Page 67 of Written with You (The Regret Duet 2)
She giggled and pressed up onto her toes for a kiss, inhaling with the same content reverence I felt at the core of my soul.
The damn buzzer sounded again.
“Go,” I said, giving her ass a gentle smack. “Check on Rosalee too. She’s probably tried on seventy-four dresses by now, leaving them all over her floor. ”
“Only seventy-four?” She laughed.
We walked together, splitting off at the stairs. She went up, and I went to the screen showing the front gate beside my door.
And that was when my smile fell and my stomach soured.
Trent and Jenn were sitting in his SUV at the gate.
I loved my brother, but it was not time for a visit. He lived hours away; it wasn’t like he just happened to be in the neighborhood and decided to stop by. The last time he’d shown up, he’d cornered Willow and scared the piss out of her. Granted, he’d had some pretty valid concerns, but that shit was not going to fly again. Which was why, after punching the button to open the gate, I walked outside rather than inviting him in.
Jenn was out of the car first, jogging up the steps. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she pulled me into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
She chewed on her bottom lip and glanced over her shoulder as my brother folded out of the vehicle. “I talked to Ian about getting some things together for your birthday and he mentioned that Willow was staying with you. I thought it was a good thing and I…shit…may have mentioned it to Trent. And he may have gotten pissed. And he also may have insisted we drive up here to talk some sense into you.”
I groaned internally. Fucking Trent. The man spent years at a time avoiding anything and everything to do with me and our past. Then I find a woman who makes me happy, knows and accepts every fucking skeleton in my closet, and loves my daughter as her own because in a way she is her own and he suddenly feels the need to drive his ass up to ruin it all?
Fuck. That.
She made an eek face. “Heads-up: He’s really pissed.”
“Well, he’s going to have to really get over it. This is not his life. Not his concern.”
She nodded and then bolted off to the side as Trent made his way up the steps.
“You keep popping up like this, I might start to think you actually miss me,” I said, positioning myself in front of the door. If he was there to be an ass, he wasn’t going to do it inside with my woman and daughter.
He sauntered toward me, pushing his sunglasses up to his head. “I wouldn’t have to keep showing up like this if you were acting like a normal human being, not a pussy-whipped teenager.”
“Shit,” Jenn whispered.
“So, is that a yes? You missed me?”
“Fuck you. What the hell is she doing here?”
“She?” I questioned, just to be a dick.
“Hadley or Willow. Or whatever the fuck you’re calling her now.”
“Just Willow. And, currently, she’s getting dressed so we can meet the police at her house.”
He stopped in front of me and planted his hands on his hips. “Please tell me that’s so you can turn her ass in for fraud.”
“What fraud?”
“Don’t give me that shit, Cav. This is bullshit and you know it. That bitch has been playing you for months, so your solution is to move her into your house and give her unlimited access to your daughter? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
My vision flashed red, and I stepped up until our chests bumped. “You watch your fucking mouth when you talk about her. Do you understand me? This is my goddamn house. You don’t get to show up slinging shit you know nothing about.”
“You think I know nothing about this? I’m the one who fucking figured it out.”
Jenn tugged on his arm. “Trent, come on. Stop.”
He roughly shook her off. “Get in the car.”
“Why don’t we both get in the car and come back after you’ve had a chance to cool off,” she argued.
He turned a murderous sneer her way. “Get in the car, Jenn. This is none of your damn business.”
I slid between the two of them. “It’s none of your business, either.”
He stabbed a finger in my chest. “You are my business, Caven. Since the day Dad died. Whether you like it or not. And I’m telling you: This woman is bad fucking news. Her sister was a whack job. What the hell makes you think she’s any different? It was bad enough you didn’t want to press charges. But now you have her sharing your bed? What are you thinking? She’s a goddamn pathological liar.”
“You want to talk about liars, Trent? Let’s go stand in the fucking mirror.”
I don’t know why I said it.
