Gio, oblivious, turns his grin back to me, raising an expectant eyebrow.
I waggle my hand. “Not horrible.”
With a laugh, he hits the side of the truck and turns back to his conversation with the other trainees.
As soon as Gio’s attention is elsewhere, I drop against the window, wondering why Rowan always pulls back. Every now and again, I can see it in his eyes. The curiosity, him wondering what it would be like to have me. The lust is gone as rapidly as it came, replaced with anguish, like he feels bad for considering.
Maybe it’s purely physical attraction, and that’s why he won’t budge.
I glance toward the building, expecting to find Rowan walking back this way, but instead, I find a tall, guarded, and gloomy Alec Daniels.
I take a deep breath as my eyes take him in.
I can’t say for sure he’s looking this way, but something tells me he is, and my chilled body grows warm.
With his black hood pulled low over his eyes, head tilted and shoulder resting against the brick wall, his presence screams danger. And dangerous he just might be—for me anyway because, over the last few weeks of having him in my home, I’ve seen more than I ever knew existed.
Alec has a gentle, playful side he hides. At first, it appeared out of character for him, him doing simple things like heating my sweaters alongside his before we left for work in the cool mornings. Or how he would pour a cup of coffee for me when he poured his. He never says a word when he does these little things, and I find myself looking forward to the gestures.
He’s still grouchy and overly bossy, but I’ve decided it’s in his nature to be direct. I don’t think he could sugarcoat if he tried, even the stuff he should. He’s allowing me to see a bit more into who he is, things I’ve missed over the years.
My eyes shift right when the door behind him opens, and Rowan comes out, walking right past Alec—neither brother acknowledging the other—and straight for me.
Rowan steps up to the bed of the truck and reaches for me.
With a small smile, I stand and make my way to him.
When his hands meet my hips and mine land on his shoulders, I glance at the man in the doorway, who now stands to his full height.
I knew he was watching.
Rowan spins, so when he sets me down, my back is to Alec. He lowers his forehead to mine, whispering, “Don’t give up on me, Oakley.” The back of his middle finger skims down my cheek. “I’m trying.”
At his words, I could cry.
Because, when it comes to Rowan, I don’t have to try. It’s natural; it always has been.
I’m learning it truly is like he said. He’s … trying.
Trying to fall.
Wanting to feel.
And I can only watch and wait.
Hope.
But none of that matters—his wants, my hopes—because the fact will remain …
I can’t make him love me if he doesn’t.
I muster a smile for his sake. “I know, Row. I know.”
With that, we head for the building, but this time, when my eyes sneak left to the spot against the brick wall, no one’s there.
“Are you done now?”
With a sigh, I drop back into my chair. “No, Alec, I am not done. I wasn’t done five minutes ago when you asked or the ten minutes before that. I have a solid hour of work left.”
He frowns at me. “It’s seven forty-five.”
“I’m aware.”
“It’s time to fucking go.”
“Then, go.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
“So, I’ll call Rowan and ask—”
Alec’s hand slams down on my desk. “The fuck you will.”
I gape at him. “What is your issue?”
“You. Him. All of it,” he seethes.
“What does that even mean?”
“I am here to handle anything and everything related to you. Get that through your fucking head.”
Yep. Psychopath.
I stare at him, and for a moment, he stares back, but when a pinch of the hardness disappears from those dark green eyes, he jerks away, storming into his office.
When his door slams, I look over at my desk and the pile of crap I’d be coming into tomorrow if I left it all like this.
But Alec has been my shadow for a few weeks now, and I’ve yet to bend to make his life more enjoyable. He’s stuck here with me all day, stuck watching me all night, and stuck eating nothing but delivery food or frozen shit in my freezer because I refuse to stop with him on the way home. His stubborn self won’t go without me.
With a deep sigh, I stand, wiping my hands against my jeans as I approach his office.
“I said, stop fucking calling me, Marissa,” Alec hisses into his phone before tossing it onto his desk.
So, it is a female who blows up his phone all day. I wonder who this Marissa is.
He runs his hands through his brown hair, spotting me as he sits back. “What?”
“We can go.”
His eyes narrow. “And your work?”
“It’ll be there tomorrow.”
He blinks and then stands. “Fine. Whatever.” Yanking his jacket off his chair, he stalks past me.
“I need to go by the store on the way home.”
“No. It can wait until tomorrow.”
“I’m going to the damn store, Alec. With or without you.”
I start for the door, but Alec is quick to grab on to my arm, half-spinning me toward him.
He gets in my face. “You think after the break-in, I’d let you out of my sight, Oakley? ’Cause I won’t. Someone was in your fucking house, within reach of you, and I wasn’t there. That won’t happen again.”
The hand holding on to my arm starts to tighten as his body shakes slightly, rage running through him at the thought of what could have happened that night.
When I try to catch his eyes with mine, he cuts his gaze away, but his hand remains.
“Alec,” I whisper, and reluctantly, his look comes back to me. “That wasn’t your fault. You thought I was safe there with Rowan. You—”
Alec drops my arm, a deep scoff leaving him as he opens the door. “Don’t be a damn fool, Oakley.” He glances my way, doing a double take when he sees the question in my eyes. He gets in my space again. “You were right, and you know it. I left because had I stayed and heard him fucking you, heard you moaning for him, I’d have snapped his neck right then and there.”
I gasp. “No, you wouldn’t have.”
“In a fucking heartbeat.”
“He’s your brother!”
“Nothing will get in my way,” he growls.
My breath lodges in my throat. “Get in the way of what?”
“I told you to get ready.” Dark green eyes pierce mine, and my heart starts hammering against my chest. “I wasn’t playing. I’ve waited years for this. My patience is shot.”
My body stirs, fear and undeniable curiosity roaring through me.
I just can’t tell which is stronger.
Chapter Eleven
Oakley
I can’t help but laugh at the stress-induced wrinkles covering Alec’s forehead as he downs a full bottle of water in two giant gulps. Apparently, everyone at Walmart after dark is “shady as fuck.” He about had a panic attack.
He glares at me, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “What?”
“Nothing.” I pinch my lips to the side, doing my best to keep from smiling.
“Fucking talk, Oakley.”
When I continue rinsing the vegetables, he slams a hand down beside me, making me jump.
I glance over my shoulder, my glare matching his. “Do you have no chill mode?”
“Where you’re concerned? No, I don’t.”
“Whatever. You need to work on your people skills,” I tell him, grabbing a knife to slice the peppers.
He steals it from my hand before I noticed him coming. “My people skills are fine.”
Wh
en he turns and starts chopping like a pro, my brows lift, but I don’t draw attention to it.
“For real though, you teach the importance of body language and communication. Surely, you must know how to dial back some. You’ve gotta learn how to balance the Wolverine/Logan thing.”
He scoffs through a chuckle. “Logan and Wolverine are the same person, princess. Try again.”
My skin warms at the endearment. This isn’t the first time he’s called me that, but his voice was tame, almost entertained, so the ease in which it rolled from his lips came across different, almost as if he was intrigued.
“I’m aware, but it’s the closest I could come in comparison to you.”
“This I gotta hear …” He steps beside me, checking the oil I poured in the bottom of the wok before tossing the bell peppers inside.
“Okay, well … Logan is intense and commanding, but he’s capable of compromise and even civilized conversation from time to time, whereas Wolverine is wild and unpredictable, untamable. A ticking time bomb with no count.” I think about Alec and the mystery I’ve never cared to solve but recently found the desire to know. “No one knows how he works or why he’s the way he is.”
My legs stiffen when a warm knuckle slides beneath my chin, and Alec brings my gaze up to meet his.
“Predictability means an easy target. Compromise leaves room for infiltration. And the only way to find out how something works is to study it. You’ve gotta pay close attention. You’ve never been real good at that, have you?”
I take a deep breath, my eyes shifting between his.
His point is accurate but also unfair. He chooses to act the way he does when he could be different with me, gentler. That’s on him.
“I pay attention,” I tell him.
One dark brow rises. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “There just isn’t much I want to remember.”
He watches me for a moment before dropping his hand and exiting the kitchen.
In a state of irritated confusion, I finish our fajitas, deciding my slamming cupboards and dishes around is enough notification that it’s time to eat.
Alec comes out of his room with his face in his phone. “Real subtle, Oakley.”
“Well, I don’t have a dinner bell, so …”
He pauses for a moment but decides not to acknowledge my reference to when we were kids.
His mom wanted so badly to have that Little House on the Prairie type of lifestyle where the kids came in for supper at the ring of the cow’s bell. They’d all sit around and talk about their day before a nice family game was played, and then they’d go to bed with full stomachs and happy hearts.
Their home was nothing like that.
With a dad who rarely came home and a mother who suffered from depression, the Daniels boys really only had each other. Until, one day, they didn’t even have that.
I never understood why, all of a sudden, Rowan and Alec couldn’t get along. It wasn’t so bad at first; it was more the two-year age difference that made them argue. As we got older, they became more hateful, distant with each other. Anytime I’d ask Rowan about it, he’d only say that Alec was bad news, to stay away from him.
I never had to decide whether or not to listen because Alec always made the choice for me.
“Man, you were such a jerk to me, growing up.”
He freezes, his head swinging in my direction, and I’d swear, the quick exhale and dip of his brow mean he’s remorseful.
He’s quiet after that, so I say nothing, opting for a movie on the couch once I’m finished eating.
It takes a good fifteen minutes, but Alec finally convinces himself to join me. And, the second he does, I lose focus on the movie but continue to stare at the TV anyway.
He’s intriguing. I know nothing about this man. Why he left, where he was, or why he came back.
“Oakley”—his voice is low but commanding—“look at me.”
With my body still facing forward, I sling only my eyes his way. Dark green eyes anchor mine, forcing my gaze to remain on his.
“None of it happened the way I wanted,” he admits, regret seeping from his tone. Anger hardens his features.
I shift on the cushion, my body now facing his, and I whisper my dare, hoping to learn but scared just the same. “Tell me, what exactly did you want?”
His gaze quickly drops to my lips. “I wanted to be the one who you approached first, the one you knocked on the door, looking for, the one you saw.”
“And, when that didn’t happen, your backup plan was to push me away?”
He shakes his head, dropping his eyes to the floor before bringing them back to mine. “I’d go back in time if I could.”
I probably shouldn’t, but I ask anyway, “And, if you did, what would you change?”
He stares at me, those eyes soft as silk, revealing the first sign of sadness I’ve ever seen from him. “Everything.”
His unexpected confession causes pressure to build in my chest. I search for a deep breath, unable to find it as I stare at the man in front of me.
“Alec …” My voice is low, pleading for something I’m not aware of.
He shifts beside me, and right as he does, the front lock starts to jiggle.
My eyes widen, and I jump closer to Alec, grabbing ahold of his leg. He protectively wraps an arm around me, lifting his free hand to his lips, telling me to keep quiet.
The lock jiggles again, more aggressively this time, and Alec starts to rise from the couch. When I attempt to stand with him, he narrows his eyes, as if to keep me there. I shake my head, holding on to him, and he drops back beside me.
He lays his forehead against mine, whispering, “Let me protect you, princess. Stay here and keep quiet.”
I grab his hands that rest on my cheeks, squeezing my eyes shut as I nod.
“If—” he starts to whisper as he pulls away but stops short when we hear, “Open the fucking door, Oakley!”
Every muscle in Alec’s body tightens, and my eyes fly open.
When the pounding starts again, I clear my throat and stand slowly. I avoid Alec’s gaze and move to step around him.
“Always in the fucking way,” he growls once I’ve passed.
With an uneasy feeling stirring inside me, I open the door for Rowan.
He storms in before I have a chance to say anything, laughing harshly when he finds Alec standing in the living room, our empty cups on the coffee table and my blanket on the couch.
Rowan swings his angry gaze to me. “If you wanted your key back, all you had to do was ask. Didn’t need to go through the trouble of changing the locks.”
“I didn’t—” I stop short, turning to Alec. “You really changed the locks?”
“Yes.”
Rowan scoffs. “Un-fucking-believable. Getting real comfortable at my girl’s house, are you, Alec?”
Alec takes an instant step toward him, but I’m quick to move between them.
I glare at Alec, who glares back. Gone is the gloss that brought out the gold in his dark green eyes. I spin to Rowan.
He frowns at Alec over my shoulder before giving me a tense smile. “Come on, Oak. Let’s go to your room. More privacy.”
Before I can respond, Rowan disappears down the hall.
But I’m rooted in place, unable to move. Something tells me, once I do, Alec will, too, stopping me with his rough grip before I make it half a step away.
It’s an irrational thought, but it’s as if possessiveness is percolating from every inch of his body and casing around mine, pulling me backward. Back to him, into him.
“Make your move, Oakley,” he tells me, completely monotone, giving me nothing as far as deciphering his feelings goes.
Weighted with confusion and no understanding of my own indecisions, I walk away from Alec, joining Rowan in my room.
When I enter, Rowan stops pacing and looks to me. “I hate him being here.”
“Really?” I raise an eyebrow. “I couldn’t tell.”
“It’s not right, Oakley. He shouldn’t be here.” He picks up my phone from the nightstand, shaking it at me. “I called you. Four times.” He glares. “When you didn’t pick up or call back—completely out of character for you—I had to come over here. I fucking knew he’d be—” He cuts himself off, swallowing as he looks away.
But, now, I have questions of my own.
I slowly drop onto my bed, eyeing Rowan. “He’d … what, Rowan?”
“Nothing. He’s getting too comfortable here, Oakley. It’s … tell him to go. I’ll come stay.”
My brows jump. “You want to come stay? Rowan, you don’t even like staying here.”
“That’s not the point.”
A humorless laugh leaves me. “Yes, it is. Someone was in my house, Rowan. I don’t want to be here alone. Yeah, Alec wouldn’t have been my first choice”—my brows lift—“not even my last at the time, but at least I know he’ll still be here when I wake up.”
Rowan’s brows pinch, his upper lip curling. “He left you here alone the night someone was here!”
“He thought I was with you! He never would have left if he’d known you were going to pull your late-night disappearing act on me!”
He scowls at me and goes to speak but shakes his head instead.
He licks his lips, still staring out the window. “You said, ‘at the time,’ he wouldn’t have been your last choice. How ’bout now, Oaks?” Tortured honey eyes meet mine. “Where’s he fall in your lineup a whole three weeks later?”
“I …” I look to my hands, picking at the green polish.
Do I know the answer to that question?
I’m not even sure I realized I’d said it.
Would Alec still be my last choice?
No.
Would he be my first?
I lift my eyes to Rowan. “I know he and I have had issues, but I … trust he’ll do the right thing. I can’t explain it, Row, but I feel safe with him here. Yeah, it’s different, and there’s little to no privacy, but we’re both at work the majority of the time, so it’s not so bad.”
“Yeah, you work at the same place during the same times. You’re with each other twenty-four/fucking-seven.”
“What’s your problem, Rowan?” I narrow my eyes. “I get you two don’t get along like brothers should, and yeah, you were around when Alec picked on me as kids, but we’re adults now. Can’t we move past that?”
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