Page 38 of Reckless Devotion

Emily nods and stands, reaching for her brother’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me it had gotten this bad, Chase?”

I sink my eyes to the table and start gathering the discarded wrapping, feeling again like I’m prying into something I shouldn’t be.

“I didn’t want to worry you, kid.”

I hear something along the lines of, “Big idiot,” as I pick up the bowl and take it to the sink, followed by a light rustle that could be a hug.

By the time I’ve busied myself for a few seconds tipping out the water and rising out the bowl, she’s left the room. I turn, wedging my lower back against the sink and facing him. My skin tingles under the weight of his stormy gaze.

He walks toward me, something dark rolling off his tight shoulders. Suddenly, he’s right here. Looming over me, pressing me further back into the sink with the bulk of his body. A large hand snatches my chin, my heart pounding and adrenaline spiking. Fear steals over me, my hands gripping the porcelain on either side of my back.

It’s not the same. It’s not the same. It’s not the same.I tattoo the hastily erected mantra repeatedly into the back of my eyelids, forcing myself to keep a firm hold on the present—using the woodsy musk scent that is all I can smell. The worst thing I could do right now would be to give in to the fog tempting me backward.

“If I catch even one whiff of this in the tabloids, I swear on everything I hold dear that I will bury you in litigation for the rest of your life. Got it?”

I attempt to pull my chin out of his grip, but long fingers keep me pinned in place, my own irritation flaring hot and fast. “I would never do that!”

“Oh really, so you didn’t leak my company’s private information to the press?”The thinly veiled sarcasm in his words stings for a reason I can’t quite pinpoint, and this time I’m successful in tearing my face out of his hand. I slip out from the small space he has me confined in and square my shoulders at him.

“This is different. This is your family.” I tip my chin and muster up what dignity I can, reminded of just who he is and why I’m here. “PerhapsI’mnot the asshole you think I am—have you stopped to consider that?” I throw his words from earlier back at him like poison-coated darts, and then begin to march toward the stairs.

“Pepper,” he calls out when I reach them. I pause with one hand on the wrought steel banister and look over my shoulder, seeing his features pitched into a frown. “Thank you.”He shoves his hands into his pockets. “For bandaging up my sister.”

I nod, and then hesitate. “I’m sorry your mom isn’t well, Chase.”

The clock ticking slowly on the wall is the only sound in the gleaming kitchen, its beat becoming hypnotic as I pitch headfirst into warm, molasses eyes. With every second that passes I’m convinced he’s going to say something about the inconvenient energy that crackles between us.

“I’ll have Norman take you home,” is all that comes out of his mouth, and although I know I should be relieved, some small part of me feels disappointed.

Chapter 15

PEPPER

“Miss Quinn, he’s with someone.”

“Look, Tessa. I think you are kick-ass, but either you let me through those doors voluntarily, or I’m going to drop tackle you to this floor.” I jam my finger toward the plush beige carpet, and fix the older woman with my steeliest glare. Do I feel bad for threatening a grandma? Marginally. Will the tornado of anger twisting my insides allow me to stop myself? No. Besides, Walker’s secretary might be in her sixties, but she’s tough as old boots from what I’ve seen.

“You wouldn’t.” She narrows lined eyes and plants her fists on her wide hips.

“Try me!” I hiss, stalking around her and flinging open the double doors to Chase’s office.

My stomach promptly falls out of my asshole. A beautiful blonde woman is perched on the edge of his desk, her bodyangled toward him in a crisp white dress that hugs her slender curves. The man himself leans back in his chair, also angled her way, a picture of masculine grace in a charcoal waistcoat and sharply pressed white shirt. He smiles at the woman with an easy, genuine warmth that makes mesquirm.

Their attention travels to me at the same time, and suddenly I have absolutely nothing to say. The scathing speech I rehearsed in the cab over here is nowhere to be seen, and as a result, I just stand here, anger making me shake like a shitting Chihuahua.

The blonde woman raises her honey eyebrows and then turns back to Chase. “I’ll…ah, leave you to it?”

“I’ll call you later, Evelyn,” he rumbles in a low voice, his burnt umber gaze trained on me.

The woman swiftly stands, smooths the front of her dress, and walks toward the door. I cast my eyes sideways as she passes, clocking the red-bottomed court heels and waft of expensive fragrance. Suddenly, I feel entirely inadequate in my flower-stitched blue jeans and sneakers. I don’t know why, but I never thought about the fact he might be involved with someone in any serious way. Not that it matters, and it’s none of my business…but still.

The door closes behind me and he smooths the neat Windsor knot crowning his navy tie. “Thank you for coming.”

The sentiment makes me explode. I’m talking full force pipe bomb, shrapnel in every which direction.

“Thank you?Thank you?!”I march over to his desk and place my hands square onto the top, leaning over to get as in his face as possible given the large walnut desktop between us. That dark slash of an eyebrow raises, and a corner of his mouth twitches. It only adds fuel to my fire. “You hardly gave me a choice! You’re soarrogant! So fucking pigheaded to think you can stroll into my life and—”

“Just how long do you need for this little rant?” He swirls his finger in a circle at me. “Because I have a call to make at nine o’clock and it’s rather important.”