“Oh no, not at all,” she tries to play it off. “It’s just been a rough day, but that’s nothing for you to worry about. If it would make you more comfortable, I can have Mrs. Lottie come serve you.”
“Would that make you more comfortable, Blood Rose?” I allow my eyes to scan the room.
Her gaze finds mine once more, and I have the urge to pull her into the booth with me and not only shield her from the world but to taste that patch of skin just behind her ear. I have to ball my hands into fists on the table so I don’t do just that. She still hasn’t answered my question. She looks around as if someone is going to answer the question for her.
“Blood Rose, eyes right here.” This time my tone is demanding.
Her eyes snap back to mine. “Why do you call me that?”
“To be completely honest, I don’t know. It just feels right.” I give her a slight shrug, not wanting to tell the truth. That my being here with her will be my undoing, and I very well could end up six feet under if the family were ever to find out. She is the beauty to my violence.
“Oh, okay,” she says with a hint of disappointment in her voice. She begins to twist her hands together in front of her. “Well, thank you for the offer, but I’m happy to be your server. So, let’s start with what I can get you to drink?”
I give her a smirk. “I’ll take a coffee and ice water in a dark glass.”
She lifts an eyebrow at my request. “Dark glass?”
“Water is never purely clean, and I don’t want to see into my cup in case there is something I don’t want to know.” I try to be as honest as I can.
Loretta shakes her head. “Well then. I’ll get you your coffee and water in a dark glass.”
“Thank you!”
When she walks away, I allow my eyes to follow her every move. Truly taking in how stunning this woman is, my cock goes rockhard as my imagination runs away with the thought of bending her over and fucking her until I am the only man she thinks about. She finally makes her way around the counter and out of sight. I look back over at the entire reason I am here. I grab my phone, pulling up the information I was able to find on him.
His name is Alan Davis, and he is thirty-two years old. He is living off daddy’s money with no ambition to do much else it seems. Not happy with the surface shit, I send off what I have to some of my contacts so I can get a deep dive done. I can’t put my finger on it at this point, but there is something about this man that sets my teeth on edge, and it’s not just because he has his eyes set on my woman.
That thought is the one to bring all others to a screeching halt in my brain. Loretta isnotmine andneverwill be. My obsession with her is only because I need to make sure she doesn’t cause problems for the family since I let her live. Her taking the fall was a last-minute decision and the only one that would make sure I could keep her alive. Nothing more and nothing less. It’s time I leave and get my shit together before I do something fucking stupid. Pulling out my wallet, I drop a hundred-dollar bill on the table before standing to make my way out. Just before pushing through the door, I look back at the motherfucker I followed in here.
The smug asshole lifts his glass and winks at me. The need to dispose of someone has never slammed into me so hard and fast before. I give him a lift of my chin as I push through the door and into the cool October air. With the sun falling behind the mountains, the wind is a little icy. I march across the parking lot as the rage builds in my blood.
I slide into my SUV, and my phone starts ringing. As it connects to the vehicle, Andre’s name flashes onto the screen. Sighing,I lean my head back on the headrest because I know this isn’t going to be good.
I push the button, and before I can say anything at all, he is snapping, “Where the fuck are you? You were supposed to be at the farm twenty minutes ago. And why the fuck did you not tell me that you talked to your goddamn brother?”
My already simmering anger starts boiling. I grab the steering wheel so tight I hear it creak under the force. Taking a deep breath to settle the impending explosion, I look out my windshield to find Loretta standing just outside the door looking around. I start to get out of the SUV when old man Dawson comes out and guides her back inside with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. I must’ve been quiet for too long because Andre leads into another tirade.
“Are you going to fucking answer me or just sit there breathing like some creepy as fuck stalker?” he snaps.
I chuckle at his words because if only he knew how true they were. “Actually, I think of it as imitating a ghost, fuck you very much.”
Andre huffs out a laugh. “You really are a fucking asshole.”
“Yes, I am,” I agree, putting my car in drive, “And to answer your tirade of questions. I am leaving the diner at the base of the mountain, and as for talking to my brother, that is a conversation best had in person.”
“Had you been here when you were supposed to, we could have already had it,” Andre growls abnormally pissy.
“That we could have, but I was hungry and stopped for food. Now I am making my way to the farm and can meet you in your office in exactly twenty minutes.” I pause, working not to go off on him. “Are you good, man?”
“I’m good. There are things going on, and I don’t have enough answers for them.”
“We’ll figure it out when I get there,” I murmur as I make a sharp right, speeding toward the farm.
Something is wrong, and the last time something felt this wrong we lost Andre’s father. As I speed through the dark night along the winding dark roads, it takes all of my training not to get lost in the thoughts of my failures to the family, to my mother, and how I truly failed some of the most innocent people I’ve come into contact with. The farm comes into view, and a sense of peace falls over me, settling the spinning of my mind. When I pull up in front of the house, I’m surprised to find Sylas sitting in his rocking chair. What the fuck? Where the hell is his companion? I stop my SUV right in front of the house, throwing it in park and turning it off before jumping out.
“Papa, what are you still doing outside?” I call to him as I make my way around the vehicle.
His eyes cut over to me, unclear. “I’m sorry, son. Who are you here to see?”
