Chapter 28
Who The Hell Is Terrell Beck?
JESSICA
Seven Years Ago
Steam from the shower follows me out of my bathroom. Shadow said he would return in one hour to start my interview.
Sixes stands in my room, eyes wide. “Don’t tell me you were with Terrell Beck.
” Who the hell is Terrell Beck? Why would I be with him?
“Jessica! He’s a notorious player. Everyone in the territory knows that.
He’s worse than Charlie!” she exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you have no idea what I am talking about. You have beard rash on your face and neck. Your lips are red and swollen, like someone sucked the shit out of it, and you have a mark on your neck. You were seen with him this morning, and then you disappeared. Everyone was looking for you.”
“Why is everyone looking for me?” I clutch my towel closer around me.
“Shadow stopped by, and he couldn’t find you. He left a message that he would return to meet with you for your interview.”
“He left me a message?”
She scoffs. “You’re really asking for it. Anders will lock you up if he finds out about this. I’m surprised he hasn’t been here already, chewing you out for going to the concert last night with Shadow.”
Why would I be the only one in trouble? We went to the concert as a group, including her.
She forces me to sit at my vanity and starts to work on my hair. “Please don’t tell me you gave him your V-card.”
“What?”
“He likes virgins.” I really have no idea who she is talking about. I also have no idea when Shadow left his supposed message.
“Wait. How do you know that?”
“Know about that asshat Terrell?” She looks at me through the mirror, and I catch a glimpse of pain flicker in her eyes before she blinks it away.
“He used you?” I ask.
She shrugs. “It was a long time ago.”
I grab her hand. “I didn’t give him my V-card.” I think through the usual people I worked with this morning. I don’t recall meeting anyone new today. “Did he force you?”
She shakes her head. “No. But he made me feel like I was special. Then, when I gave in, he dumped me the next day.”
What an asshole. Guilt fills my insides. I should tell her the truth, but no one can know that I was with Shadow. He could get fired or worse.
Sixes fixes my rat nest of hair and expertly applies makeup to cover the redness on my face and neck, including the hickey. Instead of meeting Shadow for an interview, it feels like preparing for a date—the way she does my makeup and the clothes she set out for me to wear.
When Shadow returns, he conducts himself professionally.
He stays on one side of the sitting room and doesn’t move.
Every now and then, though, he gives me a sinful look, bites down on his lower lip, and then looks the other way.
A couple of times, he cranes his neck, and I see the hint of an almost-black mark peeking above his collar.
I smile to myself. I did that. I marked him, and somewhere deep down, I like it.
“I think I have everything I need. Your second interview will be with the Leads and myself in a few days. At that time, we will inform you of our decision on whether you will be joining the recruit program.”
I nod, and we both stand at the same time.
“I will text you if I need anything else,” he adds.
I nod again and follow him out of the room. Joe meets us in the foyer and moves to open the door for him.
He extends his hand. “Thank you for letting me come…” He pauses for a few seconds. “To see you on such short notice.”
I shake his offered hand. I didn’t miss his innuendo. I smile. “Thank you for making the time to see me.” He gives me a courtesy nod and leaves. Smiling like a fool, I close the door. A blush creeps over my cheeks when I notice Joe studying me, but he doesn’t comment on our exchange.
“Miss Emily is in your room, waiting for you,” Joe informs me.
I thank him and rush upstairs. Emily sits on my bed’s lavender quilt with hints of green in the patchwork design propped up on matching pillows, watching a movie. I jump on my bed, kiss her cheek, and rest my head on her stomach.
“How was your interview?”
“How did you know I had an interview?”
Emily plays with my hair as we watch the movie. “Ean ran into Shadow on his way here,”
“Oh, it was good, I guess. I’ll find out more after my final interview.”
“That was quite a long interview.”
“About an hour,” I clarify. She runs her fingers through my hair and pulls. “Ouch,” I exclaim, sitting up and rubbing my head. “What the hell was that for?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Oh, come on, you’re not going to tell me about you and Shadow? I saw the googly eyes he made at you and the way you blushed around him after the concert, and I know you were gone longer than an hour.”
Still rubbing my head, I mumble, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You two suck at hiding. Sixes saw the two of you in the hall kissing right before you disappeared. Joe let Shadow into the mansion.”
“Shit!” Confusion floods my brain.
“Yeah. Oh, shit,” she says, crossing her arms over her middle. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
“For...”
She huffs. “Sixes told me about the two of you, so I suggested that she didn’t. I implied that she saw you with the new hire near the stables. Then, I suggested to Joe that Shadow mentioned he couldn’t find you and that he would return.”
“Suggested?”
She leans forward. “I didn’t tell you?”
“Obviously, or I wouldn’t be sitting here wondering what you’re saying.”
“Right. I forgot. I found my new superpower,” she proclaims with a grin.
“You mean you can do more than just make noses bleed?”
She laughs. “Yeah. Shadow calls it the power of suggestion. I’ve been practicing on my brothers.
” I giggle. “A couple of weeks ago, Ean caught me sneaking out of the house. I told him he didn’t see me, that it was a stray cat.
Of course, I was being sarcastic at the time, but then suddenly, he walked right past me and began searching for the made-up cat.
” She shrugs. “Elijah complained about my room being a mess. I told him to clean it, and he did!”
I sit back on my legs, eyeing her warily. “Have you been practicing on me?” I ask.
“It doesn’t work on you or Shadow. I tried to get you two together all week.” I quirk an eyebrow at her, and she shakes her head. “Anyway, you two need to be more careful. You're just lucky I was around.”
“You’re not upset with me?” I swirl my fingers around in the fabric of my quilt.
“I just told you. I’ve been trying to ship you two together.”
“You did? I still don’t understand. Why me? He can be with anyone he wants. Plus, he’s older than me.”
She frowns. “He’s complicated,” she admits, looking away.
“It has to do with the accident ten years ago.” She doesn’t continue, swallowing the rest of her explanation.
This is a bit unlike her because she usually says whatever comes to her mind.
But Emily can keep secrets. She’s been keeping one about herself from everyone.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. I’m not blind. I see how the two of you are together. He’s your friend.”
She turns back to face me and readjusts her position on the bed. “You should know something, before things become more serious between the two of you.” She squeezes my hand. “Please don’t hate me.”
“I could never hate you, Em.”
“You will if I—”
The twins burst into my room. “What the hell is going on between you and Terrell Beck?” Jeremy growls.
“Who the hell is Terrell Beck, and why is he suddenly infiltrating my life?”
“When I find him, he’s dead!” Justin snaps.
Emily winces. “Oops. I might not have thought that through completely,” she whispers to me.
Emily calms the twins down and convinces them not to kill Terrell Beck for supposedly making out with me.
I wonder if that poor guy will catch some flak from the workers for Emily’s cover story.
I want to feel sorry for him, but I don’t, not after what he did to Sixes.
Then, Emily compels them to go make us some food and hang out for a movie.
She blows on her nails and rubs them on her shirt when the twins leave my room.
“I think I am going to like my new superpower.” We both laugh when my phone chimes.A text from Shadow reads, busy?
I poise to respond when Emily snatches my phone. “Hey!” I shout.
She rolls her eyes. “I need to teach you how to be more covert.” She responds to Shadow’s message. Looking up from the phone, she asks, “Did he say something to you?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like how he feels about you?”
He did, but I’m still so unsure what any of it means. He’s so much older than I am, and this is all new for me. I shrug, not knowing how to answer Emily’s question.
“I think he’s your true mate. That’s why he feels so alive when he’s with you,” she says softly. The phone chimes again. “You can’t tell?” She looks down to reply to him.
“I... I don’t know. What is it supposed to feel like?”
She gazes up at me. “What does it feel like when you’re with him? When he kisses you?”
I contemplate her questions. But I’ve felt that way with Liam, too. So, I can’t be sure.
“You don’t feel like this insane pull toward him, like he’s the only one who exists? Like if he fell off the face of the earth, you couldn’t breathe or survive without him?”
“I feel tingles when he’s near me, but I’ve felt them before…”
She plops my phone on the bed. “Before? Like with someone else?”
I slowly nod, realizing I kept that a secret from her, too.
“Who?” She moves closer to me, but I hesitate to answer. “Hello? You’re supposed to be my best friend and tell me things!” she shrieks.
I laugh. “I didn’t have time to really think about it, and then I forgot.” I attempt to play it off with a straight face, but I didn’t forget. I simply decided to keep it locked away in my heart.
She narrows her eyes. “Who? If you say Terrell Beck, I will strangle you!”
“Why does his name keep coming up? I don’t even know who he is!”
“Yeah, you do. He’s the idiot in town who jumped out of the car window to talk to you.”
I roll my eyes. “You saw that?”
She giggles. “We watched from the store window. Stop avoiding my question.”
“No, not him.” I sigh. Does it even matter anymore if I tell her? He’s not here. I haven’t heard from him since he left, and I don’t even know where he is. “Liam,” I whisper.
Her eyes widen. “You feel a connection with him and Shadow?”
“I don’t know about a connection. Just tingles whenever they’re around or when they touch me.”
“Man, you sure know how to pick them.” She refocuses back on my phone.
“What does that mean?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing. I mean it’s just that they’re like my family. That’s all.”
While that is partly true, there’s more she’s not saying.
She passes me the phone. “You better respond to him. He’s mad that it’s me.”
The twins return with piles of food. We all settle in, and eventually, Emily and the twins fall asleep on my bed while watching the last movie.
I forgot to text Shadow back so I read Emily’s replies. I stifle my giggles. Only Emily can get away with talking to Shadow like that. I glance over at her sleeping form. What are you hiding, Em?
A motion at the foot of my bed grabs my attention.
Suddenly, Shadow stands in my room wearing a fitted black V-neck shirt and dark gray sweatpants.
He looks younger, dressed like that, and it takes my breath away.
He motions with his head for me to follow him and leads me to my bathroom.
Just inside the bathroom door, he pulls me to him and kisses me.
When he pulls away, I murmur, “You’re turning into a creepy stalker.”
He smiles. “Emily called me an out-of-control hormonal teenager.”
I laugh. “I know. I read her texts.”
He tucks my hair behind my ears. “Just so we’re clear, I am your out-of-control hormonal teenage stalker.” He kisses my forehead. “Besides, you didn’t text me back, and I missed you.” He lifts me up onto the bathroom counter.
“I just saw you,” I counter.
He rests his hands on either side of my waist, leans down, and kisses me. “That was hours ago. If you messaged me back, I would have stayed in my apartment and spent the night texting you.”
I roll my eyes with a smirk. “No, you wouldn’t. You would have come here anyway.”
Smiling, he says, “Maybe, but just for a goodnight kiss.”