“I don’t like any of this, either, and especially not with Tracy in town now, but we can’t run away from this, and we sure as hell can’t let them win, either. Wyatt is right, we stay and work this investigation as if it’s a routine op. Miah’s keeping the family shit on lockdown and Roman’s got his end covered. It’s up to us to find the rest and shut this crapfest down.”
“While keeping the rest of them safe.”
“Yeah, and our own women, too.”
“Jace—”
“Don’t give me that shit, Jared. We know each other too well, remember? You keep an eye on Paulie and make sure she doesn’t get herself in trouble with that crackpot Ronny, and I’ll grab Trace and find a way to start milking Senator Mayfield.”
“Christ, fine, just don’t come crying to me this time when she rips your heart out and crushes it beneath her designer heels,” he says. “You’d deserve it and I’d hate to have to point that out to you.”
“Screw you.”
“Love you too, little bro. Now go home and get some sleep while you can, I hear Trace and Ronny are having lunch tomorrow, and you may want to be awake to stalk her some more,” he teases.
“Thanks, Pot, I’ll consider your advice when you stop watching Paulie.”
I ring off still laughing when he starts cursing and hurling insults at my head.
That’s the thing about knowing someone as well as I know Jared, I can anticipate his every reaction. He loves Pualie, God help the poor woman, and is as incapable of admitting it to himself as he is of letting her go.
Me, now I’m a simple guy. Once I admit my mistakes, I fix them, whether anyone else agrees or not, and I will fix this stuff with Trace.
I just hope I won’t have to kidnap her and tie her to the bed in my room. Having your Ma puttering around downstairs just takes all the romance out of the situation, and right now I need to dig deep to find the shits so I can start wooing my girl.
Chapter Three
Trace
I hardly slept a wink last night knowing that Jace was still sitting outside watching my house like the well-trained maniac he is. The reasons are simple and include lust, more lust, and the fact that I felt guilty for lying to him the way I did.
We may not be on good terms right now, but one thing we never did was lie to each other. For some messed up reason, the thought of lying to him makes me feel like hell.
Oh, and did I mention lust?
Well it’s worse now that I kissed those lips again and had his taste in my mouth all damn night.
So now I’m tired, crabby, and forcing myself to smile at Veronica and Paulette while discussing plans for an upcoming wedding that most definitely will not be taking place—ever.
I thought I could go through with it just to placate Daddy while trying to build an investigation against him, but I know now that I can’t ever go through with it after that kiss and nearly having sex with Jace. It would feel like a betrayal and a direct insult to him and what we shared before.
I despise the guy, and yet he still has the power to turn me on like no other man ever has. The asshole. The sexy, lying…sexy asshole.
“Tracy, really, peach as an accent color? How terribly eighties of you, darling,” Ronny drawls, making me clench my teeth in irritation.
Like I care about her opinion or the fact that poor Mom is still living in the eighties and loves peach. The only freaking reason I’m here at all is to give Jace and his family the impression that I’m still in with this crowd. Plus, I really like Paulie and missed the hell out of her.
She’s the best friend I’ve ever had, and while we talk on the phone once a month, I’m glad to be here with her today, even if it kills me the way she hangs on Ronny’s every word and seems to worship the snake.
“What can I say, Ron, Mom adores peach and she’d be devastated if I didn’t agree. At least your dresses will be handcrafted by one of the leading fashion houses in the country,” I say, gritting my teeth when her bottle blond head dips and she huffs out a mournful sigh.
Poor Paulie just smiles apologetically and starts cooing over the shoe catalogue to distract the asshole while I try not to lose every molar to my annoyance.
Have I mentioned yet that one of the reasons I agreed to take this case in the first place was because of a rumor I heard about dear Ronny and her plans to have her cousin’s remains tested?
I know a lot more than Jace or his brothers believe, thanks to my clout in the Bureau, and I know that those remains are not Bolton Conrad’s.
With the Lanes tied up in an investigation of those remains, the current mission would be sidetracked, and I’d lose the advantage I now have. Which is pretty simple; with this new lead, I can quicken Daddy’s demise, or incarceration, as it may be, and free not only myself from his clutches, but my mom as well.