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She stood back as I took the dustpan to the trash and tipped it in. Grabbing a paper towel, I wet it before ringing it out and going back to the floor under the dent in the wall, swiping it over the hardwood to catch any slivers of glass that the broom had missed. “Any idea what set him off?” I was afraid it had something to do with me, and his anger had been at Avery, but when I finally chanced a look up at her, she shook her head.
“No, he got a message, called someone, yelled and threw the bowl. I’m guessing it was work related.” That caused me to pale and she immediately came to me, carefully taking the paper towel from my hand and leading me to the couch. I could deal with him being angry about me… maybe. But knowing something related to the work he was doing around me scared me far more than him being angrywithme. He’d been calm and collected in the midst of a car bomb and the death of two of his men. My mind was struggling to come up with something that would make him lose all control.
The urge to message Jack for information was strong, and I looked at my phone sitting uselessly on the table in front of me. Would he even tell me? This was the second time Decker had left for something regarding the case, and I hadn’t had a clue either time what progress was being made. I might have been growing closer with him, but I felt myself being shut out of the case.
Avery was absently patting my hand when Decker came storming back into the apartment, breezing past us like we weren't even there. I heard him enter his room and when he came back out to the living room he had an overnight bag in hand and a look of determination on his face when his eyes met mine.
“I’ve gotta go to Virginia to meet with some agents, I’ll be back as soon as possible. Kasey and Fitz will be here for anything you need.” He looked down at my phone briefly before letting out a small huff. “I know you’re worried about keeping your phone on, but please do it. Kasey will set it to only accept messages from known numbers, but I need a way to keep in contact with you.” He looked at me again and there was a pleading in that look that left me unable to speak. So I just nodded and grabbed the phone, holding it close like a lifeline.
Avery stood up from the couch and stopped in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders. She was a tall woman and hardly had to look up to lock gazes with Decker, but the look they shared seemed to last forever as they held a silent conversation with each other. “Be safe,” she said finally, pulling him into a hug that he returned easily.
“Always,” he responded as they broke apart.
He turned his attention to me and dropped the bag in his hand to the floor, eating up the space between us. He hauled me up from the couch and into his arms, crushing his mouth to mine in a kiss so searing I felt my legs go weak immediately. I couldn’t worry about making out with him in front of his sister as my mind became consumed with that kiss. I opened to him and his tongue dove greedily into my mouth, making promises to me without saying a word.
Finally, he broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to mine, his arm still holding me tightly against him. “We will talk when I’m back, baby, but for now you need to know one thing without a doubt.” He looked deeply into my eyes to make sure I was paying attention, and, honestly, I didn’t think I could have paid attention to anything in that moment but him. “I will stay with you for as long as you’ll keep me.”
My heart flipped wildly in my chest at his declaration. He’d claimed my mouth and my body, and now he was putting down claims on my heart and future. I swallowed the lump of emotion in my throat and nodded at his words before he planted a soft kiss on my forehead and let me go.
He was out the door before I could blink, and I was left alone with his sister, in his apartment… alone. Awkward didn’t begin to cover this situation. I took a long calming breath and tried to don my public armor, but as much as I tried, his words had ground my armor to dust and I was left exposed.
“Do you want a big wedding or a small one?” Avery’s voice broke through my haze and I spun to face her, not able to hide the shock and horror on my face. “Kidding,” she said with a laugh before heading to the kitchen to start pulling out the leftovers from the tacos I still hadn’t eaten.
“You sure know how to deliver an ice breaker,” I said sarcastically as I returned to my seat on the barstool to watch her work. It wasn’t like I’d be able to sleep after that. I also wasn’t sure which bed I was supposed to go to when sleep was finally an option for me.
“Right?” She asked with a small giggle of her own. “How about this, though. I know how the company operates since I helped with research and filing in the early days. Something tells me my brother knows everything about you, down to your favorite color of nail polish.” She spread all the fixings out on the island countertop in front of me and began to remove lids and investigate the contents. “But how much do you know about him?”
Oh. Well, that was direct. I began to study one particular speck on the granite countertop as I felt the reality of that sink in. “Um, some stuff about being adopted, and a little about high school, and about how he lost Remy, but that’s pretty much it.” I heard something metal clang to the floor and looked up to see Avery staring at me in complete shock. She gathered herself quickly and scooped up the fallen spoon from the floor before tossing it into the sink and grabbing another.
“Sorry, it’s just… he’s never spoken aboutthatto anyone.”
“Yeah, he mentioned.” This was too many levels of awkwardness and I wanted to slink back to a dark corner of this apartment to hide.
“Did he talk about the finer points of our youth?” She asked, turning to place the container of ground beef into the microwave.
“No,” I said, feeling my face flush again. “He was Lieutenant Professional before my father fired him and after…” Wow this was just getting worse. “We haven’t done a lot of talking.”
Avery snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah I’ll bet. Not really surprising with him making up for years of,” she winked at me, “not talking.”
“Years?” I was surprised. Decker Mullins was sex personified and he fucked like a dream; I couldn’t imagine him having gone without for years. Then again people wouldn’t have believed it of me either, I’m sure.
“Okay, so how bad would it be of me to give you the dirty details on Decker?” She gave me a serious look. “He had the unfair advantage of a complete report on you; turnabout is fair play, right?”
“Maybe,” I said, tilting my head from side to side as I pondered this. “But I was the one to tell him the real parts of me. The stuff that Jack couldn’t dig up. I had to share that with him myself.” As much as I’d hated it at first. It seemed wrong to hear about Decker in ways he might not have wanted to share with me, but another part of me was screaming to take the information. Here I was, sitting in front of the resident expert on Decker Mullins, and I was making excuses as to why she shouldn’t tell me more about him.
“Oh, I love you already!” She pulled the container from the microwave and switched it for one holding the beans. “Most women would be tripping over themselves to get the dirt. The fact that you want it when he’s ready to give it just makes you infinitely better in my book.”
Avery paused her fussing over the food and tapped her finger on the counter, obviously trying to figure out if she’d still spill or not. “What if I told you aboutmychildhood?”
“Are you a lawyer?” I asked suspiciously.
“How did you know?” She looked surprised and impressed.
“You’re just really good at finding loopholes,” I laughed.
“Very true!” She flashed a smile at me as she got back to work, “So, I’m feeling like sharing my life story with my future sister-in-law,” she ignored my awkward grunt at the title and continued. “Before I was a Mullins, I was a Rowe. Decker had just been born when our ‘father’, and I use that word loosely, was sent to prison for armed robbery.
“Our… ugh, Cara Rowe, the woman who popped us out, spent her days riding the couch, strung out on whatever she could get her hands on, and her nights riding whatever man could get her her next fix.” She looked up to my shocked expression and gave an apologetic smile. “I’ve worked through a lot of that bullshit with doctors over the years and I find it’s easier to not even try sugar coating it.” I nodded in understanding and she continued, building a tray full of tacos and sliding them to my side before she joined me on the barstool next to me.
