Chapter 26
Levi
Cominghomeandtradinga week for a single day wasn’t how I saw my return panning out, but anything was better than nothing at all. I’d do whatever I had to do to come home and enjoy every second I had to spare with Tessa.
Knowing he had an entire uninterrupted week, Lucas wasted no time in getting dressed and leaving for the gym, allowing me to have a day alone with our woman before I had to catch my early morning flight.
I accepted that my brother needed this time with Tessa first. It would’ve been incredibly selfish of me to take her away from him after he’d just discovered that she’d been hiding in plain sight.
He believed he had lost her for good, forced to settle on my choice of bride, and now, that was no longer an issue—for either of us.
I wasn’t mad that Lucas had slept with her as Evie. Truthfully, it was a weight off my shoulders. I would’ve hated for him to have never given her a chance on an emotional level.
We were both getting what we wanted, and everything wasperfect.
I had to hand it to her, though; Tessa truly knew how to deliver a believable performance and deserved every single one of those Oscars that adorned her shelf.
The only question now was: Why did she feel the need to disappear in the first place?
Tessa had everything—the world at her feet—and yet she felt the need to run away and become an entirely different person.
I’d hate to consider her a flight risk, even though Lucas and I would never allow something like that to happen. We would chase her down to the ends of the earth if she tried to leave us. You don’t find a woman like Tessa and then let her escape from your grasp. Not if you can help it.
My mind briefly wandered back to the memory of that drunk fucker trying to reach for her between the bars of the cage, and I thought about how I’d gladly slit the throat of any man who attempted to so much as touch what was mine.
Tessa working as a dancer in our club might become a problem in the long run, solely because of that idea alone. Lucas and I would need to discuss her position if she stayed at Pulse.
I crept back into my brother’s room, quietly shutting the door behind me before approaching the bed. Tessa was facing the window, all cozy and bundled up under the covers.
Sliding under the gray linen sheets, I sank into the mattress behind her, and she rolled over to face me, looking even more gorgeous with her soft brown hair as it nestled into the crevice of her neck.
“L-e, L-u…” She drawled with an arched brow, and I chuckled at her adorable attempt to guess which twin I was.
It would take a little while for her to figure out a way to identify us, but the name confusion was the least of my worries, or concern, for that matter.
“Levi,” I confirmed. I slid my arm under her shoulders, pulling her body against mine and letting her warmth sink into me as she relaxed in my embrace. “I’m the one who interviewed you at the club.”
“And…?” She pressed, drawing out the word, and I knew exactly what she was insinuating.
“And the one that caught you in the alley…andto cover the rest of the bases, fucked you in my office that very same night.” I felt smug as fuck with that last part of my answer.
Tessa was quiet for a second, then her body tensed as she peered up at me with alarmed eyes and a look of dread on her face.
“Does he know?”
“About the alley or—”
“Yes, the fucking alley.” She rushed out. “I’m assuming the sex part isn’t a concern for either of you.” A light chuckle passed my lips as I smiled, remembering the vision of my babygirl set to kill. If I had a photo of that moment, I’d have framed it and displayed it on my desk or set it as my phone's lock screen.
“No, he doesn’t. But I know he’d love to hear all about it. Especially from his precious princess.”
Tessa’s brows furrowed in confusion as I made light of what had happened. I suppose we never talked about it, went straight to fucking after I caught her, and then I forgot even to mention it. She has no idea what we do outside of the revue and the club—what she’ll have to do in roughly a month.
“I don’t understand why you’re being so nonchalant about all of this. Why aren’t you the least bit concerned that I was considering murdering someone?”
“Babygirl, if I told you the truth, I’d have to kill you.”
“Ha, ha, very funny.” Tessa rolled her eyes and replaced her head under my chin, nuzzling up against it as I ran my left hand down her side, cupping her smooth ass with my palm and delivering a playful squeeze before lowering it further to pull her thigh across my waist. “You really aren’t shocked? Or disgusted?… I don’t even know why I’m asking you that because clearly you’re holding me like you want me here and I’m—”
