“She’s happy in Texas, you know.” My voice softened but only because I’d never been more honest. “She has horses now. A big house she wants to fill with kids and I’ll let her. I’ll let her have anything she wants, and she does. I told you I’d take care of her, and you still denied us both that.”
Douglas didn’t answer, but his gaze was on me, a contemplative expression crossing his features for the first time since all this had started. He hadn’t wanted me with her. I knew that damn well, but I also knew that somewhere deep inside, he did love her.
“What’s more important to you?” I asked quietly. “Having your daughter carry the Van Allen name, or the name of a man who actually loves her?”
The words hung in the quiet air of his office, heavy and impossible for him to avoid, but I didn’t wait for him to find something clever to say. I just left, shutting the door behind me but not slamming it. I’d wanted that soft click to echo with finality.
I walked down the steps of the Westwood mansion with long strides, pulling in breath after breath of air and realizing that I hated this place. A part of me always had. I probably always would.
The Big House in San Francisco was different. Harlan could also be an asshole, just like his brother, but CC always managed to smack some sense into him when it really mattered. Without Rochelle here to do the same for Douglas, this place just didn’t have any fucking soul.
For my wife and my friends’ sake, I really hoped that would change one day, but I wouldn’t count on it. My truck was parked at the bottom of the stairs and I climbed into it, deliberately tuning out the mansion as I put it in my rearview mirror.
Douglas could still make life hell for us. For her. But he’d have to get through me to do it and I wasn’t planning on letting him within fifty feet.
It wasn’t about pride but about keeping my wife safe. Keeping her whole. Keeping her mine. The road stretched ahead of me as I drove toward her and toward our future together.
A future that seemed complicated as hell right now but wouldn’t be once I got her away from here. Back in Texas, she and I were building a life together and I wanted to keep doing that, far away from the doubts and the bullshit this city always seemed to instill in both of us.
As soon as I’d handled thesituationwith Gregory, I was taking her back there and neither of us would set foot in Chicago again for a long, long time—and I didn’t give a shit what any of the Westwoods thought about it.
CHAPTER 45
CHARLOTTE
Ihonestly hadn’t expected to come back to W&S after breakfast, but Alex had insisted he needed to get to a meeting and Nate had said he might as well keep an eye on me until Trent got back. Since they were Westwood men andprecautionwas basically their love language, I’d decided to come to the office with them.
Besides, I hadn’t spent much time with either of them for the last couple months, and once Trent and I went back to Texas this time, I was pretty sure we weren’t going to be back here for a while. I figured I might as well make this visit count.
Getting comfortable in one of the chairs in Alex’s office, I accepted a cup of coffee from Nate, picking up where we’d left off before he’d gone to fix our drinks. “You should’ve seen this storm. It was crazy. The sky turned this insane shade of green and I swear, it looked like the world was ending.”
Nate chuckled. “What’d Trent do?”
“After handing me my ass for going out there without knowing the weather? He just stood there in his storm shelter basement. Completely calm, texting his parents and assuring me that there wouldn’t be a tornado like he was some kind of walking, talking weather app.”
Nate almost choked on his next sip of coffee. “Actually, yeah. That sounds about right. That guy doesn’t scare easily.”
“Nope. He said something about storms in Texas being like nature reminding you who’s in charge and the craziest part is that now that I’ve gotten a little more used to them, I kind of love it. The power of it. The sound. The smell. I don’t know, maybe I’m weird.”
“You are absolutely weird,” he said cheerfully. “Good weird, though. Don’t worry. The best kind of weird.”
I flicked a paperclip at him but then wrapped both hands around my mug and smiled. “I love the horses too. All of them, but especially Firecracker. She’s this grumpy little mare who hates everyone except?—”
“Let me guess,” Nate cut in. “It’s you. She lovesyou.”
I shrugged. “She tolerates me, but for her, that practically makes me a soulmate. It’s been pretty cool getting to know them, though. They’ve all got such different personalities. Hurricane Hustle wasn’t too happy with me after we got stuck in the storm together, but he’s finally forgiving me one sugar cube at a time.”
Nate chuckled and we fell into easy conversation, a soft, sweet rhythm I only ever seemed to get with him. He was less intense than Alex and he made more of a point about spending time with me than any of the others. I told him all about Texas, answering the rest of his questions and not even registering the shift in the air until Nate’s entire body went rigid.
When I looked up, Gregory was standing in the doorway. My spine locked so fast, it hurt. He didn’t knock, wait, or even pretend to be civilized. He just appeared like a storm cloud, suddenly blotting out the sun.
“I need to speak with Charlotte,” he said, his voice perfectly calm as his gaze landed on my brother. “Excuse us.”
Nate was out of his chair in one sharp movement. “Absolutely not.”
“This is our business,” Gregory said, his eyes flicking over me like I was a line in a ledger. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“She’s my sister,” Nate snapped. “That makes it my business. Don’t even think about taking another step closer.”
