“Takes one to know one.”
Risa locked eyes with Beck, wanting to refute what he said, but knowing it was the God’s honest truth. She had more baggage than the Louis Vuitton factory.
Beck reached out and touched her hand, the squeeze taking a little bit of the tension out of the air. “He grew up in Elliott House, where being number one was the only expectation.”
“Poor little rich boy.”
“Stop being a bitch and listen to what I’m telling you.” Beck’s fingers tightened on her wrist as he stared her down, waiting to see if she was going to do it or not. His expression said he wasn’t going to put up with petty Teague-bashing. When she nodded, he continued in a gentler tone. “I know how you grew up because I was in the same situation until the Landons let me come live with them when I was sixteen. My father was a drunk and a criminal, and so was yours. You were in the system, too. I bet we could give each other a run for the money with the game of who had it worse. But it wasn’t easy for him either.”
Risa looked back over at Teague, watching as he leaned into the intimate circle he made with Jack and Lucky across the patio. Dressed in jeans and a muscle-hugging T-shirt, he looked every inch the decisive attorney in spite of the casual wear. She understood what he had to do in DC, and she also knew what he had to do here in Elliott. The weight of that responsibility rested easily on his shoulders. At least he made it look easy. She kept her eyes glued on him as Beck kept talking.
“As long as I’ve known him he’s had this plan and everything was measured against that goal. School, sports, profession, women, they all had to be something that would get him one step closer to the achievement of his goal. I didn’t think he had a spontaneous bone in his body until he married you.”
“I drugged him,” she murmured.
“Maybe that’s how it started.” Beck nudged her with his shoulder, and when she turned to face him, the grin was back. “But since that night? Teague’s been stone-cold sober and completely engaged. If you broke through the wall of the stupid plan, then I’m convinced it was epic.”
“It was just a night. A mistake that will soon be over.” She forced her expression to remain neutral even though her heart ached a little at the thought. Beck talked about her getting under Teague’s skin, but the opposite was true—her husband had burrowed under and touched her deeply. Until she went back to Vegas, it was her job to make sure it didn’t go deep enough to touch her heart.
“I don’t think it should.”
“You don’t think it should what?” She turned to look at him, his words not making any sense in her mind.
“Be over.” Beck laughed, shaking his head as if to dislodge the crazy thought. “I like how he is with you. You’re good for him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ll make it simple. Don’t go through with the annulment.”
Risa stared at him, words spinning around in her mind, and none of them actually forming anything remotely similar to a sentence. Beck wasn’t finished talking, so it didn’t matter that she wasn’t actually able to participate.
“Stay with him. Go to DC and keep him human.”
“Pod people,” she mumbled as she finally found her words. “They’re all pod people at that firm.”
“Exactly. You need to stop him from becoming a pod person.”
“He has his plan. It doesn’t include a showgirl wife who sells sex toys.”
Beck waved her off, resting his hand on top of her own. He was warm and she shivered, realizing that she was freezing in spite of the warmth of the fire. “That plan is going to ruin him. He’ll end up like his father and he’s a better man than that. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Elliott made sure I got to stay with the Landons. I will always be grateful for what he did, but it took him years to finally live his life and I don’t want that for Teague.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“I know you care about him.” Beck leaned in closer, his voice barely above a whisper. “And I see how you look at him.”
“I don’t—I think Olivia will step in as soon as I’m gone and she’s better for him anyway.”
“You think you don’t deserve it, happiness, love, whatever? That’s for the normal people who grew up in nice families, right?”
She nodded, relieved that he got it.
“We’re both fucked up. No big surprise. But he’s as screwed up as we are, only he doesn’t know it.”
“And you think I should stay with him? I think at least one person in a relationship shouldn’t need therapy.”
“All I know is that I think your damaged pieces might fit together well enough to make a whole.” Beck stood, pointing over to where Teague still sat with the other men. “I like who he is with you in his life.”
The weight of his words kept her in her chair, watching Teague across the patio as he spoke quietly with his friends. He rose from his chair, wrapping up his conversation, looking around the space until his gaze collided with hers. Even knowing it was coming, Risa sucked in a breath at the dark tumble of emotions playing across his handsome features—frustration, confusion, anger, longing. Just as quickly he shut them down, hiding their raw impact behind the cool assurance he wore like a mask, and stalked off toward the woods, disappearing into the shadows.
The time for silence was over.
She had to make this right, somehow.
…
He knew she was going to follow him.
Risa had the “I want to talk about everything” look on her face and he recognized the stubborn tilt to her chin that didn’t bode well for her leaving him the hell alone. Between the past two days of frosty marital relations and the sleepless nights worrying about Risa and figuring out what he was going to do about Big Tony, his gut told him he was unfit for company. He’d lost his fucking mind. It was that simple.
But as Teague stood on the pier over the lake, looking at the party still going on at the lake house, he could hear the tread of her sandals on the path as she made her way to him. The air shifted with her approach, the breeze carrying her citrus-spicy scent to him, and he soaked it in through his skin. It was the same smell of her still on his sheets, his pillow, his bed—making him hard and aching for her in spite of his anger.
He’d never been so confused, so unsure, in his entire life and he didn’t fucking like it. Not one little bit.
He heard Risa sit down behind him on the bench, waiting for him to say something.
“I am so damn angry with you,” he ground out. His voice was harsh and brittle to his own ears, but he did nothing to curb it into his usual polished tone. If she followed him out here then she was going to get it all.
“Join the club.” Her voice was low. A slight wobble at the end gave away her emotions. She was pissed and days had done nothing to lessen her ire.
“And what exactly are you pissed off about?”
“I’m practically being held prisoner here and you’re off making decisions that involve my future.”
He heard her shift on the bench, but he couldn’t make himself turn around and look at her. He’d never felt so out of control, and he didn’t know what he’d do if she wore the determined expression that boiled his blood with both fury and lust. He’d come so close to losing it the other day he was glad, in hindsight, that the guys were there to make sure neither of them did something they could never take back.
“I know I screwed up, but what gives you the right to shut me out?”
“You aren’t involved because I’m not sure if I can trust you.”
“You got the pictures. Now let me deal with my own life. I think I can handle it.”
“Really?” he asked. “Because you did so well before? Did you think borrowing money from the mob was handling it?”
“I was desperate. Pepper had used her one chance at the state-run rehab and she was going to die if I didn’t do something.” She reached out to him, her face half in shadow, but he could see the real pain there and it sl
iced through him, dampening his anger to a simmer. “If it had been Lucky, Beck, or Jack lying on the bathroom floor of some nasty house with vomit all over him and…and…he was the only one…”
Jesus. What kind of fucking world did you live in where Big Tony was the only option?
“And what were you going to do if you didn’t have the money?”
She broke eye contact, looking down at her lap before replying. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I thought I’d figure something out.”
“You thought you’d figure something out?” He advanced on her, looming over her from his full height, and he thought about easing up when she scooted back a little, but he didn’t. He was desperate to make her understand what was going on in his head and then maybe she could help him make sense of it. “I understand why you borrowed the money. I do. It wasn’t smart, but stealing that thumb drive? That was insanity.”
“I was trying to help you. Protect you. I was so sorry for what I’d done. I didn’t…”
Risa broke eye contact with him again, the belligerent expression on her face faltering for the first time. The anger in her expression crumbled away as fear and sadness took over. The tears on her cheeks sparkled like the glittery makeup and rhinestones she wore on stage, but these made her one hundred times more beautiful. He could handle the pissed. He ate the anger for breakfast, but this just about killed him. He reached out and pulled her close, dragging her onto his lap as he took her spot on the bench.
He wasn’t done being angry, but it was running neck-and-neck with the innate need to protect this woman who’d risked so much for him. He’d listened to Jack, and through the haze of the booze he’d understood the message, turning it over in his mind the last couple of days. In the end he’d concluded that his gut had been right when he’d first met her: he could trust Risa. She’d proven what she was really made of when she took back that thumb drive. She was equal parts brave and crazy. He admired her. He wanted to throttle her, but he wanted to keep her nearby and make sure she was safe. But the question still remained unanswered: what was he going to do about her?
The annulment and a calculated response to Big Tony about the futility of fucking with him would fix his work-related problems. When he was done, Big Tony wouldn’t even think about looking sideways at him. But Risa…she couldn’t go back to Las Vegas. Ever.
“What do you want to do?” he asked when her tears subsided. “You can’t go back.”
“No. I’m going to get Pepper when she gets out of rehab and disappear and start over.”
“Where?”
“I don’t have a clue.” She sighed, her arm extended as she waved in the general vicinity of Elliott. “Someplace like here would be nice.”
“Do you have any money? Someone you can stay with somewhere until you get on your feet?” When she shook her head where it rested against his chest he bit back the curse that hovered on the tip of his tongue. “Okay. I’ll make some phone calls tomorrow.”
Risa popped her head up and peered at him in the dim light. “What does that mean?”
“I’ve got connections who can make it possible for you and Pepper to disappear. Start over.” He pushed a curl back behind her ear, returning to her cheek to brush away the tears. “If that is what you want, I can make it happen.”
“You know people who can do that?”
He chuckled. “I know people.”
“Why would you do that for me?
“No matter how you started all this, you risked your life for me.” Teague cupped her chin with his hand so he could look at her face. “I’m grateful for it and I can fix this for you. As a thank-you.”
Risa stared him down. “Beck told me that playing the white knight is how you take care of the people in your life.”
“He called me a white knight?”
“Not exactly, but that was the general idea.”
“Well, it’s what I’m trained to do. It’s what I can offer people.” Teague shrugged and looked down, his fingers tracing a pattern on the tender skin of her wrist.
“You’ve got a lot more to offer.” He scoffed, and she reached to grab his chin, forcing him to look at her. He allowed the manhandling, his skin warm and tingling where she touched him. He’d missed being this close to her.
“You do. You’re a good man.” She leaned up to kiss him and he met her halfway. She pulled back too soon and he resisted the urge to chase her mouth with his own and continue the pleasure.
“I’ve got your number, Teague Elliott. Your suits are really custom-made armor in disguise.”
He rolled his eyes, ignoring her comment. “You could use a white knight in your life.”
“I’m used to taking care of myself.”
“I know.” Teague shifted her on his lap until her back rested against his chest and he could prop his chin in the sweet spot where her neck met her shoulder. He watched the ripples on the water in the moonlight, thinking of what he knew of her life and how she’d been virtually alone for most of it. He couldn’t shake the outrage at just how wrong that was. “You deserve to have someone take care of you once in a while.”
Risa stiffened at his words, her back rigid and tight. “That kind of thinking is for princesses who grew up in castles, not for girls who’d gone from one crappy foster home to another.”
“You don’t think you deserve that?
“You learn not to want stuff like that when…” She cleared her throat, unable to explain her life to someone with his background. “You just don’t.”
She impressed him so much with her resilience and fire that he forgot the pain she still carried around with her—until she said something like this and reminded him that scars only covered up a cut that ran deep and long.
“Well, I think you deserve it,” he whispered against the warm skin of her neck, and pulled her closer.
Maybe she’d find someone to give her that life when she was able to start over. A nice guy in a place like Elliott, just like she wanted.
In a different world he might have been that guy.
And the wish that it was a different world didn’t scare him as much as he thought it would.
Chapter Sixteen
“Congratulations, Teague. You’re officially the youngest partner in the history of Harrison & Duff,” Leland said.
Teague adjusted the telephone against his ear and barely resisted the urge to jump up and fist-pump in the air. He played it cool, but his chest stretched with pride and excitement—and relief. It was no joke that he’d been holding his breath the last few weeks waiting for the ugly shoe to drop.
He’d done it. This was the first step to everything he’d dreamed of, worked for. This was the payoff. The jackpot.
He couldn’t wait to tell Risa.
“Prepare to get your ass up here for a big party at my house. Evelyn loves you and she’s determined that we’ll host your celebration dinner, no argument.”
“Thank Evelyn for me,” Teague said. He owed a lot to this man and his wife. “Thank you, Leland. For everything.”
“You have what it takes to go far, Teague. I might have what it takes to be a kingmaker, but I didn’t have the chops to do the actual job. You’ve got it. Don’t fuck it up.”
Teague laughed, trying not to let Leland’s flattery go to his head. His boss was a fickle friend and he’d be in his camp as long as Teague didn’t do something to derail his career trajectory. But Leland could also be a bitter opponent when you let him down and the cold side of his attention was a place where others had languished and died before.
Right now there was only one thing that could mess this up—Risa—and common sense told him to get Leland on his side sooner rather than later. Asking for his help would do two things: one, it would massage Leland’s ego; and two, it would make sure Risa could stay.
And he wanted her to stay.
Teague recognized that the dynamic between them had shifted over the last couple of weeks. First strangers and then intimate strangers and then friends
with benefits. They weren’t one of the married couples that everyone talked about—partners and confidants—but he had a feeling they could be. She fit him. She got him, and so far she’d accepted his ambition and what he needed to do to get there.
Risa was the perfect woman for the job of being his wife.
She was a fighter, strong, and realistic.
She didn’t fit his life, but she fit him. The rest could be worked out.
“Leland, I need your help.”
“I suspect you do. Let me guess. Risa.”
“Yes.” Teague didn’t know if he was relieved or irritated that Leland knew.
“I knew something was up when you showed up with a woman we’d never heard of before. That isn’t like you.”
“It was a sudden development.”
“Again, that isn’t you. And one conversation with her and you know she isn’t exactly blessed with the perfect background. She’s a scrapper because she’s had to be, but there are edges we need to smooth over before she can stay.”
“You’re right.” Teague took a deep breath, knowing his next words would commit him to a path. If he asked for this, he was all in—with the firm and with Risa. No going back. “I want her to stay. I need your help to make that happen.”
“Well, the first thing is to stop the annulment.”
Teague bit back his gasp of surprise. Of course they knew. He’d been crazy to think otherwise.
“You knew,” he said.
“Of course we did, and once we knew you’d arranged to have it expunged as well, we let you go with it.” Leland laughed. “I admired your attitude. Taking it on yourself. You wasted a favor, but that’s part of learning the game.”
“Thanks.”
“From now on that stops. We need to know what’s going on. No more lone wolf bullshit.”
“Sure.” Teague knew it sounded lame, but he was a little shell-shocked. He didn’t know whether to be angry with himself for being so naive or pissed that the Big Brother firm was all over his business. Now was not the time to voice any righteous indignation.
“We’ll stop the annulment. We’ve done a full background check on Risa and we’ll put together a plan to fix the problem areas. I don’t think we can give her a Kennedy background, but the homeless/foster care angle will help you with that demographic. This is still America and the rise-from-the-ashes crap plays like gold on the news networks.”
Sweet Southern Betrayal Page 14