But Ryan came to me. I didn’t go to him.
“Ava…”
“I won’t stand for secrets between us, Brendan. I like you. I like you a lot, and I like where this relationship is headed, but no secrets. I’ve got enough family members keeping secrets from me right now. I don’t need my boyfriend keeping secrets.”
She’s so beautiful. So worked up. My cock is already reacting.
She’s also right.
So I tell her that.
“You’re right.”
Her blue eyes go wide for a second. Is she surprised that I agree with her? But she goes back to her fiery stance in a flash.
“Good. Now spill it. Spill it all.”
I may never get to the shower, but Ava’s more important than anything else. “Okay. Your father asked me to keep this a secret—”
“What?” Her arms clamp across her chest. “My father asked you to keep a secret from me?”
“Just let me finish, Ava. Please.”
She glares at me.
I sigh. “I take confidentiality seriously, but you mean much more to me than your dad does. Although…I don’t want to get on his bad side either.”
“Right now you’re about to get on my bad side, Brendan.”
“Ava. Baby.” I take her hand, forcing her to uncross her arms, and then bring it to my lips and kiss the back of it. “Could we get through tomorrow night? Your parents’ anniversary dinner? I promise after that I’ll tell you everything.”
She opens her mouth, and I brace for yelling, but—
“Why is everyone so concerned about this damned anniversary party?” she asks, this time in a normal tone.
I kiss her hand again, still reeling from the non-yelling. “I think because they want it to be a happy occasion. Twenty-five years is a long time, and your parents deserve this chance to celebrate.”
“But they’re keeping things from me. I feel…” She withdraws her hand, withdraws from me. “Something strange is going on.”
I tip her chin. I can’t leave her hanging. She deserves so much more. “I’ll tell you this much, but you have to promise not to confront your parents about it until after the party.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not going to make any promises, Brendan. I can’t. I don’t want to break a promise to you, so it’s better if I don’t make one.”
There’s that integrity that I love about her. “Fine. I won’t make you promise. Your mother and father came to see me yesterday.”
She drops her gorgeous lips into an O.
“They had a lot of questions,” I continue. “About some information that I found under the floorboards of my apartment.”
“You mean the birth certificate? And the lien?”
I nod. I told Ava about the lien her family trust holds on my property. I also told her about the birth certificate for William Elijah Steel.
But I didn’t tell her about the deed, signed by Bradford Steel, transferring all real property to Ryan Steel, her father. I hate keeping that from her, but she’s been so distraught lately over her family.
Fuck. I don’t know what to do. “Will you trust me?”
She scoffs. “Trust you? After you’ve been keeping things from me? How the hell am I supposed to trust you?”
“I just figured it’d be best if I told you everything after the party.”
“Brendan Murphy, you will tell me everything now, or I swear to God, I’ll—”
I can’t have this conversation. Not now. So I quiet her the only way I know how.
I grab her, pull her to me, and crush my mouth to hers.
Unsurprisingly, she keeps her lips clamped shut.
But I’m nothing if not persistent. I run my tongue along the seam of her lips, cup her cheeks, and within a few seconds, her lips part.
I kiss her with passion. With angry passion, but the anger is not directed at her. It’s directed at her parents for keeping secrets from her. I’m not sure what those secrets are, but I know they’re going to hurt Ava. For that I’m angry. So very angry.
She returns the kiss, melting into me, until—
She pushes at me, breaking the kiss with a loud smack.
“Damn it! Damn it, Brendan. I won’t let you do that to me.” She bites her lip, toys with her lip ring.
While my cock goes crazy.
“I thought you were different. But you’re not. You’re just like every other man out there. Out for one thing.”
“Ava, I’m not.” Though my dick begs to differ at the moment.
Ava’s cheeks are pink. The kiss clearly affected her, but she swipes the back of her hand across her lips. “Right. I won’t be kissed into shutting up, Brendan.”
I feel like an idiot. What was I thinking? This is Ava Steel. “You’re right. Kissing you was a mistake. I mean, it wasn’t a mistake. I love kissing you, but you’re right. I’m sorry.”
She meets my gaze, and for a moment, I’m not sure which way this is going to go, until—
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because…”
She sighs. “Brendan, come on.”
“Because… I promised them I wouldn’t. Plus, they said it might hurt you if I told you. And Ava, I would rather die than hurt you.”
Ava’s blue eyes change from angry to fearful in a flash, and she melts into my chest. “I’m scared, Brendan. So very scared that my family is in some kind of trouble. I don’t understand why.”
“I don’t understand either, baby.” I kiss the top of her pink head, inhale the woodsy peppermint scent. “But I swear to you, I will not let anything or anyone hurt you. I swear to you.”
She gulps audibly as she looks up at me. “How? How can you make that promise? How, when the tower is falling?”
“The tower?”
“The card I drew earlier. I swear to God, I’ve never had such negative feelings from a card before, Brendan. I couldn’t see anything good in it, and it scares me. It scares me so much.”
I draw her into my arms. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m going to do something that goes against everything I believe in,” she says. “I’m going to let you keep the secret until after my parents’ party. Thank you for being willing to tell me at all, but it seems to be very important to everyone that this party be allowed to go on as planned. I’ve worked hard for it, and so have Aunt Marjorie and Aunt Jade. And I…” She chokes back a sob.
“It’s okay, baby. Everything’s going to be okay.”
The words are automatic, and I want to believe them, but something nibbles at the back of my neck.
And I fear my words are a lie.
Chapter Five
Ava
With Brendan’s strong arms around me, I almost believe his words are true.
I almost feel like the tower has no meaning.
I mean, what are tarot cards anyway? I don’t believe they’re the be-all and end-all of everything. Yet I do believe in my own intuition and the guidance of the cards.
And that feeling of foreboding…of impending doom…