Page 65 of A Dirty Business
I should leave the room or at least step back.
But dammit. My body was heating, and the swirls were grazing my insides. Those were his swirls, making me go crazy.
“Who touched you?”
I let out an irritated sound. “It was the sister of one of my guys. What are you going to do? Threaten her?”
“Who?” His eyes flashed, and his fingers held firmer to my hips, but his thumbs began rubbing back and forth, tunneling under my shirt. “I can find out.”
I stilled.
Jesus. I knew they had people on their payroll. Knew from the trip up north, but hearing it said in front of me so easily sent chills down my spine.
“Are you protecting my brother?”
He stilled, even more than he had been.
My head reared back, just an inch, and I took him in. His face was guarded but not surprised. That was all I needed to know.
“Why are you protecting my brother?”
He let out a soft sigh, almost so soft that I didn’t hear it. “He’s someone you love. Can’t we leave it at that?”
My heart flipped over, but damn. Damn! Seriously? He said that?
I was mad at him, but I was starting to forget why I was mad at him, and then I remembered—he made me a criminal.
I moved back, firmly.
When he tried holding me in place, I shoved back even more assertively. “Thank you.”
I spotted the vodka I needed.
“For what?”
I grabbed two bottles and moved around him. “For reminding me why you can’t touch me.”
As I reached for the door, he stepped aside. “Jess.”
I opened the door but gave him a searing look, or I hoped because my insides were a jumbled mess. He did that to me. Every time. Right and wrong, good and bad, he was fucking me up.
“You were hurt.”
“I’ve been hurt before.”
His eyebrows dipped low. “What does that mean?”
“Just ...” I held a hand up and cursed when I heard my voice break. I couldn’t finish what I needed to say.
My heart wasn’t in it because he was here, and he was worried, and ...
I left, feeling my heart breaking in a way that I never knew it could.
There were people in the hallway. I ignored them, not looking, and went right back to my section, and for the first real time, I started to consider if this was going to be my last night here.
Justin came over twenty minutes later, during a brief break. “You okay? You look stressed.”
“Yeah.” I’d been on autopilot since seeing Trace, and I even tried to give him a smile. I was faking. I knew it wouldn’t match my eyes, and Justin saw through it, giving my shoulder a soft squeeze before going back to his section. “Hang in there, okay?”
