Lisa blinked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I kissed her lightly and popped off the bed. “I have to go. Sorry.”
Showing up had been a bad idea. Sleeping with Lisa was perfectly fine. Usually. But to be with her while thinking of someone else? It felt… deceitful. One thing I’d always prided myself on was honesty with girls.
I couldn’t get away fast enough and sped home where nothing could interfere with my thoughts of her.
* * * *
Because I’d left the party so early and gone to bed, I woke up before the alarm clock sounded and was ready long before Tessa arrived. I alternated between pacing and checking the time while I waited.
Ten more minutes.
Burned out on pacing, I switched on the television to distract me but it didn’t help.
Damn it. I couldn’t wait to see her.
I leaped up at the knock and flung the door open. “Hey.” I grinned and backed up so she could come in.
She gave a tentative smile. “Good morning. I didn’t expect you to be up already.”
“I went to bed early last night,” I said. She flinched ever so slightly and I hurried on. “I didn’t have company, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“None of my business.” She casually examined some photos hanging on the wall. “Please don’t feel you have to stop your usual… activities on my account.” She gave me a sly smile then returned to the photos. “She had to rush home, huh?”
Sassy little witch.
“No one’s been here but me. I came home alone last night and slept by myself.” I moved behind her and brushed her hair off her neck. “But I’m sure you could care less,” I whispered against her skin.
She jolted as if I’d breathed fire. I chuckled. Tessa was full of it if she thought I believed she was unaffected by me.
We were both so screwed.
I could only think of one solution to our problem. But I’d wait for the right time to spring it on her. “You ready to go?”
Without answering, she headed toward the door. I watched her firm ass move with each step. I liked the black pants she wore. Thin and stretchy, molding to every inch of her and giving me a perfect outline.
We’d have to go running often.
I stopped with her at the passenger side of the Viper.
“Good morning, honey.” I looked up to see my mom coming down the driveway, her creepy husband right behind her.
“Hey, Mom.” I flicked a thumb to my left. “This is Tessa. Tessa, my mom Rachel and her husband Sam.”
The creep smiled at Tessa, his eyes darting to me, then her again. It’s a good thing I couldn’t read minds because if I confirmed what I suspected, I’d have to kill him.
“Nice meeting you.” Tessa seemed to shrink back, reaching for the door handle like she needed to flee.
“So nice to meet you,” my mom said, oblivious to her snake-of-a-husband and his ability to repel us. “Where are you guys going so early on a Sunday?”
“Running.” I would’ve loved to spend more time with my mom but she was always with Sam. Since I couldn’t stand to be around him, I avoided her. I glanced at Tessa again. She looked pained, shrinking against the door, as though the car could block out Sam’s thoughts. I took the hint. “We should get going.”
“Have a nice day.” My mom beamed and disappeared into the house with Sam.
I opened the car door for Tessa. “Figured maybe you might want to do something together Friday or Saturday, whatever night you’re not working.”
She’d been about to climb inside, but froze. “You mean like just you and me?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“I’ll tell you why not.” Her tone hinted that I should prepare myself for a smart-ass remark. “It seems like only a couple days ago that you kissed me and someone else the same night. Oh, wait. It was a couple days ago.” Her mouth formed a straight line.
“Tessa, I’m not like that anymore. I haven’t been with anyone since.”
“You mean you’ve gone a whole two days without? God, how have you survived it?” Sarcasm dripped from her words.
“That’s a long time for me,” I mumbled, my gaze falling to the concrete of the driveway.
“I don’t get it.” She exhaled in a whoosh, as though I’d exhausted her patience. “Why bother? There are so many girls dying to be with you. Choose one, scratch the itch and move on. Like you always have.”
Shoving my hands in my pocket, I forced the next words out. “I tried. Didn’t work out.”
Her brows rose. “Do tell.”
Inwardly, I groaned. Opening myself up this way made me feel vulnerable. But I couldn’t let Tessa think I wanted anyone but her. “Last night, I went to Skyler’s. This girl was all over me, but I couldn’t do it.”
She grimaced. “You mean like you couldn’t…”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I could have, I’m sure.” I growled softly. “I didn’t want to. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Tessa didn’t look flattered at my confession. She just stared, then abruptly got inside the car.
I closed the door and rounded the hood.
“Well, the good news is that this attraction you think you feel for me can’t last forever. Pretty soon, you’ll be wondering why you were ever interested in me. However, my humiliation at being used by you will last a lifetime. That alone is enough to keep you at a safe distance.”
“It’s not like that with you,” I muttered, starting the engine.
“Whatever you think you feel isn’t real, Hayden. I’m not who you want. You want someone like Christina or Back Up Plan or the girl from last night. They’ll take good care of you.”
I bowed my head, knowing it was pointless. Why couldn’t she see that it was different with her? Different because of her. “I don’t want them. I want you.”
“Well, pardon me if I have a hard time believing that,” she snapped.
After a few moments, we paused at a stop sign and I felt compelled to try again. I had to. “Skyler’s parents are out of town this weekend. He’s throwing a party Saturday night. If you’re not working, maybe you can stop by. Lots of people around will make it feel less like a date, right?” I doubted she’d go but if she told me she about her plans, I could accidentally show up wherever she went. If she didn’t volunteer any information, I would listen carefully all week to see if she slipped.
Me, Mr. Stalker? Absolutely.
“Your mom seems nice,” Tessa said, changing the subject. “But Sam is a total sleaze.”
I held up my hand, my jaw clenching involuntarily. “I don’t want to know what he was thinking.”
She sighed. “I wish I didn’t know. Why is your mom with him? You think she loves him? Is it like a money thing or something?”
I gave a short laugh. “Don’t know what she sees in him but it’s not money. She was loaded before she ever met him.”
“You think she’s scared to leave him?”
I glanced briefly at her. “You tell me.”
“Not sure. It was difficult to get anything from her with all his—”
“Don’t want to know. I already have a hard time not squashing him, Tessa.”
“I don’t blame you,” she mumbled, looking out the window. “If he’s your step-dad, why do you have the same last name?”
“He adopted me right after they got married. Cool, huh?” I scoffed.
“Yeah, super cool. What happened to your real dad?”
“When he went to jail, my mom coerced him into giving up all rights to me. That was way back when she still had balls. I don’t know what happened to her since then.”
“Why is he in jail?” Tessa asked.
“Money stuff. Fraud, embezzlement. Every scam you could think of.”
“Is that how your family got rich?”
“No. My mom comes from old money. And thank God she was smart enough to have my dad and Sam both sign pre-nups. If she dumped Sam, he’d be broke.” I spared
Tessa a glance as I navigated the narrow street to the park. “I have to restrain myself every single day not to toss his ass out of the house.”
“Well.” She turned to me when the car stopped. “Maybe you shouldn’t hold back.”
Which meant that she’d plucked fetid garbage from his head. I didn’t want to know. I exited the Viper and tried not to think about that.
“You’re going to talk to Mr. Linton tomorrow, right?” she asked, getting out the other side.
“Yeah. Why? You know something?”
“Not really. My gut’s telling me that you need to get whatever you need from him by the end of the day.” Tessa shadowed me to a chain link fence beyond the sidewalk.
I put my hands against the fence and leaned forward. “Stretching before a run is important. Just do what I do.” I watched her mimic my movements and struggled to keep the lust at bay. “Keep your feet flat. Feel it in your calves?”
“Yeah.”
Damn. She was so hot.
We planned to go to the karate studio after our run, then meet with Chait and his hoodlums later. How could I get her to spend the rest of the day with me?
Chapter Seventeen
Tessa
We entered the abandoned building and my eyes were immediately drawn to the stream of light coming from the window Hayden had broken the day before. It had been boarded up but only enough to prevent human intruders. Six-inch spaces between slats kept the large room from becoming too dark and musty.
“You guys don’t like electricity and running water?” I asked.
Chait chuckled. “Easier to meet here since you already knew where it was.”
“Are you armed?” a blond man asked Hayden. I remembered his face from some pictures Fawn had shown me in the auditorium. I was pretty sure she called him David. He had a higher position in the organization than Chait and Rena.
A shorter guy reached toward Hayden’s waist to check for a gun.
Hayden blocked him with one arm and sent him stumbling back with the other. I’d barely seen him move. “Back off.” He glared first at the guy who’d attempted to frisk him then at the blond guy. “After what happened yesterday, don’t you think that’s a stupid question? If you’re smart, you won’t give me a reason to use it.”
Testosterone plus Hayden equaled a very heady effect on me. Butterflies did the cha-cha in my tummy.
“Fair enough. Can’t say I blame you after what happened.” The blond man scowled briefly at Rena, then stretched a hand out to Hayden. “I’m David.”
Hayden shook it, which relieved me. It would be difficult enough trying to figure out Chait and his team without Hayden’s hostilities complicating things.
“If you don’t mind, we’d like some time with Tessa. You can sit over there and watch.” He patted himself down and opened his suit jacket. “I’m not armed and you’re welcome to check everyone else. You’ve met Rena and Chait.” They each nodded. “That’s Jason who already knows to stay away from you.” David smiled. “Actually, I think we all do.”
Hayden’s face remained expressionless.
“From what I hear, you’re well informed,” David continued.
“Yeah. You guys read minds and crap.” Hayden folded his arms over his chest. “I’m relying on the fact that you guys know what I’ll do if anything happens to Tessa.”
David held his hands palms out. “We got it. You stay cool. We’ll stay cool.”
“Good. Get started. I have things to do.” Hayden backed away and leaned against the wall near the broken window.
“Tessa, why don’t you take a chair?” David asked.
I glanced around at the bare walls and open ductwork on the high ceilings. No one lurked in the corners but I remained standing, my arms crossed over my chest. “No, thank you.”
David, Chait and Rena sat.
“Our apologies for the incident yesterday. I was misinformed or never would’ve approved it. And they weren’t supposed to use force.” He glanced at Rena long enough to drive the point home. “Our intentions aren’t to hurt you.”
“Let’s cut to the chase.” I inhaled deeply. “Why would I believe you guys over Ms. Phillips and Mr. Linton? Both sides have a pretty good spiel so far, but your actions leave a lot of room for doubt.”
“You’re right. All we ask is a chance to give our side,” David said.
“What if, in the end, I choose them? Then what? You guys will kill me?”
Chait stiffened in his chair. “We don’t go around murdering people because we don’t like their choices. That’s Frank and Lila’s style, not ours. We’d rather everyone picked us but we can’t use force. The only reason we’d need to kill anyone is if they came after us.”
“You’re wasting your time.” Rena kept her gaze averted as she tapped a fingernail on the seat of her wooden chair. “She’s not going to help us, no matter how hard you try to convince her, Chait. In the end, even if she does, she’ll still end up like her sister. She won’t be any use to us either way.”
Chait’s head whipped around, his blue eyes cutting into hers. “What?”
My brows knitted. “Do you mean Bree?”
Rena smirked. “No. Your big sister. Zoe.”
“Big sister?” A vague memory washed over me. Blond hair, green eyes — a girl who looked a lot like me. In my mind, my beloved older sister hovered over me; the ends of her long hair brushed my cheeks as she tickled me and I squealed.
“Zoe,” my mother had called out, “make sure you give her a chance to breathe.”
But that was a long, long time ago, before my family fell apart and everything changed.
The room swirled. My throat closed up and I strained for oxygen.
My older sister, though I’d forgotten her with time, had existed. My knees threatened to give way so I gripped the back of the chair to stay standing. “What happened to her?”
Rena’s brown, lifeless eyes met mine. “She died.”
Was the memory real though? Or was it only my imagination, a video created by Rena?
It felt like my other memories but different than the fantasies I’d gotten from Hayden before we’d kissed. The visual of Zoe was definitely a real memory.
“I thought you knew.” She met Chait’s disapproving glare and shrugged.
I knew now, but how could I have forgotten my own sister?
Another long-lost memory rushed me. My mom’s panicked shouts had intruded upon my dreams and I’d staggered out of my room, rubbing my sleepy eyes against the bright lights. Mom was shaking Zoe’s limp shoulders while my dad frantically dialed 9-1-1.
The ambulance had arrived while I’d stood there numb from crying, my cheeks and eyelashes soaked with tears. By the time they wheeled her body out on the gurney, covered in a sheet from head to toe, I’d already gone to that scary place you go when reality is too much, when you know it can’t get any worse. When you turn everything off.
I remembered everything now as if I’d never forgotten. My memories. Not fabricated. “How did she die?”
“The official report says heart attack.” Rena had lost the smirk but I wondered if she felt badly about the situation or only pretended compassion — for Chait and David’s benefit.
“But you don’t think so?” I asked.
“C’mon. A young healthy teenager drops dead from a heart attack? Doubtful. They killed her,” she said.
I cringed at her choice of words. Hayden moved in my peripheral vision, but I shook my head to signal him to stay. He retreated to the corner. Good. I wanted as much information as I could get without Hayden distracting them. “Frank and Lila?”
“Who else?” she asked.
“How?”
“A Mover can shift molecules, speed things up, create heat. They could have over worked her heart until it gave up.”
That made sense. The more answers I got, the steadier my legs grew beneath me. But I still clung to the back of the chair for support, just in case. I would’ve preferred to sit, but I didn’t want
to look vulnerable to these people since I had no idea if they were really my friends. “So my sister was a witch?”
“Yes.” Rena’s gaze drifted as though she’d lost interest in the subject matter.
“But why would anyone want to kill her?”
“Maybe they suspected she’d chosen sides. She still lived with her parents which left her unprotected.” David shook his head, eyes full of sympathy. “Tessa, I’m sorry.”
My grandmother had passed away, too, about four years ago. A more recent memory of her mingled with the others wreaking havoc in my head and my chest tightened. I blinked and a teardrop slid down my cheek.
I still missed Grandma. I remembered how she’d always smelled of orange blossoms, how much I loved her and that weekends were my favorite time of the week. Not because there was no school, but because sometimes I got to see Grandma.
There were photos of her scattered throughout the house. Not of Zoe though. It was as if they’d erased their daughter, my sister, from their lives by removing evidence of her existence. Until now, it had worked.
My throat ached and I desperately needed a moment alone so I could fall apart. But not yet. I needed more information. “My sister was a witch and so am I. But not my mom?”
“No.” David glanced at his colleagues. “Not that we know of.”
“I thought it wasn’t hereditary. If my sister and I were both witches, it has to be.”
“I told you not to listen to Frank and Lila,” Chait said gently, leaving his chair to drape an arm around my shoulder. I automatically leaned into him.
“Don’t touch her.” In a flash, Hayden stood at my side, bumping Chait away. He tilted my chin up and looked into my eyes. “You okay?”
“Not really.” My chin quivered.
Hayden wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face in his shoulder and squeezed my eyes shut a moment before pulling back.
“I’m sorry about your sister. If I’d known about her and that you didn’t remember, I would’ve found a gentler way for you to find out.” Chait glared at Rena.
“I guess I forgot she existed.” My voice trailed off. “How could I have forgotten her?”
With his free hand, Hayden reached over and wiped away the new tear with his thumb. “Well, I think this went well. Shall we do this again real soon?”