Page 60 of Out of Bounds

“What changed?” His question was simple, but earnest. She’d mentioned before that she wasn’t the easiest teenager to be around, but he’d always just assumed that was par for the course with a teenage girl. But more than anything, he enjoyed watching her open up. The more he learned about her, the more he wanted to know.

“Heather,” she answered easily, a warm smile crossing her face. “She was married to this guy for a while who was a real piece of work, but he was a member of the same country club as my family. She met him when she was a waitress at Hooters, and some of the other wives at the club were not so welcoming to her because of that. But my mother decided she would have none of that, so she befriended Heather and helped bring her into the fold. After my mom died, Heather saw that I was not adjusting well—all the drinking and partying I was doing—and took me under her wing. She got me involved with a bunch of the philanthropy stuff she was involved in as a way to keep me out of trouble. It helped me discover my passion for organizing and business.”

“And now here you are stationed to become president of the Atlanta Rising.”

“Well, I don’t know that I would put it that way. While I think it’s obvious I’m the right person for the job, apparently not everyone agrees with me. I have no idea if Tripp is entertaining the idea of external candidates, but I know internally, at least, it’s me and Jonah.”

“Jonah’s a bit of a wanker, isn’t he?”

“More than a bit.”

“What’s his deal?”

“He just thinks he’s better than everyone and has no problem expressing it. Really enjoys lording it over me that he’s my ‘uncle.’”

“He’s your what?”

* * *

“Did you not know that? Jonah is BobbiJo’s brother,” Felicity explained. She hadn’t realized that this little fact hadn’t been passed on. She would have thought Gunnar would have heard it at some point by now. Maybe there was someone at Southland Holdings Jonah hadn’t poisoned yet.

“I did not know that. Cowboy told me he and your brother were childhood friends but had a falling-out at some point over…something.”

“That was me. At least partially.”

“What happened?”

Felicity felt her stomach clench as the little bit she remembered from the night came back to her. The only people she’d ever told about that night were Heather and Saxony, and she’d made them swear on their lives that they would never, ever tell a soul. But sitting here now across from Gunnar, she knew that if there was anyone she could trust with this story, it was him. He made her feel so many things—special, adored, seen. But most of all, she felt safe when she was with him. Safe to be herself and safe from whatever was out there in the world that could hurt her.

“Their rift started at the end of their senior year in high school. Some things were said to cause a falling-out between Tripp and Zara. So when they went off to college, Tripp took the opportunity to distance himself from Jonah. Except he’s ‘family,’ so he couldn’t cut him out completely. Well, that Christmas, everyone was home from school, and one night I came home plastered. Holidays with my family haven’t been easy since Big D got remarried, and I had gone out with some friends to numb the pain. I came home, stumbled upstairs, and passed out.”

“What does you being passed out drunk have to do with the smarmy wanker?”

Felicity inhaled deeply, holding her breath for a moment, then letting it out as slowly as she could. She felt so exposed as she prepared to finish her story—not really sure how he was going to react. Would he believe her? Would he tell her she was overreacting? Only one way to find out.

“At some point between getting home and going upstairs, I dropped my phone. So Tripp brought it up to me. When he got to my room, he found me unconscious, in my bed, in nothing but my underwear, with Jonah on top of me undoing his belt.”

“That fucker…” Gunnar muttered, teeth gritted. “I could kill him.”

“Tripp tried,” she said, a sad laugh bubbling up. “A whole fight ensued, and fists were involved. They hadn’t spoken since, until Tripp came back from St. Thomas.”

“And your father still employed him?”

“My father and stepmother both insisted that what Tripp saw must have just been a misunderstanding. That was the moment I fully realized where I fell in the family rankings. I’ve been trying to work my way up the Sutherland family ladder ever since, thinking that maybe if I could prove myself at Southland Holdings, I would prove I was worthy of him. It hasn’t worked out that way though.”

“Felicity,” Gunnar said, his voice strained. The sound of her name, her real name, in his gravelly tone sent a shiver up her spine. The look in his eyes was what got to her the most, though. A combination of anger and compassion. Like he couldn’t figure out if he wanted to hug her or rip something apart. “I’m sorry. That you experienced that and that your father is apparently also an arse. I don’t know that I’m going to be able to look at Jonah now and not want to rip him apart.”

“Thank you, but please don’t,” she said quickly. Her heart squeezed at the idea that he wanted to defend her, that his mind went there without hesitation. But she also didn’t want this knowledge to change anything. “The only other people I’ve ever told are Sax and Heather.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” he told her, reaching across the table and taking her hand in his. His skin was warm and rough, yet completely comforting. Giving her hand a little squeeze, he continued to hold it, somehow knowing that this simple touch was exactly what she needed right now. She hadn’t figured out how he was able to know her so well in such a short amount of time, but she didn’t dare question it.

“Can we please talk about something else?” she asked, desperate to change the subject. “Tell me something no one else knows.”

“Something no one else knows, huh?” he questioned, releasing her hand and sitting back in his chair. His handsome face contorted as he thought, making her giggle at the sight. “I hate peas.”

“That’s a line from a movie!”

Gunnar let out a loud, bellowing laugh, making his whole body shake. Butterflies fluttered through her chest, giving her a warm fuzzy feeling as she watched him. She loved how relaxed he was, like they really were just two regular people out on a date. Hell, she was starting to feel that way too—and it excited and scared her in equal measure. This might have started out as just sex, at least in her mind, but they’d gone way, way past that now. Like it or not, she had real feelings for this man. She just didn’t know exactly what those feelings were.