Tinsley’s icy demeanor thaws just a little. “It’s a good thing the only nice list I have to be on is that of Silas’s.”
The thought of her wanting to impress someone other than me makes my blood heat. Like the asshole she accused me of being, I react out of anger. “I wonder what big brother Kingston would have to say about you wanting to be on an old man’s list of any kind,” I sneer, standing tall and storming out of the room.
Tinsley gasps at my words, and Grandpa consoles her like he would my grandmother and mother before their passing. My chest squeezes at the thought of my mother. The thought of her leads to my father—to the night that they were killed while on their way back from a New Year’s party that my uncle threw every year in Atlanta. We still don’t know why they didn’t stay in Atlanta that night, like they typically would have done. The walls around me start to close in the further I get down the hall. I bypass my office, heading straight for the front door, needing space from the suffocation of the past.
I burst through the door, pulling my tie off as I fight to suck in some much-needed oxygen. My head begins to clear, my breaths coming easier, and I drop my head back on my shoulders looking up at the ceiling of the porch. Vito storms out the door with his phone to his ear, not even pausing to acknowledge me.
“What the fuck do you mean, Officer Jackson fucking picked her up? For fucking what?” Vito sneers into the phone.
I watch him as he marches across the yard to his SUV, still screaming into the phone, “That’s fucking bullshit! She went only because I made her go. Fucking fix this!”
He slams the door of his SUV before peeling out, kicking up dirt as he goes.
“Well, I’ll be damned. That will not end well for Officer Jackson,” Grandpa whistles low, as he shuffles out of the front door to his rocking chair.
“No, it won’t,” I groan, rubbing the bridge of my nose.
“At least he’s fighting for his woman, unlike others around here,” Grandpa says, and I can feel his eyes on me.
“Grandpa, I don’t know what you’re going on about.” I mumble with a sigh. Making my way down the stairs, I move toward the barn that holds our ATVs. I need time and room to think.
Two
Tinsley
The sound of the doorknob rattling pulls me from a deep sleep. Bolting upright, I look around the dark room for what woke me. I relax when I don’t see anything until the sound of the rattling echoes again. Laying back down, I push myself all the way against the wall and pull the covers up so the only thing visible are my eyes. Holding my breath, I watch the door, praying that it won’t open.
The sound of a thud against the door causes me to jump. “Please, Tiny, let me in. I just want to see you. Please.”
Tears fall down my face at the sound of his voice on the other side. I’m frozen, unable to think clearly as I fight the urge to do what he’s asking me to do. The tears flow freely with the memory of what happened last time I defied the man on the other side of the door.
“Tiny, open the door,” his voice sounds rougher, more demanding. “You know what happened the last time. Don’t make me take the last of them from you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. The tears are hot as they run down my face, and I fight the sobs rattling my chest. His fist comes down hard on the door, causing it to shake on its frame. Pulling my knees to my chest, I wrap my arms around them. Placing myforehead on my knees, I shiver with anxiety, stress, and pure terror. The door splinters open and slams against the wall, finally pulling the scream from me I’d been fighting to hold in.
“Fuck. Come on, Tinsley baby.” Strong arms wrap around me as I fight to get free. “You’ve got to fight to come back to me, Tesoro.”
The voice is familiar—warm, demanding, and with a slight roughness. I fight to break away from the nightmare that is trying to drag me under. With a gasping breath, I come awake looking around for the monster that haunts me. As the nightmare fades and reality sets in, I relax back against the hard chest and into the powerful arms wrapped around me. I force myself to breathe, reminding myself I’m here. I’m safe. It was just a dream … even if my body hasn’t gotten the memo yet.
“That’s it, Tesoro,” Andre rumbles low into the side of my head.
“I’m sorry,” is the only thing I’m able to say right now.
“No need to be sorry,” he murmurs, leaning back onto the headboard and pulling me back with him.
Laying my head back on his shoulder, I continue trying to relax. “Yes, there is. I’m a grown-ass woman having nightmares that wake the entire damn house.”
Andre huffs out a sarcastic laugh. “Tesoro, I don’t believe that there is a single person in this house who doesn’t have their own form of nightmares.”
I shift around so that I’m sitting beside Andre so that I can look him in the face. “There is no way that big, bad Andre the Don is admitting to having nightmares.”
Andre drops his chin, mock-glaring down at me. “Miss Reeves, you wouldn’t be making fun of me now, would you?”
Placing my hand on my chest, I let out a mock gasp. “I wouldn’t dream of ever making fun of the boss.”
He looks down at me with an eyebrow cocked. “Tinsley Reeves, it is unbecoming of you to mock a man of my status.”
I don’t even try to stop the laugh that bubbles up. Rolling away from Andre, I laugh so hard that I must hold my side as it aches. Andre sits up straighter in the bed, leaning over me as the laughter just keeps coming. I haven’t laughed this hard for any reason since before my mother and father passed.
