“Would you like to clue me in on what’s so funny?” Andre finally grumbles, a small smile playing on his lips.
I just shake my head, unable to speak or explain. I’m finally able to catch my breath and wipe a few stray tears off my face and look up into the dark eyes sparkling with amusement and bewilderment. The night four months ago floods my memory of a time before he knew who I was. I’ve longed for him to see me that way again instead of with distrust and disdain.
Andre brings his hand up and cups my cheek. “You truly are the most stunning woman that I’ve ever seen.”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Andre. We both know this is a weak moment you’re going to regret later,” I whisper, looking away from him, fighting the urge to beg him for just one more night.
“I’ve never lied to you, Tinsley. I may be an asshole—cruel, short-tempered, and even slightly crazy—but the one thing I’ve never been is a fucking liar.” Andre’s tone is gruff.
Putting my hands between us, I push at his chest so I can slide away from him and climb out of bed. “All of that may be true, but it doesn’t mean that in moments of weakness you won’t say or dothings that aren’t completely intentional or true. I fell for it once, and I won’t again.”
Andre stands from the bed, sliding his hands into his hair, gripping it tight. “Fuck, Tinsley, what do you expect me to do? You’re the goddamn princess of the Reeves family. There is no way at any point in time that this will ever happen. There’s too much bad blood between the families.”
Spinning on him, I glare, hands on my hips. “I’m not asking you to do a fucking thing but let me work for you until I can find a way out of here and away from my brother. I just need a few more months, and then I’ll be gone.”
He advances on me, slow like the predator that he is. “Do not speak like that. This may never be able to work, but that does not mean I will ever let you go. I can’t let the same thing that happened to our parents happen to you. Do you understand me?”
“Andre, I know you think you feel something for me, and I wish more than anything it was true but what I know now is that a man who can’t put me above everyone else is not the man for me,” I whisper. Hot tears run down my face as I turn to make my way to the bathroom, then close the door quietly behind me.
With my back on the door, I bite my lip to stop the sobs from escaping as my heart shatters for something that never was and never could be.
“I’m sorry, Tinsley. I’ve never wished to be someone else more than I do in this moment,” he murmurs from the other side of the door.
The moment I hear my bedroom door close, I lose my battle with the sobs warring to get out. I slide down the door, wrap my arms around my knees, and eye the white and blue sticks sitting on the counter across from me. How am I going to hide this from himfor a few more months? What would he do if he ever found out? These are not things I can even start to find the answers to while sobbing on the fancy bathroom floor. I sit there until the sobs finally subside and I’m able to drag myself off the floor, looking at the person in the mirror that I promised myself I would never see again.
The night I ran, I was someone so broken and scared that the thought of continuing was unimaginable. Now as I look into the eyes of the same woman, I see a fight burning behind the broken heart to keep going and make my life matter.
Three
Andre
Standing at the window of my office, I watch as Tinsley helps my grandfather shuffle across the yard, making sure he doesn’t trip and fall. She is perfectly patient and kind, not once getting short or angry at him for stumbling or not remembering. Even when Grandpa gets short and snappy with her, she stays completely calm. I hired her as a nurse for him afterthe fifthnurse quit one week before Halloween. She was fresh out of nursing school and looking to get away from her brothers.
When she walked into my office and her scent wrapped around me. Memories of the night we spent together after the Gala in honor of my parents, here at the farm, not two weeks earlier, flood forward in my mind. My eyes traced every move she made, the nervous way she shifted under my stare or how she watched me in return. Yes, she was nervous but also studying me. I hired her on the spot. I’ve tried to tell myself that it was because she was qualified and coming from the family that she did, she knew discretion would be key.
Everything was exactly as I needed it to be for exactly one week, and then we went to Nashville for a Halloween Ball the O’Malley’s were throwing, and all hell broke loose. The attack on Vito and Loretta happened in a way that allowed us to flex ournewfound control of new alliances. Tinsley nearly got caught in the crossfire, which only confirmed that I need to stay on my property for not only my safety, but Tinsley's and grandfather's safety, too. This way I can be sure that we all stay protected and alive.
A sharp knock on the door brings me back from my musing. “Enter.”
Vito comes through the door, a look mixed with rage, frustration, and hatred coming off him in waves.
“Careful, Vito. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were about to start a war or kill someone,” I say, eyeing the man as I pour us both a drink from the bar in my office.
“Right this fucking second, that is a possibility,” Vito growls, taking a seat on the couch in my office.
“Care to elaborate?” I question as I hand him the glass of Scotch.
“Where the hell do I even start?” He drinks his drink in one gulp.
“I would start at the beginning, but that’s my personal opinion.” I smirk as I sit in the chair across from him, not once flinching at his glare.
Vito flips me the bird. “Asshole.”
“Name calling is beneath you,” I chide mockingly, knowing that I am poking the bear.
He levels his unnatural green eyes at me. “You would think so, alas, here we are.”
I just tilt my glass towards him, acknowledging his statement without words. We sit there not saying anything, giving Vito time to simmer down so we can get into what exactly is going on with him. Vito places his glass on the coffee table between us before leaning back and then rubbing his hands down his thighs.
