Page 102 of Tempt

Theo frowned. “Donald arranged for Dan’s escape because he needed his help. They were meeting here when everything went wrong. Obviously.”

“But why here, Theo?” I shook my head, so frustrated and in love, and confused all at once. “What keeps leading you all back to this godforsaken building?”

I wanted to burn both buildings to the ground. Or implode them. Or, better yet, a wrecking ball. I would enjoy watching the steel tear it apart piece by piece. It would be therapeutic and glorious.

He cupped my face and ran his gloved thumbs across my cheeks. “The original building,” he nodded back to the renovation, “was built by us.”

“The Sutherland’s or the Duncan Boys Mob?”

He froze. “You know?”

I felt cheated.

“How could you keep this from me? I had to find this out from Nicki instead of you.” I didn’t hit him with my anger at being left in the dark—not yet. “It should have come from you.”

He nodded slowly and I could see the gears in his head turning. He knew I was mad. “The building has been owned by the Duncan Boys ever since. We let it fall apart on purpose and my father used the drug den as a cover. Regular people wouldn’t come near it, police didn’t want to have anything to do with it. He ran all his drops, all his dealings here.”

“Until Nicki and the bust.”

He nodded. “It was untouchable after that. He sold it off and it sat abandoned until I purchased it.”

“I bet that went over well.”

He chuckled and dropped a kiss onto my lips. “You have a twisted mind that should shock and horrify me, but it doesn’t.”

I smiled, but then reality set back in. “Is this what you wouldn’t tell me? That your entire family was part of this?” I didn’t know how much more I could handle.

He nodded slowly, pulling back from me slightly, as if he were afraid of my reaction.

I shook my head. “You told me so much…why hold this back?”

He kept his distance. “I always thought I’d be able to stay clear of the Duncan Boys. It was Toni who was giving me hell and Dan who wouldn’t let my betrayal rest.Theywere my problem and so I told you about them. You found that hard enough to swallow and I didn’t want to risk terrifying you by explaining the rest.” He shook his head. “Criminal by accident is a little easier to get past than criminal by birth.”

But the thing was, it all looked like the same mess to me. His life was so completely different from anything I knew that it really didn’t matter if we were talking about part of his life or all of it.

“Is there anything else you’re hiding? Kids? Wives? A blood feud with another rival gang?” My voice rose with each suggestion. Whether I wanted to be angry or not, I sounded like it.

“No! God no. This is it. This iseverything.I have no secrets left.” His hands tightened on my arms.

In that moment it struck me how exhausted and haunted he looked. I doubted he had the energy to keep lying. “I have nothing left to lie about,” he said simply.

“Then you’re really and truly done, Theo.” He looked like he was hanging on by a thread. “Your life is your own.”

He frantically searched my eyes. “Does it still include you?”

Murderer, criminal, thief. But Theo was so much more than that. He was loyal, sweet, and brilliant. “Yes. I need time to process all of…this.” I waved my hand around the room. “But you still have me.”

The tension on his face finally faded and a little color returned to his cheeks. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

I nodded. “I’m not going to see you for a while, am I?”

“No. Even if we got everything just right, it will be a while. They’ll arrest me. I might stand trial. It’ll just depend on whose palms I can grease.”

I held on to him tighter. “Why are you doing this to yourself?” I wanted to grab him and run away. Maybe if we ran fast enough we could get out of the country before anyone realized what had happened in the basement of his building. Sure we’d be fugitives for the rest of our lives, but at least he’d be free.

His eyes softened and he pulled me into him. “Because once I’m clear of these charges I’ll really and truly be free of everything. No hiding. Higgins and I have systematically erased everything pulling us back. It just requires a little more patience.” He dipped down so that we were nose to nose. “And then, we’ll have whatever life we want to build. We’ll be in charge of our happiness.”

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