“Nobody can.” Winter reached for my hand. “Please finish burning these. Because there’s something else I want you to see. I’m scared, Tripp.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “Let’s just get through this and try to enjoy the night together. Let everything happen tomorrow.”
“I like that.”
“I… I like you, darling.”
As if I couldn’t cross anymore lines.
I started to flick the pictures into the fire like a fast card dealer. With two left in my hand, I dropped one down and hurried to grab it.
I jumped back and got to my feet.
“Who the fuck is this?” I growled.
I showed Winter the picture and her face turned white. “Tripp…”
“No way. You know who this is?”
Winter didn’t respond.
“Goddammit, darling,” I said. “You better not choose right now to start lying to me.”
Her bottom lip quivered. It was sexy, but I couldn’t have that shit right now. This was serious. This was…
Winter nodded. “Yes. I know him. There’s more, Tripp… what I’m trying to tell you…”
“Fuck,” I bellowed.
I looked at the picture again and wanted to throw up.
It was a picture of Winter, this time in a bra. A lacy black bra that matched the panties she wore in the picture. She was on someone’s lap, arms around his neck, her cheek pressed to his.
The guy sitting in the chair had a nice grey suit on. Money in his hand. A cigar in his mouth. Slicked back black hair. An aura of complete asshole that burned even through the picture.
My world spun as I tried to make sense of it.
It was a picture of Winter sitting on Endo’s lap.
Endo.
Aldo’s son… who was shot and in a coma.
Fuck.
~
I knew I had to stop running away from Winter. But it seemed each time she dropped something on me, I was pissed enough that I had to leave. I had to get away from her for a second to catch my breath. To convince myself none of this shit was her fault.
Christ, I had been told to come and protect her.
Yet there was a picture of her on Endo’s lap?
It seemed that Aldo was getting more and more tied into this fucking mess. And I was smack dab in the middle of it and had no clue what was happening, what had happened, or what was going to happen.
I walked to the wall I had punched already.
Fight. Do it. Fucking fight, man. That’s what you’re meant to do. Not to fall for some woman. Not to care about how you fuck her. Not to feel a little guilty for fucking her in the bathroom… because you want to take her to her bed and taste her fucking body. No. You punch the wall. You leave this house. You find someone to fight. A real fight.
I cocked my fist back. It was my only sense of relief. The pain I’d feel in my knuckles, hand, wrist, and arm would mask the pain in my heart. And that’s what it all was right now. Pain in my damn heart.
“That won’t fix anything.”
My fist shook. Then I lowered it. “You think I don’t know that?”
“Tripp, why are you so angry?”
“Endo. He was the one shot at the fight.” I looked over my shoulder. “The fight I lost. He’s in a coma right now.”
Winter touched her mouth. “Holy shit.”
I turned and walked toward Winter. She looked terrified. But I couldn’t let her win this battle. No fucking way her emotions were going to overpower mine.
“Endo is Aldo’s son,” I said. “Aldo and his family control everything. Aldo sent me here to protect you. Skull X kills Rocky. Stoney tries to set you up, wanting Aldo to send more people down here to help. What the hell does it all mean, Winter? What else do you fucking know?”
She shook her head and backed up until she bumped into the doorway to the bedroom. She stumbled and I grabbed for her arm to keep her from hitting the floor. I pulled her toward me. Her hair fell in front of her face. I could see her blue eyes burning at me.
Slowly, I ran my fingers into her hair and pushed it out of her face. I cupped her cheek and started to pull her closer. My mouth ached for her. My body demanded I have her.
“You have to tell me everything,” I whispered. “Now or never. I’m sorry if you’ve never been able to trust anyone in your life. You can trust me. You have to trust me, darling. I don’t think we’re safe. I don’t think I was sent here to actually protect you. Something else is going on.”
“Okay,” Winter said. “Okay. Just…”
“Tell me how you know Endo.”
She just stared at me for a few seconds. Usually when life was going to fuck me over or knock me down I didn’t see it coming. Like the first time one of my mother’s boyfriends used me as a punching bag. Or the first time I had to really fight and defend myself. Even the fight I lost that put me in this position. My head was turned and I got rocked.
Hell, meeting Winter was taking its toll on me.
But looking at her now, I knew it wasn’t going to be anything good.
“Winter,” I said. “We’re wasting time. Tell me everything you know about Endo. If you don’t, I’m gone. I’m going to get in my car and just go. For good.”
“You said you wouldn’t leave,” Winter whispered.
“How can I stay if I don’t know why I’m here?”
Winter slipped away from me. She backed up to the bed and sat down.
And the truth poured from her mouth.