Spider Game (GhostWalkers, #12)(22)
Trap turned on the bench seat. “You never talked much about that, Wyatt. He had your girlfriend…” He trailed off, giving Wyatt the option to tell him or not.
Wyatt shook his head. “I went to school with her. She was beautiful to me. I put her up on a pedestal and didn’ see what she was really like. She had a singin’ voice that was so amazin’, everyone would stop whatever they were doin’ and listen. She refused to go out with me in school. I was younger than her because I’d skipped a couple of grades. She didn’ think I’d amount to much…”
“Are you shitting me?” Trap couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Wyatt was brilliant. How could a woman get it in her head he wouldn’t amount to much?
Wyatt shrugged. “I went off to the university and came back a doctor. I came back. To the swamp. To the bayou. She didn’ like that. She thought I should be a big city doctor. Make the bucks. She still wouldn’ go out with me. Then Vicq and his buddies got ahold of her. My brother and his wife rescued her, and I guess she wanted company. She strung me along for a while. I didn’ touch her because she was so fragile. I just wanted to take care of her after what they did to her. That lasted until I found out she was sleepin’ with a big city boy with tons of money.”
“Women f*ck up a man’s life,” Trap said.
“I thought so until Pepper came along. She suits me in every way. I’m a wild man and I belong here. I’m stayin’ here and raisin’ my family. I love Nonny, and Pepper does too. Joy didn’ like ma grand-mere at all. She pretended to, and of course our families were friends, but she didn’t like that Nonny smoked a pipe and generally didn’t have the manners Joy thought she should. Pepper doesn’ mind my team runnin’ in and out of the house. Joy would have despised that. She would never, under any circumstances, have taken in my daughters. I’m well shed of her.”
Wyatt slowed the boat as they turned off the river into a narrow canal. Saw grass rose up on either side of the boat and both men were careful not to touch the tall long leaves of the shrub. Razor-sharp, the leaves could easily slice a hand or arm. The boat barely moved through the water, and Trap could see fallen trees beneath the surface Wyatt had to maneuver around. The water was extremely shallow. Because of the constant erosion, the path boats took through the water was continually changing.
Wyatt lowered his voice. “All kiddin’ aside, Trap. I have to ask you this question, and you have to really think about it before you do this. You certain you know what you’re doin’? You take on this woman, you can’ just walk away from her when the goin’ gets rough or you’re caught up in the lab workin’ on some project that takes over your mind. She’s real and human and will need help adjustin’ to life outside a lab. She’ll have gaps in her knowledge you won’ think about. Pepper still has to fight feelin’ inferior because of what they did to her. As her partner, you’re goin’ to have to give her that confidence and protect her from outsiders.”
Trap sighed. He couldn’t blame Wyatt for asking. He was asking himself the same thing over and over. He had his uncles somewhere out there, and he knew they would try to kill Cayenne. He knew that with every certainty. If he were at all a decent man, he’d turn away from her. He also knew he wasn’t nearly as easygoing as everyone thought him. He knew he wouldn’t be the least bit laid-back with her. Not when he hadn’t had anyone of his own since his aunt had been taken from him.
It didn’t matter that he had all the money in the world, not when he didn’t have anyone to share his life with. Cayenne was his chance. His only chance. She was lethal. His uncles came at her, they’d be in for a nasty surprise. More, they had no idea what he’d become. He could protect his own now. He wasn’t the boy who had picked up a gun and shot his own father, but was too weak to follow up. This time, no matter what shape he was in, he could take them. He was a GhostWalker, and even running on empty, he could continue with his mission. He knew, he’d been practicing for a while now.
“I’m not giving her up, Wyatt,” Trap said. “I go back and forth in my mind, but seeing her, kissing her, looking into her mind and her eyes, she’s worth whatever it takes.”
“It’s not goin’ to be easy.” Wyatt stilled the engine, stepped into the shallow water and dragged the boat to the edge. “She’ll probably fight you every step of the way. Pepper did a lot of runnin’ before she settled down and committed to me. Your woman’s likely to do more than run, you scare her too much.”
Trap found himself grinning for no reason. “Maybe the crazy Cajun is rubbing off on me. We’ve been friends for so long I guess I started thinking I’ve got Cajun in my blood. I don’t think a shy, retiring kind of woman would suit me, although I have to admit, I do insist on what I like in my bed. I like that she’s got skills, though, and that she’s dangerous. I wouldn’t take the chance otherwise. Not to mention, I find that dangerous side of her sexy.”
Wyatt shot him a grin right back. “Yeah. You’ve got Cajun in you, bro. Gator’s woman has this knife she put right to his throat when he stole her motorcycle. He thought that knife was the hottest thing and once she showed it to him, seriously, she was done for. Pepper had one as well, not to mention she’s got that bite of hers. Makes things interestin’.”