Page 3 of Sleeping with the Dark (The Righteous 3)
“They what?” His voice came out harsh as his head snapped up to meet Cody’s gaze. Trev couldn’t live under the same roof as this man. He was already having thoughts that would distract him from his task for The Righteous or his law-abiding work, for that matter. The last thing he needed was for the actual object of his desire to be prancing around his house in practically no clothes.
“I’m sorry if you’re upset. I thought they had cleared it with you already.”
“They most certainly did not.”
Cody’s face fell, his icy silver-colored eyes dropped to stare into his cup. Trev pinched the bridge of his nose as his stomach clenched—he couldn’t stare at that face and be angry. “It’s fine.”
“No, you’re upset. I don’t have anywhere to go at the moment, but I’ll make it a priority. I’ll be out by the end of the week.” Cody’s eyes met his, and Trev’s heart hammered hard in his chest. His head yelled yes, get the fuck out, but the racing heart in his chest and the panic in his gut screamed no, don’t go.
“No, it’s fine. Seriously, stay as long as you like. I was just thrown off—I don’t handle change very well. I’m sure you’re shocked to learn that.” He gave Cody a slight smirk. “I just seem to be collecting a lot more house guests than I ever thought I’d have,” Trev said, his voice softer although he felt anything but relaxed.
“You’re sure?” The enthusiastic waver in Cody’s voice was not lost on Trev.
“Yes, of course. This is a huge house with more room than any one person could ever need.” Trev picked up his plate and tablet.
“You were in the army like Arek, right?” Cody asked, and Trev froze.
“Navy, I was a S.E.A.L.”
“That’s sick. You were a real badass then. I can picture that—you have this aura about you.” Trev’s eyebrow cocked up. “What was it like? I mean, is it as rough overseas as everyone makes it out to be, or is that all movie bullshit?”
Trev could hear Arek, Renee, and J.J. coming down the hall. Straightening his shoulders, he locked eyes with Cody and said the only thing that he could, “It’s worse.” He left his plate in the sink and said good morning as he passed the new arrivals. He ruffled J.J.’s curls as the kid beamed up at him like a little ray of sunshine. He figured the kid was destined for politics—he was the best negotiator in the entire house.
“Trev, could you wait a moment? I’d like you here for this,” Renee said, and he paused in his retreat. “Cody, we didn’t tell you this earlier with the trial and all. We just thought it would upset you when your future was uncertain.”
“Okay, this sounds serious.” Cody joined them at the island, his eyes giving away his worry.
“No, it’s not bad news. In fact, it’s good news.”
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense. What is it?” Cody asked, leaning against the island. He reminded Trev of a large cat lounging as the sun streamed in the window and bathed him in light.
Renee cleared her throat and looked up to Arek. “We wanted to wait until the verdict came back to tell you that you’re going to be an uncle.”
Trev smiled as Cody’s mouth fell open. “You’re serious? You got knocked up?”
“Yes, it’s true.” Renee blushed as Cody yelled in celebration. He scooped Renee up and twirled her around as she squealed.
“My turn, my turn,” J.J. jumped up and down.
Trev slowly backed out of the kitchen, letting the happy little family moment continue. He could feel Cody’s eyes on him and made the mistake of looking into his eyes. Cody mouthed,we’ll talk later, just before he slipped out of the room and down the hall. The last thing he wanted was to talk about that part of his past with Cody. As far as he was concerned, it was behind him. He’d never been the share your feelings type, and he certainly didn’t need to start now.
Cody stared up at the cloudless, clear blue sky, his fingers idly playing with the water as he floated around the pool on an inflatable martini glass. He’d bet his life that Trev picked this unusual floating contraption. On closer inspection, he’d bet that the man had picked everything around the pool, just like he probably picked everything in the house. Not only did Arek not seem like the type to select a martini glass over a beer can, but everywhere you looked was perfectly coordinated. Everything matched and was as well put together as the man himself.
He tilted his head to the left and let out a little laugh as his eyes fell on the towel rack with a label stating what it was. He smirked, his lip pulling up as he wondered what it would be like to pull back all those perfectly crafted layers surrounding Trev. What kind of animal lay beneath the calm exterior? He adjusted himself as the thought sent heat right to his groin.
He rubbed his face and then swore as sunscreen ended up in his eye. “Shit.”
So much for coming out here to not think about Trev. He hadn’t been able to get the incredibly sexy man out of his mind since he first laid eyes on him. Technically, he’d seen his face before on Arek, but other than being able to appreciate Arek’s good looks, there hadn’t been a spark. Trev, on the other hand, hello, Fourth of July. The man consumed his thoughts. How many nights had he laid alone in his cell and dreamt of holding Trev? Wondered what it would be like to taste his lips? For fucks sake he lost count of how many times he’d shamelessly jacked off to the image of the man kneeling between his legs.
“Shit.” Here he was again, with only one thing on his mind even when he had much bigger problems to occupy his mind. Like should he finish school or just get a job? Should he stay here or move out? He had some money stashed away, but not near enough to last very long if he decided to go back to school to get his degree and move out.
He rolled off the floaty, the cool water refreshing against his heated skin. He opened his eyes underwater and regretted it, the ghost of an image he tried to forget floating in front of his eyes. Cody broke the surface with a gasp and leaned against the side of the pool—guilt flowing through his body like icy tendrils as he remembered all too clearly his first ordered kill. The girl was one of Tyson’s playthings—a tweaker and desperate. What she’d been running or hiding from, he had no clue. Cody had arrived on the scene not long after she’d joined the gang, and he had to admit he liked her when she wasn’t getting high. She was a straight-shooter and easy to talk to with a great sense of humor.
Then, the girl had to go and fuck shit up. She made the grave error of stealing from Tyson. The guy always caught on to someone ripping him off. Cody had come to find Tyson often placed his workers in positions with opportunities to steal, just to see if they would. He could still hear her screams as Tyson beat and raped her to within an inch of her life before he dragged her out of his office like a bag of garbage.
He’d prayed that Tyson wouldn’t look his way, but just his shit luck—Tyson stared straight at him. “It’s your turn to prove your loyalty. Take this bitch out and kill her.” Cody had stared at the beaten and bloody face of the once cute girl and swallowed hard. He pulled his gun and walked forward, but Tyson grabbed his arm. “No, don’t shoot her. That’s too good for her. I want her to drown. I want her to feel her lungs burn as she chokes to death. Oh, and Cody, I want pictures of everything, make sure I can imagine being there..” His hand had been so large around her neck as he held her under the dirty water, her hands clawing at his arm as he cried. He kept saying sorry like that made up for what he was doing.
Just like a dog shaking off water, he tried to shake the memory away. It never worked long. The faces of those he murdered in the name of Tyson haunted him like a fucking bloodhound on his heels.
