He kept walking to the pool house and Mandy called out, “I’ll get the door. Don’t interrupt your sexing.”
Sexing. I grinned against his lips.
Walking into the pool house, Tray pushed me against the wall, sliding a hand underneath my shirt and cupping my breast.
Before long I had my fingers snagged on the inside of his jeans and was working at his zipper.
Hearing a knock at the door, both of us cursed swiftly.
“What?” Tray barked, sighing raggedly, his hand still playing with my breast.
“Uh—” Mandy said, cautious and rightfully fearful of her life.
“What, Mandy?” I called out.
Tray cursed under his breath and I had to kiss him for that.
“Um…you have a visitor…at the door.”
“Who is it?” Seriously. I’d gone without sex for almost a good week now. A good hard ride was very much in order right now.
“Uh…you’ll want to see this person. Trust me.”
Something in her voice had me stepping away from Tray and opening the door.
And it was there—in her eyes. I knew who was going to be at the door before Mandy even spoke.
/> I opened the door and saw Jace standing there. …
Jace was here.
“Hey,” he murmured, watching me intently.
“Leave. Please.” My voice actually cracked, a real godforsaken crack. I was always composed and he could make me do this. Fuck him.
“Taryn—” he trailed off. I saw his eyes look over my shoulders. Looking back, I saw Tray watching us, but he nodded to me and moved back into the kitchen.
“I don’t want you here. I can’t handle you being here,” I whispered. I was being honest. And with Jace, I was always honest. I thought he’d been, too. It was how our relationship he’d been. No lies. No tricks. Just—honesty. But I was wrong.
He sighed, but murmured, “I lied.”
“I’m sorry,” he added, raking a hand through his hair. His dirty-blonde hair that made so many girls melt for him, literally. “I’ve been lying for so long that I don’t…but you need to know that there’s so much that I never lied to you about. It’s why—”
“I needed to leave.” My adoption, the entire reason why Jace wanted me out. He couldn’t lie to me.
Was my heart supposed to break for him?
“Yeah.” It was understood between the two of us. We felt what the other couldn’t say, we understood their point of view, but it sucked ass because it hurt us—it hurt so much.
I loved Jace and that love had never been given a voice. It had never been given the chance. And he’d ripped that from me. From us.
“What happened to Brian?” I had to know. He connected us, he divided us, and he destroyed us all in the end.
“Brian found out about your adoption and he was coming to tell you. Galverson sent some of his men after him. They staged the accident. I wasn’t told until later about it.”
“When?” My voice was raw, hoarse, but it was real. And it was desperate. I needed answers.
“Just before the funeral. That’s when I called Chance in. I couldn’t do it anymore otherwise I’d risk the entire operation. I wanted to murder Sal so fucking bad. You have no idea how hard it was for me not to.”