“We’ll eventually get more furniture,” I promised. “Anything you want, it’s yours.”

“I never knew you’d come around to wanting a place with a woman’s touch,” she teased.

I took her hand and kissed it. “Not a woman’s touch. Allie’s touch.”

Her eyes warmed. “Smooth, Heath.”

“I’m always smooth.”

“Always.”

“And you love that.”

She nodded, her gaze meeting my mouth as she softly muttered, “I love your smart mouth and everything that comes out of it.”

I pulled her to me then and kissed along her neck and shoulder, whispering in her ear, “You love what I can do with it too.”

She trembled a little before pushing me away. That fucking smile on her face blew me away, warming me on the inside as if she’d nursed a fire in there. I watched her walk off, not ever realizing how beautifully she swayed as she went, those hips – fuller than they had ever been before – rocking from side to side, begging for me to grip them.

And I wanted to fucking grip them as I slammed into her.

I exhaled slowly and composed myself. I couldn’t tear her clothes off now. I’d have to wait at least until she finished her inspection, and I was kind of hoping she’d hurry the hell up because Kayden was only down for a short nap.

She was extra giddy about the bathroom and its double sink vanity. I didn’t even know this kind of shit was important to a girl, so I was pretty chuffed with myself for impressing her.

“Now I don’t have to wait for you to be finished,” she remarked.

“You mean no more cramped spaces and no more you bullying me for the sink.”

Allie laughed. “I won’t even deny it.”

She took it all in, the hardwood floors and freshly painted walls; she even stopped by the window and looked out into the yard. I could see her mind going a million miles an hour, probably mapping out furniture and decorative. She was going to make it into a beautiful home. She had a good foundation to start with. Overall the house was in fantastic condition; a newly renovated place in the only redeemable part of town. Living here would mean we would be away from the hard people.

She stopped at the kitchen – dark themed but brightly lit – and turned to me. “How much did you get this for, Heath?”

A lot of fucking money. “Not a lot of money, Allie. Don’t worry.”

“Okay, but how much?”

“You’ll freak out if I told you.”

She frowned and crossed her arms. “I can’t have you going broke over this place.”

The last thing I was doing was going broke.

With a sigh, I walked over to where she stood and wrapped my arms around her waist. “Allie, it’s done. I signed the lease. I’ve ended the tenancy agreement on the apartment, and we’re out of there next weekend. It’s done, and there’s nothing you can do about it. We’ve got a place we can really make a home out of. When I think of you and Kayden’s safety, being here is vital. I can rest easy at night knowing there isn’t going to be another drunken fight outside the window waking up our kid. There’s no price on a better life.”

She considered my words before nodding slowly. “Fine. If you think we can afford it, then I’ll take your word for it. I just don’t want to see you working overtime to make ends meet, you know?”

I wouldn’t have to work overtime soon enough. Marko and I had broken into another cash house last week. I’d told Allie I was at a fight, but that was a lie. I’d been lying to her about my whereabouts for a while now and I hated myself each time. I was doing it for a good reason. She would know about it one day, and I’d make her understand. But she couldn’t know yet.

“I won’t work overtime to make ends meet anymore,” I promised her. I pressed a kiss against her mouth and she immediately sagged into me. I held her closely, tasting her sweet tongue while I ran my hands all over her body. She was so fucking soft.

“Well, I love it then,” she said between kisses. “I love this very much, Heath. Thank you.”

I stared deeply into her eyes, cradling her soft face in the palm of my hand and said, “I just want you to be happy, and to be away from those rumours. You say they don’t get to you, but I know they do. At least here people won’t recognize you.”

“I’m used to the rumours,” she replied thoughtfully. “It’s not easy, but you have to also realize that moving won’t keep them away. People know me at school. They know about everything that’s happened and some of them made it a mission to fill everyone else on it too. Until someone else interesting comes along, I’ll continue to be the talk of the town, and for once you have to see that it’s out of your control.”

I frowned. It wasn’t out of my control. I could shut them up. Hell, I’d enjoy it. Too many people were putting her image down. Some of the things they said were downright despicable.

Disgusting whore.

Allie Wallace has an itch for brothers.

She belongs in a Jerry Springer episode.

She’s only using Heath until the other brother gets out of jail.

It made me rage. That wasn’t her at all, and it was so easy to convince people the opposite. She’d never been a part of any crowd before. She’d had a clean slate before we came out together as a couple. It worked against her favour because people grabbed their paintbrushes and torched that empty canvas with lies.

The thing with men is when we have problems with each other, we can sort it out with a few punches across the face. But women were something else entirely. They manipulated and worked behind the scenes, dropping drama in subtly before they stepped back and watched the destruction unfold.

Women with loose tongues were worse than men with brawns.

So fighting this would be tricky.

“Stop thinking about it,” she scolded me. “I have to fight my own battles. I can’t have you terrorising people like always.”

“I terrorised one guy and that’s because he tried to put his hands on you.”

“He was trying to check the size of my shirt.”

“He got too close.”

“He worked at the clothing store!”

“He felt up your breast.”

“He was gay!”

“Not at the time.”