“What?” I ask, confused. “It’s Bennett. Why?”

His face pales. “I thought you looked familiar. Do you know who I am? Do you remember me?”

“Um … Vandal’s brother? Have we met before?” He doesn’t look at all familiar to me. I would never forget a man that looked like him.

He opens his mouth and then clams up when Vandal and Ivy come into the room.

“What’s going on?” Vandal asks, eyeing us.

“Vandal, can I talk to you real quick?” Lukas asks. “I need to talk to you about the shop.”

“So call me tomorrow.” He yawns. “I’m tired.”

Lukas’s face is hard. “No. We have to talk about it now.” He turns to Ivy. “I’ll be right back, babe.”

Ivy and I watch as they walk through the kitchen and out the back sliding doors, Lukas with his hand gripping Vandal’s arm. Something is definitely up.

“Is everything all right?” she asks me, looking just as confused as I feel.

“Yeah, I think so.” I shrug.

Vandal

Lukas is tripping out, practically dragging me through the house. As soon as we get outside I pull my arm from his death grip.

“Dude, what’s going on?” I ask him.

He points to the house. “Do you know who that is?”

“Who? What are we talking about?”

“Tabitha. Tabitha Bennett?”

He knows.

He fucking knows.

I stare him down, my breathing getting deeper as my heart thumps harder, like a drum.

“Leave it alone, Lukas. Go home,” I say, my voice like ice.

He looks at me with wide eyes. “Leave it alone? Vandal, what are you doing? Have you lost your fucking mind?”

“How do you know who she is?” I demand, fear growing in me at the notion that he may have said something to her while I was out of the room. She could be in the car with Ivy right now, waiting to get far away from me.

He crosses his arms and stares up at the moonlit sky, and then turns to me slowly. “I was there the night of the accident. I saw her, at the hospital. I think she was in shock; the nurse left her in the hallway on a gurney, all bloody and banged up, right next to me. I was waiting for someone to tell me what was going on with you. It was total chaos.”

“You didn’t tell her, did you?” I ask, stepping closer to him. “Just now, when you were with her?”

“So, she really doesn’t know who you are?”

“No. She has no idea,” I admit.

He paces across the deck, shaking his head, and comes back to stand in front of me again. “You can’t do this. Why would you do this?”

“It wasn’t planned. I met her by accident at the cemetery. She was a fucking mess, just like me. She was falling apart at her husband’s grave. I saw her there a few times, and the last time, I couldn’t stay away from her. Everything after that just kinda happened.”

“Kinda happened?” he repeats. “I can’t believe this. I thought you were getting better. I thought you were happy, and finally found someone normal to be with, and that you were going to just not be so … fucking dysfunctional. And now I find out this. You really do create your own disasters, Van.”

“I am happy, Lukas. And so is she. And look who’s talking. You’re no better than me. You’re just as fucked up as I am.”

“She’s happy because she doesn’t know you were part of the fucking accident that killed her husband. Vandal, come on.” I look towards the house to make sure the girls aren’t watching us from a window. “You can’t do this shit,” Lukas continues. “And for the record, I am better than you. I would never deceive someone like this. It’s cruel.”

“She loves me,” I say, but I know it’s a weak excuse because Lukas is right—I shouldn’t be treating her this way.

“You’re fucking tying her up with your sick shit. I saw her wrists; they’re all red.”

I grab his throat and push him up against the house. “I am not sick,” I seethe, and quickly let him go before I hurt him. “You don’t know anything about it or what we have. She’s here willingly. She doesn’t judge me. She wants it. She wants me.”

He shakes his head and lowers his eyes away from me as he rubs his throat. “Lukas, don’t fuck with me. You don’t understand. I can’t lose her. I’ve never cared about anyone like I do for her. She’s everything I’ve always wanted. She gets me.” He sighs and backs up a few steps. “I’ll tell her someday, but not now. She’s not ready yet, and neither am I. Just let us be fucking happy for a while.”

“Vandal, this will never work. When she finds out, she’s going to freak the fuck out. You can’t lie to people like that.”

“I will tell her, just not today. I need more time.”

“Time to do what?” he questions, throwing his hands up in the air.

“To make her happy, and show her who I really am, so maybe she can forgive me.”

He shakes his head madly. “I don’t know, man. This is so fucking wrong. She’s a nice girl, and you’re fucking with her mind and her heart. Do you even love her?”

Grinding my teeth, I take my time answering him. “Yeah, I think I do.”

He runs his hand through his hair, just like I do when I’m distraught. “Okay, look. I want you to be happy. You know that. You’ve had a shit fucking life and I think you need someone like her to love you and fucking help you get your shit together, like Ivy has done for me. I know what that feels like. But you cannot hurt Tabitha, Vandal.” He grabs my shoulders and gives me a little shake, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Promise me you will tell her soon. If you really care about her and love her, you have to come clean. Sooner or later, she’s gonna find out. You can’t hide her here forever.”

“I know.” But I want to.

“You could tell her now, while we’re here,” he suggests. “It might help, make it easier to have us here as a buffer or whatever. And if she freaks out, I’ll take her home.”

Rage rises up in me again at the thought of him taking her away from me, and taking her home to a dark, lonely house that is just going to depress her. “No. Fuck no. Not today.”

He sighs with exasperation. “Fine. I’m not going to fight with you. We had a nice day today. I noticed you didn’t have one drink and I’m proud of you for that. I’d like to have some more days like this. Just think about what you’re doing, okay? Think about her. Lies lead to more lies. You will never dig yourself out. If she really loves you, she’ll be able to forgive you. Maybe not right away, but eventually. You have to let that be her choice, not yours.”

I rub my temples as my head starts to throb. “I know, I know. Please, no more.”

“Are you still getting headaches from the accident?” he asks, concerned.

“Sometimes, when I get stressed out.”

“You should see the doctor. Don’t fuck around with a head injury.”

I wave him away. “I’m fine. You should go. The girls are probably having fits about us hiding out here.”

“It would be good for Ivy and Tabitha to become friends. Ivy is really sweet and she lost a lot of friends after the split with her husband, because they’re married to friends of her husband and all that shit, and they don’t like me. She would be a good friend to Tabitha, especially if shit goes down and she needs someone to talk to.”

Shit goes down.

As in, when Tabi freaks out when she learns that I crashed my car into hers and killed the one man she loved more than anything.

***

I can’t get to Tabi fast enough after Lukas and Ivy leave. I pull her to me and kiss her roughly, raping her mouth with mine, my tongue twisting around hers as I pull her blouse off and tug the white tank top down to exposure her naked chest. I cup her breast in my hand and squeeze her hard, her nipple immediately hardening against my palm. Dipping my head down, I suck her into my mouth, swirling my tongue around her nipple before biting it between my teeth while my hands work on removing her belt and then her jeans. I tug them down with her panties and force her out of her shoes, pulling her pants off. Fisting her hair, I twist her around and bend her over the credenza next to the front door, kicking her legs apart with my foot. I lick my fingers and slide them across her pussy, moistening them before I plunge into her, slamming her head into the wall. I pull her head up by her hair and bend down over her body, turning her head to kiss her.

“Sorry, sweetness,” I growl in her ear.

“Don’t be,” she comes back, breathless and panting. “Don’t stop.”

A wave of carnal desire floods me hearing her words and I pound into her wet slit harder and deeper. I want to fuck her apart, and crawl inside of her, and own every single inch of her. I pull her up off the credenza and turn her around, lifting her up and shoving her against the wall. Her legs wrap tight around my waist and she whimpers like a kitten as my cock slides back into her swollen, waiting folds. Linking her hands in mine, I stretch them above her head against the wall and seek out her pouty baby-doll lips, kissing her long and deep, our teeth gnashing against each other

“Can I …” She gasps against my mouth.

“Can you what?” I let her body slide down a few inches, so I can stroke into her with more force.

“Can I come?” Her voice is sweet, an angel’s voice saying a whore’s words. I love it.

“Yes, darlin’. You should come right now.”

And she does, because she does everything I want and need and ask for. And all of that fuels me and drowns out Lukas’s accusations and visible disgust in my mind. She clenches and grips my shaft, her juices drenching me. Releasing her hands, I slide mine down her sinewy body to grip her ass, pulling her away from the wall and holding her tiny body up with my arms as I bounce her up and down on my rock-hard cock. Her hands grip my shoulders and she kisses and bites my neck as I shoot inside of her.