“I know I have no right, but I need to ask a favor of you, precious.” He balled both hands into fists to keep from touching her as she raised her cautious stare to him again. “I’ll do my best to respect your choice of Liam.” His brain screamed a resounding like hell. “But if you miss your next period, I’d like to be the first to know, not the last. Would you do that for me, please?”

Raine hesitated, and his heart stuttered. He prepared arguments to convince her, but finally, she nodded. “It’s putting me in an awkward place, Hammer, and you know that. But...this concerns you. You have a right to know.”

Relief eased through his veins, and she looked like she had a thousand other things to say, but she fell silent.

Hammer hated the idea that she felt she couldn’t talk to him anymore. Liam had done that. Well, Liam and his own stupidity. But if he wanted to at least keep the lines of communication open between them, he couldn’t let her shut them down now.

“Whatever it is, precious, say it.”

He saw the debate flit through her head, then she sighed. “I owe you my life, and I know that. But I owe him now, too. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make things right between you two again.”

She licked her lips, and he noticed they were swollen, as if she’d been kissed a lot. Jealousy burned.

“You don’t have to bother. I’m more concerned with you. Be careful, Raine. He’s not what you think he is and—”

“Stop. I won’t discuss Liam behind his back. Don’t put me in that position.” She stood and put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what’s happening with you or why Beck had to call me home to help you. Don’t make me regret my decision.”

“Beck?” He had a vague recollection of begging the sadist for help. Had Beck called Liam to find her? Had Beck spilled how drunk Hammer had been? How much like a pussy he’d behaved. Now, he had one more reason to kill the asshole.

“Yes. Liam talked to him, but Beck was shouting and pretty damn...darn insistent that we get back here.” She shrugged. “So Liam and I, um…talked about it and here we are.”

Meaning Raine had put her little foot down with Liam? She wasn’t going to confirm that now, but he’d dig into it a bit deeper soon. He had to think about the best way to do that without making the asshole suspicious. But fuck, all the thinking wasn’t helping his hangover.

Raine reached out to touch him, then seemed to think better of it and jerked her hand back. “My famous hangover remedy? I can’t make it for you, but...” She sighed. “Scramble yourself an egg and make dry toast, chase it with Gatorade, which you should mix with some of the Siberian ginseng in the spice cabinet. Take a B-complex vitamin. Then drink a lot of water today.” She scowled at the coffee in his hand. “And stop drinking that crap. It dehydrates you and will make you feel worse. And I’ve said enough.”

Hammer watched her go with a little smile. Raine hadn’t exactly broken the rules, but she’d bent them. For him.

“Thank you, precious,” he called after her.

As evening fell, Raine yawned and knocked on Hammer’s office door. Since she’d seen him a few minutes ago mingling with guests upstairs, she didn’t expect him here. Of course, he’d been holed up in here not thirty minutes ago with—gag me—Marlie. Blessedly, his “session” with the plastic skank was over for the day. Raine had stopped asking herself long ago what Hammer or any man saw in the Barbie doll.

When no one bid her to enter, Raine pushed the door open and dragged her trash bag in, then set about emptying the bins in Hammer’s private rooms.

It was kind of a gray area of Liam’s rules, but honestly, if she was in the office with a trash bag in hand, doing her job, why not take the extra ten steps to empty the bins in his personal areas? And okay, maybe she wanted to spy a little...

The trash cans in his bedroom and bathroom were both virtually empty. She tried not to imagine what it meant that, for once, there wasn’t a handful of used condoms at the bottom of those bins after one of Marlie’s visits, just a disposable razor and the box that had once held a bar of soap. Her ridiculous relief annoyed her. And made her feel guiltier than hell. She might have a future with a man who cared about her, who wasn’t pushing her away at every turn. She had to stop thinking about Hammer as anything other than a boss. She definitely had to forget about him as a lover.

Easier said than done. She didn’t care about Liam less. In fact, he’d shadowed her for most of the day, making her rest when she was tired. He’d also been there when she’d been too stubborn to stop and eat lunch. More than once, he’d demanded to know her emotional state, and he’d waited unblinkingly until she’d answered. She couldn’t ask for anyone more watchful, and her heart gave a silly thump every time he smiled at her.

But Hammer and the sadness in his eyes haunted her. She didn’t know what to do next, what to say to him...how to act. Every time their eyes met, she saw his carnal knowledge of her there, and her traitorous body tightened.

God, why couldn’t she just figure all this shit out and live a normal life?

After emptying the little bin under Hammer’s desk, she gathered trash from all the other private guest rooms, the main office, and the kitchen, then shoved open the door to the alley.

Raine had to gather her strength to toss the full bag into the dumpster. Damn, she was beat, and every bone in her body hurt. Tonight, she’d finally get a whole night’s sleep...unless Liam had other plans for her.

And that idea didn’t upset her at all.

Behind her, the door to the alley opened again, and she turned, half expecting to see him there, offering to help her lift the bag. But she was puzzled to find Marlie instead. The woman barreled toward her with as much of a snarl as she could manage around all that Botox. Marlie walked right up to her, eyes thundering, then slapped her cheek. Raine raised a hand to the side of her stinging face. Her mouth hung open as her thoughts raced. If she didn’t work at the club, she would have hit the bitch back.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” she demanded of Marlie.

“You fucking cunt! What did you do to Hammer?” A howl of fury tore itself from Marlie’s throat as she raised her hand again.

Raine warded off Marlie’s oncoming palm with a shove. “I didn’t do anything to him.”

“You’re a fucking liar! He was the best fuck I ever had, and you, you just couldn’t stand the competition, could you? Now he’s totally useless.”

“What do you mean useless?” Raine frowned. “And don’t ever hit me again.”

“I’d rather scratch your batting blue eyes out. What do you think it means?” She railed. “I can’t imagine why he would ever waste his big, gorgeous cock on you when he’s got me. Like you’d know what to do with it…” She rolled her eyes. “But today during our session, he refused to touch me. All he wanted to do was chastise me for not being as kind as you, as sweet as you, as submissive as you. He wanted me to be more like you. As if I would lower myself, you good-for-nothing piece of white trash!”

Raine flushed and lunged into Marlie’s face. “I might be white trash, but at least I didn’t pay a doctor for my assets. And let me tell you something... Hammer did put his big, gorgeous cock inside me everywhere, and I have bruises all over my body to prove it.”

She lifted her skirt to show the colorful marks on her thighs and up one hip. Marlie’s eyes widened. Yeah, that news had clearly rocked her little country club world. Score one for the white trash.

“If he won’t touch you again...” Raine couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll just consider that, since he’s had better, he’s no longer interested in a plastic whore like you. Go fuck yourself.”

She tried to stride past the bottle blonde, but all of Marlie’s time at the gym had apparently paid off. The bitch grabbed her arm, yanked her back, then shoved her against the dumpster. “Hammer should have left you here. It’s where you belong. He felt nothing but sorry for you. I’m not worried. He’ll get tired of slumming and come back to me.”

He might, and Raine wanted to crumble just thinking about it. Still, she refused to give Marlie any credit or hope. “You hold your breath, honey, and see what happens.”

Raine left a sputtering Marlie in her wake. Fuming, she jerked the club’s back door open and stalked down the shadowed hall, headed toward her bedroom.

And here came Hammer, up the hall of private rooms. She could still feel her cheek stinging. No way it wasn’t red. Once he found out she’d tangled with Marlie, he’d think they fought because she was jealous. And he wouldn’t be totally wrong. She pivoted on one heel and turned back toward the kitchen, wincing and praying that he hadn’t gotten a good look at her face.

“Raine?” The deep voice that always caused her heart to beat faster filled the small walkway. She turned to him halfway, shielding her blazing cheek. “All the way around, precious.”

Nibbling her bottom lip and praying there wasn’t an imprint of the plastic skank’s hand, she jerked her chin up, then eased around to face him. He was on her in two wide steps, his broad hand cupping her chin as he tilted her head back, angling her cheek toward the light.

“What the fuck happened? Who did this to you?” A tremor of anger vibrated through his body.

“Nothing. No one.” She closed her eyes as dread slid through her. “Just drop it. Please. If Liam sees us talking...”

“Fuck Liam, I don’t need his goddamn permission to speak to you; I’m not a fucking sub! I asked you a question and don’t you dare lie to me again!”

“But I need his permission to talk to you. I’ve already violated that rule twice today. Are you trying to fuck this up for me? You can’t care about me, but you can’t stand that someone else might?” She stepped back and clapped her mouth shut. “Forget I said that. Just...I’d rather not give Liam a reason to punish me. What happened isn’t important. I don’t think it will happen again.”

“No. I won’t forget you said that and we will discuss that later. I don’t see how he expects you to work for me and not speak to me, but that’s not your concern. I’ll deal with him. Did he do this to you?” Hammer’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Is that why you won’t tell me who slapped you? You’re protecting him, aren’t you? I’ll fucking rip him limb from limb!”

“It wasn’t me, you fucking wanker. Tell me now, lass. Who hit you?” Liam moved in front of Raine and tilted her chin up, mimicking Hammer’s last move, but swept a gentle thumb over her lip. “Out with it now.”

She seriously debated grappling for a story, but it wasn’t like she could say that she fell onto someone’s hand. Too many years had gone by, so she was out of practice lying about this sort of thing. And her dad had usually been more subtle about where he hit her. It rarely showed.

“It’s just...” She shook her head and raised her gaze to the ceiling. Feeling their intent stares unraveling her, and there would be serious consequences for lying. Of course, there might be for telling the truth, too. And not for anything did she want Hammer or Liam to think she’d been in a jealous catfight with Marlie. “It was a misunderstanding and it’s over. Really, I handled it. I’m fine. Problem solved. Thanks for caring.”

Suddenly, Hammer gripped her arm and spun her around to face him. Even the snarl curled on his lips didn’t stop the blast of arousal racing down her spine and pooling between her legs. God, this was so wrong. Liam was standing right here, and with a quick glance at the gorgeous Irishman, she was doubly turned on.

“No more stalling, precious. Tell us now. Who the fuck hit you?”

Liam growled with fury. “Take your hand off her now, Hammer, and step the fuck back. Raine, present now!”

She felt them both watch as she slid to the floor between them.

“Holy shit,” Hammer hissed.

Liam ignored him and gently lifted her chin. “No more of your stalling. Out with it! Who. Hit. You?”

Raine sighed. She was damned if she gave up Marlie’s name and damned if she didn’t. Why the hell hadn’t she headed straight to the kitchen instead of her room? Oh, she’d wanted to check her face and see if she needed makeup to conceal the fucking handprint, that’s why.

“All right. I tried to save you this ugly shi—um, stuff.” She shook her head. “Some things are just better buried, but whatever. It was Marlie. She followed me to the alley after I dumped the trash and wanted to tell me she was pissed about...” She stumbled. The truth served no purpose but to either annoy or embarrass everyone. “Her broken fingernail, her ugly plastic boobs, her period. I don’t know. Whatever Marlie gets mad at. I told her to go fuc—” She looked over at Liam, who had a brow raised at her. “Perform an anatomically impossible act on herself, then I left. End of story.”