Take the Fall (Take the Fall, #1)(10)

“?’Night,” she says and then continues on her way.

So, Tony Johnson’s Camaro is in my drive, and Rowan is in my house. Only one of those things belongs to me, and I intend to claim what’s mine.





Rowan


The back door slides open and I frown. “I told you to go home, Piper. There’s nothing left to do.” I fuss gently, turning around to escort her outside. She’s been at my side for the past week, tirelessly helping me with funeral arrangements.

Instead, I run into the door. Well, if the door was a warm, living thing made of Seth. “What the hell are you doing here, O’Connor?” I practically shout.

“Still my home,” he says and holds up something shiny. “Got a key and everything.”

“Nice story.” I take a step back and hold out my hand, palm facing up. “Hand it over so I can put it back under the rock you should be living under.”

Seth grunts. “Not on your life, Ro.” He pockets the key and I purse my lips at him in annoyance. “Besides, that’s not a safe place to keep a spare.”

“Like you care about my safety,” I snap and then smash my lips shut. Don’t let him see you like this, not one tiny bit of emotion. Be a glacier. An ice queen.

“I care,” he says simply. Sincerely.

Nonplussed, I stare at him. “Anyway, what do you want? If it’s leftovers—I’m happy to fix you a doggie bag so you can be on your way.”

“Maybe in a little while.” Turning slightly, he shuts the door and locks it. “Never know who might be skulking around here.”

Yeah, someone like you could be prowling around. “I can take care of myself.”

His black eyes flash. “I know you can.” He takes a step forward and then another and another until my back’s against the wall. I can smell the beer on his breath, but he’s in total control as he surrounds me. He holds my head in his hands and leans in, his coat touching me while his body remains only inches away.

He searches my face. My body prickles with awareness, seeking him, like it’s the most natural thing in the world for me to do.

I hate it. “See something you like?” I taunt.

He cocks his head to one side, his gaze drifting to my lips. I lick them. “Yeah. Damn,” he murmurs. “I didn’t know. This close. Yeah, I like what I see.”

Confusion sends me off-kilter. “That makes one of us,” I reply in a breathless voice that makes me sound weak.

His gaze jerks upward. His dark eyes burn into mine as he slowly eases away. “I f*cked up, Rowan.”

My heart slams against my chest. “Well, we all can’t be perfect.”

“I made you feel like shit when I sent you away.”

The reminder of the day he left me all alone in the visitation cell sends me over the edge. I want to hurt him. “I never felt freer,” I say softly, peering up at him under my lashes. “You did me a favor. So, thanks. And now that we all feel better, you can go.” I pat his arm a couple of times and wait for him to move.

“I’m sorry,” he says as if I hadn’t said anything at all. “I was full of hate and anger. I’m sorry.”

Tears prick hard at the backs of my eyes. I shove my finger into his hard chest. “You do not get to be sorry. You do not get to walk back into my life…my house and apologize.” I have to look away. My chest painfully squeezes in on me like a vise. “You have no right, Seth. None.”

I feel his hot breath on my cheek. “I know, but I’m here anyway.”

I have nothing to say to that. The old Seth I knew would have, well…he wouldn’t have screwed up in the first place. “Fine. You’re forgiven. Get the hell out.”

He laughs. “That’s my girl.”

I glare at him. “I was your girl. Now, I’m my own woman.”

His body straightens, his arms falling to hang loosely at his side. “Fair enough.” He shrugs out of his coat and hangs it over one of the kitchen chairs. “What is Tony’s car doing here?”

The change in subject combined with his casual demeanor makes my head spin. “It’s mine.”

His black brows crash together. “He make you pay for it?”

Jaw tightening, I shake my head. “The rat bastard owed us.”

Seth strokes the underside of his lip with his thumb. “Yeah, Tony owed us. Is he still around?”

I shake my head. “He moved away not too long after he got out of the hospital. Got caught with some barely legal chick, and her family ran him out of town.” That still hadn’t stopped people from thinking my brother and Seth were criminals. But, whatever, we’re from the wrong side of Forrestville. Where the yards are small, houses are smaller, and crime is huge.

But Gardner’s Auto Repair is the best damn shop in the Piedmont area, so all those good people from the right side of the track—like the Oaks neighborhood—hold their noses while they open their wallets.

I gaze at Seth once more. With his fitted slacks, deep plum-colored button-down, and gelled hair, he could fit in with those people, if no one knew it were him. He carries himself like one of those people—all confident and full of swagger.

Full of crap.

“What’s on your mind, Rowan?” he asks.