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The man slept with everybody and anybody. What the hell changed?
He couldn’t want her as his ol’ lady and she certainly wasn’t ready to be one, either. But if he approached Trip, the pressure would be on. Solely because she was the president’s sister.
Both a curse and a blessing.
A curse because Trip tended to have a black and white way of thinking. All stemming from being a son of the original Fury president. From his time in the Marines. From his time behind bars.
A blessing because he took care of family when they needed it the most. He had taken her in and accepted her the moment she landed on his doorstep. He’d given her a safe place to stay when she was desperate.
He had given her—and still provided—a real home.
Without questions. Without judgment. With nothing but understanding because, while they didn’t share the same father, they shared the same mother and Trip knew what Tammy was like.
He hadn’t forgotten.
And, like her, probably never would.
Using her phone as a flashlight, Tessa hurried through the dark, across the courtyard, down the stone lane and past the line of trees to cluburbia. The whole time chewing on her bottom lip. If she wasn’t careful, she’d stumble and bite right through it.
But what Easy wanted from her…
Impossible.
No way.
She liked things the way they were.
Uncomplicated.
Risky? Yes. She knew that. But him wanting to end things or, worse, approach Trip…
No. Just no.
She didn’t like either of those choices. Why couldn’t he just leave things the way they were? Their routine had become comfortable. It worked.
There were supposed to be no expectations. None. So, she didn’t understand where he’d been coming from besides the fact he was worried that her brother would find out.
That had to be the only reason.
Because, again, there was no way in hell Easy wanted an ol’ lady and she was damn sure she wasn’t ready to be one.
She snuck around to the rear of the house like she always did. As she walked across the back deck, beelining toward the glass sliding doors she’d left unlocked, a loud clearing of a throat made her jump and a squeak escape.
Oh fuck.
Oh fucking fuck.
She was busted. Again.
She needed to come up with a good excuse on the fly. The kitchen excuse wasn’t going to cut it. Especially since her hands were empty.
Think. Think!
“Where the fuck were you? It’s three-thirty in the fuckin’ mornin’.”
She glanced over toward the chair in the corner of the deck. The one farthest from the door so she wouldn’t notice it, or him, more like it, lying in wait in the dark. Her heart was pounding in her throat and her ears, as well as trying to escape her chest. “I… took a walk.”
“Bullshit.”
Tessa watched the glowing end of a hand-rolled cigarette rise in the dark and when Cage inhaled, the flare of the burning tobacco lit up the area around his scowling mouth. As she approached the house, he must have hidden the cigarette by tucking it in his hand so it didn’t give him away. That way he could ambush her.
“Why are you up?” She tried to keep the panic out of her question and remain as calm as possible. She didn’t want to sound guilty but rather like someone who just couldn’t sleep and needed to take a walk.
“Dyna started cryin’. Ears are buggin’ her again. Checked to see why you didn’t get up and found your goddamn bed empty. Also found these doors unlocked when I know I fuckin’ locked them before I went to bed.”
She reached for the sliding door handle. “I’ll go check on her.”
“The fuck you will!” he roared, making her jump.
Her fingers began to tremble and she wiped her hands down the sides of her jeans.
“Already got her settled back down. Now… you need to sit the fuck down.” He tipped his head at the chair next to him. When she hesitated, he barked, “Sit!”
She held her breath as she moved closer and sat her ass in the chair next to Cage. It took her back to the many times she’d been sent to the principal’s office and had been about to get detention.
He made her wait. A long fucking torturous wait, too, as he took two more slow drags on his hand-rolled like he had all the time in the damn world.
The silence only made the dread churn faster in her stomach, causing her to feel a bit nauseous. Whatever he was going to say, he needed to say it before she puked. “Is Jemma awake?”
“No.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“Tell her what, Tess? That you took a fuckin’ walk at three-thirty in the mornin’? That’s what you were doin’, right? Takin’ a fuckin’ stroll in the dark in the middle of the fuckin’ night? ‘Cause I can’t imagine you’d fuckin’ lie to me about that, right?”
