Chapter Thirteen
True to custom, Trig spent Saturday with Della. He took her to the park, and then they watched a movie. Now, they were headed to dinner at Anthony’s.
Arriving at the restaurant, he parked, helped Della out, and headed to the entrance. They walked inside, hand in hand, and he instinctually scanned the restaurant, stopping dead when he spotted her.
Allie. She sat in the far corner, facing the entrance. Her hair loose around her shoulders and styled in curls. Wearing a blue top, a genuine smile spread across her lips.
Without thought, he took a step in her direction. She stood, and he realized it wasn’t a top, but a dress that fit snugly against her frame.
His view of her was blocked a second later when a blond-haired man sitting across the booth from her stood.
His chest tightening and stomach knotting, Trig stopped dead in his tracks. Fuck. She was on a date with a pretty boy with class, like her. He didn’t need to see the man’s face to know it.
Jealousy flooding him, his whole body tensed. He tore his gaze away, wondering if this was how she felt when she caught him with a tap.
No, it felt worse, much worse. He hadn’t caught her sitting on the guy’s lap with his hands on her ass. Still, he’d paid double. It hadn’t been enough to see her at the cookout in tiny shorts sitting close to Cuss with her hand on his arm. He meant to talk to her, but after seeing that, he lost the will along with the courage. She made it perfectly clear she wanted nothing to do with him. She hadn’t even glanced his way. Now, he caught her on a date, and still, it fucking hurt.
Damn it to hell, he didn’t know what hurt more. The knowledge she moved on and he missed his shot or the knowledge the pretty boy with class was better for her than him.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.
“J?”
His gaze snapped to Della, his beautiful niece, standing right there, and he’d just cursed. Beautiful Allie had the ability to shred his insides apart, making him forget where he was and who he was with.
“Sorry, Della. Don’t repeat what I said.”
She nodded, her eyes softening. The kid was too smart. She sensed something was up.
He put his hands under her arms, lifting her, and tucked her against him. Then he whispered, “Gonna get food somewhere else. This place is too crowded.”
“Okay.” She rested her cheek against his chest.
It made him feel a little better.
****
Allie closed the door behind her and locked it. When her cell phone rang, she dug into her purse to find it. Several rings later, she answered.
“How’d it go?” Tiffany asked.
She shrugged.
She’d just been on her first date post-split Wyatt. Keith, blond, blue-eyed, and handsome, was an attorney and a single dad to a two-year-old boy, Henry. Allie saw him every morning when he dropped off his son at daycare, but she’d never spoken to him until recently, until Tiffany told him she was single. He asked her out. She said yes.
Turned out, he appeared completely perfect. He was not only handsome, but a gentleman, opening doors, standing when she went to the rest room, and a good conversationalist, too. He’d talked about his son with pure adoration and his work like he loved it. He asked her questions, nothing too personal, got her talking and feeling comfortable.
The date had been great, but nothing about him, as perfect as he appeared, made her want to start a romantic relationship. No chemistry, as simple as that. She wanted to believe her last relationship held her back, but it wasn’t the case. As perfect as Keith appeared, the entire night her mind drifted, and when it drifted, it settled on Jace.
“It went well.”
“Great. Are you going to see him again? Did he ask you out?”
She dropped her purse on the couch, then headed into her room. “He has my number.”
“You don’t sound too excited.”
Slumping on her bed, she began removing her shoes. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Tiff. I mean the guy seems perfect. He’s sweet and kind, but something’s missing.”
For several moments, silence hung in the air. “You’re still in love with him?”
This took Allie by surprise. She’d never mentioned Wyatt to Tiff. “I…”
“It’s normal. I mean you were with him for a long time.”
No, whatever she’d felt for Wyatt had since been buried. Jace was the reason, but she couldn’t admit that. “Wyatt killed any love I had for him. It’s just—”
“Trust.”
Her brows drew together. “What?”
“It’s hard to trust after…” Her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. It just occurred to me you never told me the story. Cuss mentioned something, and I…well…it’s none of my business.”
“Cuss mentioned Wyatt?”
Tiffany sighed. “Please don’t be mad at him. We’re really good friends, and well…I saw you on the news, and I asked, and he said your ex cheated so…”
“I’m not mad. Cuss is a great guy, and because of him, I have this great job, so—”
“I think so, too.”
Her ears perked up. She waited, hoping Tiff would say something else about Cuss.
“Listen, I’m sorry I told Keith to ask you out. I never meant—”
“Tiff, it’s not a big deal. I had a great time. It’s just…maybe it’s exactly what you said. Maybe it is hard for me to trust after Wyatt. The thing is, I had reservations about Wyatt when we met, and then he cheated. I don’t want to make the same mistakes. I’m not saying Keith is like that. I don’t know him, but there’s no chemistry, and I don’t want to settle. Last time I did, I got hurt.”
“I understand.” Tiffany paused. “Look on the bright side. You said he’s sweet and kind. It never hurts to have an extra friend, especially one who’s an attorney.”
She chuckled. “So true. Never know what kind of trouble I’ll get into working at a daycare.”
They talked for several minutes while she changed into a pair of jaw-string shorts and spaghetti strap shirt, and then she hung up. She connected her phone to the charger, plugged it beside her nightstand, and lay in bed.
Not a moment later, a knock sounded on her front door. She tensed, got out of bed, pulled on a robe, and headed for the door. Looking through the peephole, she caught sight of Tyler. His head angled to the left. She could only see the right side of his face. She swung the door open. He faced her. His left eye was bruised and swollen almost shut.
“Ty? What the—”
“I’m fine,” he cut her off, walking past her, and inside. He took off his cut, set it on her couch, and took a seat.
She closed the door, locked it then turned to him. “What happened?”
“Allie, I’m fine,” he repeated. “Come sit. Let’s watch some TV.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Not until you tell me why you have a black eye.”
He hesitated. His eyes softened, and he admitted, “Got in a fight. I’m fine.”
Got in a fight? Did he think she would settle for that answer? “With who?”
“Some guy.”
“Why?”
“Allie, it’s club shit. Don’t worry about it.”
Club shit? What the hell was the club doing that got her brother a black eye, and why was the damned club so secretive? When she lived at the compound and shared a room with him, she’d seen him take off in the middle of the night. Other times, he’d be gone all night and wouldn’t return until morning.
Allegedly, he worked at the garage, but what he did, she had no idea. She’d never seen him work on a car or bike beside his own. She also often overheard him say he was going on a “run” or he had a “guard,” but she had no idea what it meant. Mia and Lynn told her not to ask questions, that it was club business. She hadn’t. But now that he had a black eye because of club business, she would ask.
“I will worry about it, Ty. I’ll worry because you’re my brother. What the hell is the club doing that got you a black eye?”
He didn’t answer, just stared at her blankly.
Then, it occurred to her. She felt like an idiot not realizing it before. “It’s something illegal. Is it drugs? Don’t tell me it’s prostitution or—”
“It’s not drugs, and it isn’t prostitution.”
“But it’s illegal.”
When he didn’t respond, she dropped her head, pinched the bridge of her nose, and cursed.
He stood, closing the distance between them and grasped her shoulders. “It’s not illegal. It’s not exactly legal either.”
Her head snapped up and met his eyes. “If it’s not legal, it means it is illegal, Ty. Whatever it is got you in a fight, got you hurt, which means it’s dangerous, which means it could get you killed, which means nothing has changed. It’s like you’re back in the Army, and I’m going to constantly wonder if I’ll ever see you again.”
His eyes softened. “Allie, it isn’t like that—”
“Tell me what it’s like then?”
He clenched his jaw. Shaking his head, he looked away from her. “Can’t.”
He wouldn’t say. Nothing could break him. Why was he always putting himself in danger? The thought of losing her brother made her sick to her stomach, and she couldn’t do anything about it. He was an adult. It was his life, his choice. Resigned, she released a breath. “Let me get you some ice.”
In her kitchen, she grabbed a plastic bag, put ice into it, and zipped it shut. She handed it to him. He followed her and sat on a stool in front of the counter.
“Want a beer?”
He smiled. She grabbed two beers, flipped the tops off, and handed him one.
“So what’s new, baby sister?”
Leaning against the counter, she sipped her beer. “Went on a date.”
He lifted a brow. Ice bag in hand, he held it against his eye. “Yeah, anyone I know?”
She shrugged. “It’s a small town. You may know him. His name’s Keith. He’s an attorney.”
“Don’t know anyone by that name. How’d it go?”
“It went well, but…”
“But…” he prodded.
“There’s no chemistry.”
He shook his head, chuckling. “You believe in that chemistry bullshit?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Naw, Allie, I don’t.”
“Fine. I’ll say it. I’m not physically attracted to him.”
“That stuff fades anyway.”
He made a good point, but he was forgetting something, something she wasn’t sure he knew since he’d never had a steady woman. There were people you could fall for and people you couldn’t. Only you knew this. Only you felt it.
“You’ve never met someone and from one look knew you could fall in love with them?”
He dropped the ice bag and threw the question back at her. “Have you?”
She hadn’t expected that, and she didn’t want to answer it. “Yes.”
“You’re confusing love with lust.”
“I’m not.” She took another sip of beer. “I’m not talking about love at first sight. I’m talking about being drawn to someone you barely know for reasons you can’t explain. You get this feeling in your gut every time you see them that tells you, if you let yourself, you’ll fall, hard and fast.”
She’d known from the minute she met Jace. The unsettling flutter in the pit of her stomach said it all. She hadn’t known what it was then, but knew now with certainty. She could fall hard and fast with Jace. It had never happened to her before, not until Jace, and it hadn’t yet faded.
Ty understood. He’d felt it, too. His face softened. Emotion shone from his eyes. “Who is it, Allie?”
“Who is she, Ty?”
He didn’t respond, but then again, she hadn’t expected him to.