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She pulled at her hand. “Let me go, Race. I’m picking up Wyatt and going home.”
“We need to talk.”
“No.” She once again tugged at her hand while we climbed the stairs. “There’s nothing left to say.”
I pulled her into my room, which was luckily at the top of the stairs, and she sighed when I shut the door behind us.
She turned to face me but crossed her arms over her chest, and I sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“When would I have told you, Race? I didn’t hear from you for three months.” She threw her arms out to the sides. “Three months and you didn’t have your phone. I even called it a few times, and it went straight to voicemail.”
I didn’t know that, and I had a feeling this had more to do with everything I put her through over the past three months than it did Sal Bianco. “You could’ve told Bear.”
She opened her mouth to speak but then exhaled heavily. “I don’t owe you an explanation.”
She started past me, but I wrapped my hand around her arm. “I know you didn’t want to bother him with this, and I understand why, but you could’ve been in a lot of danger.”
She shook off my arm and put her hands on her hips, eyes flashing. “I can take care of myself, Race. I’ve been doing it a long time. I had a problem that I needed help with, and I found that help. That’s all. If Jax hadn’t texted Bear—”
“If he hadn’t”—I interrupted her—“we wouldn’t know what the fuck is going on, which means we couldn’t get ahead of it. Then what?” I threw my hands in the air. “The Widows move in right next to us. How the fuck do you think that would’ve helped your brother?”
“I would’ve figured it out!” she shouted.
There was the anger. I’d expected it this morning, but she’d been surprisingly calm, so I should’ve known it was just another damn thing she was burying. Before I could say anything, though, she continued.
“It doesn’t matter, Race.” She shook her head. “Today was just the reminder I needed that nothing ever changes.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You walked back into my life this morning and promised me you wouldn’t keep shit from me anymore, and within an hour, you were keeping something from me.” She threw her arms out to the sides. “I’ve lived this way for too long. There will always be secrets and things I can’t know, all because you’re a member of the club. And the truth is, I don’t want to be involved with someone who can look me in the eye and not tell the truth.”
“I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.” I raised my voice but not out of anger. This time it was out of fear that I was about to watch her walk away from me. “Because you weren’t talking and you sure as hell didn’t seem to have a problem lying to me.” I gestured toward the closed door. “Or Bear for the last three months. You can’t be pissed at us for doing the same damn thing you did.”
“I was trying to protect him”—she pointed at me—“and you.”
“Don’t you think we were trying to do the same?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. I think you were both pissed that I kept something from you and instead of asking me what the hell was going on, you showed up at the meeting without any warning for me. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was? My big brother and my…” She trailed off before shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m wasting my breath because it won’t change anything. So I’m getting Wyatt and leaving, Race.” Her eyes flashed. “Alone.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her back against my chest just as she started walking. “We’re not done.”
“We were done before we even started.” She pushed away, but stopped when my lips landed on her neck.
I trailed my lips along the smooth skin of her neck and inhaled the sweet smell. “We started years ago, baby, and we were never gonna be done.” I skimmed my hand along her belly, dipping it under her T-shirt to lay against her soft skin. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you that I knew about the meeting, but I was pissed.”
“I already knew that…”
She trailed off again when I put my mouth next to her ear. “Not at you. At myself. I should’ve been here for you. I promised I would be, and I wasn’t. If I was, that fucking bastard wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near you, and I promise you before this is over, I’ll let him know that you are off-limits. And I’m doing that shit face-to-face.”
“You don’t need to…”
She stopped talking when I ran my nose along her jaw while my hand moved slowly over her belly until I felt the bottom of her breast. I slid my hand under her bra and relished when her breath caught. “I missed you. Every fucking day, you were with me. I woke up and wanted to come home to you. I went to bed wanting to feel you beside me.”
“This is never gonna work. We’re just gonna end up hurting each other,” she whispered, but she sounded sad, telling me she didn’t want that to be true any more than I did.
“I can’t watch you walk away from me.” I closed my eyes and buried my face against the side of her neck. “It killed me to leave your bedroom that morning, but I didn’t think I had any other choice.”
She moaned when I sucked gently on her neck and teased her nipple. “I’m here now, and I’m not leaving, but you need to let me in so I can prove that. I know you don’t trust me, especially after today, but I’m asking you to give me a chance. I’ve been trying for five fucking years to put my past to rest, and I finally have. The only thing I’ve wanted more than that is you.”
