“He felt the same way.”Tom breathes out slowly.“He would have done anything for you.For any of you.”
We sit there for a few moments.Each lost in our memory of Tom’s father.If there was ever someone in my life to look up to, it was him.He cared for each of us like we were his.I carried the guilt of his death in my heart because I always thought there was some way I could have prevented it.
But there’s more to what’s bothering us about Tom.
“Are we square with Sara and us being together?”I narrow my eyes at him.
He runs a hand through his hair.“I might need to get my own punches in for Sara.”
“You don’t deserve any punches.”I smirk.“Besides receiving them.Sara made a choice.It’s not like you left and we fell on her like hungry wolves.”
“Fuck, I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Good.Don’t.”I draw in a breath and let some of the anger and fear that he left us with slide into place.“You left Sara alone with a message to come to us for protection.”
“I left a note for you guys.”He looks away guiltily.
“You jeopardized our business and her.Explain to me why, and maybe I can get the others to listen to me before they pummel you more.”I sit back and watch him.
“That new assistant Beth brought me those clients.But fuck, they looked sketchy as hell and I couldn’t decide if it wasn’t just poorly managed books or mismanaged books.”He meets my eyes.“I didn’t want them on the client list until I could be sure they were legitimate businesses.”
“But you kept them from all of us.We were left scrambling to put together the pieces when you could have explained everything to us.”I glare at him.“You could have explained to me.”
“It all happened so fucking fast.The head of the organization, Peter Sokolov, brought me in for a meeting at the Veiled Vixen.He seemed legit and nice.”
I know Tom.“He paid for the stripper, didn’t he?”
He glances at the house but gives me a little smirk.“Yeah, a few times.But everything seemed on the up and up.I reviewed their reports and dealt with what they actually gave me.They were high-cash businesses, which set off some alarms, but maybe not enough.”
He stands and paces back and forth in front of me.
“Then the Feds showed up when I was out getting coffee.They were really interested in what Peter Sokolov was doing.They wanted to know confidential information.So I told them no, but I kept their cards.That’s when I dug a little deeper.”
“Why didn’t you tell us then?”This is what bugged me.We shared everything, but he kept this from us.From me.
“It got away from me so quickly.I met Natasha and fuck, man, I’ve never felt what I feel for her before.It’s like the whole world dimmed and she shone like a fucking star.Do you know what I mean?”His eyes search mine like he doesn’t think I know how that feels.
“Yeah, I do.”I don’t flinch away.He knows I’m talking about Sara.
He sucks in a breath.“Fuck.”
He sits on the bench and runs his hand through his hair.His gaze drifts to the house before coming back to me, more determined.
“We started to find time to spend together.Natasha and I.We had to keep it secret.We were going to the benefit together, but she hadn’t told her father yet.I set you up with her best friend in hopes that he wouldn’t question it.”
I’m not ready to dive into the Verity Baron talk.“What happened?”
Tom blows out a breath.“Natasha found out she was pregnant and her father announced he was marrying her off to one of his guys.That it was time for him to pick an heir and he wanted her to make the next generation of Sokolovs.”
“So you ran?”
“So we ran.”
“Fuck, Tom.That wasn’t just running away from the problem.That was putting a target on everyone.That was putting a target on Sara.”
“You didn’t know anything, so it’s not like you were a threat to him.”Tom meets my eyes.“I knew there could be danger, but I also knew you guys would do everything in your power to protect Sara.”
“Because we love her,” I bite out.“You could have just been honest with us and we could have thought of a solution together.But instead, you did what you always do.You ran away from your problems and hoped they wouldn’t be there when you got back.”
