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14
Libby
Busted
My world has exploded. My past as I knew it has been erased, and this new reality has slammed into place where Gunner Bishop was never dead at all. Now he’s here, and he owns the eyes that have haunted me for so long. The eyes that I couldn’t let go of, the eyes that drew me in and ensnared my heart in spite of the cautions my brain was throwing down.
We remain on the floor of Club 188’s main office so my back presses to the wooden door and Gunner’s –Theo’s! – lips slowly move over my shoulder. His fingertips touch me everywhere, not sexually, but as though he wants to memorize my every dip and line. He’s like a blind man trying to see with his hands.
I wish we were home in bed, if only to have the luxury of silence, of comfort, and of the chance to talk through the way he’s completely fucked everything up.
Gunner Bishop ruined my life when he made promises to a little girl. And now Theo Griffin is here to continue that path of destruction.
I wanted that boy. I would still take that boy. But this man who has kazillions in the bank, questionable morals, two decades of missing history, and zero respect for other people’s personal space or homes – add in that Bishop blood, and he’s a boiling pot of terrible choices at this point in my life. He’s certain to be my undoing. Everything I’ve worked for, the distance I’ve created between my version of Tate, and my father’s version, the modest life I live, the respect I’ve earned in my work and personal relationships; it’ll all blow up when I bring Theo Griffin home and declare him mine.
And I will; he’s been mine since I was a child.
The people in my world will question how he came to be the business magnate he is, and when they question, my heart will break.
Their questions are as inevitable as death, but we’re not afforded the luxury of a minute to talk and prepare ourselves, because someone knocks at the door and sends me into a tailspin.
“Hey, Tate, you in there?”
My heart stops dead when Alex’s voice registers on the other side of the door.
“Oh God. Oh my God!” My voice is barely a whisper, but a screech too, and sends me scrambling off Gunner’s lap. Gunner. Theo. Bishop. Griffin. Whoever he wants to be known as, both are bad for me. But put them together, and it’s an explosion waiting to happen.
I jump to my feet and thank the universe for the music downstairs that hides the noise I make as I trip into my jeans and tug my shoes back on.
Theo watches me in silence for a moment, as though shocked I’d run just because someone knocked on the door.
I toss his shirt at his face and tug him to his feet. “Get dressed! Right now. No.” I push him toward the window instead. “Just get out.”
He stops and spins with a snarl. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“Get out!” I hiss. “My boss cannot know about… anything!”
“I’m not Bishop.” He grabs my flailing hands and tugs me to a stop as X rattles the door handle. “I’m not Bishop. That’s why I have Griffin, that’s why I have this identity. It’s clean.”
“It is not!” I push him toward the window and yank it open. “Bishop blood fills your veins, and Griffin money is too damn much to be attached to my name.”
“What?” He swings back around and stops me. “What the hell are you talking about? Griffin is completely legitimate.”
“And I’m the daughter of a crooked cop, sleeping with a man whose last name is either that of a bad, bad man, or a man with lots and lots of cash. This looks bad no matter which way we slice it.”
“You can’t be serious right now.” Despite his arguments, his leg still swings out of the window when I push. “I worked my fucking ass off to build Griffin Industries, and now you’re ashamed to be seen with me? The Bishop thing, sure! Be afraid of that one. But he’s dead. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
“I’d rather the Bishop boy was still alive! His daddy would be a prick, but he’d still be here.”
I push him out onto the fire escape and ignore the wounded expression in his eyes as I shut the window. I snap the curtains closed and cast a glance around the room as Alex’s knocking becomes panicked.
“Shit. Okay. Ugh!” I push a hand through my hair, but ignore the mess when my palm passes over dried blood. I’m allowed to look like a mess. I was knocked the hell out tonight. I sprint across the office as the door literally rattles on its hinges, and swing it open before Alex can break it down.
“Shit!” My chief pulls himself up before accidentally bowling me over. Clutching me to his chest, he allows his eyes to roam over my face and slow on the spots I know firsthand hurt. “Jesus Christ, Libby. How many shots did that asshole take?”
He walks into the office, leading Oz and Drake, and behind them, Sophia and Jay loiter by the door. Soph pokes her head in and looks around, and when she doesn’t find Theo, she lifts a brow and bites her lips together.
She knows. She knows my secrets!
