Page 15 of The Secrets We Share

The call was supposed to give me more answers and shed light on the situation with my father. Instead, it’d thrown a wrench in what little James and I had been able to piece together. We’ve only just arrived back in New York, so the last thing I want to do is leave Keira and go to the one place I’d rather ignore existed at all.

Fuck, telling Keira isn’t going to go over well. When I break it to my girl that I’m leaving her behind, I wouldn’t be surprised if she does more than swing on me this time. But how could I show up with Keira when my mother is already fragile. She’d croak on sight, seeing the ghost of girlfriends past walking into her home. Not to mention, I don’t know who has eyes on her place. If shit happens to me, that’s one thing, but I don’t want her father to get the drop on us across the country.

The woman in question pushes into my office but keeps her distance. She’s still pissed at me, and the cold shoulder she’s offering makes me want to tie her to my desk and fuck the attitude right out of her. Funny thing, we’ve tried that. Time and time again. It works for the moment, but her determination to be stubborn is stronger than my desire to extinguish the flame in her. Because at the end of the day, it’s ingrained in her DNA and the reason she kept me chasing after her ass.

“What’s the plan here?” She finally breaks the silence stirring between us.

“It’s changed. I need you to go stay with James and Stacey for a while.” Her hurt registers, but she quickly hides it behind a mask I don’t like on her beautiful face.

“Why’s that?”

“I need to go to California to check on things. My mom’s worse than I expected, and I need to get to the bottom of this shit with my dad.”

“You want to go without me?” she asks with raised eyebrows, questioning my judgement on the decision.

“I am going without you. It’ll be safer this way.”

“Oh, cut the shit. We both know this has very little to do with my safety and everything to do with the fact that mommy dearest can’t handle seeing me. Yeah, you know what? You go and figure your family mess. I’ll work on mine,” she spits, turning on her heels and slamming the door behind her.

My fist collides with the solid wood desk, pain ricocheting, up my forearm, but it feels good and centers me. I’ve waited and let her be, but the spark’s eaten through my fuse and it’s gone. I jolt out of the desk chair sending it crashing against the wall behind me. My footsteps crash against the wooden floors as I rush to catch up to her.

“Keira!” I bellow through the quiet house. Cinder perks up from the couch where she’s napping, but a quick command has her settling back in place.

The house doesn’t provide many places to escape, and Keira might be pissed but she’s not stupid, which tells me she won’t leave the house. I take the stairs two at a time and come face to face with a very furious Keira. Her small frame seems anything but as her dark aura takes up the landing.

“What?” she barks, arms crossed against her distracting chest as it heaves. Her hip pops to the side, accentuating her luscious curves.

“We’re not leaving it like that.” I take the final two stairs and crowd her space. She doesn’t pull back, an indestructible wall, or so she’d like me to think.

“I’m not doing this to hurt you,” I coax softly, pushing a wild hair behind her ear. “She’s in rough shape. What the real story is with my dad, it’s crushed her, sweetness. I need to go, find out if this has anything to do with your dad, and get her taken care of. I’ll be gone a couple days. Fuck, after months stuck together, just you and me, maybe you’ll enjoy the break.”

Her eyes soften, but she’s still stiff under my hand. “Is that what you want? A break?”

“Baby, I’d whisk you away to a deserted island and chain your ass to me permanently if I thought you’d let me get away with it.”

A small bubble of laughter breaks free from her, but she stifles it quickly, trying to remain unaffected in the moment. “I’m not happy about this.”

“Noted. Think of it this way, with me there working on that end of things and you here with James working on figuring out what the hell your dad wants, we’re closer to putting all of this behind us.”

“Don’t logic me right now,” she teases, finally relaxing into my hold. “When are you leaving?”

“I need to touch base with James, but as soon as possible. And hey, promise me you won’t do anything crazy while I’m gone. Don’t run off and find danger, okay?”

“It’s more like it finds me and I have no say in the matter.”

“You know that chain I mentioned earlier? Don’t make me use it now just to keep you safe.”

“Yes, Sir,” she says with a saucy smile.

The houseof my childhood looms over me, my fingers dangling in the air in front of the doorbell. I’m hesitant to sound the alarm of my arrival. I could let myself in with my keys, but it feels wrong now that I don’t live here.

This is why I’m here. The sooner I get it started, the faster I can leave and get back to Keira. James wasn’t too happy with my decision to leave Keira behind, trying to point out that shit always seems to hit the fan when we’re parted. He’s not wrong, but I trust him to keep it together while I’m away.

Drawing in a deep breath, I shove my finger against the bell. The buzzing sounds throughout the house, loud enough that I can hear it on the stoop.

“Com”—the thud of something hitting the floor stalls her arrival—“ing.” She pulls the door open, leaving the smallest crack for her to peer through.

Surprise filters through the one eye I can see and her eyebrow skyrockets. “Harkin?” she whispers.

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