Page 164 of Tattooed Love

“And he is paying for your flight?” I said slowly. “Again, how serious are you two?” They had to be serious for him to be paying for her flight.

“He is a friend. A really good one Troy, so don’t make a bad impression when you meet him. Tell the rest that too,” she said sharply. “He has been paying for everything.”

“What?! You’ve been relying on this guy! If you needed money, why didn’t you ask? When did dad cut you off?”

“You knew he cut me off.”

“Yeah, but you said you had your trust fund.”

“No, I implied it because I didn’t want you worrying.”

Cole was barking questions at me by this point and was a second from taking the phone off me; I pushed him away.

“So, what are you his escort or something?” I didn’t hide my disgust. “You never rely on a man. Ever.”

“I’ve relied on Blake. I’ve relied on dad and now I’m relying on Tae so don’t screw things up for me when you meet him, and he wants to meet you.” She lowered her voice. “I’m begging you Troy, make a good impression.”

She was saying that like my life depended on it.

“Fine, I’ll tell everyone to behave,” I said, finally seeing it was very important to her. The last thing I wanted was for her to decide not to come back because she was scared we would scare off her boyfriend.

“See you tomorrow.” She hung up.

“Amber’s coming home?” Tyler looked delighted. “I knew she would change her mind.”

“Yeah, she is, but I don’t know if she is staying in town for long,” I muttered, finding holes in her story. She said she was tagging along on one of his business trips so did that mean when he flew out, so would she?

“What do you mean?” Jax got up and looked way too interested in the answer to that question.

I frowned. Why was he so interested? Did he still love her? I hadn’t seen him with another woman since she’d left. He’d even made it a point to push women off him. Did he still love her?

Was he thinking he could get her back? Because I wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Answer the question!” Jax snapped at me. Again, sounding too interested in the answer.

“She is coming along with her boyfriend. She said she is tagging along on one of his business trips.” I glanced down at my phone. “I don’t know if she is staying or flying out with him when he leaves.”

“Is it that Tae guy?” Cole asked. Cole had been the one to find out about Tae to begin with. We’d run him through the system; he was clean.

“Yeah, and she told me dad cut her off. She never got a trust fund and he is paying for everything, including her flight back here.” I gave my brothers a pointed look. “She wanted to make sure we made a good impression. Like our lives depended on it.”

“When I looked him up, it said he was single and a billionaire from designing software. Surely Amber wouldn’t settle for that type of guy,” Tyler said. “She’s never gone after a man for money.”

“No.” I glanced at Jax. When it came to Amber, she always followed her heart. “She must like him.”

“Well, that means we must be nice,” Cole said really clearly, causing all our heads to snap in his direction. “What!” He snapped at us. “I want Amber back. If that means she is dating a billionaire, so be it. I don’t give a fuck. I just want her back in the same country so if us being nice means she stays, then we will be nice!”

Cole was actually being level-headed and making sense. His normal temper usually goes up at the thought of Amber with any bloke but he had missed her so much he was willing to put that aside and let her date someone we would have no control over.

Hell, when it came to Amber and her boyfriends, we never had control.

“Ok, we play nice,” I said, confirming Cole’s plan. “We need to buy a house too. I don’t want her living in one of his places while he flies around the world screwing whoever he wants.”

Adam scoffed. “If Amber can do one thing, it’s make sure a guy is faithful to her.” Then he glanced at Jax. “Even you were.”

“Until you didn’t trust her,” Cole barked at him. “And we lost her.” He pointed a finger at Jax. “You and her are done. Don’t even think about breaking up her new relationship.”

Jax had been calm all week, but that calm expression he usually had on his face was gone. He was pissed off. Was hearing Amber had moved on hurt him?

---