A hand touched my shoulder and I screamed.
“Whoa,” Tommy’s voice said. “Easy, princess. Let me just say…”
Wes turned and elbowed Tommy away. He then grabbed Tommy by the throat and walked him back against the wall. Tommy’s face turned red, his eyes ready to pop from his skull.
“You ever call her princess again and I’ll tear your fucking throat out. Her name is Rose. You ever touch her again, I’ll break every goddamn finger.”
“Okay,” Tommy strained to say. “I’m sorry. Okay.”
Wes pushed away from Tommy.
He then grabbed my hand and we left the office. We made it no more than a couple steps before I tugged at him. “What the hell are you doing?”
Wes turned and put me against the wall. There was a sexy anger in his eyes. “I’m saving your ass, again. Don’t think it means a thing, sweetie. I want to know everything about your family. About you. I want to know who shot me because now I can’t fucking fight. And I know you’re hiding plenty from me.”
“You could just say please.”
“I don’t do please.”
“Maybe you should try.”
“Maybe I should tell Aton the truth.”
“Then it’s your life too,” I said, feeling defiant.
I kind of liked having Wes so close to me. Then again, he was being an ass. I almost felt like kicking him in the balls.
He gritted his teeth and looked ready to explode. “Your brother was a fighter? What was his name again?”
“Is everything good?” a voice asked.
I turned my head and saw Tommy eyeing us, one eyebrow lifted.
I had no choice, really.
I grabbed Wes by the face and planted my lips to his.
Yeah, everything was just fucking a-okay.
10.
(Wes)
I could sense it as I pulled up to the cabin. The woman next to me so goddamn beautiful, it was hard to look at her. I had to push away her beauty and look beyond it. There were secrets in those blue eyes. Heavy and deep secrets. Call it whatever you want, but something told me she could help me figure out who killed Shane.
I got out of the car and went to the trunk. I had a bag of clothes and Rose had a bag of clothes. This was some kind of fake honeymoon escape. Bottom line was that as soon as Aton started digging around and asking questions, Rose and I were going to be caught.
No marriage. All lies.
My feeble attempt at clinging to a few more days of life.
To get everything out of Rose.
I slammed the trunk and she stood there, staring at me. We had just driven for a good hour and not spoken a single word. When I looked at her, my chest tightened. Then I pictured her starting the car, blowing up. Yeah, I felt a little guilty but at least it didn’t happen.
“I don’t understand it,” she said.
“What?”
“I thought Aton would be tougher,” she said. “He bought the marriage thing…”
“He lost his wife to cancer,” I said. “She was a little over forty. Nice woman. Made a great meat sauce. She had a stomachache for a week, went to a doctor, and six months later, she was gone. I watched it all happen. I did what I could for Aton. He lost his damn mind over it, rightfully so. He started ordering hits on anyone that looked at him the wrong way. Somehow I wrangled him back to normal. Maybe because he helped me after Shane was killed. We owed it to each other. So he’s got a soft spot for marriage.”
“That’s a heavy card to use,” Rose whispered. “Does that mean you like me?”
“No,” I said. “You’re beautiful, sweetie, but that’s not going to cut it with me.” I stepped forward, holding both bags with one hand. My shoulder was still hurting. “If you want to get tangled between the sheets, I’m game. But don’t think for a second…” I lost my words.
I wasn’t going to bully the woman around. I could see it in her eyes she’d been bullied her entire life. Right up to the point of almost getting taken out by two different crews.
I walked away from Rose without another word.
The cabin was rustic yet beautiful. It had a woodsy smell throughout. Everything reflected the same feeling. Deep colored furniture that wasn’t anything modern. The blankets had weird patterns with a variety of colors. They looked old and all hand stitched. The fireplace was wide, the bricks with black charred marks on them from use. There was a small pile of old, white ash in the fireplace with a skinny, leftover, half burnt piece of wood. The floor creaked a little when you walked on it. There was a second floor loft area with a desk and a bed. The first floor under the steps had a door that led to the master bedroom and the only bathroom.
I put Rose’s bag there and left mine at the bottom of the steps. I wasn’t sure if I was going to sleep upstairs or crash on the couch.
Just in case.
Off the small kitchen was a large deck. A set of steps went down to the ground and within spitting distance was a large lake.