Page 83 of The Fighter

I didn’t want to. He looked ethereal in the moonlight, his two-toned eyes nearly fluorescent. “I am.”

“No, you’re not.” His voice was soft. “What did you talk to Ben and Nik about today?”

My skin was suddenly too tight. I rose from the bed. “Soto stuff.” I walked into the bathroom and out of his sightline, needing a minute to get my bearings. I braced my hands on the bathroom counter and deep-breathed. I had maybe a minute or two before he came after me, which I didn’t want. I had to get back in bed and act like I was fine before he made this a thing.

I threw the cloth in the corner of the room and turned, but I was too late. Tav stood in the doorway naked, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t use his size or height to intimidate me,but now he seemed to lord over me, and I didn’t like it. “What?” I snapped.

His gaze snagged mine. “What’s your problem?”

“I don’t have a problem.” I pushed on his shoulder to try to budge him so I could get out of this space that felt way too claustrophobic, but he didn’t budge. Panic clawed up my throat. “Back up.”

“No.”

“Tav—”

“How about you look me in the eye since you didn’t do it once since we entered the bedroom.”

The trapped feeling made me mean. “You didn’t have any complaints while I was fucking you.”

His hands dropped to his sides, and his eyes flashed a warning. “Don’t talk to me like that.”

I glanced down, shame making my face flush. “I’m sorry.”

He didn’t move, but his muscles relaxed a fraction. “It’s never good when you say sorry to me.”

That made me look up. “What does that mean?”

“Because the only time you’ve apologized to me is when you think you’ve hurt me. If you’re apologizing now, I don’t like it. So tell me what the fuck is up with you.”

I met Tav’s gaze now, forcing myself to face him, because it was what he deserved. And I couldn’t handle anything that would come in the next few days if one of my last moments with Tav were spent with tension.

As soon as our eyes met, his whole body went lax, and he smiled. With dimples. He cupped my face and brushed our noses together. “There you are,” he whispered.

I melted as I shoved my face into his neck. “Hug me.” My voice sounded breathy, maybe a little weak, but Tav didn’t care. He wrapped those strong arms around me and squeezed until my lungs burned.

His hold loosened slightly. “Talk to me.”

“I’m stressed.” I had to give him something.

“Then why don’t you talk to me about it?”

“Because I want you to focus on your sister and your nephew, not whatever the fuck Devlin is doing.”

He tensed. “Whatishe doing?”

I hadn’t kept Tav fully in the dark. He wouldn’t allow it. He knew we were no longer just chipping away at Devlin’s business bit by bit, but that we were now staging an all-out assault. And that we wouldn’t stop until he was finished. Tav had helped us. Although he had never been given access to much information about Devlin’s business, Tav had identified a few properties we were unaware of, and some popular hangouts of his crew.

“He’s gone to ground,” I murmured in his neck as I ran my fingers up and down his spine. “With his most trusted crew.”

“Do you know where?”

“No.”

“Is that what has you stressed?”

“Yes.” That wasn’t a lie.

He was quiet for a moment. “You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”