learn how to work a diaper, she decided that perhaps it was time to look into joining a convent.

The only thing stopping her from doing just that was the knowledge that the rest of the nuns would probably turn on her within a day or two after it became painfully obvious that the whole vow of silence thing wasn't going to work for her. Since death by angry, bitter nuns wasn't exactly enticing, she was just going to have to swear off sex altogether, she decided.

Sex just wasn't worth the pain of finding out why she'd seen so many parents over the years gag when they'd attempted to change a diaper. It was definitely something that she could live her entire life without experiencing first hand.

Of course with Melanie due to have a baby there was probably a good chance that she was going to be forced to face her fear, she mused, only to decide that she would hold off on babysitting until after the kid was potty trained. It was definitely for the best, she decided even as she tried to figure out how she was going to break the news to Lucifer that she was now going to lead a life of celibacy.

He wasn't going to take it well, but then again, she really couldn't blame him since she was probably the best that he'd ever had. Once he realized that he couldn't have her again, he'd probably go into a deep depression before coming to the conclusion that a life of celibacy was the only way to live. Then they could spend their nights playing Tetris and reminiscing about just how good it used to be.

"There's always a chance of becoming pregnant, slim as it may be, on birth control. The best way to avoid an unwanted pregnancy is to use condoms in addition to the pill," Aidan explained, making her sigh in resignation, because there was that too.

She supposed that was the way to go since she probably wouldn't have had the heart to deny Lucifer the pleasure of-

"What's going on in that devious mind of yours?" Lucifer asked, cutting into her benevolent thoughts and making her realize that at some point in the last few minutes he'd stopped holding her and had begun watching her.

"Nothing. Why do you ask?" she asked, wondering if she should let him know how close he'd just come to a life of celibacy so that he could thank her.

"Because I know that look."

She blinked. "What look?"

Instead of answering her, he got to his feet, careful to keep his eyes on her almost as though he didn't trust her.

That hurt...it really did.

"Do either one of you have any questions?" Aidan asked as he went over her chart and signed the bottom.

"No," she said, glaring at Lucifer as she contemplated sticking her tongue out at the paranoid bastard.

Aidan nodded as he closed the folder and tossed it on the counter before he shifted his attention to Lucifer, who was still watching her a little too closely.

"You working tonight?" Aidan asked, already moving on while she sat there struggling to get over the biggest scare of her life.

"Patrick's scheduled to work," Lucifer said, sounding bored.

Seriously? Did neither one of them care how close she'd come to reenacting the scene from Alien? Selfish bastards, she thought, shaking her head in disgust until the action caused her head to recommence with the spinning.

"Then come to dinner tonight," Aidan said, really making her wonder how many patients tried to kick his ass.

"Fine," Lucifer said, sounding a bit distracted, which would explain why he gave in so easily to something that he normally tried to avoid.

Not that she knew why.

If she had a family that wanted to see her...

Well, she had Melanie's family, who had always treated her like one of their own, but it wasn't the same. They loved her and always included her in family dinners, holidays and birthdays and made her feel welcome, but they'd never called her on her shit, told her when she was messing up like they did with Melanie. Not that she normally complained when it meant that she could join in the fun and torment Melanie, but it would be nice to belong, to really belong.

Then there was her family...

They avoided her at all costs and seemed to be going out of their way to let her know that she wasn't important to them. Which was fine with her, because she'd rather not have to deal with them for any reason.

"Do you think that you can walk to the truck?" Lucifer asked, pushing her hair out of the way so that he could see her face.

She probably could, but...

"I would prefer to be manhandled," she said with a sniff since she'd felt that she'd more than earned it after the scare that he'd given her.

"You're going to vomit if you try to walk," he guessed correctly.

"Without question."

*-*-*-*

"Can you sit up?" he asked, hoping that she was going to say no, because he wasn't sure that he was ready to go inside and deal with his family, their questions and the bullshit that they were going to put him through for bringing Rebecca with him.

"Probably," came the muffled response while Rebecca continued to absently trace circles on the leg that she was using as a pillow.

Not that he was complaining since it gave him a reason to sit there. They were probably going to miss dinner, but maybe that was for the best. He'd rather get this talk out of the way so that he could get back to the Fire & Brimstone and get his mind off of things for a while.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a heavy sigh as she gave up on playing with his knee and rolled over onto her back.

Staring out the window, he nodded. "I'm fine."

"You haven't said anything about what just happened," she pointed out, drawing her knees in to get more comfortable on the bench seat of his truck.

"Neither have you."

"I was too busy having a nervous breakdown," she explained.

"We should go inside," he said, carefully pulling his hand away, but she wasn't letting him off that easily.

Tightening her hold on his hand, she placed it right back on her soft belly. "We need to at least pretend to talk about this," she stubbornly said, but he knew that talking about this was the last thing that she wanted to do.

While he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in the Fire & Brimstone, she was probably dying to go home, shove Melanie off the couch and distract herself with horror movies and Hershey Kisses. Maybe he should put this off for another night and take her home so that she could do just that.

"What exactly do you want to talk about?" he asked, suddenly feeling exhausted and not even the idea of digging into his mother's cooking could get him to move.

"I'm not ready to have a baby yet, Christopher," she said softly as though it was something to be ashamed of.

Smiling down at her, he said, "Neither am I, but," he said, adding that "but" in there no doubt to scare her before he continued, "even if things had turned out differently, it would have been fine."

She snorted at that. "That's easy for you to say."

He chuckled as he leaned his head back against the seat. "What worried you more, the diapers or the delivery?"

There was a slight pause before she admitted, "The diapers."

"We would have survived," he teased, even as he had to admit that the idea of changing a diaper terrified him.

"Okay then. That's all I wanted to know," she said with a relieved sigh and a firm nod as she sat up and reached for the door handle only to end up shooting him a questioning look. "Umm, where are we exactly?"

"Hell," he said, reaching over to turn off the truck, "we're in hell."
Chapter 46

"Maybe we could do this some other time?" she suggested somewhat hysterically as she tried to dig her heals in and stop Lucifer from dragging her inside to face his family.

"You've already met them," he said, clearly not understanding her current moral dilemma.

"Yeah, so then I don't need to come tonight," she said, trying to push his hand off hers so that she could turn around and make a run for it.

"And pass up a chance to help my father torment me?" he said dryly, making her pause, because there was that...

God, she loved tormenting him.

Giving herself a mental shake, she renewed her efforts to break free, but the large bastard kept walking, taking her with him.

"I have things to do!" she said, giving up on trying to fight it and decided to try reasoning with him.

"Like?" he asked in a tone that said it all.

The bastard didn't think that she had a life!

How dare he?

"I have a lot of stuff to do!"

"Like what?" he asked, throwing her a knowing look that was just not appreciated!

"Like stuff. Now would you let me go?" she demanded, absolutely refusing to go inside and-

"Like what?" he asked teasingly as he stopped walking so that he could interrogate her on his parent's walkway.

"If you must know, I had a very busy night planned," she snapped, yanking her arm free so that she could cross her arms over her chest as she explained exactly how busy she was.

"A romantic night by the television with Mojo drooling everywhere?" he teased, causing her eyes to narrow.

"No, I had plans to attend an orgy tonight and thanks to you, I'm going to be late," she said with a huff as she turned around, giving him her back and started to walk away.

"Well," he said with a sigh as he easily caught up to her and took her hand so that he could lead her back to the front door, "I'm afraid that they're going to have to get along without you."

"That might be difficult," she said with a groan as she found herself once again being led towards the house.

"And why's that?"

"Because I was the only woman attending," she said, loving the way he chuckled.

"Yeah, that might make things difficult," he said with that smile that did funny things to her.

"I was also supposed to bring the lube," she admitted with a forlorn sigh.

"Ouch," he said, shooting her a wink.

"Are you going to let me go?" she asked, feeling hopeful.

"Not a chance," he said, making her shoulders sag as he continued leading her to the front stairs and to what promised to be a really uncomfortable evening.

"Does it not matter to you that I don't want to go?" she asked even as she tried to resign herself to a night of hiding in the bathroom and avoiding making eye contact.

"No, but it does piss me off," he said, sighing when they reached the front door.

"Which is why I'll be waiting in the car," she said brightly, hoping that he'd go for it.

"Nice try," he said, using his hold on her hand to bring her closer so that he could kiss her.

Desperate, and realizing that she was seconds away from being forced to go inside and face his mother, who probably knew about the pregnancy test and the knowledge that she'd been having her way with her son, Rebecca did what she had to do.

"I'm sorry!" she said, wincing as she picked up her foot, slammed it down on his instep and took off running the second that he let go.

"Forgive me!" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran as fast as her legs would take her, praying that she'd managed to hobble him for as long as it would take her to make it to Main Street and flag down a taxi.

*-*-*-*

"I," gasp, "hate," another gasp, "you," Rebecca finally managed to get out as he carried her back to his truck.

"Stop. You're making me blush," he said dryly as he carefully loaded the violent woman into his truck.

He considered using the child safety lock to stop her from running away again, but there really was no need since she'd barely made it two hundred yards before she'd fallen to her knees, gasping for air and begging him to put her out of her misery to save her from the leg cramp that had brought her escape to a swift end.

When she fell over onto her side, still panting like she'd run a marathon instead of less than half a block, he gave her a patronizing slap on the ass and shut the door. Shaking his head, he walked around his truck and climbed in, careful of Rebecca's head. After pushing a strand of hair out of her face, he started the short ride back to his parents' house where his parents, Aidan and the two annoying bastards that he couldn't seem to shake were waiting for them.

"Dying," the little bully gasped from where she lay beside him.

"Uh huh," he said absently as he put the truck in park and shook off the slight throbbing in his leg.

The tap at his window let him know that his short reprieve was over and that it was time to face what promised to be a very long and painful night, but that was to be expected the first time you brought a woman home to meet the family, especially his family. Biting back a groan, he rolled down his window.

Smiling, his father focused on Rebecca, who was currently trying to lower herself to the floor where she probably planned on hiding for the rest of the night, but it seemed that she didn't have enough energy at the moment to complete the final roll needed to achieve this sad goal of hers.

"How was your run, sweetheart?" his father asked when Rebecca gave up with a pathetic groan and a muttered, "Stupid cramp."

There was a slight pause before she said, "Fine. Um, how are you?"

"Good, good," his father said as he leaned against the truck door before he shifted his attention to Lucifer. "Listen, your mother wants to go out tonight since the rest of kids weren't able to make it. Do you think the two of you are up for that?"

A night out with his family?

Not at all, but he couldn't disappoint his mother, mostly because his father would beat the shit out of him.

Since he didn't seem to have much of a choice, he opened his mouth to reluctantly accept when Rebecca cut him off and asked, "Is it okay if I pick the restaurant?" suddenly perking up and making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

But, before he could warn his father that it was a trap, the bastard was telling her yes and walking away, leaving him with the woman who was suddenly sitting up and looking happier than he'd ever seen her before.
Chapter 47

"After tonight," Lucifer bit out furiously as he glared at her, "we're through."

Blinking innocently, she asked, "Is something wrong, pookie?"

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" his mother said with a huge smile as she joined them at the large table that the waitress had selected just for them, which just happened to be right in front of the section the restaurant had deemed as the stage.

"So much fun," Aidan seconded bitterly as he sat down across from her, his scowl never wavering.

Ethan didn't say anything as he sat down next to his wife, but the scowl on his face really said it all.

"I'm so glad I came tonight," Jason said, sounding genuinely happy to be there as he sat down next to Trevor, who looked equally amused.

God, it was going to be the best night ever!

It might even make up for the depressing, chaotic day that she'd just had. At the very least it would distract her from the fact that she still didn't have a job, the balls to ask for her old job back and thanks to today's near-miss, she'd realized something very important.

She was an absolute failure.

She was twenty-nine years old with absolutely nothing to show for it. By now she should have her own place, a lot more money in the bank, a career, but most of all, she should be prepared to handle an emergency on her own without panicking. Seeing that false positive today had put a lot of things in perspective.

Before today she could have honestly said that she saw absolutely nothing wrong with being a waitress for the rest of her life, but now she realized that had been a little shortsighted. While she still saw nothing wrong with working in a restaurant for the rest of her life, she realized that working as a waitress who was completely dependent on tips was not going to give her the stability that she needed or the future that she wanted.

She needed more and if working in a restaurant was really what she wanted to do, and she was absolutely positive that it was, then it was time to get serious about it. She needed to learn how to run a restaurant and the best way to do that was to finally get off her ass and go back to school. She could enroll in an online program and work towards her degree. It would take some time, but at least by the time that she had her degree she would have options, which was honestly more than she had right now.

"I've never been to a karaoke bar before!" his mother said with a huge smile, which was probably the only reason that Lucifer, his father and brother weren't dragging them out of there right now.

"It's a lot of fun," Rebecca promised her with a huge smile just to irritate the man sitting next to her, glaring...just glaring.

She had to admit that it was a little unsettling.

When Aidan mouthed the words, I hate you, she wasn't sure whether he was talking to her or Lucifer. Not that she really cared since she'd found the perfect way to get mind off of things for a while. She just wished that Melanie had been able to join them, but she had too much work to catch up on.

At least, that was the bullshit excuse that Melanie had given her when she'd called to invite her to join them. Since this was normally the type of thing that Melanie would drop everything for, screwing people over and not the karaoke part, she knew that Melanie probably needed some time to herself to figure things out. Since they still had plenty of time to talk about everything going on, she picked up her menu and wondered what the odds were of getting all the Bradford men up on the "stage" to sing a Katy Perry song were.

Probably not that good, but she was going to damn well try.

Thankfully the very limited and incredibly disappointing menu helped take her mind off that depressing realization and onto something else equally as depressing. As she glanced through the menu, searching for the small gluten-free sign that would let her know what was safe to eat, she realized something very important.

She was going to starve.

"Oh, everything looks so good," Mrs. Bradford said while Rebecca sat there trying to decide between...

Well, there really was nothing to decide since the only thing that was gluten free on the menu was a hamburger, minus the bun, with a side salad, minus the croutons and salad dressing. Since that really didn't sound appetizing, she decided that she'd fill up on Coke and make something to eat when she got home later.

If she had known that her food choices were going to be limited coming here...

She still would have come, she decided with a sigh as she closed the menu and focused back on her intended victims. This was going to be so much fun, she mused, barely managing to keep a smile off her face. For five years she'd entertained herself by finding new and interesting ways to torture Lucifer, but even she had to admit that things had become a little stale there at the end.

Finding new and exciting ways to torture him while working under some serious limitations had been something of a challenge. Since she'd been limited to only torturing him at work and through run-ins in the hall she'd had with him under the capacity of the landlord/tenant relationship, she really hadn't had much to work with. But now that they spent time outside of work together the possibilities had become endless. It also didn't hurt that her relationship with Lucifer had brought her new victims to torture.

Speaking of her new victims...

"What song are you going to sing?" she asked Aidan, deciding to focus on him first as a favor to Melanie, who'd made her promise to make his life a living hell since she wasn't able to be here to do it for herself.

Aidan blinked and when she kept looking at him expectantly, he blinked again. "I, um," he licked his lips nervously as he shot a pleading glance to Lucifer, probably hoping that he'd come up with something to get them all out of there before it was too late, "I don't sing."

"I see," she murmured, making sure to look disappointed as she added another, "I see," with a forlorn sigh and let her shoulders sag.

"I don't sing," he bit out through clenched teeth, making her up her game.

Fighting back a smile, she let her gaze drop to the menu and her shoulders sag even further. "I just thought this would be a nice way to get to know everyone better, but if you don't want to..." she said, letting her words trail off with a weak shrug as she kept her gaze firmly locked on the table as she released another pathetic sigh.

"I-"

"You're not going to sing?" Jason asked and she didn't need to look up to know that he was shaking his head in disgust since it was a move that she would have used to further manipulate someone.

"But, I-"

"Your brother's girlfriend is making an effort to get to know you and this is how you treat her?" Trevor asked in disgust, making her lips twitch.

Not because they'd joined her in torturing Aidan, but because they hadn't realized that they were next.

*-*-*-*

They were all fucking morons, he thought as he searched through the menu, trying to find something that she could eat, but so far he'd only come up with a hamburger patty and some lettuce.

"We need to leave," he said with a sigh as he tossed the menu back on the table.

"What? No, we just got here," Rebecca said, apparently forgetting that she was supposed to be pouting to manipulate his weak brother into doing something incredibly stupid.

"We're going," he said, getting up and pushing his chair in.

"What's wrong?" his mother asked even as Aidan released a sigh of relief.

"There's nothing that she can eat here," he explained, holding his hand out to Rebecca, but the stubborn woman refused to give up her plans to torture them.

"I'm not hungry," she said somewhat desperately, obviously willing to say or do whatever it took to keep them from leaving.

"Oh," his mother said, looking embarrassed that she hadn't thought about Rebecca's dietary restrictions, "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I should have realized. We'll go home and I can whip something up," she said with a firm nod as she stood up.

"I'm fine, really!" Rebecca argued as she grabbed the menu. "There's plenty to eat!"

"Sure there is," he said firmly, giving her that look that let her know that he wasn't going to change his mind.

*-*-*-*

"I think we're going to call it a night," Lucifer said, betraying her and destroying her plans for what had promised to be a night to remember in a matter of seconds.

"We understand, sweetheart," she said, not looking like she blamed Rebecca, but she did look disappointed, which was probably why Rebecca did what she did and not because she was innately evil or anything.

At least that's what she told herself, but she knew the truth...

"There's no reason why you have to leave," she said, catching the murderous glare that Aidan shot her.

"She's right. You should stay," Lucifer said, somewhat appeasing her as he took her hand and stepped out the way just as his father, with an expression that could only be described as homicidal, reached for him.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" his mother asked, already sitting back down with a huge smile and an expression that made her wonder if she also enjoyed the fine art of torture.

"This is going to be the best night ever," Jason said, grinning and sounding so damn giddy that she nearly cried.

This was supposed to be her night of enjoyment!

She considered rebelling and telling him that she wasn't hungry and was damn well going to stay, but that was right around the time that her stomach betrayed her, making an argument pointless, because there was no way that anyone was going to let her stay now.

Stupid gluten, she thought miserably as she allowed him to lead her out of the restaurant and away from all of her dreams coming true.
Chapter 48

"Are you still pouting?" he asked the small woman sprawled out on his bed, watching yet another horror movie as he tossed his towel aside and pulled on a pair of boxers.

"I think we should see other people," she mumbled, sounding absolutely miserable for a woman snuggling a five-pound bag of Hershey Kisses.

"Because I ruined your evil plans?" he asked, joining her on the bed, careful not to come between her and the chocolate that was apparently stopping her from killing him.

"Yes."

"I'm sure you'll find other creative ways to torture my family in the future," he promised her, reaching for a Hershey Kiss only to think better of it.

"Not like tonight," she mumbled, looking truly miserable as she grabbed a Hershey Kiss, unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth, all while staring blankly at the television.

"Did humiliating me along with my brother and cousins really mean that much to you?" he asked, slipping his hand beneath the oversized tee shirt that she'd changed into so that he could rub her back.

"Yes, yes it did."

"And why's that?" he asked, leaning back against the headboard.

"I just needed a distraction," she admitted with a sigh, reaching for another Hershey Kiss even as she shifted so that she could place her feet on his lap, making him chuckle.

Demanding little thing, he thought as he took the hint and started rubbing her feet. "What's bothering you?" he asked, wondering if she was still upset about the pregnancy test that had nearly taken ten years off his life.

"Nothing," she mumbled dejectedly around a mouthful of chocolate as she gave her foot a wiggle, demanding that he shift his attention to the other foot.

"I see," he murmured as he gave her foot one last rub and shifted his attention to the other one. "Then you're just upset about missing out on a night of really bad singing?"

"Devastated," she said dryly.

"If you want, we can go downstairs and encourage everyone to start singing Bieber songs," he offered.

"No," she said, sighing heavily. "It's just not the same."

"I see," he murmured, thoughtfully as he focused on the movie she had playing until it showed someone getting their guts ripped out.

After that he just focused on making the crabby woman happy. For several minutes they stayed that way, him rubbing her feet and doing his best not to look up and Rebecca laying there, slowly devouring a huge bag of chocolate.

It was actually kind of nice, he thought, enjoying himself more than he thought possible. Before Rebecca had completely destroyed his world with that first kiss this kind of thing would have irritated him. In the past whenever a woman wanted to watch a movie, snuggle or any of the things that he used to think of as a bullshit waste of time, he'd brush them off and focus on work.

Now he not only looked forward to spending time with Rebecca, doing absolutely nothing, but he loved it. Thanks to her he was better rested, enjoyed work more and didn't feel like tearing everyone's head off. He could easily say that Rebecca was the best thing that had ever happened to him and that scared the shit out of him.

"Would you have done it?" she asked, saving him from his thoughts.

"Done what?" he asked, rubbing her leg.

"Got up on stage and sang your little heart out," she said, pulling her leg free so that she could roll over onto her side and look at him as she waited for an answer.

"No."

"No?" she asked, for some reason looking surprised that he wouldn't have jumped at the chance to make an ass out of himself in front of his family.

"I thought you didn't care what anyone thought," she teased with a devious little smile.

"I don't."

"Uh huh," she said, clearly not believing him.

"You doubt me?"

"Absolutely," she said, not missing a beat.

"I thought you knew me, sweetheart," he said, saying the hell with it and snatched her bag of Hershey Kisses away from her.

Other than narrow her eyes on him, she didn't say anything about the theft. Instead she said, "I know you better than you know me."

"Really?" he murmured, chuckling as he popped a Kiss in his mouth, because that was fucking impossible.

"Absolutely," she said, reaching to take back the bag and because he was such a generous guy, he allowed it.

For about ten seconds, then he reclaimed the bag, shot her a warning glare and proceeded to devour the contents of the bag. "Care to put your money where your mouth is?" he asked, wondering if he'd just stumbled upon an easier way to get her to return to the Fire & Brimstone where she belonged.

*-*-*-*

"And what exactly did you have in mind?" she asked, even as she had to wonder if she could use this challenge that he was clearly laying down at her feet to return to the Fire & Brimstone.

She really missed Fire & Brimstone and if it wasn't for her damn pride, she would already have her job back. But, unfortunately for her, she did have her pride so she was here, in bed with her incredibly hot boyfriend, hoping that this would all work out like some ridiculous plot in a movie or just a really horrible book.

"Winner's choice," he said as she sat there, calculating the possibilities and realizing that they weren't looking good.

Not because she was afraid that she was going to lose, but because she knew that she was going to win. She knew Lucifer better than anyone else so the chances of her losing were pretty low. She didn't need to win to tell him that she wanted to come back to work, because she could do that now if she wasn't so damn stubborn.

Inwardly sighing, she realized that she was going to have to use her win for something else, like making him serve her breakfast in bed for a month or so, or getting her car detailed. She'd find another way to get back to the Fire & Brimstone without having to suck up her pride and asking for her job back. Not that it mattered anyway, not when she'd promised to come back in a few more weeks if she didn't find another job.

Things would work out, she told herself as she sat up and faced off with the man that was going to learn how she liked her eggs cooked and cocked a brow in challenge. "Fine. Then fire away. Ask me anything," she said, smiling, because this was probably going to be the easiest win that she'd ever-

"Fine. How did I end up with the nickname Lucifer?" he asked, cutting her off and making her realize something very important.

She may have once again underestimated the sneaky bastard.

"How did you end up with the nickname Lucifer?" she repeated back to buy herself some extra time as she desperately searched her memory, trying to find something, anything, that would help her answer that question.

"How?" he asked with a cocky smile as he folded his arms over his chest and sat back, watching her expectantly while she sat there giving up on trying to remember something that would clue her into the answer that she needed and decided to try to bullshit her way through this one since there was no way that she was going to be able to come up with the right answer.

"Because you're an asshole," she said, deciding that was her best chance to win this thing.

"Yes," he said.

"Oh my, God, really?" she asked, stunned that she'd actually nailed it.

That is until the bastard that had damn well better make sure that her bacon was crisp every morning started laughing.

"No."

"Asshole," she muttered with a glare and a pout, already hating this stupid game.
Chapter 49

"Your turn," he said with a satisfied sigh as he watched her pout turn to confusion.

"Are you forgetting something?" she asked with an expectant tone.

"No," he simply said as he waited for her to get on with it.

"You haven't proved that I was wrong yet," she stubbornly pointed out.

"I wasn't aware that was part of the game," he murmured absently when she shifted on the bed, causing the tee shirt to pull up just enough so that he was rewarded with a flash of pink panties.

"You should have been," she said as she gestured for him to get on with it. "Well?"

"Well, what?" he asked, shifting as discretely as possible in the hopes that he would be able to get a better view of-

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" he snapped, rubbing his knee where the crazed woman had just flicked him.

"I'm going to need you to focus here," she said, reminding him that she took games seriously, very seriously. "Why does everyone call you Lucifer?"

"Besides the fact that I'd kill them if they didn't?"

She rolled her eyes with a nod. "Yes, besides that."

He shrugged and admitted, "Because of Aidan."

Apparently that wasn't what she'd expected, because she sat there, staring at him. "Yeah, that really didn't answer my question."

"Didn't it though?" he asked innocently, loving the way her eyes narrowed dangerously on him.

He really wished that he'd realized just how much fun it was to torment her sooner. All that wasted time...

"No, no it did not."

"Would you like to me to go into more detail?" he asked around a mouthful of Kisses.

"That would be nice," she bit out, clearly struggling not to tear the bag of Hershey Kisses out of his hands so that she could beat the shit out of him with it.

"Fine," he said, sighing heavily as he took his time unwrapping another handful of Hershey Kisses, well aware that she was sitting there watching him with something close to homicidal rage.

It probably made him a sick bastard to enjoy tormenting her like this, but he really didn't care, not when it brought him this much joy. Sighing heavily, just to annoy her, he popped the freshly unwrapped Kisses in his mouth and took his time savoring them.

"Well?" she snapped, making him chuckle, which by the look on her face she also didn't appreciate.

"Aidan had a speech impediment when he was a kid," he answered with a shrug as he grabbed another handful of Kisses.

She watched him expectantly while he sat there, contemplating getting off his ass and grabbing a Coke to wash the chocolate down and maybe a steak. He could really go for a steak, he thought as he shifted his attention towards the kitchen. He could probably whip up a few steaks, creamy mashed potatoes and corn in a half hour.

He should probably see if she wanted something too, he decided since it was the polite thing to-

"What exactly does Aidan's speech impediment have to do with your terrifying nickname?" she asked, clearly not satisfied with his answer, which was a lot more than he told most people.

"God, you're demanding," he said, shaking his head as he shifted his attention back on her.

"You already knew this," she said impatiently as she gestured for him to get on with it.

"It's not a big deal."

"Uh huh."

"When we were kids he couldn't say my name correctly. It came out as a mangled Lucifer. The other kids heard him call me that and got on his case about it. Since it didn't bother me, I beat the shit out of the other kids and started calling myself Lucifer to make it easier for him," he said with a shrug as his mind wandered back to those beautiful steaks just waiting for him.

"Huh," she said, drawing his attention to find her sitting there, nibbling her bottom lip and appearing lost in thought.

"What?" he asked, reaching over and pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Nothing," she said, seeming a little sad.

He watched her for a moment before he narrowed his eyes suspiciously on her and said, "You have a bet going over my name, don't you?"

"Yeah," she said with the saddest sigh that he'd ever heard.

"You lost, didn't you?" he guessed, shaking his head in disgust.

"Well, I wouldn't have if you'd been named Lucifer for your young, misguided love for all things evil," she pointed out with a little pout that had him chuckling.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," he teased, leaning in and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

"No, you're really not."

"You're right. I'm not," he said, leaning back against the headboard. "All right, your turn," he said, getting comfortable as he waited for her question.

"Fine," she said, getting back in the game, "what's my favorite song?"

"That's too easy," he said with a pitying shake of his head, because he'd seriously thought that she would give him something of a challenge.

"Then you should have no problem answering it," she said, folding her arms over her breasts as she waited for his answer.

Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he said, "Sam Hunt's, Take Your Time."

"Are you sure?" she asked, cocking a brow in question, clearly trying to throw him off when they both knew that he'd nailed it.

"Positive."

"You guessed," she said accusingly.

"Yeah, that's it," he said, laughing when she grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head.

"You cheated!"

"Sure did," he said, smiling as he reached for her and pulled her onto his lap.

"Then how did you know?" she asked, carefully straddling his lap as she placed her arms around his shoulders.

"Because every time it comes on you get this cute smile on your face," he said, tracing her beautiful pink lips with the pad of his thumb, "and you sing along under your breath while you work."

"Hmm," she said, shifting to get more comfortable on his lap. "Fine. I'll give you that one."

"Because I got it right?" he asked, chuckling when shot him a mocking glare.

"Because I'm that generous," she said with a sniff as she tried to bite back a smile.

"Then I guess it's my turn," he said, reaching up to push her hair back so that he could run his fingers through her soft hair, enjoying the way each strand slid between his fingers before falling back in waves around her beautiful face.

"Ask away," she said as she leaned into his touch.

"How many siblings do I have?"

"Two?'

"Nope."

"Three?"

"Try again."

"Four?"

"Not even close."

"How many more guesses do I get?" she asked, looking a little panicked and for good reason.

"At least four more," he said, loving the calculating expression on her face as she worked it out.

"Eight?"

When he nodded, she repeated it as though she didn't quite believe him. "Eight? Seriously?"

"Mmmhmm," he said, placing his hands on her knees and ran them over her thighs.

"God, your poor mother," she said, shaking her head in wonder.

"She wanted a big family," he said absently as he watched his hands push the hem of her tee shirt up her legs and over her hips, revealing those pink panties that he was going to be thinking about for the next week.

"Apparently," she murmured in agreement as she grabbed the hem of her shirt and in one move, had it off and tossed over her head so that she was left sitting on his lap wearing only those pink panties and that devious little smile that he loved so much.

"So, I guess it's time to claim my prize," he said, deciding that he'd use his prize for something other than making her return to the Fire & Brimstone since she'd be back on her own in a matter of weeks anyway.

As he ran his eyes over the large beautiful breasts and down between her legs, he decided that it was definitely time to claim his prize.
Chapter 50

"What are you doing here?" Melanie asked when Rebecca slammed the door shut behind her.

"Planning Lucifer's murder," she bit out, still shocked that he would do something like this to her.

When he'd suggested winner's choice, she'd assumed that he would either use the game to make her return to the Fire & Brimstone or for sex. She would have been fine with either one, but had he demanded that she return to work or even drop to her knees and give him a blowjob?

No.

Instead the sick bastard wanted...he wanted...

God, she couldn't even think about what he wanted without feeling sick to her stomach. She just couldn't believe that he would take things this far.

"What did he do?" Melanie asked, sounding a little distracted, but that was most likely because she was lost in her own little world of computer code, Hostess pies and a cocoon of blankets.

"The bastard cheated!" she snapped, which apparently was enough to grab Melanie's attention, because she looked up from her computer and frowned.

"He cheated on you?" she asked, looking really confused, probably because Lucifer wasn't the type of asshole that cheated.

"No," she said, shaking her head as she pushed away from the door. "He didn't cheat on me. He cheated at a game."

"What kind of game?" Melanie asked, setting aside her laptop.

Rebecca gestured lazily towards the door. "A game to see which one of us knew more about the other," she explained with a shrug as she walked over to the refrigerator to grab a Coke.

For some reason that made Melanie's frown deepen. "You asked each other questions?"

"Yup, and that bastard cheated," she said, grabbing a Coke and not really caring that she'd just walked out on Lucifer without a word.

"So, in order to win this game," Melanie said, obviously having a difficult time wrapping her mind around the concept of the game that she'd just played with the cheater, "you had to know more about him than he did about you?"

"That just about sums it up," she said, still kicking herself for giving him such an easy question.

"So, you played a game in which you had to know more than someone with questionable OCD?" Melanie asked, kind of making her feel like a moron, because she really should have thought about that before she'd agreed to play with him.

Still...

"It was anyone's game," she said as she popped the top off her soda, trying not to think about how incredibly stupid she was.

"A game of chance with someone that notices every detail about pretty much everything?" Melanie asked, looking at her as though she just couldn't believe that she was that stupid to go along with something like this.

She'd never had a chance, she realized with a pathetic groan as she took a sip of her soda. When she was done, she tossed the empty can in the sink and leaned back against the counter, in absolutely no rush to follow through with this bet.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Melanie, wondering how she was holding up with everything.

"I'm good," Melanie said, shooting her a smile as she picked up her computer and placed it back on her lap.

Curious, but having absolutely no idea how to ask her, Rebecca walked over and sat down on a chair, thankful that Mojo was there so that she could buy herself some time by scratching behind his ears. While she'd freaked out and panicked over just the mere possibility that she might be pregnant, here Melanie was, the definition of calm as she continued to type away at her computer.

"Are you okay with this?" she asked as nonchalantly as she could manage, hoping that it wouldn't freak Melanie out.

"With you letting your foolish pride talk you into playing a game that you never had a chance of winning or quitting a job that you love? Because, I'm seriously concerned about the first and wondering when you're going to suck it up for the second."

Glaring at the betraying bitch that should know better than to point out the stupid things that she did, she said, "I meant about the baby."

Melanie shrugged as she reached for a Hostess pie. "I'm nervous, but I know that everything will work out."

Worrying her bottom lip, she studied her best friend for several minutes, unable to ignore the fact that Melanie actually looked happy about this. It was in her eyes and the way that her lips curled up in the corners ever so slightly. She was definitely happy, Rebecca decided, happy for her best friend. Rebecca would be there for her, helping her along the way with anything she needed.

Except for diapers.

Melanie was definitely on her own when it came to changing diapers, she decided as she gave Mojo one last scratch behind the ears, stood up and carefully stepped over the large dog.

"What did Lucifer win?" Melanie asked her, reminding her about Lucifer's terrifying request.

"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered miserably as she headed towards her bedroom.

"That bad?" Melanie called after her.

"I said that I don't want to talk about it!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"You could have just said that instead of being a bitch!"

"I just did!" she snapped as she walked in her room, shut the door behind her, dropped down on her bed, buried her head beneath the pillow and decided that yes, yes she was going to hide here like the coward that she was, because there was no way that she was going to be able to come to terms with the fact that Lucifer Bradford had just proposed to her.

Well, demanded might be a better term, she mused only to end up shaking her head a few seconds later when she decided that blurting best described the terrifying suggestion that had sent her running.

*-*-*-*

"So, what did you do to scare off our little Rebecca?" Melanie asked when he finally managed to make it across the hallway without his knees threatening to give out on him.

"Nothing," he said, swallowing hard as he stumbled into their kitchen, threw the refrigerator door open and grabbed the first thing that he saw, which just happened to be a can of frosting.

"Umm, what are you doing?" Melanie asked, sounding somewhat amused.

"I don't know!" he admitted, grabbing a spoon from the drawer and viciously stabbed it into the can of frosting.

As he shoved a large spoonful of frosting in his mouth, Melanie sat there, staring at him. "Should I go get Rebecca?" she finally offered when it became clear that he'd lost his fucking mind, again.

He'd already figured out that he'd lost his fucking mind when he'd opened his mouth to suggest that Rebecca should serve him dinner, naked and on her knees only to hear himself demand that she marry him. It definitely hadn't been intentional and it sure as hell hadn't been pretty since he'd sort of shouted at her.

When he'd spotted that pregnancy test in her hand this morning his mind had automatically clicked into gear, knowing exactly what he needed to do and what was expected of him. He'd been raised to believe that getting a woman pregnant meant a trip up to New Hampshire to make things right. It might not be the way things were done anymore, but he didn't a damn. He was raised to take care of his family and he would have done just that if she'd been pregnant.

It had actually scared him at just how easily he'd accepted what needed to be done. Marrying Rebecca hadn't seemed like a punishment, a chore or even an obligation. It had just felt...right, if that made sense. When his brother had walked into the exam room and explained that she wasn't pregnant, had left him feeling...confused.

It took him a bit to realize that he was actually disappointed that he didn't have to make a quick trip up to New Hampshire to make things right. He'd tried to resign himself to the fact that it wasn't meant to be, that it was too soon, and that there was plenty of time, but no matter how much bullshit he'd told himself or how hard he tried not to think about it, dragging her up to New Hampshire to make her legally his had been at the back of his mind all day.

He wanted her, needed her, and the idea that he could have her had been fucking intoxicating. When he'd made the bet with her, using it to get her to marry him had been the last thing on his mind, but when he thought about making her his, he just couldn't help himself.

He'd blurted it out in a half shout, which he would be the first to admit had been a terrifying moment and then sat there, staring at her as he tried to remember how to breathe. Rebecca for the most part had stared back, looking as though she was trying to make sense out of what he'd shouted at her.

When it had become clear that he wasn't taking it back, she'd stood up, shook her head, muttered, "Unbelievable," and walked away leaving him there, trying to figure out what had just happened. He was still trying to figure it out, which was probably why he shouldn't be here right now. Not until he figured out a way to do this right, he realized, because blurting it out definitely wasn't the right way to propose to the woman that you loved.

"I'm gonna go now so I can fix this," he said hollowly, nodding in agreement at his own words as he hugged the can of frosting to his chest and stumbled out of the apartment, telling himself with every half-stumbled step that everything was going to be okay.
Chapter 51

"I think you broke your boyfriend," Melanie announced with a sigh as she walked into her room and dropped down on the bed next to Rebecca.

"Don't care," Rebecca muttered beneath the pillow where she'd planned on staying for the rest of her life since everything outside this room no longer made sense to her.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Melanie asked, stealing her pillow so that she could get comfortable on the bed, forcing Rebecca to grab the other pillow and stuff it angrily beneath her head as she laid there trying to make sense of the world.

"Are you going to tell me who knocked you up?" she countered with the hopes that it would end this conversation.

"Aidan," Melanie said with a sigh as she shifted to get more comfortable. "Your turn."

"Aidan?" Rebecca asked, frowning with confusion as she tried to figure out who that was, because the only Aidan that she knew was-

"Yup, the annoying bastard," Melanie said, nodding her head while Rebecca laid there, staring at her friend as though she'd lost her goddamn mind, mostly because she'd lost her goddamn mind!

"What the hell are you talking about? You hate him!"

Melanie nodded in agreement. "Which makes this situation so wonderful, huh?" she said with mock amusement, making Rebecca's stomach drop.

"Does he know?" she asked, rolling over onto her back so that she could stare at the ceiling with Melanie as she reached over and wrapped her hand around Melanie's.

"No, but he will just as soon as I figure out how to tell someone that I hate that I'm carrying his child. Should be another Hallmark moment," she mused as Rebecca lay there, realizing that her situation was just petty bullshit compared to Melanie's. At least she was in love with Lucifer, which was a hell of a lot more than Melanie had apparently.

"Do you want me to go with you when you tell him?" she offered, not really looking forward to what promised to be an incredibly awkward moment, but for Melanie she would do it.

"No, I'll figure it out eventually," Melanie said with a shrug as they continued to lay there, staring at the white ceiling. "Now it's your turn. What did Lucifer do?"

"He sort of proposed," she said, testing the words and not really sure if shouting them at her counted as a proposal.

"Wow," Melanie said, not really sounding surprised. "Was it romantic?"

"Not really," she said, laughing as she thought about that horrified expression on his face a split second after he'd shouted at her.

Sighing, Melanie gave her hand a squeeze. "It's for the best anyway. I was going to ask you to move out anyway," she said with a shrug.

"I see," Rebecca murmured, thinking about Lucifer and how it would feel to spend the rest of her life with him and when she didn't panic or feel sick to her stomach, she smiled.

"You're going to marry him, right?"

She shrugged. "If I don't get a better offer."

Melanie nodded in agreement. "He's really lucky to have you."

"I know," she said, nodding solemnly as she sat up.

"Where are you going?" Melanie called after her.

"To get some information," she said, heading for the door even though she had absolutely no idea what she was looking for or who she should talk to. She just knew that she needed to figure out a few things before she made Lucifer the happiest man alive.

*-*-*-*

"Umm, exactly what are you doing back here?" Aidan asked as he sat there, staring down at his beer while Jason and Trevor sang their rendition of "War" with the help of Lucifer's mother.

"I-I tried to make her leave," their father said, sitting there, looking horrified as he watched his wife sing her heart out.

Shaking his head, because he had no fucking clue why he was here, he grabbed his brother's beer and finished it off. Before he'd swallowed the last drop, he was signaling for another round.

"I just needed a place to clear my head," he said, deciding that the waitress was taking too long and swiped his father's beer.

"And you willingly chose a karaoke bar to accomplish that?" Aidan asked as he searched the plates covering the table for a morsel of food that might have escaped someone's notice, but there was nothing left.

"That and I got your text," Lucifer said, gesturing for a second round of appetizers when the waitress dropped their beer off, which is probably why it took him a few seconds to realize that Aidan was frowning.

"What text? I didn't send you a text," he said, pulling out his phone only to shake his head with a muttered, "Fucking assholes," before he shot a glare at the two large bastards on stage.

"So, I'm guessing that you didn't need my help to drag mom out of here," Lucifer said dryly as he rubbed his hands down his face and groaned.

One day he was going to kill those bastards.

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Aidan said, gesturing towards their mother who didn't appear as though she was going to willingly give up that mic anytime soon.

"I thought you would have left after dinner," he said, deciding that talking about absolute bullshit was better than focusing on his latest fuck up.

"We tried," Aidan bit out, looking close to losing his fucking mind, which he honestly couldn't blame him for.

Christ, he'd only been here for a few minutes and he was already close to losing his fucking mind. He wasn't sure how he would handle three hours stuck in this place.

"That was so much fun! Let's do another one!" their mother said, gushing with excitement as Jason and Trevor led her back to the table.

As soon as they saw him, their expressions turned calculating. After they helped his mother to her seat they sat down across from him.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here," Jason murmured as Trevor grabbed his beer and took a sip.

"We've been waiting for you," Trevor said, placing his beer back on the table so that he could gesture to the waitress for more food. With a confused look on her face, she scribbled something down and headed back towards the kitchen.

"Uh huh," Lucifer said, really not caring until Jason opened his mouth and let him know that his night was far from over.

"Our other guest should arrive in just a few minutes," Jason said, grinning.

"Then the fun can really begin," Trevor said, not smiling, but looking just as pleased.

"You called my girlfriend?" he asked, deciding that it would be for the best if he clarified things first.

"Texted her," Jason said, relaxing in his chair as he gestured towards the other end of the table.

"Telling her what exactly?" he asked as he shifted his gaze to the other end of the table just in time to see his mother drag his father, who looked absolutely terrified, towards the computer set up next to the stage, most likely to pick a song that would haunt them for the rest of their life.

"That we didn't want her to miss the fun," Jason said right around the time that a Backstreet Boys' song came on and he heard his father mutter, "Please kill me."

Nodding, Lucifer shifted his attention back to Trevor and Jason, deciding that his father was on his own and asked, "You realize that I'm going to kill you, right?"

Jason snorted at that. "I've known that since you were two and tried to shove me into oncoming traffic."

"As long as we have an understanding," Lucifer murmured absently as he suddenly found the woman that he loved jumping onto his lap with a satisfied sigh and a smile that really said it all.

She was going to fuck them all over tonight.
Chapter 52

"God, there are just so many possibilities," she said, smiling as she looked around the table, letting all the possibilities race through her mind.

It was just like Christmas morning...

"I will give you a thousand dollars if you drink this," Aidan said, placing a large glass of beer in front of her and as much as she would love an ice-cold beer to make this night absolutely perfect she was going to have to pass.

"I'm good," she said absently as she shifted her attention to the stage, noting that Mrs. Bradford seemed to be having the time of her life while Ethan stood there, frozen on the spot, pale and looking like he was either going to pass out or puke.

Possibly both.

"Two thousand," Aidan said, a bit hysterically.

"You're really willing to risk my health just so that you could get out of some quality time with your family?" she asked, shaking her head in mock disgust even as she had to wonder if they had anything on tap that she could have.

"In a heartbeat," Aidan said, and she didn't doubt him for a second.

"We'd just drag you back here," Trevor said with a wink as he sipped his beer before Jason added, "Again."

"Bastards," Aidan muttered, finishing off his beer as she sat there, trying to decide where to begin.

There were just so many possibilities...

"What are you doing here?" Lucifer asked, reminding her that she'd actually come here for a reason.

"I came to talk to you," she said, shifting her attention to Jason and Trevor, who just sat there, watching her with a look that she knew all too well.

It was the same look that she got when she was about to screw someone over only this time it was aimed at her, which just wasn't going to work for her.

"So talk," Lucifer said, wrapping one arm loosely around her waist as he signaled the waitress and asked for two Cokes, which was probably for the best. Although, to be honest she wasn't sure that she was going to be able to get through this conversation without a little liquid courage.

"We have an audience," she reminded him as she shifted on his lap so that she could put her arm around his shoulders.

Shifting her gaze to Aidan, she realized that she might have to sacrifice him. Not that she had a problem doing that since the bastard had knocked up her best friend and abandoned her. Yes, she was aware that he didn't know, but that didn't matter to her. Melanie was her best friend so she owed her, her loyalty no matter how crazy and irrational her reasoning may be.

"Why don't we go home and talk about this?" Lucifer suggested, but she wasn't having that, not after getting a second chance to see this thing through.

"No," she said, shaking her head as she finally shifted her attention to Lucifer, "this is fine."

"I don't want to talk about this with the nosy bastards listening in," he said, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes so that he could cup her face in his hand and gently trace her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb, nearly making her give up her plan.

"We're not listening in," Jason said, gesturing for them to continue.

Biting back a smile, because she was definitely going to fit in well with his family if he ever got the nerve to propose to her again, she decided that it was time to get things moving. If she left it up to him, she knew that he would do everything in his power to make the moment absolutely perfect and that wasn't what she wanted.

She just wanted him.

"We can talk about this later," she said with a reassuring smile as she scanned the large restaurant, taking in all the possibilities.

"We should talk about this now," he said roughly, looking like he was going to be sick, which was probably a good reason to put this talk off for a little while.

At least until he stopped looking like he was going to be sick, which she had to admit was a tad insulting. Not that she was going to let him back out of his proposal, intended or not, he was hers.

She opened her mouth to tell him that there was nothing to worry about, because she'd decided to bestow upon him the honor of marrying her when he opened his mouth and let her know that he was going to be difficult.

"I want a do over," he blurted out, making her sigh as she picked up her Coke and took a sip.

Yup, definitely going to be difficult.

Since she wasn't in the mood to argue with him, and knowing that it was pointless because he wouldn't listen thus forcing her to take matters into her own hands later, she simply regally waved her hand and said, "Granted."

*-*-*-*

This just wasn't going to work, he decided with a heavy sigh as he scrolled down to the next picture, but the next suite wasn't going to work for him either. The furniture wasn't right, the window wasn't big enough, it didn't have the view that he wanted and the white rose petals were going to clash with the bedspread, he thought with another sigh as Rebecca shifted on his lap.

The next suite wasn't going to work for him either. No, this hotel was definitely unacceptable, he decided as he closed the webpage on his phone and opened another one. Maybe he should look for a hotel on the beach instead of one with a city view, he thought, but then quickly dismissed it when he realized that it would make it harder to find the perfect restaurant, fresh flowers, a limo service, bakery and a decent chocolatier.

"I'll be right back," Rebecca said, giving him a kiss on his cheek as she climbed off his lap and headed to god only knew where to fuck someone over.

"Okay," he said absently, debating between bringing her to Boston or Manhattan for the weekend.

If he brought her to Boston he could take her for a walk through Boston Common, but then again, if he brought her to Manhattan he could hire a horse drawn carriage to bring them through-

There was a heavy sigh and then his phone was gone and he was sitting there, wondering where he'd gone wrong all those years ago when he'd shoved the bastard in the street for touching his crayons. He should have followed through with another shove, but the annoying bastard had managed to pick him up and carry him back to his mother before he'd had a chance to follow through with his plans to make the bastard pay for putting his red crayon next to the blue ones.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, blinking down at his empty hand and deciding that he'd give the bastard until the count of ten to return the phone or he was going to-

"I could ask you the same thing," Jason said as he turned the phone off and tossed it on the table.

"You know what I'm doing," he said, reaching for his phone, but Trevor beat him to it.

"You're not there yet," Trevor said quietly as he put the phone in his pocket.

Clenching his jaw together, he said, "Give me my fucking phone."

"You're not there yet," Trevor repeated.

Lucifer glared at the bastard. "I'm there," he swore as he held his hand out only to have the other bastard fuck him over.

"He's right. You're not," Jason said, pissing him off even more.

"I'm ready," he bit out, ready to kill both of them with his bare hands if they didn't hand his damn phone over so that he could plan the perfect fucking proposal to make up for earlier. Then he was going to-

"Because you're willing to kill us?" Trevor asked, shaking his head as he sat back in his chair. "That doesn't make you ready to get married. That just makes you a Bradford."

"If it makes you feel better," Jason said, pausing to sit back and make room for one of the four waitresses reloading their table with plates of appetizers, "you're close."

"I'm already there," he said, forced to sit back as several plates filled with chicken tenders, onion rings and mozzarella sticks were placed in front of him.

"Because you're planning on kidnapping your girlfriend and whisk her away so that you can orchestrate the perfect proposal?" Jason, the know-it-all bastard guessed.

"And what's the problem with that?" he asked, hating the bastards more with every passing second.

"Bradfords don't propose," Aidan said as he shoved a mozzarella stick in his mouth.

"We really don't," Jason agreed as he selected a chicken tender.

"We wait until we lose our fucking minds before we take the next step," Trevor said as he gestured with his beer towards the stage where Lucifer's mother was wrapping up a song and looking like she was ready for round two while his father stood there, white as a ghost and mumbling what he suspected was the song or a plea for mercy.

"To your right," Trevor said, making him frown as he shifted his gaze to the right and found the woman that had turned his life upside down leaning against the bar, smiling at something that some asshole standing way too fucking close to her was saying.

"Who is that?" Aidan asked, which was exactly what he wanted know.

"Is that Rebecca?" his mother asked, apparently taking a break from her newfound love of karaoke to grab a drink.

"I thought you went home," his father mumbled, sitting down so that he could bury his face in his hands and whisper, "God, I wish she'd let me go home."

"Me too," he said when Rebecca pushed away from the bar and headed for the stage.
Chapter 53

"Oh, it looks like the stage is free again!" Mrs. Bradford said excitedly as she jumped to her feet and before Ethan could do anything more than whimper, he was dragged back to the stage.

Smiling at the devious expression on Mrs. Bradford's face, Rebecca walked over to Lucifer, who was watching her every move like a paranoid serial killer, which even she had to admit was a bit frightening, and sat back down on his lap, ignoring the empty chair next to him.

"What was that about?" he asked, shifting his glare to the man that she'd just been talking with.

Well, conspiring with might be a more fitting term since she'd just used her skills and charm to get a little help in ridding them of their unwanted audience while making sure to properly screw them over, which just showed how truly talented she was. Sighing, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and leaned against him.

Her talents were seriously going to waste, which was just another reminder that she needed a job, preferably one back at the Fire & Brimstone where she belonged. She missed being there so much and was seriously considering sucking up her pride and asking for her job back. Melanie had been right, she wasn't going to be happy working anywhere else.

"The River Tavern would like to give a warm welcome to our next singing sensation. Please welcome Trevor, Jason and Aidan Bradford to the stage where they are going to perform Justin Bieber's 'Boyfriend," Eric, the man that she'd been speaking with, said, smiling as he gestured to their table.

She glanced at the three men that she'd screwed over, mostly for the hell of it. Aidan looked genuinely shocked that she would do something so cruel to him while Jason and Trevor sat there, shaking their heads in pity.

"Is this really the best that you could do?" Jason asked, sharing a look with Trevor, who looked truly disappointed.

"I really hope this isn't your 'A' game," Trevor said, sighing heavily as he got to his feet.

"Are you boys picking up the gauntlet?" she asked with an overly sweet grin, mostly to annoy the man sitting across from them, who she was obligated to hate until further notice.

"No!" Aidan squeaked, shooting a nervous glance towards the exit while Jason said, "Absolutely."

"Feeling up to the challenge, are we?" she asked, shifting her attention back to the two men still looking at her with something close to pity.

"Did you really think that you were going to get us with Bieber?" Trevor asked, shaking his head in disgust.

"We have daughters, sweetheart," Jason said, gesturing between him and Trevor, "and we take a very active role in our babies' lives."

"Next time, pick a challenge," Trevor said, folding his large arms over his chest.

Nodding, she pointed to Aidan. "But he doesn't," she reminded them and with that, the two men completely forgot about her and shifted their attention on Aidan. When their smiles turned predatory, Aidan's eyes widened in horror as he stumbled back.

"But-but..." he mumbled as he shook his head, stumbling back.

"Let's go, sunshine!" Jason said, grabbing one of Aidan's arms while Trevor grabbed the other one and together, they dragged him to the stage.

"You're a cruel woman," Lucifer said, chuckling as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"I know," she admitted, trying not to sound proud, but she really was.

"Why don't we leave so that we can talk?" he asked, giving her another kiss that made it difficult to stand her ground, but this was important.

"We can talk here," she said, gesturing to the empty chairs surrounding them just as the first notes of "Boyfriend," began.

"What's wrong with talking about this at home?" he asked even as he pulled his phone out, found his camera app, pointed it at the stage and hit record.

"We could," she murmured in agreement as she pulled out her phone and followed suit.

"But you want to stay?" he asked as she shook her head in wonder as Jason and Trevor began singing, proving that they were in fact great dads.

Aidan on the other hand...

"I really hope that you can sing better than him," she said, sighing because she really wasn't sure if she could handle him mangling her favorite song.

"You'll never find out," he said confidently.

"You never know..." she teased, because she already knew that it was never going to happen no matter how much she would love to see it happen.

"I really do," he said, putting his phone away and shifted her on his lap so that they were eye to eye.

Once he had her where he wanted her, he touched his forehead to hers and said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Are you planning on shrieking at me again?" she asked, debating on staying to see this thing through, but since she was able to get Aidan up on stage she could probably call it a night.

"I'll try my best not to," he promised with that smile that she loved so much.

"I guess it will have to do," she said with an over-the-top sigh and a smile.

"If you're good I might even make you dinner," he said softly as he tilted his head, leaned in and-

"Excuse me, Rebecca?" a vaguely familiar voice said, interrupting what promised to be a very sweet kiss.

Blinking, she sat back and looked at the man, who at least had the good sense to look embarrassed for interrupting them, and realized that it was Eric. Ignoring Lucifer and the glare that he was sending Eric's way, she smiled up at Eric.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt," he said, turning an adorable shade of pink, "but I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you before you left."

Nodding, she climbed off Lucifer's lap, pausing just long enough to slap his hands away when he tried to grab her, and smiled at the charming man that had gone along with her plans to torment Aidan. Slapping Lucifer's hand away again, she asked Eric, "What's on your mind?"

"Why don't we talk in my office?" he asked with a warm smile that had her reluctantly nodding and gesturing for him to lead the way as she was forced to slap Lucifer's hand off her hip, again.

"I'll be right back," she said, following Eric towards his office where he was most likely going to offer her a job and then beg her to work for him when she had to let him down gently. She felt bad, but what else was she going to do?

She belonged at the Fire & Brimstone.

*-*-*-*

"Shit!" he snarled, shooting another glare towards the back where Rebecca had disappeared over an hour ago.

"Aw, what's wrong, big guy?" Jason, the bastard that he was seriously considering slamming his face into the table, said in a syrupy sweet voice.

"Shut. Up," he bit out, ramming his fingers through his hair.

He'd fucked this up and now he was about to lose her.

She belonged with him at the Fire & Brimstone. He never should have let her go without a fight. He should have yelled at her, begged her, reasoned her, done and said whatever he needed to in order to keep her there. She belonged there just as much as he did, maybe more. While the Fire & Brimstone was his life, it was their baby. She'd helped him make something of it, helped him get his head out of his ass and had done the impossible. She'd helped him focus on the big picture by annoying the shit out of him when all he'd wanted to do was make every little detail perfect.

"I wonder if she'll be able to get us a discount," Trevor said in a thoughtful tone that was going to get his jaw broken.

"Probably," Jason murmured in agreement as he downed the rest of his beer and signaled for another one, but by now their waitress was a bit wary of them and was avoiding their table whenever possible.

"Looks like it might be time to head out soon," Trevor said as they all watched their waitress dart across the restaurant in a desperate attempt to get away from them.

"Why don't we do another song while we wait for Rebecca?" his mother, a woman who was proving that she was just as evil as Rebecca if not worse, said with a bright smile that had his father trembling.

"Can't," his father blurted out, looking a little panicked as he reached over and blindly grabbed onto Aidan, who had never fully recovered from his time on stage, and stood up. "We have early rounds in the morning."

"Oh," his mother said with a disappointed sigh that didn't hide the pleased little glimmer in her calculating expression that was absolutely fucking terrifying.

"We could always come again," Jason said, always the helpful bastard.

"I'm free next Sunday," Trevor added as they all got to their feet and tossed money on the table since it was obvious that their waitress wasn't coming back to give them their check.

"Great!" his mother said, clasping her hands together and looking way too pleased with herself.

Rebecca was definitely going to fit in well with his family, he thought as the woman in question came waltzing back into view, smiling when she spotted him and letting him know that he was out of time.
Chapter 54

"Umm, what exactly are we doing?" she couldn't help but ask as she shifted her attention from the speedometer to the man sitting behind the wheel, who was incidentally the same one that had kidnapped her.

When he didn't answer her, because apparently that went against the kidnapper's code, she discretely pulled her phone out of her pocket, making sure to keep it hidden behind her leg and decided that it was time to ask for help.

Unfortunately for her the only person that she could think of to ask for help this time of night was the same bitch that was apparently "Team Lucifer." As soon as she texted that she was being kidnapped, the betraying bitch sent her a smiley emoji. She considered sending a text to Aidan to let him know that his brother had finally lost it, but then thought better of it since he was still angry with her.

At least, that's what she was assuming since Jason and Trevor had been forced to restrain him when she came back from talking to Eric. The screams and promises of revenge had been a little unsettling, but she was confident that he'd eventually forgive her. If he didn't that was fine too, because as soon as Melanie broke the news to him he'd have other things on his mind to worry about.

She had no idea how they were going to do this, not when they couldn't stand each other. For the next eighteen years they were going to have to work together to raise a child they hadn't planned on having. It was going to change everything and she wasn't sure that Aidan was going to be okay with that. Soon enough he was going to have a lot to deal with so for now she was going to leave him alone, which meant that she was on her own.

"So, umm," she said, shifting so that she could slip her phone back in her pocket without him seeing it, "where are we going at twelve o'clock at night?"

Instead of answering her like any sane person would do, his jaw just did that clenching thing that she'd never quite seen it do until tonight. It was a new version of the jaw clench that he normally did when she pissed him off, which made her wonder what happened between the time that she went to speak with Eric and the time that she came back to see if he was ready to leave.

"I'm kind of tired. When do you think we'll go home?" she asked nonchalantly as she noticed yet another large green highway sign notifying her that they were getting closer to the New Hampshire border.

No answer.

Awesome.

Shaking her head, she sat back against her seat and stared out the window at the cars passing by. All those years of teasing him to see just how far she could push him and someone else had broken him when she'd left the room. She felt robbed.

Bastards.

She continued staring out the window for another ten minutes before she couldn't take it anymore. She didn't bother asking him where they were going or what they were doing, because she knew that he wasn't going to answer. Besides, after the long and seriously disturbing day that they'd just had she was too tired to play this game with him.

"Look, it's late and I'm too tired to keep playing this game. Either turn around and take me home or find a hotel so that I can get some sleep and be well rested in the morning to deal with whatever it is that you're going through," she said, too exhausted to sugarcoat this.

All she wanted to do was take a shower, climb in bed and sleep for the next forty-eight hours. Then after a hearty breakfast she'd hopefully feel up to dealing with whatever was going on with him. She just hoped that after a good night's rest that he would give up his plans to kidnap her, tell her what was going on and bring her back home so that she could figure out the best way to grovel for her job back.

Maybe get on her hands and knees?

No, that wasn't going to work, mostly because she wasn't going to be able to pull that one off. She could try buttering him up with a home cooked meal, but she really wasn't much of a cook. Lucifer was a better cook and would just take one look at her half-assed attempt to bribe him, shake his head and cook his own meal.

So, that just left...

Oh God, she had no idea what that left, because she was too damn exhausted to think right now. She still couldn't believe just how much could happen in one day. Closing her eyes, she gave up. He was either going to keep going until they hit the North Pole or he was going to turn around and bring her home where she could pass out in her own bed.

Actually, she preferred his bed since it was bigger, more comfortable and had him in it. She always slept better when she was with him. He kept her warm, kept her safe and made her feel like she was where she was always meant to be.

With him.

*-*-*-*

"Lemme sleep," Rebecca grumbled angrily as she weakly slapped at him, making him chuckle as he carefully placed her on the first double bed in the hotel room that he'd reluctantly rented for the night.

He'd planned on driving straight through the night to the court house and wait until they opened their doors so that he could drag her inside and make it legally impossible for her to ever leave him. He'd changed his plans when she'd slumped over, grumbled and attempted to slap the shit out of his leg in an attempt to soften his leg to her pillow standards.

When it became obvious that she wasn't going to stop, he decided that maybe it was time to call it a night. After finding a Marriott, he got a room, took his life into his own hands and woke her up. It took him about ten minutes to get her inside and then another fifteen to get her to their room. Once he had her there, he stripped them both naked, dragged her into the shower and took his time caressing her skin, running his fingers through her hair as he held her.

Then he was holding her, just holding her as they stood beneath the showerhead and realizing that he was going to get the chance to hold her just like that for the rest of their lives. It had been the best moment of his night and one that had ended much too soon. When the water started to cool, he'd turned off the shower, wrapped her in a towel and after she muttered, "You may manhandle me," carried her to the bed where he laid her down.

Now he was playing tug of war with her towel, trying to remove it so that he could tuck the little pain in the ass in, but she wouldn't give up that damn towel! Finally after a grunt and a cute little growl, she gave up her hold, rolled over, kicked the blankets and sheet out of her way and settled in for the night.

Deciding that there was something seriously fucking wrong with him if this was how he wanted spend the rest of his life, he dropped his towel, climbed into bed behind her and pulled the blankets that she'd abused back up. Once they were both covered, he curled up behind her, closed his eyes and realized that tomorrow couldn't come fast enough for him.

When she abruptly turned around in his arms, pushed him onto his back and somehow managed to crawl on top of him before she passed out, apparently deciding that he made a better mattress, he prayed that tomorrow came before he lost his fucking mind.

*-*-*-*

"Umm, what are you doing?" she asked, gasping when those very talented lips of his wrapped around one nipple and gently suckled while his hand cradled the other one, squeezing it gently and making her lick her lips hungrily, because she honestly couldn't think of a better way to wake up.

"Practicing," he said, letting her nipple slip free from between his lips so that he could answer her and-

Lick her nipple.

"Oh, God!" she moaned loudly as he repeated that move as he allowed her nipple to slide between his fingers.

"How's that feel, sweetheart?" he calmly asked as he moved his attention to the other nipple and suckled on it.

Before she could answer him, not that she was really capable of answering him, he decided to up his game and follow it up with, "Are you getting wet for me, sweetheart?"

She moaned as he shifted over her and began kissing and licking his way down her stomach. "Maybe I should find out for myself," he murmured as he reached down and pushed her legs apart so that by the time that he reached his destination it was impossible for her to answer him without moaning his name and since she knew just how much he liked that, that's exactly what she did.
Chapter 55

"Christopher," the little tease moaned as he traced her slit with the tip of his tongue.

Groaning, he palmed her thigh and pushed it higher, needing better access to the sweetest pussy that he'd ever had the pleasure of worshipping. He just couldn't get enough of her. He wanted to do this morning, noon and night and sometimes he found himself thinking about doing this when he should be focusing on something else, growing so hard that he had no choice but hunt her down so that he could do this very thing.

If she took that job he wouldn't be able to do that and that pissed him off. He was keeping her with him and that was final. If she didn't like that then that was too goddamn bad, because she was stuck with him. She'd forced her way into his life, tormenting and teasing him along the way, making damn sure that he wouldn't be able to function without her until he didn't want to function without her.

He wanted her in his life, in his bed, hogging his shower, pretending to fall asleep when he asked her to try a new recipe, he wanted to watch as she got that little devious look on her face when she screwed with someone's head, he wanted to be there when she got into one of those sad slap fights with Melanie, wanted to run the Fire & Brimstone with her, and everything in between.

He just wanted to be with her.

"Mmm," she moaned as he traced the tip of his tongue down her slit while he slid his palms up her thighs, pushing them even further apart so that he could use his thumbs to spread the soft pink lips that hid a world of pleasure.

"Christopher," she said, moaning his name and making his cock bounce in anticipation.

He wanted to slide inside this pretty little pussy of hers and lose himself, but he didn't want to rush this. He wanted to savor every moan, every taste, every gasp until neither one of them could take it anymore. With that in mind, he ran the tip of his tongue over that swollen little clit, down to her core where his tongue traced the sensitive skin. When she shifted her hips, inviting his tongue to slide deep inside her, he pulled back.

"Christopher," she groaned, running her fingers through his hair as he leaned back in, wrapped his lips around her swollen clit and gently suckled.

He heard her breath catch as he rubbed his tongue over her clit. He took his time, rubbing his tongue gently over her clit, as she gasped and moaned, continuing to run her fingers through his hair. He'd never done this with a woman before, taking his time and simply savoring her. Normally he did this to get a woman wet and screaming for him to fuck her, but he didn't want that with Rebecca.

Well, he did, but he also wanted to enjoy himself and god, how he was fucking enjoying this. He loved the sounds that she made as his tongue and lips worked together to make her clit swell, the way she moved against him, the way her breath caught when his tongue brushed against the tip of her clit.

God, she tasted so fucking good, he thought as he was forced to grind his cock against the bed to relieve the ache. He wanted her so fucking badly, but he had a plan. He was going to lick her pussy, slide his tongue deep inside her before he moved back up to her breasts, licking them and suckling on her large pink nipples as he slid a finger deep inside her and fucked her with it.

He'd use his thumb to tease her clit, making her come before he replaced his finger with his cock and slowly fucked her while he kissed her. He'd kiss her, running his hands over her body, savoring her baby soft skin, her large breasts, her hips, and her legs before he wrapped his arms around her and-

Growled when she pulled away and sat up, completely ruining his plans!

"I was working, woman!" he said, reaching for her so that he could pull her back and start all over again.

"Uh huh," she said, shoving him onto his back so that she could crawl over his body, wrap her hand around his cock and-

Completely destroyed him.

Groaning, he placed his hands on her beautiful ass and gave her generous cheeks a squeeze while he enjoyed the way that she wrapped her lips around the very tip of his cock and sucked.

"God damn," he said, licking his lips as he used his hold on her ass and raised her off the bed so that her knees were straddling his head and her wet slit was above his mouth.

"I had plans, woman," he growled as he raised his head and buried his tongue inside her wet sheathe.

"You overthink everything," she teased as she traced his cock with her tongue.

"I plan everything," he said, pausing long enough to correct her.

"Same difference," she said, shrugging, which caused her large breasts to shift and drag her hard nipples against his stomach.

"It's really not," he felt obligated to point out as he reached between them so that he could run his fingers over one of those beautiful nipples teasing his stomach.

"You overthink everything," she said, taking his cock in her mouth and making it really hard to respond.

She took advantage.

She released his cock from her mouth, letting the underside of his cock ride her tongue as she ran her hand down to his balls, and gave them a gentle squeeze that had him groaning and praying that she would do it again.

And again...

He could probably use this to his advantage as well. When she took his cock back into her mouth he decided that he was morally obligated to use this discussion to manipulate her into returning to the Fire & Brimstone and most importantly, to him.

*-*-*-*

"Do I?" he softly asked as he licked and kissed his way along her slit, making her gasp around his cock.

"Mmm," was all she could manage when he slipped the tip of his tongue between her slit and ran it back up to her clit.

"You think I overthink everything?" he somehow managed to ask while she laid on top of him, gently sucking on his cock as she gripped the comforter and struggled not to scream when the bastard found her clit.

Her eyes flickered closed as she released another moan around the tip of his cock before she managed to take his cock back in her mouth. He had the most talented tongue, she thought with a sigh as she pulled her mouth back so that his cock slid out of her mouth as she gave his balls another squeeze that he really seemed to like.

"You don't like my plans, sweetheart?" he asked as he gave her breast and her ass a gentle squeeze, using his hold to pull her back so that he could bury his tongue inside her.

"Oh, God!" she screamed as his cock slid free and bounced against his stomach. Her hands fisted the comforter, her back bowed and a loud moan tore from her lips.

"What if I told you that I made plans for us?" he asked as he leisurely licked her out.

She went to answer when he took her by surprise by wrapping his lips around her clit and flicked the tip of his tongue over it, making her scream until her voice went hoarse. Licking her lips, she let her head drop until her forehead was pressed against his hip only inches away from that large cock that had her mouth watering.

"In the morning," he went on like he wasn't currently driving her out of her fucking mind, "we're going to get out of this bed and into that really small shower where I'm going to push you up against the wall and fuck you," he said, pausing so that he could kiss her clit as she released another moan just imagining how good it was going to feel when he pushed her up against the wall and slid inside her. "After you squeeze my cock dry we're going to get back into my truck, drive the rest of the way to New Hampshire where I'm going to put that birth certificate that I took from your room to good use," he said, giving her breast a squeeze, which almost distracted her from the next words out of his mouth, "and then we're getting married."
Chapter 56

"Get off me," the woman lying beneath him said with a glare that said it all.

If he moved so much as an inch off Rebecca's warm, incredibly comfortable body she was going to beat the shit out of him with whatever she could get her hands on. After a quick glance around the room he realized that there were at least five things that could send him to the hospital. Deciding that it was in his best interest to keep her from doing something that would probably put a smile on her face while she spent the night behind bars, he settled in more comfortably between her legs.

"I'm going to kill you," she swore even as she shifted her legs apart for him, which he appreciated since the move brought his cock against her wet slit.

"Of course you are," he agreed with a smile as he traced her lips with his fingertip.

"I'm not kidding," she said, trying to look mad, but her expression softened under his touch.

"I know you're not," he murmured as he looked down at the beautiful woman that he planned on spending the rest of his life with.

"If you know that, then you should be running for your life," she said with a heavy sigh as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss.

"I'm mentally preparing myself for a life on the run," he said, chuckling when she playfully nipped at his bottom lip.

"Jerk," she said, softening the insult by kissing him.

"I thought I was an asshole?" he asked, slowly returning that kiss.

"Only to other people," she reminded him, sounding pleased that she was probably the only person in the world safe from his temper.

"Only to other people," he reassured her with a smile as he kissed the corner of her lips, her chin, her neck and back up again, taking his time and enjoying the feel of her beneath him, her arms around her and the small sounds of pleasure that she was making.

This was definitely the way to have this conversation, he decided, shifting slightly on top of her so that he could get better access to her neck. When his erection pressed against her wet slit, and since that felt fucking fantastic, he decided that perhaps they should get a little more comfortable for this conversation.

Kissing the spot where her neck and shoulder met, he reached down between them and wrapped his hand around his cock. He slowly stroked himself as he placed the head against her slit. She gasped as he traced her slit with his cock so he did it again and licked his lips when the move coated the tip, making it as wet as she was.

"We have, umm, we need to talk," she said, clearly struggling to focus, which he took as proof that he was on the right track.

"That's what we're doing," he promised her, kissing her neck as he used his hold on his cock to tease her clit, making them both groan.

"We're talking?" she asked, moaning as she shifted beneath him, which caused her to rub against his cock.

"Mmmhmm," he groaned, trying to focus when the move caused the tip of his cock to trace her core.

She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and held on while he continued to tease them both. He kissed his way back to her mouth and kissed her, moaning when she continued to shift against him, rubbing herself against him. It felt so fucking good, but he wanted more.

When the kiss went from sweet and slow, to desperate and hungry. He released his cock, reached between them and palmed her breast, squeezing it as he ground his cock against her. He kept kissing her and grinding against her, too fucking desperate for the contact to stop for anything.

"I like this talk," she said, pulling away when her back bowed and the move caused the head of his cock to land in just the right place.

Watching as she licked her lips, he pushed forward, licking his lips as he leaned back in for a kiss while he slowly buried himself inside her. "I love this talk," he said, flexing his hips to bury the last few inches inside her, knowing that she could take it.

"It's not bad," the little tease said, gasping when he reached down and grabbed her thigh, pulled her leg up and-

Finally slid home.

"This is definitely the way that we should handle all our discussions," he decided, suddenly looking forward to every argument and discussions that she wanted to have.

"Might be a little time consuming," she whispered on a shaky laugh.

"Probably," he agreed as he flexed his hips, "but I think it will make morning meetings go more smoothly, don't you think?"

"Um," she muttered, visibly trying to focus as he pulled his hips back and then with a groan that he couldn't stop even if he wanted to, he pushed back inside her welcoming pussy, deciding that this was definitely the way to go, "what?"

Smiling, because after five years he'd finally found a way to get through the stubborn woman. "Morning meetings, sweetheart. I'm thinking that we should get rid of the couch in our office and look into getting a bed," he suggested, really liking the idea of all those meetings that they were going to have. There were going to have to talk about venders, employees, schedules, menus, and so many other things and in so many ways.

The possibilities were endless.

"I-Oh, God!" she screamed, letting him know just how easily she could be distracted.

This could definitely work in his favor, he thought as he gave her one last kiss and sat up, deciding that it was time to set things right.

*-*-*-*

"Wait," she said, trying to catch her breath when the large bastard took her by surprise and sat up, taking her with him.

At least, he took her lower half with him, she amended a few seconds later when he raised her legs, placed them against his chest, and wrapped his arms around her thighs to keep her exactly where she was. Gripping the sheets, she held on as she watched Lucifer, looking determined as he licked his lips, thrust back inside of her, making he back bow and ripped a scream of pleasure from her lips.

She tried to focus, tried think about what he'd said to her, but he refused to slow down, refused to give her quarter and when he ripped that first orgasm from her, she decided right then and there that he could have anything that he wanted as long as he did that again.

"That's it, sweetheart. Keep squeezing my cock," he growled, guaranteeing that it was going to happen.

"Don't stop, Christopher," she heard herself murmuring over and over again as her eyes slid shut and her moans grew louder.

The answering growl had her whimpering and squirming on his lap, desperate for more. She wanted more, needed more and she thanked God that he seemed to realize exactly what she needed, because it was in that moment that he seemed to lose it.

One minute she was being held off the bed and fucked slowly and the next she was on her stomach with the man that she loved covering her and fucking her harder. He wrapped one arm around her and slapped his hand against the headboard in a desperate attempt to keep her from slamming into the wall with every hard thrust.

"Love you so fucking much," he whispered hoarsely in her ear, making her toes curl and her breath catch as another orgasm took her by surprise and sent her screaming his name, which seemed to be exactly what he'd been waiting to hear.

He buried his face against hers and growled, "Rebecca," sending her over the edge one last time and completely destroying her ability to tell him no ever again.

Sneaky bastard, she thought with a smile as she shoved him away so that she could push him onto his back, crawl back on top of him, close her eyes and decided to deal with the sneaky bastard after she took a little nap.
Chapter 57

"So," the small woman that was going to be the death of him said as she allowed his cock to slip out of her mouth with a pop, waking him up so that she could ask, "what should we talk about?"

"I-" he started to answer, but the cruel woman apparently had no plans of letting him talk until she was ready, because she licked him from balls to tip, making it impossible for him to answer her.

"Because I was thinking about what you said last night," she said conversationally as she wrapped her hand around his cock and gave it a squeeze.

"About getting married or the job?" he managed to get out as she continued to torment him.

"Both," she said with a shrug as she leaned back over him and took his cock into her warm, welcoming mouth.

"Fuck," he groaned when her lips wrapped around his shaft.

"Afterwards," she said when she pulled back after slowly letting his cock slip free from her mouth this time before adding, "if you're good," with a wink.

"We're getting married," he bit out, deciding that this whole Bradford theory on marriage was definitely the way to go since it didn't give her an option to tell him no.

When she shrugged like it was fine and continued sucking on his cock, he decided to take that as a win and move on. "You're also going to help me run the Fire & Brimstone," he said, moaning as he placed his hand on her back, encouraging her to continue as he explained his plans.

"You don't need my help," the stubborn pain in his ass said as she released his cock to argue with him.

"Yes, I do," he bit out, wondering why she was arguing with him now when she'd spent the last five years doing everything she could to prove that he couldn't do it without her.

She shook her head, which he had to admit sent a very interesting sensation down his cock and pulled back so that she could keep arguing with him. "The Fire & Brimstone is yours," she said, pissing him off.

"It's ours," he corrected her, deciding that maybe he should take over again if they had any hopes of getting through this conversation without killing each other.

Sitting up, he took her by surprise, picked her up and laid her across his lap so that they could clear a few things up. "Okay, let's talk about a few things, shall we?" he asked, resting his arms across the wiggling woman as she tried to climb off his lap.

"Seriously? You're going to manhandle me now?" she snapped, continuing with the squirming.

He ignored her question and moved on, deciding that they'd wasted enough time arguing. "You're going to have to turn down that asshole and tell him that you already have a job," he said since that needed to be cleared up immediately.

She stopped squirming on his lap to throw him a questioning look over her shoulder. "Who?"

"That asshole from the bar," he said while his hand found her ass and stayed there since it soothed him.

When she continued to blink, he said, "The guy that talked your ear off for over an hour last night."

She blinked, again.

"The guy that offered you a job!" he snapped, giving her ass a squeeze because he'd earned it for the bullshit that she put him through.

"Nobody offered me a job," she said with a sigh as she folded her arms beneath her head so that she could use them as a pillow.

Frowning, he asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

She grumbled, "He wanted to talk about being gluten free, because his wife just found out that she has a gluten sensitivity and he wanted to know how to keep her safe."

"Oh," he said, digesting that as he continued to kneed her bottom.

"Yeah," she said, sighing as she laid there.

"So, then there's no reason for you not to come back?" he asked, wondering if he'd missed anything that the stubborn woman might use to argue her away out of this one.

"No," she admitted, but he sensed a "but" in there.

"But..." he said, deciding to help her along for the sake of his sanity.

Sighing, she reached back and swatted his hand away so that she could climb off his lap, but she didn't go far. Tearing a strangled groan from him, she threw her leg over his lap so that she was straddling him and in one move, slowly impaled herself on his cock that had been straining to get back to her since he'd pulled her mouth away.

"Everything okay?" she asked with that damn innocent expression that had caused him to lose his fucking mind more times than he could count.

Narrowing his eyes on her and trying not to think about just how fucking tight she was, he bit out, "Fine."

"Good!" she said brightly as she shifted more than what was necessary in his opinion to get comfortable. "Now, where were we?" she asked, wiggling.

"You were just about to tell me how you were going to piss me off," he reminded her, cupping her hips to stop the damn woman from wiggling again.

"Yes, yes I was," she said with a firm nod and another fucking wiggle!

"Spit it out."

Sighing, she tried to wiggle again, but he'd been ready for it and stopped her. "You don't need to let me help run the Fire & Brimstone, Christopher," she said, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned in until her forehead touched his. "I miss the Fire & Brimstone and I miss you."

"You see me every day," he reminded her before adding, "and we both know that you've been running the Fire & Brimstone with me since the moment that you set your eyes on it. So, let's not play this game. We're getting married today, Rebecca, and then we're going to run the Fire & Brimstone together, making it the best restaurant in the state."

Smiling, she leaned in and quickly kissed him. "It already is the best restaurant in the state and seeing you after work isn't the same and you know it," she informed him in a teasing tone.

"It can always get better," he reminded her, returning the kiss that had him struggling to focus on what mattered.

Getting this woman in front of a Justice of the Peace.

"I suppose it can," she said, sounding a little distracted as she slid her fingers through his hair and raised herself up on her knees.

"It definitely can," he said, using his hold on her hips to help guide her back down and making them both moan.

"Then should we discuss the terms of my return?" the frustrating woman asked as she tore a groan from him.

"Marrying me isn't enough?" he asked, tilting his head so that he could kiss her better.

"No," she said, chuckling as she slowly kissed him, "Not really."

"You are a mean woman," he said, smiling as he kissed her chin.

"But you adore me," she reminded him.

"I love you," he corrected her before adding, "and you fucking adore me."

Smiling, she said, "Well, I might be in love with you, too."

Chuckling, he cupped her beautiful face in his hands and leaned back so that he could look into her eyes. "Might be?"

She shrugged. "It's a possibility."

"So, then what's the problem?" he asked, leaning in so that he could kiss her stubborn little chin simply because he couldn't help himself.

"There's really no problem, but I just think that we should discuss bonuses, raises, vacation time, my own office, an assistant, a few minions to be at my beck and call and-"

"You're pushing it," he said, chuckling as he leaned in to shut her up with a kiss.

"Yes, but you knew that I would," the little demon proudly said.

"Yes, I did," he said, keeping an arm wrapped around her so that he could lower them both back onto the bed. "And I expect that you're going to do it for the rest of our lives."

Threading her fingers through his hair, she gave him that grin that absolutely terrified him and said, "You can count on it."
Epilogue

Two Months later...

"He's going to kill you."

"You think so?" Rebecca asked as a group of Lucifer's cousins walked past them, all of them shooting her winks as they headed for her old section.

"There's a good chance," Melanie said, nodding as she placed her hands on the swell of her belly.

Rebecca considered asking Melanie when she was finally going to tell Aidan, but she really didn't feel like hiding in bathroom, texting Lucifer for help as the crazed, hormonal woman tried to break in and slap her silly as she sobbed hysterically, again. So, instead she decided that she would continue sitting there, sipping her Coke and periodically glancing towards all the exits, looking out for the man that might have take issue with the fact that she'd allowed his relatives back inside or the fact that she'd cleared the dance floor and had inadvertently turned the Fire & Brimstone into a nightclub for the night.

Then again...

If he hadn't banned her poor, sweet baby from their bedroom this morning over a little misunderstanding involving a puddle of drool on his pillow, she wouldn't have been forced to do this. That and she enjoyed the fact that when it was her nights to run the Fire & Brimstone she was able to triple the profits, something that she was able to do thanks to all his relatives. Not only did they order an insane amount of food, but they were also incredibly hot, which drew a surprisingly large amount of women, which in turn drew a lot of single men, filling the restaurant to capacity for the night.

"Don't you have a paper due tomorrow?" Melanie asked, sipping her glass of apple juice since she'd given up soda while pregnant.

"Already done," she said, still shocked at how well she was doing in school.

It had only been a month since she'd started and it was only part time, but she loved it. She was taking a course on management and introduction to business and so far she was doing really well. Of course, that probably had something to do with her self-appointed tutor.

Her husband hadn't been excited when she'd announced that she wanted to go back to school, but that all changed after she'd enrolled in college and had to pick her classes. After he found her course catalog lying on the bed and decided to have a look, he'd decided to offer his services.

Since then he'd outlined all the course that she needed to take over the next four years, had decided that she was going to attend the summer term to catch up with the rest of the freshmen class and then starting next year he wanted her to switch to full-time. At first she'd argued with him, because she hadn't been sure that she could handle it, but once she realized that Lucifer's questionable OCD demanded that he organize her notes, make her flashcards and proofread all her papers she'd agreed to at least try to do things his way.

"What do you think he's going to do when he sees this?" Melanie asked gesturing to the crowded restaurant.

"Thank me?" she said with a hopeful smile.

"You mean with more yelling?" the betraying bitch said, reminding her about her first week co-managing the Fire & Brimstone with Lucifer.

"He wasn't yelling," she said, trying not to think about all that yelling and God, there had been so much yelling, but thankfully Lucifer was partial to her ass and blowjobs so it hadn't been that bad.

"Really? Then what would you call it?" Melanie asked, stealing a bite out of Rebecca's gluten free cheeseburger, one of the many new gluten-free menu items that Lucifer had created for her.

"Expressing his undying love for me in a tone that would ensure that I didn't miss the extent of his feelings for me?"

"Or," the incredibly sexy voice that she loved to hear whispering her name drawled, alerting her to the fact that she'd lost the element of surprise, "he probably yells because you drive him out of his fucking mind."

"There is that," she admitted with a smile when she felt him turn her barstool around so that she was facing him.

"What have you done now?" he asked, cupping her face in his hands as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

"Probably violating several fire codes," Melanie said around another bite of her burger.

"Probably," Lucifer murmured in agreement as he gazed down at her.

"Are you mad?" she asked, hooking her fingers in his belt loops so that she could pull him closer.

"Furious," he said with a smile as he picked her up and set her down on her feet.

"You seem it," she said, going up on her toes so that she could give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I am," he promised her, taking her hand into his and gave it a gentle tug that had her following him as he led her to the dance floor.

"Where are you taking me, sir?" she asked, loving that sexy grin of his as he continued to walk backwards, taking her with him.

"Are you scared?" he asked in a teasing tone as he pulled her into his arms.

"Petrified," she returned with a laugh as she moved in close to her husband so that she could wrap her arms around his shoulders and lose herself in his arms.

"You do seem to scare easily," he noted as he wrapped his arms around her and began moving them around in their own little space on the crowded dance floor.

"What can I say," she said with a forlorn sigh as she moved in closer to him, "you are a frightening man."

"I know," he said, chuckling as he leaned down and kissed her.

"So," she said against his lips, "where have you been all day?"

"Did you miss me?" he asked, pulling back far enough so that he could look at her while they talked.

"A little," she said with a heartfelt sigh.

"Only a little?" he asked, maneuvering them around a few of his cousins who were dancing with their wives.

"Mmmhmm," she murmured, leaning up to kiss him again. "So, where were you?"

"Talking to a realtor with my Uncle Jared about buying the back lot so that we can expand the bar and dining area," he said, taking her by surprise.

"We're expanding?" she asked, more than a little surprised.

"Mmmhmm, we're going to need a bigger kitchen and then of course since you keep filling the place to capacity with a long line waiting around the block we figured that it would probably be for the best if we expanded," he said, looking pleased as he rewarded her with another kiss.

"Is this what you want?" she asked, worried that she might have rushed him into something that he wasn't ready for.

He nodded, leaning in to kiss her just as the first few chords of her favorite song began to play. But, instead of kissing her he leaned in close so that his lips were next to her ear as he began singing along with Sam Hunt. His voice was deeper, but God, could he sing.

She closed her eyes and held onto him as he continued to sing along with "Take Your Time," loving this man more than she ever thought possible. He continued to sing for her ears only as he moved them around to the music as she lost herself in his arms, deciding that after this song they were going to have to go have a "Meeting," about this renovation and maybe if he was lucky, she'd pull out her clipboard.

*-*-*-*

"How far along are you?" the middle-aged woman currently wrestling with a toddler, asked with a warm smile that helped calm her down a bit.

Well, it really didn't, but she was willing to pretend that it did if it helped her get through this. Forcing a smile on her face, she said, "Six months," still wondering why she'd taken so long to tell him.

Granted, the fact that she really couldn't stand him probably had something to do with it, but there was also the fact that she was in way over her head on this one. Maybe she should have let Rebecca come with her. At least if Rebecca was here she wouldn't have to worry about Aidan's reaction, because her best friend would be there for her, ready to slap the crap out of him if he made her cry.

Oh, God...

What if she cried?

She couldn't do this. No, definitely not today. Maybe tomorrow would be better, she thought as she grabbed her bag and decided that an email should suffice. She'd use a friendly font, double spaces and a casual tone and let him know that in three months he was going to be the proud daddy of a bouncing baby boy that was causing her to eat everything in sight.

Worrying her bottom lip, she shot a glance at the door and wondered if she had time to grab a burger before she met Rebecca for lunch. She could always ask Lucifer to whip her up one while she waited for Rebecca to finish her paper, she decided as she threw her bag over her shoulder and started to make her way to the door, wondering if he'd be willing to whip up a fried egg and bacon to go along with her burger.

If he was willing to do that and had the eggs out anyway, maybe he'd be willing to make her pancakes as well. God, she could really go for some pancakes right about-

"Melanie?" a very friendly looking nurse said as she stepped into the waiting room, "Dr. Bradford is ready to see you now."

The Arrival of Darrin and Marybeth's Babies

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

"Oh my God!" Zoe gasped in pain as she slapped her hand down hard on the kitchen island, leaned over and groaned as the contraction that she was pretending wasn't happening nearly knocked her on her beautiful ass.

"Everything okay, sweetheart?" Trevor asked casually as he leaned back in his chair, glad the kids were at their Uncle Jared's so that they wouldn't have to witness this sad display of bullshit.

Slapping a smile on her face, Zoe said, "Yes, yes of course it is."

"Uh huh," he said with a heavy sigh as he watched the stubborn woman take a deep breath, try to stand up only to lean back down, all while throwing him that tightlipped smile that really said it all.

"Do you want to eat now or wait until the barbeque?" she asked, clearly hoping to distract him with the promise of food.

"We can grab something at the hospital," he said, deciding that this little charade of hers had gone on long enough.

"Why..." she started to say only to let her words trail off with a gasp as she grabbed onto the edge of the counter and tried to breathe through the next contraction.

"Fucking unbelievable," he muttered as he stood up and pulled his phone out of his back pocket so that he could send Darrin a text message, letting him know that it was time.

"I'm fine!" the adorable little liar that was practically falling over thanks to that large belly that he swore was bigger than her, snapped, apparently dead set on pissing him off today.

"Let's go," he said, wrapping his arm around her body so that he could hold onto her as he helped her to the car.

"No, I'm fine," she argued even as she settled against him and allowed him to guide her towards the garage door.

Thank God Marybeth had insisted on taking care of Zoe's bag. It was normally something that he handled when Zoe was pregnant and usually ended up screwing up when it came time to go to the hospital. This time she was carrying his cousin's children and the only thing he had to focus on was his wife.

It was a relief, but it was also pure hell, because for the past few months he'd been struggling not to grow attached to the babies that she was carrying. They weren't his and he knew that, but it was difficult to feel that way when he held her at night and could feel the babies move against his arm or when he simply looked at her. He loved being a father and would give anything to fall asleep with a baby curled up in his arms one more time.

Then again, with three babies that would mean three times the feedings, changing more diapers, chasing after them as well as three times as many nervous breakdowns. He didn't miss sleepless nights, going into work in the morning only to realize that he was covered in spit-up, or realizing that he'd accidentally grabbed a bottle of breast milk instead of his thermos.

He sighed as he helped her through the garage door and into his SUV. This time, he was going to be able to enjoy all the fun stuff with the babies and none of the soul crushing duties that came with being the parents of triplets. This really might not be so bad after all, he realized as he carefully closed her door.

"I'm fine. Really," the little fibber said as he climbed in the car.

"And the contractions?" he asked, cocking a brow as he waited for her latest line of bullshit that she was going to use to try getting out to of going to the hospital, because she was determined to put off pushing three babies from her body until it was absolutely necessary.

Not that he could blame her, because he really couldn't, but it had to be done and they both knew it.

"They're just stomach cramps from working out," she bit out.

"Working out?" he asked, wondering if she was referring to the times when she had to wiggle, shimmy and roll to her side to get off the couch.

"Yes! Working out!" she snapped a bit angrily as she glared at him, getting that look in her eye that she always got just before she gave birth.

She wanted to go for his balls.

Great, he thought dryly as he started the car and pulled out of the garage. This was just what he needed today, he thought just as the screaming began...

*-*-*-*

"Would you stop screaming so I can focus?" Duncan snapped, when the selfish bastard let out another bloodcurdling scream.

"My hand's broken, you insensitive bastard!" Trevor bitched as Zoe, who was trying to breathe through the next contraction, tightened her grip around Trevor's disturbingly swollen and bruised hand and tried to bite back a scream.

A few seconds later, still panting heavily, Zoe said, "I'm fine. Really," making them both roll their eyes, because this was just getting really fucking old.

"You're not fine, Zoe. You're in labor," he explained, deciding that it was time to put the backseat down and help her get comfortable, because there was no way that they were going to make it to the hospital in time.

"Where the hell are you going?" Trevor asked with hint of desperation in his voice.

Not that Duncan could blame him, not when Zoe kept glaring at him in that terrifying way. As he made his way to the back and popped the hatch, he couldn't help but wonder if Necie was going to try to kill him when they had their first child. He couldn't really see his sweet, somewhat accident-prone wife trying to go for his balls, but then again, things could change when you had to push a nine pound Bradford out.

"What the hell's taking so long?" Trevor snapped, and he knew that Trevor was more worried about his wife than his hand.

Bradfords cherished their wives no matter how much they wanted to throttle them. He'd do anything for his wife, absolutely anything and Trevor was no different. He'd take the pain that Zoe was dishing out and then some as long as she safe.

"Dad's waiting for her at the hospital," Reese announced as he strolled past him to check on Zoe.

"She's not going to make it to the hospital," Duncan said, damn near sighing in relief that his brother had shown up.

Not that he would tell the bastard that, but they were looking at a triple delivery here and he was going to need someone with training to help him. Reese's training wasn't as extensive as his, but it would be enough to help him bring these three babies safely into the world.

"What the hell's going on?" Jason, the cousin that took great pride in fucking with everyone's head, asked as he joined him at the back of the SUV. Without being asked, Jason started unloading the back and put everything out of the way.

"She's in labor," Duncan explained as they put the backseat down.

"What do you need?" Jason asked, reminding him why he liked the annoying bastard so much.

"Towels, sheets, water, anything that you can find to clean these babies and keep them warm," he said, joining Reese, who was trying to distract Zoe with cheesy jokes.

"Ready?" Duncan asked as he reached for Zoe.

Nodding, Reese took Zoe's other hand in his and together they helped her out of the front seat. Before her feet had to get a chance to touch the ground they were carrying her. For a second, he thought about bringing her back into the house, but the scream that she released told him exactly how much time they had.

"Should we put her on the ground?" Reese asked as Trevor jumped into the backseat and positioned himself to hold his wife.

"No, there's no time," he said, having absolutely no doubt that they were minutes from welcoming the next generation of Bradfords.

God help them all.

"We need more help," Jason said as he came outside. "I've got everything set up inside, but there's no way that I'm going to be able to handle three babies on my own."

"Helps already here," Darrin said with Marybeth by his side, looking happier than he'd ever seen his brother.

"Oh my God," Marybeth said, who was incidentally looking more terrified than he'd ever seen her and that was saying a lot since she'd grown up around them.

"Hey, beautiful," Darrin said with a warm smile as he carefully joined Zoe and Trevor in the back. While Trevor sat behind Zoe, Darrin took the side position and took Zoe's hand into his. "How are you holding up?" he asked, raising their hands so that he could kiss the back of hers.

"I-I'm sorry, Darrin, but I don't think that I can do this after all," Zoe said, sounding frantic as she shook her head, obviously having second thoughts.

"I'm afraid that it's a little late to change your mind," Trevor whispered, kissing his wife's cheek.

"No, it's not!" Zoe screamed while another contraction took over as Duncan carefully positioned her legs.

"I will never forget this," Darrin swore against the back of her hand. "Never."

Zoe licked her dry lips as she sat there, trying to breathe through the pain. "Can we possibly renegotiate the terms of our deal?"

Darrin chuckled softly as he pressed another kiss against the back of her hand. "Anything you want."

"O-okay," she said, gasping through the pain.

"What do you want, sweetheart?" Darrin asked as Duncan glanced over his shoulder and spotted Marybeth, standing there, pale as a ghost and looking seconds away from becoming his next patient.

He looked for Jason and when he found him, he nodded towards the woman now swaying in the driveway. With a nod, Jason walked over and swept Marybeth up into his arms.

"She's fine," he promised Darrin, who looked torn between helping his wife and staying where he was to witness the birth of his children.

"We're having babies," Marybeth mumbled in a daze, making him chuckle, because he'd honestly thought that Darrin would have been the one to lose it.

"Yes, yes you are," Jason said, nodding in agreement as he carried the pale mother-to-be inside.

"I-I call godmother," Zoe said, groaning in pain as she shifted to get more comfortable.

Darrin chuckled. "It's already yours."

"A-and I wanna be there for all the big stuff," she said, licking her lips again as she struggled through another contraction. "If that's okay," she added, obviously worried about crossing the line, but they were Bradfords and she should know better by now.

"That was an automatic," Darrin said with a smile as he reached over and swept away a few wet strands of hair out of her face.

"And we get first dibs on babysitting," Trevor threw in with an expression that told Duncan just how hard this was going to be for him to step aside and let these babies go.

Smiling, Darrin nodded. "Done."

"Oh, no," Zoe whispered just as the first baby decided to make an appearance.

"Time to bring these babies into the world," Duncan said as Reese stepped up next to him, holding a large white towel, ready for the first baby.

Zoe screamed as Trevor held her, struggling not scream with her as a she squeezed his badly damaged hand. Darrin did surprising better than Trevor, but that was probably because he was distracted by his first child being born and all.

"Oh my God," he whispered, smiling hugely when the first baby was born.

"Baby girl," Duncan said, making sure the baby was breathing before clipping the umbilical cord and carefully handing the baby over to Reese.

One down, two to go...

"The boys will be next," Darrin said, mostly to himself as he sat there, holding Zoe's hand as he waited for his-

"Another girl," Duncan said, frowning when the second child was born, because he could have sworn that his father and brother said that two of the babies were going to be boys.

"Another girl," Darrin said, smiling hugely and obviously not caring, which was good, Duncan thought as the third baby, another little girl, was born.

"Three girls," Darrin said as he took the last little girl in his arms, the other two already had already been brought inside so that they could be cleaned and introduced to their mother.

"She's so beautiful," Zoe said with a watery smile as the small baby crying in Darrin's arms glared at her daddy.

"Thank God they all look like Marybeth," Trevor said, chuckling as he looked at the beautiful baby girl that was going to make Darrin's life a living hell.

"Thank God," Darrin seconded with a chuckle as he smiled down at the beautiful baby girl that looked so much like her mother, beautiful tan skin, black hair and a glare to match.

"Three girls," Zoe said, smiling as she lay in Trevor's arms.

"Are you okay?" Duncan asked, praying that she was okay, because they were a good thirty minutes from the nearest hospital and he wasn't set up to handle an emergency right now.

"Perfect," Zoe said, smiling as reached over so that the newest Bradford could grab her finger.

"Absolutely perfect," Darrin seconded as he looked down at the little girl, who-

"Hey!" Duncan gasped, reaching over and carefully removing the candy bar that she'd somehow stolen from his pocket from her tiny grasp.

"She stole that for me!" Darrin snapped, carefully holding the baby girl in one arm so that he could reach over and snatch the candy bar away from him while Duncan stood there, telling himself that it was perfectly normal for an infant who was barely five minutes old to already be stealing food.

But, even for a Bradford that was actually kind of frightening.

In Memory of Roni Brown

Only "knew" Roni through FB, but had a smile on my face whenever I read her comments. As a "Limey Cousin, from over the pond," I hope her Daughter grows up to know how her Mummy made lots of people, everywhere smile.

-Catherine Bent

RIP. May the memory of your smile and laughter bring peace to your loved ones.

-Alive Chazen

We never met but I loved reading her posts especially about Shemar. You will be missed, Roni Fabulousone Brown, especially by your beautiful baby girl xxx

-Elaine McCrory

I never met you Roni but your posts always made me smile and your pics of Shemar brightened my day xx

-Gina Crowther

I don't believe I ever got the chance to know Roni, but her family and child have my deepest sympathies.

-Tina Collins Reynolds

I never meet Roni, It is so sad that she died so young, sending my deepest sympathies to her baby and family at this very sad time.

-Sharon Jones

Roni, always made me laugh. We never met, but we would chat on Facebook about the Pyte Series and She was a member of the Pyte diet challenge group. Her love for Sherman was like my obsession with Brock LOL She will be so missed. My prayers go out for her family and to her sweet and beautiful baby daughter Hanna. Rest in Peace Roni. Your Bright big smile will forever be in our hearts.

-Necie Navone

I only know on Facebook and on my diet challenge team, but she made you feel like you have know her forever. What a funny, beautiful lady, that could always make you smile and laugh. We also shared that love for Shemar Moore. My thoughts and prayers are with her sweet baby girl and family. You will be so missed.

-Sharon Coffey

 Will miss seeing posts and pictures.

I'm sending hugs to family and friends who will be feeling so much pain right now

A lovely lady we will miss greatly

-Jayne Wheatley

Never had the chance to meet her, but she always took the time to comment and her wit always put a smile on my face... She knew how to light up a newsfeed!! My condolences.

-Debra MacArthur

While I never met her, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how much she was loved and how many people cared about her. This world is sadder for her loss. She will not be forgotten to all those she touched with her wonderful spirit.

-Tamicka Birch

Roni had a fantastic smile and was there with encouraging words. Her love for Shemar often brightened up my time-line. Sad I never got the chance to meet her.

-Julie Mancini

Roni's post always made me smile. Loved how she embraced life! Although I never met her in person; her personality just made you feel like you had known her forever. RIP sweet friend.

-Sandy Schmidt

I am just seeing this tragic news. Sending prayers for her family and all those who loved her. Even though many of us don't know each other in 'real life', we support and care for each other nonetheless. May her joy and light live on in all of those she touched.

-Ozie Dilorenzo

Although your time with us was cut far too short, your sweet smile will live on in a beautiful baby. May she have your love of life and poise.

-Mackenzie G.

Although we never met you could always make me smile with your posts... Team Bradford has lost an amazing friend and person. Heaven has gained an Angel. Sleep tight, Roni and R.IP.

-Sian Parry

Roni and I shared a love for Shemar Moore. She showed us how sweet he was to her when he met her at his house, making her SUPER happy as well. I didn't chat with her a lot but she was always kind and bubbly.

-Aimee

I didn't know Roni, but I know many of you did so here's something to remember X.

When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.

-Velvet December

I will miss Roni's smile! We shared a love and obsession of Shamar Moore. We had many discussions on how beautiful we thought this man was! Thanks Roni for being a friend through our weight loss journey and in Facebook world.

-Anissa Hammons

I will miss her posts, and the whole world will miss her smile. You will never be forgotten!!!!

-Jessica An Shelia Powers

A beautiful, vivacious lady, who will be dearly missed, but never forgotten. May she rest in peace

-Rachelle Midson

She was a fun and special person, it's difficult to think of something about someone you knew and liked but never met. All I can say is a quote from Helen Keller that I feel helps say it;

"What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes part of us"

You will be missed Ronnie but not forgotten!

-Zofia Hughes-Zawadzki

She will be missed.. Facebook at times does something amazing as introducing us to amazing people...Roni was one of them...keep smiling and shining for us!!!

-Laura Navarrete

I just seen the post ladies I'm so very sorry for your loss and heartbreak i didn't know Roni but it's so sad when someone passes. May Roni be remembered in your hearts always!! Again, ladies, I'm so sorry.

-Joanna Jojo O'Neill

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