Only Him (Only One 1)

“Black. Tinted windows. Big, like an Escalade. Alabama plates.”

“And you saw two men?”

“Yes. Both in suits. Tall. One had a camera, and the other had binoculars.”

He nods as if he’s not surprised, which is perplexing.

“I think they’re private investigators,” I admit.

Tyler clears his throat before rounding my little kitchen table and opens the fridge. “Could be.”

He rummages around and pulls out items.

“What are you doing?”

“Gonna cook you some dinner and help get your mind off everything.” He spins around and flashes me a sincere smile. “I mean, if that’s okay. If I remember correctly, you love homemade chili and anything spicy.”

I smile, and those stupid flutters return. “Alright, on one condition.”

“What’s that?” He tilts his head with an amused expression.

“You tell me about Vegas. Therealstory.”

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

TYLER

The real story.

Only Liam and Maddie know what really happened, and it’s not a story I repeat. Gemma knows I was set up and was saving my friends, but that’s it. I’ve never talked about getting involved with the O’Learys and the terrible things I witnessed, but then again, Victoria isn’t someone I enjoy discussing. Considering the deposition is soon, it has me concerned that she’s responsible for having Gemma followed. I keep it to myself because I don’t want her to live in fear. It makes no sense for someone to be tailing her because Victoria’s guards are usually more strategic than that. Though she might be trying to use scare tactics from the beginning because Victoria’s bat-shit fucking crazy.

“What exactly do you wanna know?” I ask, avoiding her gaze while I move around her quaint kitchen and set the ingredients on the counter. The other day, I felt like I was being watched too, and now I’m wondering if this is a coincidence.

“The events that led up to you getting arrested, and what it was like behind bars.”

I narrow my eyes as I look at her.

“Shit, sorry. You probably don’t want to discuss prison.”

Not particularly, but if it’ll keep her mind off those assholes following her, I’ll tell her what I can. We used to chat for hours between ripping off each other’s clothes. She’d want to know about the Army, and I’d tell her stories of the trouble my friends and I would get into during leave.

“It’s okay, I just haven’t really talked about it with anyone except Liam. Not even Everleigh knows all the details.”

“She only told me a little if I brought it up, but after a while, I stopped asking.”

“Why?” She tilts her head at me as I continue. “Why’d you stop?”

She shrugs with a faint blush. “Once I met Robert, I thought it was inappropriate. I didn’t want Everleigh thinking I was still hung up on you while I was dating another man.”

I arch a brow. “Were you still hung up on me?”

A small smile meets her lips. “I thought I was because I never had closure so I could properly move on. I tried to forget about you. But once I heard what happened, I asked Everleigh about you because I wanted to be there for her, too.”

“I’m truly sorry about that.” I frown at the sadness in her eyes. The day I left without her was one of the worst days of my life. “I appreciate you asking about me and being a support system for my sister. I know she took it hard.”

“Your grandparents did too.”

Guilt hits me hard as I think back to five years ago when Everleigh told me how they reacted to the news. I had done exactly what I tried to avoid—disappointed them.