Twice as Sexy (The Sexy 2)

She listened, her gaze never leaving his.

“The guys who ran the frat were assholes. One in particular, Victor Clark.” He forced air into his lungs as he said the name, did the deep breathing his therapist had recommended in order to control the anger that came over him when Vic’s name came up.

“There was hazing, despite school rules against it, but until then, nothing we couldn’t handle. But the night of the final initiation, we’d heard rumors the party got out of control. We shouldn’t have gone…” He shook his head. “The drinking was over-the-top. Shots, drinks, paddling, pain … and then we were each given a handle of what we thought was regular vodka.”

“It wasn’t?” she asked.

Tanner shook his head. “Turns out it was one hundred proof but we didn’t know it at the time. And Levi volunteered to go first. We begged him to leave.” He remembered his gut screaming at him. “Landon said fuck the frat. But Levi wouldn’t listen. He drank. Vic handed him a backpack filled with rocks. Made him run up and down the stairs… He tripped, Vic slapped him, told him to keep going. Levi tried, fell backward…”

If Tanner told the rest, he’d throw up. His friend’s head banging on the stairs. The blood on the floor, Landon hitting his brother’s face, begging him to wake up.

“Jesus, Tanner. I’m sorry,” Scarlett said, her voice cracking.

He managed a grim smile. “The club is named after the date he died. So I really do understand what today means to you.”

She squeezed his hand. “Sucks to have the death of a loved one in common.”

He blew out a long breath, realizing they’d just shared something heavy. “Your brother would be proud of you.” Hell, Tanner was proud of her and he’d just begun to scratch the surface.

“I hope so.” Scarlett glanced at the picture, then up at Tanner. “The guys who robbed the store and killed Hank, their lawyer got their case thrown out on a technicality.” Her eyes burned with anger, her entire body vibrating with it. “They walked free and that’s when I decided to become a lawyer. To make sure that no one who committed a crime would get away with it easily, not if I could help it.”

Tanner stilled. “That’s … good,” he managed to say. Even as his heart squeezed tighter inside his chest. His past not only included being arrested for assault but for skating on it after Gabriel Dare pulled strings. He didn’t think that was something Scarlett would understand or forgive.

Which meant they’d gone from something that bonded them to something else that could tear them apart. He had a record. She put away criminals. He’d had his record expunged. She resented people who got away with crimes no matter how they’d done it.

“I need to go.” He pushed himself up from her desk.

“Tanner?”

“I forgot about a security meeting at the club,” he lied.

“What?” Scarlett stood up, obviously surprised. “Are you okay? I know we just talked about some pretty deep stuff.”

He clenched his jaw, only knowing that he needed space. He had to take a big step back from Scarlett, because everything that defined him was everything this woman despised.

* * *

Hours later, in the late evening, Tanner picked up his cell phone, pulled up Scarlett’s name … and put it down on his desk again. “You’re an asshole,” he muttered to himself, still annoyed he’d walked out on her earlier today.

But as soon as he’d heard the venom in her tone as she’d described why she’d become an attorney and how she’d never accept someone getting off for a crime without paying, he knew he’d probably lost her before he’d ever truly had her.

“Finally realizing what we all know?” Jason asked, striding into the office and sitting down in a chair across from Tanner.

The main office they shared consisted of desks for all three men along with a couch and chair area where they sat now. Chrome and glass desks along with black and chrome chairs, a look similar to the club itself, made up the décor. Sleek and elegant, as Gabe and his decorator sister, Lucy, had recommended.

“Funny.” Frowning, he glanced at his phone once more. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Landon were downstairs.”

All three of them were at the club tonight. Faith had a party she’d created candy party favors for, and she’d been asked to stay and hand them out, which left Jason at loose ends. And here at work.

“Landon was worried about you. He said you were upstairs moping and that, since I was attached by a ball and chain, maybe I could understand.” Jason shrugged, clearly unaffected by Landon’s words about his marriage.

Ever since he’d gotten together with Faith, it was like a huge burden and shadow of pain had been lifted from Jason’s shoulders. Landon was happy for Jason. He just couldn’t understand the feelings that his friend experienced … and neither had Tanner. Until he met Scarlett.