Loving War(59)

He has no fucking right to sound smug right now. It wasn’t too long ago his ex-wife was kicking his ass in front of the entire neighborhood.

Then his eyes connect with mine, and for a minute, I see something raw and conflicted teeming within the depths, though I can’t actually name it. When he speaks again, his voice is strained, as though he’s fighting real damn hard not to fall apart.

“Tria has a big heart. Most people can’t see it because she keeps it hidden from the world like a breakable jewel. She gives everything she has to those she loves without expecting anything in return. Even if you don’t deserve it, she’ll offer forgiveness. Don’t abuse that. She needs someone to care about her the way she cares about others.”

He has to be the most confusing fucking person I’ve ever met in my life. Dale shrugs, acting just as lost as I am. If you didn’t know better, you’d believe the selfish asshole cared about his daughter—well, both of them, actually.

I start to speak, but he interjects again. “Rain is strong. So strong. She had to be. She built an extra layer of skin that she needed to endure life, but Tria is so much more fragile. Rain bares her soul, knowing she’s safe from the world, but Tria keeps her emotions locked away, too scared of what rejection might come if she risks it all. But she’ll risk it all with you. She probably already has.”

He’s talking in weird riddles that make no sense to me, and he keeps pissing me off by acting as though he cares.

“I think you two should go,” the maid says when Edward buries his face in his hands and begins to weep. He’s fucking crying?

I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen a grown man cry like this right now. His sobs wrack his body, and he doubles over, swaying as though he might pass out.

“Now,” the woman demands, shoving me to get me moving.

Shit. She’s a mean little thing.

Dale and I both leave the house after being pretty much kicked out, confused bigger than dammit. I’m pissed that I didn’t get to lay into him with my prepared rant.

The door slams behind us as the sound of sobbing breaches the home—Edward crying openly and loudly.

“What the hell was that?” Dale asks, his eyes full of horrified fascination.

“Beats the hell out of me. Dude was usually always so unemotional. Hell, I can’t even remember him smiling or frowning. He was always just straight-faced. That… that was fucked up.”

Dale shakes his head as we make our way back to my car, both of us glancing back at the house.

He follows me, and we climb in, sitting motionless and quiet for a minute as we each try to process and rationalize what just happened.

“Think he finally realizes he lost it all? Divorce can sometimes be an eye-opener,” Dale says, sighing gravely.

“Maybe,” I say absently, cranking the car and backing out of the driveway.

I don’t know what’s more disturbing; Edward Noles breaking down and bawling like a baby, or realizing that even he saw his daughter had feelings for me when I was oblivious. I’m starting to think I should have paid more attention.





Chapter 19



TRIA



This is probably the most nervous I’ve ever been. I don’t know if it’s because this thing with me and Kode is finally real, or if it’s because I’m wearing a button-up shirt of his, with nothing else on underneath.

He can win the damn bet. Pete Mercer won’t be able to touch me. As sick as it makes me feel that Kode was hurt, seeing those marks on his fists… Well, it may be wrong, immoral, and possibly twisted, but I love knowing that he fought like that because he was protecting me.

Rain’s number shows up on my phone, and even though I don’t want to answer her right now, I also don’t want her calling while Kode and I are ending this stupid drought.

“Hey,” I say casually, trying not to let my nerves carry over to my voice.

“Finally!” she barks. “I’ve been worried to death about you. Pete was—”

“I heard,” I interrupt, not wanting her to give me the details.

Corbin came over earlier to check on Kode. Fortunately I had clothes on at that time. He gave me the details, including Rain being there shortly after the fight. I hate that she was there for him and not me.

“Then I guess you heard Kode charged in like an idiot and nearly got himself killed.”

I swallow hard against the lump in my throat. Corbin also gave me that gory detail. He also pointed out that Kode might have killed Pete if there hadn’t been a herd there to hold him back.

“I did hear that,” I say weakly.

“I swear. I don’t know what to do about him. It’s like he doesn’t think. We’re not kids anymore, but he can’t seem to stop fighting like he’s one. I’ve been talking to the guys, trying to figure out a way to talk to him without pissing him off. I’m the only one of us that he actually listens to, so it’s up to me to figure out how to get him to stop losing his cool before he gets himself into major trouble.”