Page 110 of Tate
Her mother held up her hand.
“And there’s the matter of a woman named Raquel Morris? Found dead in your apartment in Vegas?”
Tate’s mouth tightened. “You don’t know the whole story.”
And she heard Sloan’s voice from last night.He murdered a woman. The woman he was living with?—
He turned to Glo. “I didn’t…I mean…she was?—”
“Collateral damage. From your violent lifestyle.” Her mother looked beyond him and motioned Rags into the room. He was carrying Tate’s duffel bag and a briefcase. He set them on the floor beside Tate, who glanced at them.
“I don’t want my daughter to be more collateral damage.” She walked over to Glo. “How’s that eye healing, honey?”
“Mother, that was an accident.”
She looked at Tate, the bags on the floor, and a hand tightened around her throat. “No?—”
But Tate had shrugged away from Sly and taken a step toward them. “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the Bratva found me that night, and it occurred to me that your boy Sloan sure knows a lot about my life. And according to my sister, RJ, he knows a few Russians. The kind with connections. I’m wondering just how Slava got Glo’s room number.”
Her mother looked at him, her face unmoving. “You’re just an easy man to find, I guess, with all the destruction you leave behind.” She put her arm around Glo. “All the broken hearts. Did you love Raquel too?”
Tate blinked. Swallowed. Nodded.
And Glo wasn’t sure why that felt like a fist in her chest. She wasn’t unaware that Tate had a life before her. But…
But he never talked about anyone else.
Or rather, he had, if she’d been paying attention.I fell for the wrong girl once and it blew up in my face. I got sucked in to her world, and pretty soon I was in over my head, with no way out.
Tate’s voice got very quiet. “Oh, you are good, Senator. Very good. I can’t believe how well you played this. Bringing me in, acting like you’re giving me a chance when all the while you were trying to make me lose it. Making me follow Sloan and Glo around, knowing it would drive me crazy, hoping I?—”
“Did exactly what I know men like you do? Get yourself into trouble? Gloria is a smart girl, but she has a hard time seeingthe truth. She has a type—men who are beneath her. Who will eventually leave her and break her heart. She needs someone?—”
“Like Sloan?”
Reba lifted her shoulder. “Someone steady. Someone who can see her potential.”
“She won a freakin’ industry award last night. I think the entire world can see her potential.”
Glo didn’t know whose words to lean in to. “I’m standing right here, for Pete’s sake. I’m not a child?—”
Except, no one seemed to be listening. Tate held up his hand, clearly schooling his voice. “Listen?—”
“No, you listen!” Her mother rounded on him. “You forget yourself, and what you’re here for. It’s not to destroy Gloria’s life—it’s to protect it?—”
“From what? The lies you told me about the Bryant League?”
She blinked at him. As did Glo. “What lies?”
Tate’s eyes sparked. “I did my research, Senator. The Bryant League was never after you. They haven’t even been active for over a year. Nothing. They weren’t responsible for the bombing—frankly, I’m not sure it wasn’t all just a convenient story to get Glo to come home and get sucked back in to your world.”
“How. Dare. You!”
“I’m not usually this stupid, but apparently, I panicked. Well not anymore—I quit.”
Wait. Glo’s breath rushed out. What—?Wait!“Tate, no?—”
“Save your breath, lover boy. You’re fired.”
