But it wasn’t anger, or hatred, or rage, or even jealousy that appeared in the other man’s eyes like he expected. They were surprisingly empty, shuttered, and Kasey immediately recognized the brokenness inside Tommy. He could only imagine what losing a woman like Shaun could do to a man. He knew he sure as hell didn’t want to find out.
Tommy continued forward, taking a seat next to his father, directly across from Kasey, but their eyes never met again.
“This is my son, Tommy, Zoey’s brother,” Thom said then, making introductions that were wholly unnecessary, but the man clearly had no idea that the two of them already knew each other. That Kasey had lusted after and actively pursued his son’s fiancé… or that he had been buried balls deep in her mere hours before.
Just because Thom was oblivious to the situation, didn’t mean that Tommy didn’t understand the implication of why Kasey was there, or that it was clear that he was there with Shaun. Kasey shifted in his seat.
Kasey cleared his throat to speak, but it was Tommy that responded, his tone dull. “Yeah, we’ve met.”
Well, this is awkward.
The door opened again, and he stood, that instinctual protectiveness flaring in him as she stepped through the door, her eyes meeting his with a smile. But then her eyes shifted toward the other two in the room, and he watched, achinginside, as her face fell, her eyes going wide and shuttering almost immediately, the joy and carefreeness from moments ago disappearing instantly.
Kasey refused to take his eyes off of her face, his heart hammering in his chest at the pain he could sense radiating off of her, even if she was trying her damndest to hide it. Out of his peripheral vision, he knew Thom had stood, taking steps toward her to embrace her in a gentle hug.
“Hi, Shaun honey,” the older man said softly. Pulling away, he asked, “How’s our girl?”
Kasey watched as Shaun swallowed hard, glancing over Thom’s shoulder at Tommy briefly, before raising her eyes back to his and said, “She’s good. Tired. Baby boy is doing great. Did you let Chase know you’re here?”
“I called him and left a voicemail,” Thom said, patting her arm in a kind, fatherly gesture. Kasey remained where he was, standing several feet away, watching everything. “I figured he was busy. He’ll come get us when they’re ready for us.”
“Does Zoey know you’re here?” she asked then, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke directly to Tommy, who had remained sitting when his father had stood to greet Shaun. “I didn’t know you were even home.”
Kasey glanced at Tommy, saw his head shake in a silent no. “I wasn’t sure if she wanted me here. Dad told me I didn’t have a choice. I’m only here for a day or two.”
“She’ll be happy to see you,” Shaun said quietly, but Tommy just shrugged, returning his gaze to the floor between dirty work boots. “So will Chase.”
Thom squeezed Shaun’s arm where his hand still rested, and she brought her eyes to his again. His lips had pulled into a sad line and he just shook his head slightly, and Shaun nodded. Those dark sapphire eyes finally came back to his, and Kasey read the plea in them.
“Well, we should probably go,” Shaun said then, reaching out a hand and accepting the jacket that Kasey held out for her. “Let you guys have some time with Zoey and the baby. Chase said she’s requesting a Northman pizza as a push present.”
“He better not forget the banana peppers,” Tommy said then from where he sat, raising his head to look at her, a half-smile pulling one corner of his mouth up. Shaun’s grudging chuckle made jealousy crash through him.
“She was mad at you for a week,” Shaun said with a small smile, and that jealousy inside Kasey turned into a rage as he watched a flicker of life return to the other man’s eyes.
But then Shaun moved her eyes away from Tommy’s and those sapphire eyes met his again, and in that moment, he didn’t blame Tommy for clinging to that feeling after being denied it for nearly a year. It was like taking a hit of the best drug possible, the strongest high.
This woman had the capability to become an addiction he had no chance in hell of kicking.
THIRTY-ONE
It was after eleven by the time they pulled back into the driveway in front of her apartment. She shut the truck off but didn’t climb out, instead resting her forehead against the steering wheel in front of her for a long time, the darkness shrouding her. She knew Kasey was watching her from where he sat in the passenger seat, but she was grateful that for once he remained quiet, letting her have this moment in the silence.
It had been almost eleven months since she’d seen Tommy. Eleven months since she’d thrown her engagement ring back at him, ending a two-year relationship, and any future they would have had together. As angry as she still was at him for what he’d done, how he’d manipulated the lives of the people he swore to love, she hated the emptiness she’d seen in him. He looked… awful. Tired. The red, glassiness in his eyes, the dark circles under them, the way his body seemed to be shrinking, shriveling. She knew he was still drinking heavily, but was this something heavier?
I did this to him,she thought miserably.
“You’re not to blame, Shaun.”
Raising her forehead from where it had been resting on the steering wheel, she whipped around to glare at Kasey.Had she said that outloud?
Shifting in his seat to angle his body more toward hers to look at her better through the darkness of the truck, he reached out a hand toward her, twisting one curl around his finger.
“Excuse me?” she asked, her tone acerbic.
His lips pulled into a tight line before he exhaled through his nose. “Whatever Tommy is struggling with, it’s not your fault, Shaun. His actions and whatever the consequences are, they are his own. He is a broken man—”
“And I did that,” she snapped, turning her head to stare out the windshield.
