Stepping out of
the way, he let Brent and Ava step past him. “Hey, guys, what’s
up?”
Ava said, “We
were just over at my old place, and I found something I’m sure Tara
will want.”
“Really?” Keith
asked. “What’s that?”
Brent raised an
eyebrow and shot a look at Keith when he saw Tara sitting on the
couch with her feet tucked under her and a cashmere throw wrapped
around her shoulders.
Keith couldn’t
deny she looked right at home in his apartment, and he loved it. He
knew his brother, on the other hand, would object.
Tara paused the
movie and set the popcorn and remote on the coffee table. “This is
a nice surprise.” Checking her watch, she said, “It’s getting kind
of late. This must be important.”
“We were just
cleaning out my apartment. It closes in a couple of days,” Ava said
for Keith’s benefit.
“Do you need
any help?” Tara asked.
Keith smiled.
He was touched that even though Tara was going through her own
personal hell, she was still concerned about how she could help her
best friend.
“No, we’ve got
it covered.” Ava grinned. “But I found something you’re definitely
going to want.”
“What’s
that?”
“Remember when
we went to Venezuela last year and the airline lost our luggage? I
told you they eventually sent both of our suitcases to my
place.”
“Yeah, I
remember.” Tara leaned forward. Her eyes were shining with
excitement. “I kept telling you I’d come and pick it up, but every
time I was there, I forgot all about it.”
Ava said, “I
don’t know if you remember what you packed for that trip, but it
looks like half your summer wardrobe is in there.”
“Oh my God,”
Tara said, clapping her hand over her mouth. “That’s amazing. I
picked up some toiletries and a couple of sundresses today, but you
have no idea how much I need those clothes. Did you bring the
suitcase home with you?”
“Of course. Why
don’t we go up and get it?”
Tara threw the
blanket aside and jumped up. “Let’s go.”
Keith frowned
as they passed through the front door. Turning to his brother, he
asked, “Why didn’t you just bring the suitcase down with you?”
“Ava wanted to
talk to Tara alone. I wouldn’t mind having a word with you either,
little brother.”
An uneasy
feeling took root in Keith’s gut as he imagined Ava pleading her
case. The two women had a long history, and Ava’s opinion carried a
lot of weight with Tara. He and Ava got along great, but that
didn’t mean she saw him as a good fit for her best friend.
“What do you
want to talk to me about?” Keith asked. As if he didn’t know.
“Tara staying
here with you is a bad idea. We both know that. Ava doesn’t like
it, and neither do I.”
“I don’t recall
anyone asking for your opinion.” Brent was used to Keith pushing
back, so the rebuttal didn’t earn a reaction.
“I don’t want
anything upsetting my fiancée right now. She’s got enough going on
with trying to run a business, build a house, plan a wedding and
honeymoon…” Raking his hands through his hair, Brent looked pained.
“Now this thing with Tara? I don’t know how much more Ava can
take.”
“Yeah, well,
imagine how Tara must feel,” Keith said dryly. “She’s the one whose
home burned to the ground. She’s the one who lost everything she
owned.”
“I know.” Brent
sank into the nearest chair and kicked his feet up on the ottoman.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound so selfish. How is Tara handling
everything?”
“Better than I
would in her position. Hey, what has Ava told you about this ex of
hers… Biagio?”
Brent shrugged.
“Not much. Why?”
“He called her
today.” Keith couldn’t get that conversation out of his head, and
he didn’t know why. Tara had made it clear, both to Biagio and
Keith, that she didn’t want anything more to do with him, but Keith
still felt uneasy. “Said he’d driven by her place and saw what
happened.”
“So? What about
it?”
“I don’t know.”
Keith reached for his beer. “You want one?”
“No, I’m good,
thanks. So you think the ex is still in the picture?”
“I think he
wants to be. I mean, when was the last time you just drove by one
of your ex-girlfriend’s places?”
Brent laughed.
“If I did that, Ava would kill me.”
“Exactly.”
Before taking a drink of his beer, Keith said, “It doesn’t sit well
with me, man.”
“It sounds like
you’re getting in too deep with Tara, which is exactly what I was
afraid of. You know Ava’s upstairs trying to talk her into staying
with us, don’t you?”
Rolling his
eyes, Keith said, “I figured as much, but Tara won’t go along with
it. She knows you guys need your privacy.”
“Please. Our
place is huge. We wouldn’t even know she was there half the
time.”
“I’m fine with
her staying here. She’s comfortable with the arrangement for now.
Why can’t you guys just back off?” Keith was getting testy, but
something he wanted was slipping through his fingers, and he felt
helpless to stop it from happening.
“Just remember
your promise to me, kid.”
Keith’s mind
flashed to their kiss, a kiss Keith gladly would have taken
further. “Yeah, I remember.” He had a feeling Tara wouldn’t let him
forget. Keith looked up and grinned when Tara walked in with her
suitcase.
“Hi, honey, I’m
home.” She laughed. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
Keith suspected
he could get used to hearing it. “I’m glad you’re back.” And he
was. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy to see
someone.
“I can see
nothing’s gonna get through that thick skull of yours,” Brent
muttered. “I’m outta here.”
“I can’t believe I let
you talk me into this,” Brent groaned as Keith pushed him through
the door of Jimmy’s bar.
J.T. McCall had
agreed to shut the place down for Brent’s bachelor party, and Keith
pulled out all the stops to make sure it was a night his uptight
brother would never forget.
“Just shut up
and pretend you’re enjoying yourself so the rest of us can have a
good time.”
Brent’s
friends, employees, and business associates were already crowding
the bar. They shouted out their congratulations and joked about
Brent finally falling victim to the ball and chain. Keith knew that
wasn’t how his brother viewed his upcoming marriage. Finding Ava
again was the best thing that could have happened to Brent. He had
been obsessed with seeking revenge until Ava convinced him to let
go of his anger and be grateful for his many blessings.
Keith had hired
a live band and, of course, live entertainment he was sure his
brother would object to. Brent had never been into
that
kind
of partying, not even in college. While the frat boys were having
the time of their lives, he’d focused on how he would earn his
first million. If anyone deserved a night to cut loose before
starting the next chapter in his life, it was Brent. He’d always
done for his family, often forgetting to take care of himself.
“Come on, man,”
Keith said, slapping Brent’s back and leading him toward the bar.
“We’re gonna have a good time tonight. The drivers are lined up to
take our sorry asses home, so pick your poison.”
Brent looked at
the shot glasses lined up on the bar. “I gotta tell ya, I’m not
feeling it, kid.”
Leave it to
Brent to want to be the only sober guy at his own bachelor party.
Keith rolled his eyes. To the bartender, Keith said, “Give him a
shot of tequila and keep ‘em coming.” To Brent, he said, “I’ll even
join you.” Keith didn’t have any reservations about cutting loose.
Tamping down his growing feelings for Tara over the past few weeks
had taken its toll. The brothers threw back three shots each before
someone moved to center stage to announce the band.
“I don’t know
why the hell you bothered with a band,” Brent muttered. “It’s not
like there are any girls here to dance with.”
Keith laughed
and put his arm around Brent’s shoulder. “You underestimate me,
man.” As if on cue, half a dozen beautiful, scantily clad women
milled through the crowd, flirting with all the men.
“Oh, hell no,”
Brent said, looking at the ceiling. “You didn’t.”
“Would you
relax?” Keith grinned at a petite blonde with a pixie haircut. “It
won’t kill you to have a little fun.”
“The only woman
I’m interested in having fun with is my fiancée, dumbass.”
“I know you’d
never mess around on Ava. I’m not suggesting that, but she’d want
you to have fun. In fact, she made me promise you’d have a good
time. You don’t want to disappoint her, do you?”
“I wonder what
she’s up to tonight.”
Tara had
planned Ava’s bachelorette party at a friend’s house. “I’m sure
she’s having a better time than you are.”
“She’d better
not be,” Brent said, scowling at the woman brushing up against him.
“You don’t think Tara hired guys for her party, do you?”
Keith laughed.
“If I know Tara as well as I think I do, I’m guessing yes.” His
amusement died when he imagined some bronzed, shredded dude
flirting with Tara. Keith didn’t think she’d mess around with a
stranger, but alcohol had a way of lowering people’s
inhibitions.
Surprisingly,
Keith hadn’t even been tempted to renege on their agreement. He
hadn’t met a single woman in the past few weeks who appealed to him
as much as Tara. The irony of that was not lost on him. He’d tossed
and turned every night, tempted to wander into her room to ask
whether she ever lost sleep thinking about him.
“That’s what
worries me.”
“You have
nothing to worry about, man.” Keith gripped his glass. “Ava loves
you. She’d never cheat on you.” Unlike Tara, who wasn’t even his
girlfriend. She didn’t owe him anything, and she was free to do
whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted. Keith hated that. He
had no right to feel territorial, but he did.
Brent shot him
a sidelong glance. “What’s going on with you? You haven’t been
yourself lately.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re
not. I know when you’re lying.” Brent set his empty glass on a
passing waiter’s tray and declined his offer of another drink.
“Does this have something to do with Tara?”
“What would
make you think that?” Keith was so preoccupied he barely noticed an
unfamiliar face glaring at him.
“Because I know
you.” Wrapping an arm around his brother’s neck, Brent said, “You
read like a book, man.”
“Hey, do you
know that guy over there?” Keith inclined his head toward the man
in question. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Keith and Brent since
Keith spotted him.
“No,” Brent
said. “Do you?”
“Never seen him
before.” Keith had reviewed the guest list with his assistant, and
the guy clearly wasn’t an employee of J.T.’s. Keith sensed he could
mean trouble. “Excuse me a minute,” Keith said. “I’ll be back.”
The man in
question bared his teeth as Keith moved in on him. “Well, well, we
meet at last.” He raised his glass. “I’d like to say it’s a
pleasure to meet you, but I’d be lying.”
Keith inclined
his head toward a quiet corner where they could talk in private.
“Who the hell are you? This is a private party. Only people on the
guest list were—”
“Biagio
Colletti.” A satisfied smile spread across his face when
recognition dawned in Keith’s eyes. “Good, I see Tara has told you
about me.”
“What the hell
are you doing here?”
“I came to give
you a message.” Biagio brought his glass to his mouth, pausing with
his lips on the rim. “You should know by now that I always get what
I want.” His eyes hardened, all humor vanishing as quickly as it
had appeared. “And that includes Tara.”
“She’s done
with you.” More than anything, Keith wanted to beat the hell out of
the guy, but he couldn’t turn his brother’s bachelor party into a
brawl that would land them all in jail for the night.
“You’ve been
poisoning her mind against me.”
Between the
booming music and excited party-goers, Keith had to listen closely
to decipher Biagio’s words, but there was no mistaking his warning.
A threat was a threat in any language, and Keith knew Biagio was
there to put him on notice. If he expected Keith to back down, he
would be sorely disappointed. Keith would go to the mat for the
people he cared about, and Tara was quickly moving to the top of
that list.
Keith crossed
his arms. “She had your number a long time ago. She didn’t need me
to tell her you were a loser.”
Biagio’s
nostrils flared as he leaned in closer. “She’s mine. You’ll never
have her.”
“You didn’t
deserve her. She knows who and what you are, and she wouldn’t even
consider taking you back. Do yourself a favor: move on.”
“She’s going to
be my wife.”
Keith couldn’t
believe how delusional the guy was. “She doesn’t want anything to
do with you. She won’t answer your calls or respond to your texts.
She refuses to see you.”
“Is that what
she told you?” Biagio chuckled. “She made love to me last
night.”
Keith felt his
blood simmering. Not leveling the guy was taking all of his
self-control. Biagio was obviously goading him, but part of Keith
questioned if he was telling the truth. Tara hadn’t come in until
after one o’clock. He knew because he’d waited up for her. She said
she’d gone out for a drink with a friend, but she refused to look
him in the eye and went straight to bed instead of watching the
late show with him. A little voice in his head had questioned
whether she might have been out on a date.
They hadn’t
shared another kiss, but that didn’t mean Keith hadn’t been tempted
every damn day. “Get the hell out of here before I have you thrown
out.”