Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
ROME
Tessa texts from beside me.
Her fingernails click against her phone screen, but I’m afraid if I look over at her, it’ll push me clear off the edge.
What was she thinking stepping in between Beau and me like that? What if he had lunged at me and she was the casualty?
My father, Beau, and apparently Vinny, don’t seem to understand that all actions have consequences. Beau would have plowed right through Tessa to get to me, and that’s because he has never been held accountable for anything in his life. The thought probably didn’t even cross his mind.
I lift my hip and pull my vibrating phone out of my pocket. It’s a text from the Halston sibling group text that I was added to without my consent.
Tess
We will need all hands on deck at Lush. Beau is already starting tiffs with Rome, and the night hasn’t even begun yet.
I slowly turn to stare at my little culprit. “I don’t need help defending myself, Princess.”
She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear but keeps looking at her phone. “Just like I don’t need a bodyguard because of my choice of clothing.”
First, she’s wrong.
And two, this is completely different.
“I watched three bellhops stare at your ass while we walked from the elevator, one man stumbled over his own two feet because he couldn’t look away, and…”—I point at the driver—“he can’t stop looking at you in his rearview mirror.”
He quickly averts his gaze when he makes eye contact with me from the backseat.
Tessa crosses her arms. “God, you’re worse than my brothers!”
I shrug and rest my back along the seat. “You were the one who said my career was in your hands. Keeping you close and untouched means I’m keeping my career safe.”
Close?
Untouched?
I’m out of my fucking mind.
We pull up to the bar, the Lush sign vibrant in the dark with a line of people wrapped around the corner.
Tessa’s warm breath fills the backseat with her loud, exasperated sigh as she reaches for the door handle. I quickly lean across her, the scent of her flowery perfume tugging on my attention.
“Nuh-uh.” I shake my head.
She pauses with parted lips.
I can’t stop staring at them.
“Are you going to make me wear your jacket into Lush? Because if so, I’m not going.”
Maybe I should.
“It’d make me look bad if I let you open your own door,” I say.
She narrows her brown eyes, rimmed in some kind of shimmer.
“Fine.”
I chuckle.
She acts like she had a say either way.
I slide out of my seat, open my door, and wait with my hand outstretched. On instinct, I glance at the space in between her legs. “Careful when you step out of the car.” I curl my lip into a smirk. “Wouldn’t want to flash everyone your panties.”
She peers up at me to flutter her long eyelashes. “You think I’m wearing panties?” Then she giggles while bypassing my hand. “How silly of you.”
The door of the car remains open as I stand there, frozen.
What?
I watch her walk confidently past the patrons with her chin held high. She finds Gia waiting by the bouncer, leaving me standing near the curb with all sorts of dirty thoughts swarming my head.
Before I shut the door, I bend down toward the driver. He’s staring after her with a sick grin on his face.
“Forget you heard that,” I snap, slamming the door shut.
I’m waved in by some of the other engineers on our team, the ones that work closely with Tessa, leaving her to deal with me.
Dylan holds out a long-neck beer. “To celebrate your first race with Vanstone.”
I take it, and we all clank the bottles together before slugging them backward. The malty foam relaxes me enough to chat with Dylan and the rest of the guys about the race, until I snag a glimpse of Tessa and Gia as they walk over to the bar.
Even though half of the establishment was reserved for us, the place is still packed. Tessa slips through the crowd, and I down the rest of my beer so I have an excuse to head that way too.
“I’m going to get another one,” I say.
Beck and I catch eyes as I move past the dance floor. He’s dancing with some dark-haired woman he hardly knows, with the rest of the Halston siblings off to the side, talking with Alejandro Suarez and his team. So far, no sign of Beau or Vinny, but I know they’ll show up eventually.
My phone vibrates.
It’s a new group text called, Earn Your Keep.
Beck
You’re up, Pierce.
I flick my eyes to him. He’s grinning in my direction, still with one hand on the woman’s hip, the other on his phone.
Me
What?
Noah
Great idea. We’re off duty.
What are they going on about, and why am I suddenly roped into it?
Van
We’re never off duty, and we’re never not representing Vanstone.
Per usual, they ignore Van and his words of wisdom.
Beck
Tonight is your initiation, Rome. You’re in charge of Tessa.
Graham
Tessa is in charge of Tessa. If anything, maybe he should be in charge of you.
I move toward the bar and pick an open spot a few feet away from Tessa.
Beck
Tessa likes to take advantage of our distractibility on nights like tonight. She’ll likely sneak off into the dark with some guy, and one of us will have to interrupt before it gets out of hand.
Noah
Or some guy will follow her without her consent, and we’ll have to set him straight.
Where were they the night that Vinny did that?
Me
And if I don’t want to participate?
Oh, but you will, won’t you?
I grit my teeth with the thought.
Beck
Then I guess we still won’t trust that you have Vanstone’s best interest at heart and assume what Tessa assumes—that you’re either here to 1. Ruin Vanstone’s image or 2. Overtake the team completely before running back to your daddy.
They’re so damn oblivious to the truth, and for the first time since joining Vanstone, I want to tell them everything.
As if I trust them.
Me
Challenge accepted.
I glance over my shoulder at Beck, and he nods while grinning like a fool.
“A Jack and Coke, please.”
Her voice naturally snags my attention through the bass of some song.
As soon as there’s an opening beside her, I take it. Our arms brush, and I’m already buzzing.
A second passes and then another.
My lip hitches when she pretends to ignore me.
“A Corona,” I say to the other bartender.
Tessa laughs under her breath and mutters, “Weak.”
“Excuse me?”
She tracks the bartender with watchful eyes. “Nothing, it’s just…a weak drink.”
Or a safe one.
After all, I’m sort of on duty.
I say nothing but continue to stare at her. The shimmer on her cheeks draws attention to her face. Even from the side, she’s alluring.
“Do you need something?” she finally asks.
“Just keepin’ an eye on my engineer.”
This time, she turns to face me. Her eyebrows draw together, an angry line in between them. “Did my brothers put you up to this?”
I squint. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The bartender places a cup on the bar in front of her. “Jack and Coke.”
Tessa switches like the flick of a light. She turns to him, smiles sweetly, and thanks him.
He eyes her for longer than he needs to, and a hot streak of something unrecognizable slashes at my back.
To steal back her attention, I reach forward and grab her drink.
With wide eyes, she gasps. “That’s mine!”
“And now it’s mine.” I wink. “Enjoy your Corona.”
I force myself back toward Dylan and the team, some of them near the bar and some of them joining Beck on the floor with strangers.
I rest against one of the reserved high-top tables and sip on Tessa’s drink with my focus impenetrable, doing what I do best: observing.
I have Tessa in the forefront of my brain, with her brothers whispering in my ear, and in the back of my head, there’s Vinny and Beau, who just so happened to walk in the door.