Beneath These Lies (24 page)

Hennessy would be fucking waiting with open arms if I did it. Might be better for her, but I wasn’t about to give her up. No one’s future was final. I had plenty of power, and just maybe I could find a way to have it all. I liked that idea. Having it all.

As I made my way through the darkened yards of the Garden District to get into Valentina’s the back way, I moved slower than normal because of the pain in my side. Didn’t want to tear the good doctor’s stitches out. Maybe the first thing on my list of having it all would be a key to her place.

As I slipped through her back gate and up to the door I used routinely to break in, I laughed to myself. A guy like me didn’t need a key because you couldn’t keep me out anyway. I also needed to upgrade Valentina’s security system. It wasn’t much of a challenge anymore.

Making my way quietly through the house because I knew Trinity was sleeping somewhere, I headed for the stairs.

The girl’s voice stopped me. “Did you get an update on Derrick?”

Trinity had asked me more than once. All three times I’d forced the FNDs to let me talk to her to assure her safety, and then again after shit had gone down and we’d gotten out of there. I wasn’t the only one to catch a bullet, but my guy’s wounds had been superficial compared to the FNDs. We’d left two bodies behind when shit had gone south. Trinity didn’t know that either. She’d been a good kid and run when I’d told her to run.

But D-Rock.
Fuck.
I’d kept telling her he was recovering from the car wreck, which was true, but he was also recovering five states away and had been banned from coming back to NOLA because he’d pissed me the fuck off. She didn’t need him screwing up her life again. Because of the respect I had for Valentina, I’d keep D-Rock as far away from the girl as I possibly could.

“Not tonight.”

Her face fell.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed, girl?”

Shuffling her feet, she shrugged. “Yeah, but I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Okay. Talk.” My patience was running thin after the clusterfuck of a night, especially now that I was only steps away from Valentina’s bed.

“You’re going to tell her what happened, right? Because I didn’t tell her anything.”

Well, that was good at least.

“I’ll tell her.”

The girl finally met my eyes, and concern lined her face. “She’s good people. Please make sure you know what you’re doing with her. I don’t want to see her get hurt. She doesn’t know that I know, but she’s been through some tough stuff. She deserves her happily-ever-after.”

Getting warned off from another source wasn’t doing anything to improve my mood. But these two shared a bond that I didn’t quite understand, so I wasn’t going to question it.

“You’ve got my word.”

Trinity’s face lit up. “You’re going to make sure she gets that happily-ever-after, right? She needs it. She won’t ever admit it, but she wants to get married and have babies, and I know she’ll be the best mom ever.”

I held up a hand. “Whoa. Slow down, girl. One step at a time.”

Trinity’s smile didn’t fade. “You might not realize it, Rix, but you’re a knight, whether your armor is shiny or not. You saved me, and I know you’ll protect her. Sometimes the dragon is a better choice for the princess than a prince.”

Now the girl was talking in so many mixed fairy-tale metaphors, I didn’t even know how to respond.

“Go to bed, kid. Get back to your life, and keep an eye on Valentina when I can’t.”

“Done.”

She gave me another brilliant smile and spun before heading down the hallway toward the guest room.

I wanted nothing more than to go climb in bed with Valentina upstairs, but the studio drew me in. It was like a window into her thoughts and feelings, and one I knew I was never supposed to see.

The piece on the easel wasn’t finished, but seeing it rocked me all the same.

This one wasn’t of a person, it was two partial people, walking down a tree-lined path, holding hands. One tanned the color of my skin, and the other pale like Valentina’s.

Trinity’s words rolled through my brain.
Happily ever after
.
Babies
. Those things had never existed as a possibility in my world. Could they?

Something about the woman sleeping upstairs made me refuse to rule them out.

I crept up the creaky old staircase, avoiding the noisy treads. It was telling that I knew what steps to avoid when I wanted to be silent.

As much as I wanted to slide inside Valentina while she was still half-asleep, I didn’t wake her tonight as I climbed between her pristine white sheets. There was a kid in the house, and when I took Valentina again, I wanted her screaming my name.

T
HE SUN SHINING BRIGHTLY THROUGH
the bay window in my bedroom woke me gradually until I registered the heat against my back and the arm wrapped around me. My eyes snapped open.

He was here.

And he hadn’t woken me
.

I turned in his arms and found him wide awake. “How long have you been here?”

“A while.”

“How long have you been awake?”

“A while.”

I flipped the sheet back so I could get a look at his side. A clean bandage covered it. My hair fell into my face as my gaze darted back up to his and I asked, “Are you okay?”

Rix nodded and reached up to tuck my hair behind my ear. “I’m fine. Your girl’s fine. So I’d say life is pretty good.”

“You got hurt getting her out, though. Tell me what happened.”

The soft smile on Rix’s face faded a few degrees. “You don’t need to know anything except that she’s back and she’s fine. No harm to her.”

I gritted my teeth. The man was ridiculously stubborn. “I need to know.”

Rix shook his head. “No, you don’t. It’s better for everyone if you don’t ask questions.”

I pushed up on one elbow and propped my other hand on my hip. “I’m asking questions, dammit. And I want answers. Trinity wouldn’t tell me anything because you ordered her not to, and you said you’d fill me in.”

“I just did.”

I was going to scream. “You didn’t fill me in on a damn thing. Nothing. I know
nothing
.”

Rix tugged my propped arm, and I fell toward him. Before I could untangle myself, he had me pinned beneath him, both arms over my head, rendering me helpless.

“What are you doing?”

He pressed a hard kiss to my mouth to silence me. When he lifted his face, his expression brooked no argument. “I’m explaining how things work.”

“I’m not going to like how things work, am I?”

He didn’t respond, just waited, eyebrow raised, as if expecting me to keep protesting.

I didn’t, instead opting to wait for whatever he was about to decree.

“Maybe, maybe not. But either way it doesn’t change a thing. The less you know, the better. So that means you’re gonna know as little as possible about what goes on in my world. There’s nothing good there, and you don’t need to be any part of it.”

I bristled at his pronouncement, but not because of the reason he would expect. “You’re in your world, so there has to be something good.”

Rix’s expression was almost pained. “Trust me when I say I’m not good either. And if you want to call this off right now because you can’t handle what I’ve got to offer, then do it. Tell me to go. You got your girl back. That’s what you needed from me, so if there was ever a time to drop my ass, it’s now. Do it before this goes any further.”

He caught me off guard completely. “Drop your ass? You think the reason I haven’t called the cops when you continually break into my house and sneak into my bed is because I only wanted Trinity back? Are you insane?” I struggled beneath him, trying to break free. It didn’t work. “If I recall correctly, you laid out some asinine requirement that I sleep with you for payback, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who can follow the chain of events here because that happened
before
. You didn’t have to extort anything from me because I gave it to you freely. Does that make it sound like I want to drop you now that she’s safe?”

I’d finally made my decision. And now he was throwing it back in my face?
Oh. Hell. No.
That’s not how this was going to work.

Rix hadn’t said anything yet, and I was ready to drag the words out of him.

“Let me up,” I demanded.

He shook his head. “No. I’m still deciding what to do with you.”

“You don’t get to decide what to do with me. I do. And I’m ready to shake some sense into you.”

His chest shook until a deep laugh echoed through my room.

“You’re one of a kind.” He lowered his forehead so it rested on mine. “I don’t deserve you. Shouldn’t be here. But I’m not goin’ anywhere. You’re stuck with me, duchess. You had your out. I’m keepin’ you.”

I strained upward and pressed my lips to his. “Good thing I’d already decided I was keeping you.”

“Fuck, I wish I was inside you right now.”

“Why aren’t you?” My body was molded to his, and more than ready.

He pressed up on his elbows. “Because there’s a kid in the house, and I don’t roll that way. But I gotta get out of this bed or I’m gonna forget I have a problem with it.”

Trinity. Crap. I forgot.

How could I forget?

I rolled out from under Rix, only because he let me this time.

“I need to make sure she’s still okay. And get her some breakfast. And—”

Rix snagged my hand. “Chill out. It’s okay. She’s fine.”

I might have growled at him, but I’d never admit it.

Rix laughed again and dropped my hand. “Or don’t chill out. Do what you need to do. I’m gonna grab a shower.”

Rix in my shower. After he spent the night in my bed. And we’d decided we were keeping each other. Things were becoming awfully domestic all of a sudden.

The rational voice inside my head whispered this couldn’t last, so I might as well enjoy it while I could. I quieted that voice, but decided the advice about enjoying it wasn’t a bad idea.

I pulled on some clothes and made my way downstairs as I heard the shower water kick on. I wanted to rush back to the bathroom and make sure he was properly caring for whatever kind of injury he had, but I stopped myself cold. Rix’s body was not only tattooed, but scarred. I’d never asked any questions, and it seemed that was exactly how he liked it. He was a capable, grown man and didn’t need me fussing all over him.

He also didn’t need me killing him off with my cooking. I racked my brain for the fastest breakfast places around that might deliver if promised a hefty tip, but the thoughts died when the scent of food hit me.

Bless that girl, she was getting a raise. A big one.

Steam rose from the waffle maker and Trinity scrambled eggs on the stove.

I crossed to the espresso machine and pressed the button, watching as the dark liquid poured into a shot glass.

“I have a waffle maker?”

“It was in the pantry, still in the box. I took a chance, assuming you actually like waffles and didn’t know how to operate it.”

“I’m sure it came with directions . . . I just didn’t try to figure it out.”

“You know you’ve got at least six other appliances in boxes in your pantry. What gives?” She turned and shot me a laughing grin as I sipped my espresso.

“My mother. She thinks I’m going to become a housewife who cooks one of these days. Actually, she’s hoping I’ll start pinning recipes and DIY vertical gardens on Pinterest, and get so caught up I start pinning wedding ideas. She’s crazy, because that’s never going to happen.”

Trinity raised an eyebrow. “You planning on more of a courthouse gig? Your daddy officiating?”

I jerked my head back. “Whoa, let’s not even go there. A wedding is not part of my plans anytime soon.”

That’s the moment Rix decided to walk into the kitchen, hair still wet.

I swear he just took the shortest shower in the history of the planet
.

“Good, because I ain’t got a ring.”

I choked on the last sip of my coffee and started coughing. Trinity’s eyes lit up, and Rix opened the fridge, ignoring both our reactions in favor of orange juice.

Again, this whole scene was wildly domestic. And somehow . . . easy. Except for the fact that my espresso had gone down the very wrong pipe called
what the hell did you just say
.

Rix held up the OJ. “You want some, duchess?”

I nodded. “Please.”

“Trinity?”

“I already have some, thanks.”

And so our morning started with Trinity cooking to keep us all from getting food poisoning and keeping Rix from knowing about my complete lack of skill in the kitchen.

Conversation was light as we ate, mostly about the Saints and Trinity’s plans for art school. She was strangely silent on the Derrick front, but I didn’t bring him up. I was assuming that she and Rix knew way more about what was going on with him, and for once, I didn’t want to know.

There, Rix. I can play your game
when I choose to
.

As much as I loved hearing Trinity going on and on about art school, I was a little concerned what would happen when Derrick was back in the picture—if he came back. She was still a very young eighteen, and that boy had clearly melted enough of her brain that she didn’t make the best decisions.