Page 18 of Dirty Little Vow

Her beautiful blue eyes had gone wide, a blush rushing over her otherwise pale skin, creating a blood-red stain that traveled down her neckline and disappeared under her clothing. I’d really wanted to know just how far down that color had traveled.

She’d stumbled over her reply. “Ah—I couldn’t figure out where the guest bathroom was. I had to go badly and…I’m sorry.”

We’d both known it had been a bullshit answer. There was a guest bathroom right beside my bedroom door. She’d wanted to check out my room. Maybe she’d even wanted me to find her in there, which now, I can say, she most certainly did. “Coming here was not a smart decision,” I’d reprimanded. “You need to leave.”

“You’re being a jerk,” she’d snapped, and I swear I’d gotten harder, as if that were even humanly possible. I’d been hard as steel already.

“Yes, well, you can choose if you hate me before or after your legs are wrapped around my neck, Bella. Because that’s what’s going to happen if you don’t leave now.” I’d taken an intentional step backward, which had been an invitation for her to exit the room.

In typical Bella rebellion, her spine had straightened, and her chin had lifted. “We’re friends.”

Oh, that had set me off, but then we’d been one big time bomb ready to explode. “Friends don’t fuck, and that’s exactly where my head is right now. I told you. You have two options—”

“I heard you,” she’d interrupted, a whip to her tone. “I don’t need to hear it again. I’ll leave. You’re beinga bastard.”

“Because I am a bastard, Bella,” I’d reminded her, no denial in me. After all, my prick of a father had just killed a woman I’d once dated before ending up dead himself. “You’ve been warned,” I’d added, “I won’t warn you again.”

That’s when she’d stepped out of the bathroom and stopped in front of me.Stopped.No running away. No desire to escape me. I’d been so close to pulling her to me, to fucking away all my pain and torment right then and there, only it would have destroyed us and that friendship she’d declared. The way my father destroyed everyone around him.

But she hadn’t swung the bat I’d handed her. “I said, you’rebeinga bastard,” she’d rebutted, “not that youareone. It’s too bad you don’t understand the difference.” With that, she’d marched out of the room, and without turning, I’d known when she’d exited the bedroom. I’d felt the shift in the air. Beyond reason then and now, I’ve always felt when Bella came or left a room.I’d saved her that night, protected her from me and the ruin that would be our hook-up, but not forever.

My selfishness won.

After that night, she was mine. There was no other way it could end.

And now, she’s paying the price.

We’re coming up the side of Cupcakes and Books when my gaze lifts to land on Gavin as he crosses the road and heads in this direction. The rush of adrenaline that overtakes me is as potent as anything I have ever felt. He’s a part of this, and I see nothing but fury. He is not making it into the bookstore, he is going to take me to Bella.

“Gavin!” I call, and when his attention turns in our direction, he looks between Dash and me, and there is trepidation in his stare.

That’s all it takes to push me over the edge. The minute he joins us, all restraint is lost. I grab him and throw him against the wall, his briefcase crashing to the ground, my hands on his shoulders. “Where is Bella?” I demand.

Chapter Fifteen

Tyler

“What the hell, Tyler?” Gavin demands.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Dash murmurs, stepping close to me. “You’re getting attention we don’t need.”

He better be playing good cop/bad cop, I think, or he’s next to hit the wall and my fist. I cast him a side-eye. “Don’t make me regret calling you, Dash. He knows where she is.”

“What the hell, Tyler?” Gavin asks. “Come on, man. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“If the police get involved,” Dash warns, “this becomes a shit show, and we risk never getting her back. Let him go, Tyler. He’s here. He’s willing to talk. That’s what matters.”

Gavin’s hands are up in surrender mode. “I really don’t know what this is, Tyler, but I’m on your side. I’ve always been on your side.”

“Tyler!” Dash snaps. “Let him go.Now. There are people watching us.”

The spike of adrenaline running through me is like hot lava, thickening in my veins.Control, I remind myself. It might be my father’s lesson, but also one he seemed to think I learned too well. He was always trying to break me. He’s still trying to break me, and I won’t let it happen.

I might want to throttle Gavin, but I force myself to let him go and take a step backward. “Now start talking, Gavin,” Dash orders, picking up his briefcase and handing it to him.

Gavin snaps it out of Dash’s hand and slides it over his shoulder, his teeth grinding. “I don’t know how many ways I can sayI don’t know what the fuck is going on.”

I reject his bullshit. “Playing stupid is an easy way to end up back against the wall,” I say. “The partners called an emergency meeting and questioned me over the will and my controlling interest. The minute I shut that crap down with the validity of my relationship with Bella and returned to my desk, I got this.” I remove my phone from my pocket, pull up the message, and hold out my phone.