House Rules(35)

“Bullshit.”

“No, truth. Unless you consider them family, you don’t give two shits. You like pretty things on your arm, not messy relationships that get in the way. You’re more like Dad then you want to admit. Keep in mind how he and Mom met.”

I slammed my fist against the desk. “Enough.”

Every word he spoke was closer to the truth than I wanted to admit. I was like my dad, but that didn’t give Ashton the right to question my motives. Maybe it pissed me off that he was right, or maybe I was less tolerant because I was so fucking busy I couldn’t see which way was up. Either way, I wasn’t listening to it anymore. My shoulders tensed beneath the fabric of my suit jacket, the desire to hit something overwhelming.

“Holy fuck. The why doesn’t matter. I’m going to see what I can find out about Wasden’s debt.”

“You’ll figure it out, eventually. Until then, I’ll drop it. I’ll see if I can dig anything else up.”

His offer to help went a little way to cool my temper. My muscles began to loosen.

“Let me know what you find out.”

“I will. And when you calm down, think about what I said.”

I already had and wasn’t interested. I’d deal with it later. Right then, I needed his help to keep Tess safe, especially since she was being stubborn as shit about me getting her a place. I decided to ignore his statement.

“Thanks, Ashton.”

My brother had always been there for me. We might see things differently, but that didn’t change the fact I was grateful for any help he could give me.

“You’re welcome.”

We hung up and I looked at the massive stack of paperwork on my desk, all of it forgotten with the revelations of the last hour.

Tess.

What was I going to do about her?

I remembered the look on her face when she challenged me; when she thought Marcello might get her. Then I thought about our night together. Thought about my hands on her, her body under mine. Then I thought about her being out there with every dickhead customer staring at her ass . . .

I grabbed the glass off my desk and hurled it across the room. The sound of it shattering was soothing. Never in my life had I been so twisted up over a woman. And according to her, I had no say in her life or how to keep her safe. She was right, I didn’t want a relationship. All I wanted was to help her out of the mess she was in.

Forgoing the paperwork, I picked up my phone.



Me: Meet me at Rock Bottom.

Dean: Give me 15 minutes.



My first instinct was to text back that he had five minutes, but that was ridiculous considering I had no idea where he was. I forced myself to focus on the work I’d come down to get done but had a hard time concentrating, thoughts of Tess’s sexy ass and all of the ways I wanted to use it keeping me distracted. Not too long after my text there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” I was aggravated with myself for letting a little pussy distract me from what I needed to get done so my tone was harsher than necessary.

Dean poked his head in the door. “Everything all right?”

“I have something I need you to do.”

As the door shut behind him, he threw a thumb over his shoulder and asked, “The brunette shaking her ass behind the bar. Isn’t that the one you won off Ray Wasden a few weeks ago?”

I jumped up and moved around the desk in a blur. Dean might be bigger than me, but we both knew who was tougher. “Enough. Count yourself lucky I think enough of you to answer your asinine question and not shove those words back down your throat. Yes, it’s her, but I don’t want to hear another word. Is that clear?”

Dean took a cautionary step back. “What can I do for you?”

He’d always been good at judging my moods and changing the subject was sometimes the fastest way to calm me down. He had no idea this time it would only fire me up more.

I backed up and leaned against my desk. “Ray Wasden owes money to Nathan Marcello.”

“Of course the dumbass would borrow from that asshole and not your brother. He can kiss his life good-bye if he doesn’t have the money to pay him back.”

“You know the little shit doesn’t have the money. Same reason he bet his girlfriend. Bastard doesn’t get it.”

“Okay, so what do we care if he owes Marcello money? Let him deal with the problem.”

“We wouldn’t except Marcello’s men showed up at Tess’s place the other night, looking for Wasden.”

“Damn.” Dean ran a hand through his hair and dropped down into one of the chairs. “I’m guessing the chick from the other night is Tess.”

“Yeah and I don’t want her mixed up in Wasden’s bullshit. She already moved out of her old apartment. Now she’s working here, I can keep an eye on her.”