I nod. “All right.”
Luca gazes at me a moment longer, a strange look overcoming his face, before he turns with Aria and they walk down the sidewalk. I stand in the doorway as he secures her in her car seat, then walks around to the driver side. Instead of opening the door, he stands there and stares at me. It takes me a minute to realize what he wants. With a wave, I close the door, making sure to secure both locks.
I lean back against the wood, my knees unexpectedly feeling weak all of a sudden. After I’ve composed myself enough to where I won’t fall flat on my face, I push away from the door. As I walk across the living room back into the kitchen to tidy up, the warm, spicy scent hits me again, and I wonder once more why it seems familiar. Another thought filters in.
Why does the scent make me want to run to the source and throw myself into his warm embrace?
Luca
AFTER JULES CLOSES the door, I climb inside the truck.
“You ready to hit the road?” I ask Aria.
“Yes!” she squeals, making me chuckle.
Before I back out of the driveway, I grab my phone from the middle console. A sardonic smile curves my lips as I type out the text message.
Me: Just picked up Aria. You might want to be there the next time to say goodbye to your kid. Jules is looking good by the way.
I drop my phone in the cupholder, knowing damn good and well the message I sent is going to piss him off. That’s what the asshole gets for not being at home when he knew I was coming by. I don’t know for sure where he is, but I have my suspicions. It’s customary for Theo to be out whoring around on Fridays, and I don’t see this one being any different. It’s almost seven in the evening and he gets off at four thirty, if he even makes it that long. Jules’s excuse of him working late almost made me laugh, but my anger overruled it. Theo never works late.
My phone dings in the console. I back out of the driveway before picking it up and looking at the screen. It’s Theo’s response. I don’t look at the message, not needing to see the tirade I’m sure it will be.
Screw Theo. His ass should know better. It’s one thing to sleep with women while Jules was in a coma, but a whole different thing now that she’s awake and living with him. The thought makes me want to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze.
He’s damn lucky his daughter was there, because I’m not sure I would have been able to hold back from taking Jules into my arms. I wanted to touch her so fucking bad. My emotions are all over the place regarding her. I shouldn’t want her, but I do. I shouldn’t have feelings for her, but I do. I know it’s wrong of me to want to touch her, considering she’s my sister-in-law, but damn it all to hell, I fucking do. I want her to be mine, not Theo’s. He doesn’t deserve her. And what makes it harder to hold back those feelings is she’s sweet and caring and shy. And she obviously adores Aria
“Can you turn the music on?” Aria requests, breaking into my thoughts.
“Sure can, squirt.”
I turn the knob so the stereo beats through the speakers. As I navigate through the streets of Silver Hills, I silently applaud myself for not giving into the craving while in Jules’s presence.
I’m just not sure how much longer I can last.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Jules
I’M SITTING ON THE couch, looking down at the fourth finger on my left hand when the front door opens. I nervously sit up and turn around to see Theo walking in the door. This is the first time we’ve been alone in the house.
I run my thumb over my bare finger. Theo looks angry about something and it ramps up my anxiety. I jump when he tosses his keys on the small table by the couch and they slide off the other side. Bending over, I pick them up and put them back on the table. Theo walks into the kitchen and comes back a minute later with a beer in his hand. When he sits on the chair next to the couch and agitatedly runs his hands through his hair, I know something is wrong.
Before he has a chance to say whatever it is he obviously wants to, I decide to ask something I’ve been curious about. I pull in a deep breath for courage and turn my head toward him.
“Where’s my wedding ring?” My voice comes out squeakier than I wanted, giving away just how nervous I am.
Theo takes a swallow of his beer, then leans his elbows on his knees.
“We decided to marry on the fly, and you were attacked right afterward. We never got the chance to get you a set. We were going to go together and get you an engagement and wedding ring.”
I nod, accepting his explanation. I knew it was last minute that we got married and the attack happened right afterward. I just assumed that Theo would have already bought a ring.
“I want you to stay away from Luca.”
I snap my eyes to his at his forceful tone. His expression is cold as he looks at me.
“Excuse me?” I ask, not sure I heard him correctly.
“Stay away from Luca. If he comes to the house, don’t open the door. He can wait until I’m here.”
Before I can stop my mouth from forming the words, they slip out. “You were supposed to be here, but you weren’t.”
His eyes narrow and his mouth forms a firm line before he growls. “I told you I was working.”
His anger both shocks and frightens me, and I sink back into the couch. I have no doubt his words are lies, especially since he’s not wearing the same clothes he was wearing when he left this morning to go to work. I’m sure he keeps a change of clothes in his car, because he can’t very well pick up a woman with grease on his jeans.
Theo sees my frightened state and the hard look in his eyes softens. His head falls between his shoulders, and I watch as he pulls in several breaths before he looks back at me. The anger is gone and is replaced with worry and wariness.
“Just please do as I ask, Jules.”
“But why, Theo? He’s your brother.”
His nostrils flare, and I know he’s working at keeping his temper in check again.
“There are things that happened before your coma that you don’t know about.”
Luca’s words from his last visit to me in the hospital come back to me.
“There are things you don’t know. If you did, you wouldn’t want me here.”
They left me curious as to what he meant, but I didn’t know Luca enough to demand he tell me what he meant. There’s obviously something that I’m missing, and it has to do with me. It’s about time I know what it is.
I square my shoulders and look Theo straight in the eyes, letting my resolve show on my face.
“Tell me,” I command with a firm voice. I’m proud of myself because I’m normally meek and timid, but this crap is getting old. I’ve seen the way the brothers look at each other, like they want to do harm to the other. I assumed it was something that happened between them years ago, but I had no idea it had anything to do with me.
When I hold my eyes steady on Theo, silently telling him I’m not backing down, he exhales heavily. He puts his beer down and comes to sit beside me on the couch, a little too close for comfort, but I don’t let it bother me.
“Seven years ago,” he starts slowly. “It was Luca who attacked you.”
“What?” I say incredulously. I had to have heard him wrong. “But I thought you said we had never met. That no one knew we were together.”
“He was the only one, and it was by accident. Actually, I’m not sure how he found out about us.”
I twist my hands together. “But I don’t understand. He acts like he hadn’t met me until the hospital? And besides, why in the world would he attack me?”
The muscle in his jaw twitches and the hands hanging between his knees balls into fists.