Free Behind the Lens (Behind the Lives) by Marita A. Hansen Page B

it was Beth, because Tiana was a creampuff.
    Dante
knocked on the door, calling out Tiana’s name, while Kara pulled on one of his
shirts over her skimpy dress. She rushed into the passage just as Ash poked his
head out of his bedroom.
    “Not
now, Dante,” Ash said. “Tiana’s upset.”
    “Shit,
I’m so sorry,” Dante replied. “I had no idea Beth wuz coming over so early.
Please lemme apologise to Tiana.”
    “Don’t
worry, it’s not your fault, just go to the lounge, the twins will be here
soon.”
    Dante
nodded, then called out, “I’m sorry, T!”
    Kara
followed him to the lounge, relieved she’d pulled that off. Dante slumped down
on the couch and ran a hand over his wet hair. She sat next to him and placed a
hand on his lap, frowning when he shifted over. Again , she knew she
needed to slow down, to control herself, but Dante always made her feel like
she was on fast forward, wanting to get to the good parts without waiting.
    Kara
put her hand between her legs, aching to put it between his. “Are you still
going to contact that woman after she accosted me and your brother’s
girlfriend?”
    He
shook his head. “No. She even slapped Ash last week.”
    “That’s
horrible! Why’d she do that for?” Kara said, playing up her shock, although she
didn’t understand why he was getting upset over the woman slapping someone.
Kara had done a lot worse: Pushing women away from him, punching a couple, and
even flashing a knife once, which thankfully he hadn’t seen. And da ,
she’d also hit Dante, but then again, spanking couldn’t be counted as violence.
Hmmm, she’d liked doing that to him, although he wasn’t so amused, but what did
he expect? After all, it was his own fault for allowing her to tie him up while
he was lying on his stomach, and she could’ve done so much worse. She refrained
from smirking at the thought, because he would have ripped the bedposts off and
tossed her out on her arse faster than she could say ‘strap-on’.
    “It
doesn’t matter why she hit Ash or Tiana,” Dante said, snapping Kara out of her
fantasy. “It matters that she’s become violent since she’s been with me—like
you did.”
    Kara
knew she was violent well before she’d met him, and she would never apologise
for that, because the meek didn’t inherit the earth, they fucking perished. “I
fight for what I want,” she said, “always have had to. You try living through a
war without it affecting you. Does Beth have the same excuse?”
    “Yes. Me. I bring out the worst in women.”
    “I
don’t think so; you’ve just got bad taste in them.” She smiled at him. “Me
included.”
    He
glanced sideways at her, a slight smile pulling at the corner of his lips. God,
she could murder Craven for forcing her to leave him, had even considered it— seriously ,
but the devil had too many minions protecting him, too much power. She was just
a slingshot in comparison to his nuclear bomb, but at least he’d given her a
second chance now, and she wasn’t going to allow anything to come between her
and Dante this time.
    “I
don’t think I have bad taste in chicks,” Dante said. “It’s the chicks who go
with me that have bad taste. You included.”
    “That
is true, because I really do have atrocious taste in men.” She grinned at his
raised eyebrow. “But you’re the exception to the rule.”
    He
shook his head, but still smiled, the fissure between them shrinking a little.
A knock came from the front door, shattering the moment. He got up and opened
it, saying the Māori greeting for hello.
    “ Kia
ora, ” a male and female voice replied back, the man’s one deep and sexy as
hell. She watched with curiosity, wondering who it was, then her eyes widened
as a tall man, or more precisely a boy, stepped inside, someone who had changed
dramatically over the past three years. No, Sledge wasn’t a boy anymore,
because Dante’s younger brother looked every bit a man, muscular and hard, his
appearance defying