by Aliyah Burke
“I didn’t blow her off.”
Tara snapped upright, hands landing on the desk with a loud slap. “Bullshit. You could have told her you were leaving the country well before you did, not calling once you were there. That’s blowing her off and not truly pertinent to this discussion. I’m talking to you, and if you’re smart, you will be listening.”
Grant ground his jaw but remained silent. He held up his hands then gestured for her to continue.
“She’s down in Orlando.”
“For?”
“Does it matter?” Condemnation lined her tone.
“No, it doesn’t.”
Tara picked up a sheet of paper and wrote something down then slid it over the desk to him. “I hear you hurt her again and I swear I will make you pay.”
“An assistant district attorney making idle threats?”
Her eyebrow jacked up and she began to rise and nail him to the seat with nothing more than a glare. “Trust me, this is no idle threat. Yes, I’m an ADA but first and foremost, I’m a sister and I hate the fact you’ve hurt my sister.”
“Everything okay here, Ms. Monroe?”
Grant turned even though she didn’t move from her position.
“We’re fine, Marcus,” she replied. “He was just leaving.”
Snapping up the paper, he didn’t even bother looking at it, just got to his feet and shoved it into his pocket. “Thank you.”
“Thank me by doing the right thing. Leave her alone after you say whatever you have to get off your chest. Let her get on with her life.” She dropped her gaze to the papers in front of her, making it very clear that he was no longer wanted in the office.
The door closed behind them and she sighed with frustration. Reaching for the phone, she debated calling Eva to give her a heads-up on what she’d just done.
If I do that, she’ll find a way to hide from him and she needs to resolve her issues before she can allow herself to move on with her life. Tara snorted.
“Because I’m a fine one to tell anyone about facing your past to allow yourself to move on with the future.” She scrubbed a hand down her face. “I’m such a fraud.”
Phone in hand, she punched a familiar number.
“What’s wrong?” Shai asked, answering on the first ring.
“Harrison was just here in my office.”
“Fuck,” she snapped. “What happened? Did you throw him in jail?”
She smiled and chuckled. “I thought about it, but no, I didn’t. I gave him Eva’s information on where she is in Orlando.”
Shai didn’t say a word and Tara rolled her lower lip in her teeth as she waited.
“Probably for the best.” Shai’s comment came after a moment’s pause. “She still loves him.”
Tara couldn’t explain the relief that filled her at her sister’s support. “Thank God you feel that way too. I mean, I made him sweat a bit, but I did give it to him and I’m not calling her.”
“Good. She’d just find a way to disappear.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” She rubbed her neck. “Thank you, Shai. I mean, I love her and she’s our sister, but she has to face him, face her past. She can’t keep running from him.”
“I’m glad you think you shouldn’t be running from your past.”
All the air sucked from her body in the space of time it took that sentence to register in her head.
“Shit,” she whispered.
“Tara? You okay?” Shai’s question rang in her ear.
She looked at the man who’d just entered her office as if he had the right to be there. A dark gray suit that had been tailored just for him. His close-cropped beard didn’t even have a hair out of place. It never did. This man didn’t know how to be messy or anything less than one hundred percent together.
His lapis-blue eyes locked on her and her hand trembled, actually trembled, as she tried not to drop the phone.
“Tara Lynne, talk to me or I’m calling the cops.”
“Hang up the phone, Tara.” He tugged once on the cuff of his suit coat.
“I’m fine, Shai. I have to go, there’s someone in my office.”
“Who? Who’s there?”
“My husband.”
She put the phone back on the cradle. Licking her lips, she allowed her gaze to run over him once more. Damn, he’s just as fine as the day I up and left him.
“What the hell are you doing back here in my life, Coleman?”
Baron Andrew Coleman stared at his little spitfire of a wife. Five years and not a goddamn word from her. She had never once reached out to him for money, for help, or even to ask for a divorce. Not that it would have mattered—he wasn’t going to divorce her. She was his wife and it was time for her to act like it.
“That’s not exactly the proper greeting for husband and wife.” He moved closer, taking in the woman before him sitting at the large desk, papers all over it. Skimming his gaze over the name plaque there—‘Tara Monroe, Assistant District Attorney’. It matched the ‘ADA’ on the door.
It gnawed at him she wasn’t using his name, but that was a fight for him to address later. He reached out and touched her pink bangs. She didn’t move, neither closer nor back to him. She just watched.
“This is new.”
Her expression cooled and grew calculating. The phone beside her rang and she picked it up.
“I’m fine, Shai. I’ll explain everything later tonight. Yes, I’ll come over as soon as I get him out of my office. I promise.”
Tara never looked away from him the entire time she spoke to Shai. One of her sisters, if he remembered correct. Who am I kidding? I know everything about her. And he did. When she’d left him, he had taken great pains to find out everything he could about her and her family, just in case she needed him.
Pulling out one of the chairs, he looked at it before lowering himself to the leather. She narrowed her eyes at him as she hung up the phone.
“I hardly see how my hair color is of any relevance. What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to bring my wife home.”
He stared at her, hoping for some kind of expression, but was disappointed that there wasn’t even a flare of heat.
If anything, her gaze grew colder. “I’m not going anywhere with you. However, you are more than welcome to head out this door and never come back.”
Hell, just being back in her presence fueled his blood. He’d missed her every second they’d been apart. I was an idiot to let this go on so long.
“Do you really think I am going to let you continue to ignore the fact we are married?”
She shrugged as if she didn’t give a damn one way or the other.
“You are a Baroness and should be living with your husband.”
Her left eye twitched. A sign he’d learned meant she was struggling to remain in control of her temper. On a personal level, he loved when she lost it. Tara Coleman was a wildcat and he loved being at the receiving end of her fire. Especially when it pertained to time in the bedroom. Or wherever he had the privilege of being sunk all the way within her heat.
“That title came as a repercussion of the marriage vows. It will be attached to me whether or not we are living in the same place. As I stated when we first started this asinine argument of how you want me at home all the time to be ready to fuck you whenever you decide, that’s not my life. It won’t be my life and you’re wasting both our time if you think for one moment that I’ve changed my mind about that. So, I’m happy to divorce you and relieve myself of that title, or you can turn your ass around, head back to Switzerland or wherever you’re living at now and leave me the fuck alone to continue what I love doing. Being with family and my job.”
“There won’t be any divorce and you’ll come home.”
There. He stated it with complete calm.
“Just because you have a title doesn’t mean you get to ignore what you don’t want to hear. Marriage doesn’t mean I obey blindly. It’s called the twenty-first century and
women are allowed to say no to men, even their husbands, regardless of how some may feel.”
Frustration welled up within him. This wasn’t supposed to take any time. She was supposed to agree and they would be back on his plane. Andrew stroked his chin and rested one foot on his knee.
“You don’t need to work, I am more than capable of taking care of you and providing anything you want. However, I grow tired of having to jack off every night because you are not there with me. You are my wife, Tara, and you should be at your husband’s side.”
“I happen to like working. I love my job and I’m not giving it up for you. Definitely not because you are tired of jacking off. I don’t give a damn. Do it, don’t do it, makes no difference to me.” She slammed the file on her desk closed and pushed to her feet. “Or pay someone to do it. Again, I don’t care.”
He rose out of manners without thought. Andrew followed her gaze to her jacket and was there to help her put it on. He let her comment go, hearing the edge in her words when she said to allow another’s touch on him. That wouldn’t be happening, because he couldn’t stomach the thought, and he knew damn sure that, were the situations reversed, he would kill another man for touching her.
“Thank you,” she whispered as he released the woolen material to settle upon her shoulders.
His eyelids drifted closed as her soft scent wafted to his nose. Cherry blossom and a hint of white sandalwood. The only reason he knew it was because he’d had it made up for her specially when they had been on their honeymoon. When they’d gotten back, he’d given her all the information to get more if she wanted—since he smelled it now, he knew she had. And like it had then, now, it stirred his groin.
He followed her out of the door and waited as she shut it then double-checked the lock.
“We need to talk about this, Tara.”
“We don’t, actually. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do and people to see.” She skimmed him with her gaze and at last he found some heat in her expression. However quick it was, he saw it. “It was good to see you.”
She headed off down the hall, her heels clicking with each confident stride. Andrew stood there and watched, again, as his wife walked away from him, determined to keep him out of her life.
Not happening again, Tara.
A man walked into view at the end of the hall and she stopped to talk to him. Jealousy churned in his gut when she tipped back her head and laughed. He lengthened his stride and made it to her in time to hear her conversation with the guard.
“This man will need to be escorted out, Marcus. I’m leaving and I’m pretty sure he’s not here to see anyone else.”
“Yes, Ms. Monroe. I will see you tomorrow—have a good night.”
She reached out and squeezed his arm. “I will, heading off to spend some time with my sister. Give my best to your wife.”
Tara didn’t even allow him the satisfaction of another glance, just walked off down the hall. When he made to follow her, the guard named Marcus got in his way and gestured to the elevator.
He angled back in time to see her vanish around the corner. The guard cleared his throat and used his head to encourage Andrew to get into the waiting car.
She was in for a huge surprise if she thought this was over.
Chapter Two
Tara rode in silence to her sister’s house. Her insides were a complete disaster and if she’d had any heartburn medicine, she would’ve ingested the entire bottle. Probably gone to look for a second after that.
How dare he? After all these years, how dare he come back and disrupt the life I’ve made for myself?
With a few shuddering breaths, she flexed her fingers upon the steering wheel and did her best to calm down. It would do her no good to be worked up when she faced Shai. She was in for some tough questioning.
And she deserved it. No doubt in her mind.
Pulling off the interstate that had taken her to the other side of town, she slowed on the side streets into her sister’s neighborhood. Shai lived in a quiet place and was the only one of the sisters who’d made the leap to purchase a house. She and Eva had lived in apartments, but Shai wanted a place to call her own.
Turning into the drive, she then parked in front of the garage door and killed the lights. Another couple of deep breaths before she was able to turn the key, swipe her bag and climb out.
The outside light was on seconds after she shut her driver’s door. Her sister appeared on the porch, long fingers curved around a cup of what she was damn near positive was coffee. The enormity of the situation weighed on her, even heavier now. Each step she took toward her sister increased the pressure tenfold upon her chest.
“Coffee’s ready. And the dessert is set out, although I suspect you haven’t had any real food all day so I also have a salad for you.”
That was it. That was Shai’s way of saying she had a little bit longer before she had to come clean on everything that she hadn’t said over the phone. Tara was pretty sure this was because Eva wasn’t here to join in the tag team.
Once inside Shai’s three-bedroom rambler, she put her briefcase down on the chair by the door, shrugged out of her coat and turned to give her sister a hug before she hung it up.
“Thank you for letting me eat first.”
Shai didn’t say anything, just stared at her and arched a finely plucked eyebrow. Then she sipped some coffee and walked to the kitchen, where she sat down beside the place setting with the salad and a glass of wine.
Tara went straight for the wine, drank it all quick, and set the glass down with a sheepish grin. Light jazz played in the background. Her stomach growled and she dug into the grilled shrimp salad.
Her sister waited, by all appearances unconcerned with anything else, but allowing her the time to eat.
With this kind of patience, she would’ve made one hell of an attorney. She would just wait everybody else out.
There was no more wine offered through the meal. However, as she finished her last bite of salad, a fresh cup of coffee was set before her. And she knew it was fixed the way she enjoyed it. Strong and sweet.
Curving her hands around the porcelain that depicted symbols of algebraic equations she couldn’t ever begin to understand, she allowed the heat to sink into her. Fixating on the cookies that had somehow appeared between her and Shai, she took a deep breath and lifted her gaze to focus on her sister’s dark brown eyes.
The dark violet streak in her hair gave her an edgy look that suited her so well.
“So I’m married.”
“If that was your attempt at a humorous opening it fell short.”
For a second she wished Eva was there. Her oldest sister would’ve laughed, finding it amusing, but Shai had a very dry sense of humor and in actuality didn’t laugh all that much. There were times when it was just the three of them that she would let her guard down and show off the side that the world typically did not get to see. It was kind of unique considering she had a streak of color throughout her hair while she taught at the university.
“I know. And I know I owe you, Eva—hell, Mom and Dad for sure—an apology for not telling you this.”
“What is it about him that made you not share him with us? Why didn’t you want us to be with you on that day? I would’ve thought your wedding day was one of the most important days in the world.”
Shame ripped apart her gut. It wasn’t as if Shai was intentionally making her feel like she was shit at the bottom of her shoe, because her sister would never do that. However, very calm, controlled statements only showed her how upsetting this truly was to her sibling.
“It’s not like I am embarrassed by him, or by what we did. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision.” She shrugged, unsure of the words to make her sister understand. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“How long have you been married to him?”
“A little over five years.”
Shai narrowed her gaze and Tara could see the wheels whipping at lightning speed
in her head as she calculated the dates and time.
“When you took your trip to celebrate becoming the assistant district attorney.”
Reaching for a cookie, Tara nodded. That was exactly what had happened. She bit into the soft, buttery chocolate chip goodness and purred. If Shai weren’t her sister, and if she was into women, Tara would keep this woman locked up all day to cook and bake.
“Precisely.”
“If I remember correctly you went to Thailand. So, who is he, what does he do now, and as is apparent by your earlier statement that he’s here, when the fuck do I get to meet him?”
“His name is Andrew Coleman. Last I knew he was living in Switzerland. To be honest he doesn’t do all that much that I’m aware of. He’s a baron.”
Shai paused in the process of eating a cookie, eyes growing wide as she stared at her sister.
“I’m sorry. Did you just casually put out there that you married a baron?”
Tara twiddled her thumbs and nodded. “I did. It’s not like that’s why married him.”
Shai’s gaze twinkled and she waggled her eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure I know why you married him.”
Tara choked and waved off any assistance. When she finally got herself back under control she drank some more coffee and put one foot up on the chair to rest her knee against her chin.
“That had a lot to do with it, I won’t lie. But it wasn’t all. There was something about him when we were together.” She shoved a hand through her hair and sighed with the weight of the world on her shoulders. “Just felt right being with him.”
“Then why not stay with him? Why pretend it doesn’t exist for five years, shut him out of your life and not bring him into ours?”
“He wanted me to go home with him, to Switzerland. I did and that’s what extended my stay a little bit. I just didn’t tell you I was no longer in Thailand. When we got there he was…different.”
Shai leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. Sharp, intelligent eyes focused on her face.
“Different how?”
Tara understood what her sister was asking and right away shook her head. “Not as in I was afraid that he would keep me and I wouldn’t be able to come home ever again. That wasn’t it, not at all. It was…different. Not quite sure how to explain it. Almost like a guy I met and fell in love with in Thailand wore a suit, and when we got back to Switzerland the suit was exchanged and put on someone else’s body.”