A squeak of outrage escaped my mouth, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. When Deck spoke, he told you the truth. With him—no pretence. The complete opposite of me.
I went to smack him, but he got a lock on my upper arms. I struggled, wiggling pretty pathetically considering he was twice my weight and a head taller. “I’m dating him, and since when is my hair any of your business?” Deck had no filter, kind of like me. Except I talked fantasy and bullshit; he talked real-life honesty.
“Were you singing on stage drunk? Did security have to drag you off stage? Did Matt cut you off?”
Shit, total change of topic and not in my favor. “Tyler has a big mouth.” He was one of Deck’s guys from his company Unyielding Riot. The men who worked for Deck were either ex-military, ex-gang or ex-fucked-up and dangerous. Wherever they came from, they all had specialized skills of some kind needed for the work they did, and most of it was illegal. But from what I knew, it was eliminating this world of some of the worst assholes.
When Deck went away on a mission, most of the time one of his men would stay back and keep an eye on me. Overprotective, obsessive-compulsive control freak. Could’ve used that when he left me for those two years.
“You holler, pretty girl?”
Deck’s hands dropped from me as the steady drum of boots came toward us. Tyler had a coffee in hand and a broad grin on his face. He was a definite cupcake—no second-guessing or wondering if you should take a bite or pass. He was a ‘grab it and taste while you had the chance’. And chances with Tyler would be quick considering he wasn’t the type to stick around for breakfast in the morning.
“Told you I’d be out in five,” Deck said.
Tyler shrugged, ignoring Deck’s frown. “Five, two, ten; it’s all the same.”
I laughed because that was such bullshit. Tyler had also been in the elite JTF2, and one second off could mean the difference of life or death. There was no half-assing the time. “Tyler, hon. I was just going to tell Deck about us.” I saw him visibly swallow and his bright-blue eyes widen with alarm as I playfully smiled and winked at him. Deck’s gaze shot to Tyler and I sweetened the pot. “It’s nothing serious, Deck. Just a few nights of us fooling around.”
Tyler stepped back and his hand tightened around his cup, which made the lid pop off and coffee spill over the top. He yelled as the hot liquid burnt his skin and he dropped the cup, black steaming liquid splattering onto the floor.
I watched with amusement, biting my lower lip to stop from laughing aloud because I wanted to play this out a little longer … until I saw Deck’s face.
“Deck.” I grabbed for him as he dove for Tyler. “Deck. I was kidding.” Whoa, I wasn’t expecting this reaction. Deck was always in control. Tyler moved too late as Deck slammed his fist into his face, and he staggered backward, landing hard on his ass.
“Fuck.” Tyler shook his head. “I never touched her, boss.”
“Deck.” I ran up and stood in front of him, placing my palms on his chest. “You look smokin’ hot, all badass and shit, but Tyler and I … yeah, so not happening. I was just kidding around.” I looked over my shoulder at Tyler still sitting on the ground, rubbing his jaw. “You didn’t have to tell him everything that happened Saturday night.”
“Pretty girl, you know I have to.”
Yeah, I did. I moved away from Deck who was silent and still looking from me to Tyler. “But, you said you wouldn’t mention the security thing.”
“And you really remember our chat that night?” Tyler said, brows rising.
I did, but of course, he wouldn’t think that. I had been slurring my words and stumbling. “Rylie said—”
He huffed. “Rylie was drunk off her ass, too.” Yeah, she was the perfect partner, and she didn’t even know it. Tyler got to his feet and before I saw what was coming, he hauled off and shot Deck one in the jaw. Except Deck didn’t go down, just staggered back a step. “I know the fuckin’ rules.”
A Deck rule—no messing with his dead best friend’s sister. I’d overheard him telling his men this when he first came back when I was eighteen … well, just turned nineteen.
He’d been in the back of my coffee shop with Josh, Tyler and Vic after installing all the security cameras. I was bringing them coffees when I heard him say, “Connor’s sister is off-limits.”
Tyler had laughed. “Damn, are you claiming her, Boss?”
“Fuck no,” Deck replied. “She’s off-limits to all of us.”
The coffees ended up on the floor as the churning mix of emotions threw me in a dark, closed cistern while his words echoed in my head.
At that time, I’d still had hope for Deck and me, even though it was a dangerous thought because I knew better for a number of reasons. But just hearing him say that, the reality of Deck and me never becoming anything more than what we were—and I wasn’t even sure what that was—came crashing to the ground and disappeared beneath the rubble of cement.
It broke me. And here I thought I had already been broken.
I remember the second our eyes met, locked, and then his cool mask of unemotional glare seeped into me.
I must have looked a sight with coffee spilled down the front of me. It had burned my skin, yet I didn’t feel the pain; only emotional pain was filtering through me. Then came the pissed off, and I kicked one of the empty coffee cups next to my foot.