Entice

Chapter Fifty-One

Tex

“What crawled up your ass and died?” Chase threw a tennis ball at my face and winked.

“I’m here providing entertainment to your poor broken body, and you’re making fun of me?” I taunted, throwing the ball harder, not to hurt him. No, I just wanted to warn him not to mess with me.

“Whoa there.” Chase chuckled. “Low blood sugar? Grouchy because you need food? The girls will be here soon. Do you need like a cracker or something?”

“Stop talking.”

“Wow, you know something’s wrong when the kettle’s pissed about its own color.”

“Dude—”

“And a dude comment?” Chase’s eyebrows rose as he threw the ball back at me.

I was seriously going to abandon my Good Samaritan nature and actually lose my shit for the first time in years if he didn’t stop poking me.

“I’m just tired.” I’d been tired for months. Ever since Mo had broken my heart by actually walking away when I told her it was what was best. I’d figured she’d fight for me. I’d figured she’d at least yell and throw a fit and tell me that she wasn’t going anywhere.

But she’d walked away.

She’d actually listened to me. She’d done the smart thing for once in her life. The one time I’d wanted someone — no, needed someone — to shut the hell up. And she’d easily left.

When I heard her crying in her room, I’d wanted to make it better.

So I’d brought over girl after girl in hopes that instead of being sad — she’d hate me. I wanted her hate. Craved it like a man starving in the desert. If I couldn’t have her love, I wanted her hate, because at least it was something. And now… now she wouldn’t even look at me. It was as if I didn’t exist, as if we didn’t exist.

“It’s hunger.” I nodded. “And sleep deprivation.”

“You aren’t smiling.” Chase pointed out.

“Hunger should make me smile?”

“No.” He shrugged. “But you always smile when you complain. You avert your eyes when you lie. So what gives?”

Damn him.

“Nothing.” I smiled.

“Nicely played.” Chase threw the ball back to me as we fell into a comfortable silence.

“Food is here!” Mil announced, walking into the hospital room with a bag of food that made my stomach grumble. She’d been sporting sweats all week, since she’d been staying with Chase every single damn night.

It pissed me off how easily they’d fallen for each other — how easy it seemed for them. Everyone had someone; everyone was blissfully happy. So yeah, I felt a bit like bawling black sheep. Sue me.

The smell of marinara floated through the air. Thank God. I needed something to distract me from wanting to bang my head against the wall. Maybe I should be the one taking an extended vacation. I deserved it. But Luca had told me I needed to stay in the country while the rest of the families figured out what was going to happen to Campisi’s empire — my empire. Was I the boss? Had I been reinstated as the son? Was my mother even alive? She’d fallen off the face of the planet since that fateful night.

I hated that, while the drama of Nixon, Chase, and Mil was all solved, my puzzle had just gotten more difficult. Scratch that. The pieces had been freaking mailed to the Seven Wonders of the World, and I’d been left trying to put together a puzzle without a stupid box to look at for guidance.

I froze, letting the ball drop to the floor. It bounced toward the door. Mo would be coming through that door any minute. I could feel it.

I knew she was following the food because the minute the smell of pasta dissipated, the smell of her apple perfume filled the air. I closed my eyes. I just had to smile. Smile and pretend like I’m careless. Play the part, be Tex — fun-loving, idiotic Tex — who doesn’t have a care in the world.

Right.

I could play dumb.

I’d been doing it all my life.

I got off the floor and started helping Mil take the food out of the boxes. My hand touched a few paper plates and was instantly covered by one I’d memorized for hours.

Her hand.

I knew every crevice, the arch of her palm, the feminine curve of her thumb. Damn, I memorized things for a living, and I’d done a fair share of memorizing her. I could tell from the softness of her skin if she was out of lotion, or if she’d gotten less sleep by the darkness of circles under her eyes. I knew exactly how many eyelashes she had on any given day, give or take two.

Obsessed? I was a man living for one thing. Monroe Abandonato. And she hated me. She wasn’t alone in that. I hated me.

“Tex?” Mo chewed her lower lip. She had purple circles under her eyes, and her hand was clammy.

“Are you sick?” It was out of my mouth before I could do anything about it. I felt her forehead. She didn’t feel warm, but something about her was off. Her eyes looked glassy like she’d been crying, and her body looked frail. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Stop.” She forced a smile. “Stop analyzing me.”

I’d forgotten how much she hated that. “Sorry.”

“Come with me for a second?”

“Sure.” I followed her out of the hospital room. I told myself it was wrong to watch her hips as they swayed — it would be better if my memory wasn’t so photographic. I’d be replaying images of her ass in those jeans all week long. Damn it.

Mo stopped at one of the abandoned waiting rooms and sat down, leaning forward so her elbows were on her thighs.

I knelt down so I was on eye level. “Mo? What’s wrong?”

Tears streamed down her face; she wiped them away with shaking hands. “I just had to be sure. I mean, I had to… be sure, you know?”

“Sure of what?”

“Because it happens all the time to girls. They get stressed and—”

“Mo—” I took her face in my hands. “What are you trying to tell me?”

Her eyes closed. She wouldn’t even look at me. “I’m pregnant.”

My world stopped. Not what I expected. My stomach rolled, and my heart started hammering against my chest. We’d always, and I do mean always, used protection. I’d never put her in that position. Logically I couldn’t explain it.

“I need you to pretend it’s yours,” she whispered, and then fell into full-on sobs against my chest.

“Pretend?” I choked out. “What do you mean pretend?”

“It was one guy!” She shook. “One guy, one night. I was mad at you, too drunk. I was so angry you’d left me. So, so angry—” She started trembling in my arms and I knew. I would protect her until my dying day. But first? I had a bastard to go kill.

I shouldn’t have given in so easily. But love has a way of making you do crazy things. So in that hospital waiting room, with the love of my life in my arms, I said in a choked voice, “Okay.”