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The intercom came on.
“It’s me,” I said in a singsong voice. “You never gave me the entrance code.”
By contrast his tone was cold. “Where the hell have you been?”
“In Soho, with my brother.”
“I should leave you out there. I had no idea where you were.”
“I didn’t realise I had to run things by you.”
“It’s common courtesy, isn’t it? To let someone you live with know where you are so they don’t worry.”
“Ididn’t know whereyouwere,” I threw back. “Maybe if I had, I would have been able to tell you where I was going.” He was ruining my champagne buzz. “You’re acting more like my father than my future husband.”
“And how would you know what a future husband should act like.”
I was about to throw Harvey’s name at him, but I managed to clamp my mouth shut at the last minute. Tam would not want to hear that, and I wasn’t stupid enough or drunk enough to push him.
I sighed. “Let me in, Tam.”
The buzzer finally went, and the gates slid open. My good mood had all but vanished. Was this the kind of attitude I was to expect every time I went to do anything? Or was he still pissed off after finding out someone had ripped him off last night? Yes, that was probably it. I forced myself to drop my shoulders and my attitude. He’d had a rough twenty-four hours, and I wasn’t making things any easier for him. Perhaps if he used me as a sounding board, instead of me giving him something else to stress out about, he might feel a little better about me being here.
Tam stood in the doorway, his arms folded across the chest of his black shirt. His expression was thunderous, but that didn’t stop him from being heartbreakingly gorgeous.
I did my best to walk in a straight line, but it wasn’t easy. I reached the front door, and he stepped back to let me in.
“You’ve been drinking,” he said.
“So? I’m old enough.”
He checked his watch. “It’s barely four in the afternoon.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re hardly teetotal yourself.” I’d seen him knocking back the pills as well, but I wasn’t going to mention that. Even though what had happened to him three years ago hadn’t been my fault, I still felt at least in some part responsible.
He scowled, and I remembered my promise to myself that I was going to help him feel better, not give him something else to worry about.
I changed tactics. “Is everything all right? You seem upset.”
Automatically, I reached for him, my fingers grazing the back of his hand. He jerked it away like I had burned him.
“It’s none of your concern.”
“I only want to help,” I said, hurt at his reaction.
He turned to me, his dark eyes blazing. “Help? How do you think you’re helping? You’re just some girl who has invaded my home, and now instead of this place being my sanctuary from the rest of the fucking shit I have to deal with out there,” he gestured towards the outside world, “I come home and have to deal with a fucking child.”
I bristled at that. “I’m not a child. I’m twenty-one years old, and I’m going to be your wife in a month. I’m most definitely an adult.”
He scoffed at me. “You’re play-acting being an adult. You have zero responsibilities. You have no idea how the real world works.”
Indignation flared within me. “Idon’t know about the real world? Seriously? And you say I don’t have any responsibility? Well, what about this then?” I waved my hand between us. “This whole alliance, the future of both our families is resting onmyshoulders, so don’t go telling me I don’t have any responsibilities.”
He growled. “Don’t you think I have the same thing resting on me, except I also have to keep the business running. You turn up here, flouncing around the place like some spoiled brat and expect to be taken seriously. Since when have you had to deal with anything real.”
“I lost my mum when I was just a child, and the man I was about to marry was shot in front of me on our wedding day.”
“That man was my brother, remember? He wouldn’t have even been there on that day if it hadn’t been for you. Everyone was so busy looking at you in that stupid fucking dress that they missed what was important.”
