Page 16 of Tav

The doorbell rings at the same time my phone vibrates with the incoming video. Glancing at the screen, my stomach flutters a little when I notice that my unannounced visitor is the man that has plagued my dreams for months now. Tav Tombs. Standing in my doorway. Judging by his outfit, he must have been in the office today. I know that some days he works at the MC compound. On those days he wears his leather cut. Not today, though. Sure, the camera distorts him a little, but there is no denying his broad shoulders in his t-shirt with the Tombs Security logo on the front. His slim waist tapering down the thick thighs encased in tactical pants. If I zoom in and squint, I can almost see the large bulge between those thick thighs.

The doorbell sounds again, snapping me out of my ogling. Get it together Blanche! Standing, I shake out my hands, arms and legs, and make my way to the door. Swinging it open, I’m met with Tav frowning at me.

“What’s with the face?”

“Why did you open the door?”

What? Tipping my head at him, my brows pull down in a mirror of his own face. “You rang the bell. I opened the door. It’s kinda how this thing works.”

“You should have spoken to me through the camera. Make sure that it really was me.”

“Why would I do that when I saw it was you?”

“But how could you be sure it was me?” He presses hands out as if trying to get me to see his point.

“Tav, I know what you look like. From all angles and in all positions.”

A small smile grows on his lips and he runs his gaze up and down my body. My nipples pucker, and I know I’m in dangerous territory. It’s the only territory I’m ever in when it comes to this man. The slight clenching in my underwear reminds me I’m not doing this right now. No men. I need to concentrate on my kids, my job and Eden’s Keep.

“That you have, Pixie,” he answers me, his voice husky before he coughs to clear it. “I’m not here for that. I just wanted to make sure you’re all good.”

So. Goddamn. Thoughtful. I may not want a man, but I enjoy Tav’s company, which is why I invite him in. His large body follows me down my hall into my open-plan kitchen dining.

“Take a seat and you can let me know how the kids went the other night. Oh, and don’t touch Elio’s stuff, he’s teaching us to play a game he made up,” I point where I want him to sit, away from the different Lego pieces Elio has in some type of grid pattern and away from my laptop and files. I need to keep client privilege and all that jazz. Once my investigation is over and his wife has taken him to the cleaners, I’ll then yell it from the rooftops if anyone asks my opinion on Wayne Cross. But until then, it’s a no-go zone.

“The kids were fine. The little ones were their usual selves. Niko and Sage were a little more wary, but that makes sensebecause of their age and what you do.” He nods at me, not in the least concerned about what I do. “Niko, of course, was protective of you, and um, I don’t think he’s happy with me.”

I suck in a breath and stare at Tav who is trying very hard to avoid eye contact. “What. Happened?” I don’t want to come out and ask what he did, because I know my son, and no matter how responsible and grown up he can be, he’s also 17 years old and can be a bit of an ass hat.

Before Tav can answer the door handle rattles and then little feet pound on the wooden floor until they hit where I’m sitting.

“Tav!” Cove yells as she launches herself into his arms, where he catches her. Of course.

Elio follows close behind, choosing to climb onto the lap that Cove isn’t sitting on, quietly saying his hello.

“You know guys, Tav isn’t a climbing frame,” I say drily as I stand to get their afternoon snack prepared. If I don’t feed them a little something now, they will absolutely riot later.

“They’re fine, Pixie. We’re old buddies, huh guys?”

They both nod enthusiastically and then talk over each other to tell him what they did at school today. I watch their interaction as I peel, core, and quarter apples for them. They’ve been like this with Tav from the very first moment they met him. There’s just something … easy about the man. I can’t imagine anyone not liking him. Women included.

The number of women I’d overhear at the conference talking about how hot he was and how they had tried to get his number and he would rebuff them gently was in the tens. Which is loads for a security conference given most of the people there are of the male variety. Anyway, tens of beautiful women and to think he ended up with me that night is crazy. So crazy, in fact, that even before I set out on this journey to rid the earth of the Landry cult, I had tried to cut it off. Tav was not convinced. He’s spent every day since that morning after our tryst wishing me agood morning and a good night. He brings me little things that he says reminds him of me and if I’m honest with myself, I was well on my way to getting rid of my “No relationships” rule. Then my father fell ill. I thought I had more time to put my plan into place. I want him to know that it’s me dismantling his dream. I want him alive while I kill the evil, one by one, leaving him for last.

“Mom? Did you hear?” Cove’s sweet voice asks, and I don’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t really listening.

“What was that, baby?”

“Can Tav stay for dinner?” She pleads, her eyes huge in her face, her pigtails wonky from her day at kindergarten.

Looking at her brother, I notice he’s still impeccably dressed. It’s hard to believe they are the same age. Elio spends all day in the same kindergarten class as his sister and somehow gets nowhere near as messy.

“Baby, I haven’t even decided what we’re having,” I stand at the counter, paring knife in hand as I try to think what we have in the fridge and pantry to whip up.

“Pixie, let me take care of this. You’ve had a busy 48 hours. I know that as soon as you got home from your trip, you got straight back into work and mom mode. Let me take care of you.” He smiles gently at me, then the kids as they cheer in his arms.

Shit. Every time he does things like this, that little wall around my heart gets weaker and weaker.

He wraps one strong arm around both kids on his lap and leans slightly, pulling his phone from his pocket, scowling at it before sliding his thumb over the screen and putting it to his ear.

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