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“I’m not,” he snipped, eyes flashing as he met my stare head-on.“And I don’t appreciate you bringing that shit up in front of my family.”
I bit my tongue to keep from lashing out or fucking knocking him upside the head.His past was no secret, but I wasn’t going to get into it with him while he wasn’t in his right frame of mind.
“Just take it easy, yeah?”I softened my voice, glancing over his face I had memorized from the slight scar above his left eyebrow to the three freckles on the cheek below.Everything about him used to be beautiful to me, but a chasm had cracked open between us.Part of me longed to wrap him in my arms, to make everything better.The other wanted to let him reap what he’d sown.Walk away.Wash my hands of him and the trouble on his heels.
But his boys…
“I’m good.Really,” he insisted.
I didn’t believe him, but what choice did I have?Without further evidence he was using beyond what he’d been prescribed, my hands were tied, and I cared about his family too much to turn my back on them.
“Keep an eye on him,” I whispered while hugging Teresa goodbye a short time later.“Call me if you need me.”
She nodded, and I left their house, torn between the conflicting desires inside me.He wasn’t the man I’d fallen in love with ten years earlier.I no longer trusted him—in his choices, or with my heart.
If there were more hours in the day, I would tail the jerk.Stalk him until I had evidence one way or another.Unfortunately, court loomed, and my plate was already full, my schedule packed.
Hell, I hadn’t even had time to think much on my night with Elite’s hottest escort.My evening with Kellen had been worth every goddamned penny—and I could admit to wanting more.Another taste.Another high like I’d never felt with a man before.Another night entangled with his body, talking until we lost our voices.
I’d gotten past some of his defenses and scared the shit out of him, no doubt.But I didn’t have money to spare.And because of how I’d affected him, I knew he would never agree to fuck around with me outside Elite.
We had been a transaction, nothing more.
If only I could get my heart to agree.
Chapter17
Kellen
On Saturday afternoon, I spent two hours at the tattoo parlor watching Mason get his tattoo.The artist turned the scar Mason had been marked with the night he’d been raped into something of beauty.
The J meant to claim him became the first letter in his lover’s name gorgeously scripted over his chest.
Tears dripped down Mason’s face as he looked at the finished product in a handheld mirror.
I got up from the chair I’d been waiting on—not holding his hand—and clasped his shoulder.“He’s going to love it,” I murmured, my voice thick.
Mason nodded, swiping at the wetness on his cheeks and whiskers, his timid smile a beautiful sight I hadn’t seen in months.
Neither of us spoke as he put his shirt back on, and we walked out of the shop.We’d gone to a late lunch prior to his appointment and discussed the court case as well as his new job working for Silas Barlowe’s company.
Mason was thriving, and while I was happy for my friend, that envy had grown substantially.
“How are you doing, Kellen?”
Fuck, what a loaded question.
“Surviving,” I answered as honestly as I could.
Mason’s gaze glued to my face as I drove him home.“Are you enjoying your break from Elite, at least?”
“Yes.”That was easy to answer.“Just…bored.Spending a lot more afternoons at the vet.Heading north for a break from the city life soon too.”
“That’s good.You’ve been restless for a while.”
“I have.”
“Maybe it’s time for a change.Speaking of…have you seen Detective Jenner lately?”
