A pang of sickness hits me as I start leading Allie out of the basement. Carrie’s the same age as Angel, yet she carries the scars of rejection and pain under the surface. Angel has a fire in her eyes, but Carrie has fear and worry.
It makes an image of a younger Allie pop up in my mind. She went through what Carrie has. I’m sure the details are definitely different, but the feeling of rejection, dread, and fear most likely interlope. The look in Carrie’s eyes is often the same one I see in Allie’s when she lets her guard down. It always tests my resolve, because I want to do everything possible to banish that look from her eyes.
Allie leans on me all the way up the stairs as I keep my arm draped around her shoulders. I contemplate putting her in a room close to me—close to Angel. But then I realize what a bad idea that is.
If she’s close, I might not be able to resist the urge to go to her and finish that fucking kiss that I never wanted to end. And I’d be kissing her like that while taking her body without any restraint. I swear I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want her right now.
If she’s on the west wing of the house, there will be plenty of time to talk myself out of bursting into her room, throwing her over the bed, and pounding into her like a savage animal.
“I think most of the east wing rooms are taken,” I lie, shifting so that I can turn us.
She follows me down the long hallways, talking about the beautiful Christmas party and how nice everyone is. I barely left her side just to make sure no one took that chance to make a nasty remark. If she wasn’t with me, I made sure Tria was with her.
Everyone is fucking terrified of Kode, after all. Kode doesn’t think before he hits, and if someone upset Tria, they’d have a bloody mouth shortly after.
“Tria was telling me about some psycho ex that is in jail now. She told me that’s how she originally ended up living with Kode after only dating him a little while. And I thought Bella had some bad boy stories.”
I tense immediately. “Would anyone from Bella’s past ever come after you? After the three of you?”
I hadn’t even thought of this. My blood boils, but it simmers when she finally answers.
“No. No one like the Pete Mercer guy that Tria was talking about. Bella has dated some terrible losers, but not violent ones. Cheaters and thieves are her specialty. She keeps learning that the bad boy look isn’t as hot when they turn out to be actual bad boys. That’s why she keeps saying she’s done with her type.”
I relax, slowly getting my temper back down. Thinking of anyone like Pete Mercer around Allie… I don’t know how Kode didn’t kill the son of a bitch.
“Is Tria safe now?” Allie asks, genuinely concerned.
“Yeah. Pete’s not getting out of prison this time. Not for a long, long time. He violated parole, violated a restraining order, trespassed on private property, assaulted a Sterling… The list of things Kode’s lawyers added to the charges is unbelievable. You wouldn’t believe how many laws are actually out there to be broken. Piss off a Sterling, and you seem to find out. He was back in prison quickly just for violating parole, not counting all the other things.”
Silence envelops us as she processes that for a moment. So I’m surprised when she suddenly shifts the subject.
“So that Ethan guy is your cousin?” she asks curiously, and I tense again.
She’d better not be fucking asking about Ethan Noles because she’s interested.
“Not technically, but we claim each other. Ethan’s dad was Tria’s late father’s brother. Tria’s adoptive mom is my real aunt. But when we were little, my mother always referred to Tria as Ethan’s little cousin. Since I was Tria’s cousin, I assumed that meant Ethan and I were also cousins. He thought the same thing. So now we actually claim each other.”
“I can see how that would be confusing,” she laughs, which confuses me. But to clarify, she adds, “I’ve never really been around a big family. Bella’s family is small. And the Johnsons didn’t have any family outside of each other.”
She pauses for a beat, as I think of which room to put her in.
“How old is he?” she asks curiously. “Ethan, I mean.”
Shit. “Twenty-seven. Same as me. Why so curious about Ethan?”
Don’t get pissed.
I wanted to strangle Roger that day he showed up at her house. And that was before… Shit. No. No. No.
“Just two years older than me and Bella,” she says idly, and my jaw grinds.
She didn’t answer the important question.