Page 223 of Moon's Promise

“How am I exaggerating?”

The total lack of emotion in her voice made him wish she would go back to snipping at him.

“Listen, I know you’re upset. I can explain this afternoon after work.” Raking his hand through his hair, he gave a frustrated sigh. “I have to get back.”

Larissa stood up and placed her hands on the table. “Why am I not surprised? Of course, you don’t have time to spare to explain how I owe you thousands of dollars for rent not on this house but the one I thought you had bought. You have manipulated me from day one since I came back to Treepoint. God, how much you must hate me.”

Moon moved down the table toward her at the broken sob she stifled with a hand over her mouth.

Seeing him coming near her, she raised a hand. “Don’t you dare come near me. There’s nothing you can say that’s going to make this all right.” Hunching over, she wrapped her arms around her stomach.

Moon took a couple of steps back to give her space.

“You must have laughed your head off at me with The Last Riders when I signed those papers.”

“They don’t know.”

“Don’t lie to me anymore. Please.”

His jaw clenched shut, giving her the opportunity to unload on him.

“I haven’t felt this naïve since I talked my mom into giving me permission to go home with one of the students from school.”

“What happened?”

She sent him a tortured look. “Why should I tell you anything more about myself? So, you could use that against me, too?” Larissa sat back down as if she didn’t have the strength to hold herself up any longer. “You know what told more than those documents did?”

“No,” he clipped out. “What?”

“I packed your things before I texted you. Do you know how long it took me?” She didn’t wait for his answer. “About three minutes.”

Her bitter smile, which was so out of normal for the natural gentleness he always saw on her face, made him want to jerk her into his arms. Instead of doing what he wanted to do, he held back.

“I can’t believe I missed it. Everything in this house, I brought here, except for what you bought for the baby.”

“I didn’t bring much crap, because I don’t have much. I’ve never been someone who buys a bunch of useless shit to have it sitting around or in a drawer. I’m used to traveling light, going back and forth between the clubhouses. When I’m not there, the rooms are used by different brothers. I got in the habit of making do with what I need, and when it wears out, get something new. Me not having enough to fill a suitcase doesn’t mean I don’t consider this my home.”

“Do you?”

Moon thought about lying about it, but she deserved the truth. “No. It’s okay for now, but it’s too small for me. I’ve been confined to small bedrooms at the clubs, and I want more space. That’s why I want us to go out to dinner tonight—so we can discuss switching houses with your family now that Jace is getting older.”

“You actually think I believe that?”

“Whether you believe it or not, it’s the truth. It was the plan before I moved in here and your mother sold her house, remember? But I can’t just be a jerk and make them move since there are more of them than us, which is why I’ve been putting it off.”

“Did you really think I would go along with that after I found out about this?”

“You weren’t supposed to know. I fixed this shit weeks ago.” He swept his hand out, knocking the folders to the floor. “If the firm your mother hired was any good, it should have been in there that both mortgages have been paid in full, and ownership of both houses are in your name, free and clear.”

“My mother isn’t the one who hired them; Lana did. And it doesn’t matter if you did or didn’t fix anything. You did it in the first place. I bet you’ve hated every second you stayed with me … I looked through the paperwork; the balloon payment would come due around Jace’s birthday. That’s when you planned to leave me. Jace would be weaned, old enough for you to get full custody, with me without a home, and none of my family having a place, either. You planned it meticulously. God, I won’t stand a chance in court with you, will I? You crossed every T and dotted every I. That’s why you refused to be seen around town with me after Jace was born, why you won’t take me out on your motorcycle.”

“I haven’t taken you out because …” He broke off, shoving his hands in his back pockets. “I don’t know why, but I’ve become paranoid about Jace’s safety. I can’t explain it … this feeling I have,” he admitted, feeling foolish. “That’s why I stay on you about the sock when he’s sleeping. It’s worse when you take him out. A voice in my head tells me he’s in danger. The only reason I let Kendra leave the house with Jace is because she’s going directly to your office and back. That, and no one would dare mess with Jace around that bitch. She’d gnaw their hand off if anyone dared to touch him.”

“Is that why you put cameras all over the place?”

“Yes. That way, I can watch him when I’m at work. I also put a tag on your and Kendra’s cars so I know where you are when you do go outside with him.”

Larissa nodded at him, showing she believed him. “Then you were telling the truth about not wanting to get in a wreck with both of us on the motorcycle?”

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