Page 24 of Tempting Devil

“Actually, I do.” I inhaled a deep breath. “Don’t get me wrong. I love California and don’t miss running in this kind of humidity, but there are quite a few things about Atlanta I miss.”

“Like a Varsity dog?” he asked, referencing the famous Atlanta spot he often took me during my teen years whenever he picked me up from school.

“Definitely a Varsity dog.” I laughed, following him into the parking garage, the two of us falling into a comfortable silence as he led me toward his SUV, the scent of exhaust and wet concrete heavy in the air.

“How are things with Gideon?” Lachlan asked once we were on the freeway toward the house he shared with my mother. Even though it was Sunday, there was still quite a bit of traffic. Thankfully, I was used to it. “Is he treating you right?”

“Of course.” I plastered a fake smile on my face, praying he couldn’t see through my lies.

What was I going to tell him? That the reason I took an impromptu trip home was because I’d just accused him of being Samuel and was now questioning everything?

That, after finding a photo of Samuel with the same burns and birthmark, I’d been so convinced he was Samuel.

That I felt like an ass when he accused me of only being with him because I wished he was my dead boyfriend.

That I was certain I’d overreacted until I learned he’d been watching me for weeks before I approached him outside The Daily Grind.

That I still didn’t know what to think.

One second, I was convinced I was letting Liam manipulate me into thinking the worst of Gideon. The next, I couldn’t help but feel like there were too many coincidences for everything to simply be a series of unrelated events.

Or fate.

Which was why I needed to get out of California, even if only for a few days. I needed to get off this emotional seesaw that had me constantly second-guessing everything. Needed to be somewhere without any reminders of Gideon, even if I’d be surrounded by countless memories of Samuel.

Maybe that was what I needed, though.

“He better be,” Lachlan replied sternly. “If he doesn’t, you let me know and I’ll be on the next flight out. So will Nikko.”

“Pretty sure that would have him pissing his pants.”

Lachlan’s cousin, Nikko, was a two-hundred-plus pound Samoan MMA fighter. To say he was huge would have been an understatement. Lachlan was a pretty big guy. He’d have to be in order to play professional baseball like he did. Next to Nikko, though, he looked like a toothpick.

No doubt Gideon would, too.

“That’s the point.” Lachlan winked, giving me a conniving grin before returning his attention to the road. “But seriously, Imogene. He better treat you right.”

“He’s the perfect gentleman.”

It wasn’t a lie. Gideon was the perfect gentleman.

Although I had a feeling Lachlan may not consider Gideon choking me as he fucked me all that gentlemanly.

But I wasn’t about to go into detail about my sex life with my step-father.

“Then I’m happy for you.” He reached across the center console and grabbed my hand. “After everything you’ve been through the past few years, you deserve it.”

“Thanks.”

He gave my hand one last squeeze, then returned it to the steering wheel.

Thankfully, he didn’t mention Gideon again during the thirty-minute car ride to the Chastain Park section of Atlanta. Instead, we kept our conversation relatively light. He asked about Ollie and how I liked working for the soccer team. I asked how retirement was treating him. Although it was hard to consider him retired, since he was often asked to commentate, especially for some of the bigger games toward the end of the season. Between that and his numerous charities, he kept himself busy.

“I was actually hoping to talk to you about something, but I didn’t want to do it last weekend, since I know how difficult it must have been for you,” he said as he drove the familiar streets leading up to his house.

It reminded me of the time I rode my bike all the way out here from my mom’s house in Brookhaven after they’d gotten into an argument and I decided to act as a mediator between them.

I knew my mom would never have let me come on my own. Lachlan was pissed, too. I wasn’t used to that. Wasn’t used to having a father figure in my life. That was the moment I knew he was perfect for my mom. And after I helped him win her back, he forgave me for recklessly putting my life at risk.