Page 3 of Decker

Chapter Two

“What the hell,Deck? I know you can be direct but you’re not usually an asshole about it.” Decker looked at his friend and saw the censure in his gaze. Regret hit him over the way he’d treated Savannah. He’d been cruel and dismissive, and it was unfair. The truth was she’d done nothing at all to court his ire.

She was smart and kind and damn beautiful, and that was the crux of the problem. He liked her way more than he felt comfortable with. From the second he’d seen her, she’d instigated a pull in him like he’d never felt before and he didn’t like it one bit. He saw the hurt on her face when he’d sniped at her not once but twice today and shame at his own conduct made him drop his friends gaze and look away.

“I know. I was a dick and I’ll apologise.”

Waggs brushed his hand over his jaw and shook his head. “You’d better. Astrid and Adeline will have your balls in a vice if you upset their friend.”

The thought of either of those women upset or disappointed in him grated. He wasn’t frightened of them, but he hated the idea of making them angry. The last ten years had been tough, but Eidolon had saved him. As Eidolon had grown as each man met their soulmate, and so had his extended family. None of it stopped him from missing his wife and son, or the daughter he’d never had the pleasure of holding for even a second. He’d carry that wound to the grave, but it had made everything more bearable.

“You’re right. I’m gonna see if I can find her now and say sorry for being a dick.”

“Good.”

Decker remembered then that Waggs had been looking for him. “What did Jack need?”

Waggs gave a wry smile. “He’s just micromanaging and stressing about being away for three weeks. Go. I’ll tell him we have it under control.”

“Cheers, man.” Deck swept past Waggs, his eyes moving over the swathe of people dancing and having fun, looking for a head of golden-brown hair that hung in beachy waves over graceful shoulders. He moved through the guests, resisting Bebe and Laverne’s attempts to drag him onto the dance floor.

He stopped beside Adeline and Lopez, who were talking to Skye and Nate from the Fortis crew. “Have you seen Savannah?”

Adeline frowned at his question “What did you do?”

Decker gritted his jaw at the insinuation. “Why would you assume I’ve done anything?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps because you’re a douche bag every time you speak to her.”

Decker reared back in surprise. Yes, he could be terse and perhaps a little stand-offish, but he’d never been cruel until tonight and he was trying to fix that if only people would get out of his damn way.

“I’m not in any way horrible to her.” He refused to use the word douchebag in any way.

Adeline rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, Deck. Anyway, she left. You just missed her.”

Decker fought the sigh of frustration and thanked Adeline, but her words played on his mind and on a whim, he decided he needed to speak to Savannah and find out if he’d been an asshole to her. It was never his intention, but he wasn’t himself around her, she sparked too much emotion. Lust he could handle. He hadn’t been celibate the last ten years but with her it would never be just sex. Women like her always wanted more —the fairy-tale, the happy ending, and he just didn’t have that in him anymore. That had died with his family, but he liked Savannah, had found her witty and interesting the times he’d been around her, and he didn’t like the idea of her upset with him.

He jogged to his car wishing he had his bike instead, the freedom and peace he found on the machine soothing his soul. Instead, he jumped into his Mercedes C-class and as he did, he noticed the time. It was already after eleven and perhaps too late to just rock up to her home, but he could drive past and see if the lights were on. Decker made the drive in silence, enjoying the quiet and the handling of the car. He pulled onto the street where Savannah lived, thankful that Eidolon had the perk of being able to find information, both inane and life-changing, so easily. Her address hadn’t been hard to find at all and the thought made him frown.

He slowed, seeing the numbers of the houses slip by until he got to number twenty-five and frowned. He’d maybe expected to see lights on but not to see Savannah in jeans and sweater scrubbing paint from her door. He was out of the car in a second and walking up the path. Her eyes widened when she saw him, a flicker of pleasure before it was replaced by a wall of suspicion and indifference, which he deserved.

“What the hell happened?” He saw smudges of red paint and then his eyes made out the word beneath and his gut twisted, and tension made him straighten. Someone had written the word ‘murderer’ across her door and the thought made him furious that she’d be attacked in this way.

Savannah crossed her arms, the wet rag hanging from her hand as she glanced back at the door. “It’s nothing, just a bit of graffiti.”

Decker stepped around her body to get a better look and was struck by the reaction the person who’d written it had wanted. They’d wanted her to be afraid, to send a message, to intimidate.

“That isn’t nothing, Savannah.” His fists clenched and he had the desire to hit someone, preferably the someone who’d done this. He pulled his gaze away from the door and looked back at the woman who was calm in the face of it all and noticed the tiredness in her hazel eyes, which looked browner now, but he knew in the daylight they’d be an almost moss green with just flecks of gold at the edges.

“What do you want, Decker?” He could hear the fight and the strength that made her so alluring underneath the fatigue of the day and hated that he’d contributed to it in any way.

“I came to apologise for my behaviour. I was out of line and I’m sorry.”

Savannah sighed and it was deep. Despite that, she nodded and smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. No, this was a polite smile reserved for public appearances, not the real kind that lit up a room. He hated it immediately, but he nodded in return. He had no right to demand more from her and he didn’t want it anyway.

“Fine, apology accepted. Now, you can go. I have to get this finished before I go to bed, and it’s been a long day.”

“Let me help you, Savannah.” He held out his hand for the cloth and she squinted, obviously not trusting him and she had every right.