Truly Mine (21 page)

Since I had a blowup with Dara, I haven’t been to my dad’s office in several days. I’m not looking forward to seeing her today either. Her level of bitchiness has far exceeded what I’ve ever known, and it’s making everyone in the office miserable. Unfortunately, I’m the only one willing to challenge her, and I’ve paid for it with my pride.

That particular day, she was in rare form, and Kailin was her target. I can deal with Dara when she’s lashing out at me because she always has, but Kailin is off-limits. She’s my little sister and the baby of the family. I’ll protect her until the day I die even if it’s from one of my own family members.

As I walk through the entrance of the office, I can hear Dara and Kailin going at it again from the lobby. Shocked at the tone and volume of their voices, I rush down the hall and find them in Kailin’s office. Listening to the words coming out of Dara’s mouth, even I am disgusted at where she is taking this argument.

“Are you blind or just stupid? It’s obvious that he’s fucking someone else. As pathetic as Eden’s been lately, I don’t blame him, Kailin. She needs to buck the fuck up, and act like she has a backbone for once in her damn life and you need to quit being a sympathizer. While you two are in this office, you have a fucking job to do. I’m sick and tired of seeing you both mope around here.”

After I barge through the closed office door, my sisters look at me with wide eyes. “Are you serious right now? What the hell is wrong with you, Dara? Do you have no limits? This is your sister you are talking to.”

I make my way past Dara to Kailin’s side and take her in my arms. She’s a sobbing mess and understandably so.

Dara throws her arms up in the air and walks out of Kailin’s office, yelling as she goes, “Yes, coddle her, Tyler. That’s why she is the way she is.”

I let go of Kailin and follow Dara. I’m so pissed right now that I can’t see straight. I’m not going to let this one lie. “And why are you the way you are, Dara? Why are you a raging bitch? Enlighten me, please, because we would all like to know.”

“Mind your business, Tyler.” She enters her office and slams the door in my face.

I open the door, and it crashes against the wall. “You don’t get to do this anymore, Dara. Dad isn’t here to protect you. Dad will not be back here, so you’d better learn how to treat people. You don’t run the show anymore. We are equal partners once Mom signs the paperwork. This firm will belong to all of us. Whether or not you approve of how Kail and I live our lives does not matter.”

Dara is so used to our father allowing her to behave like this that she has no boundaries. They are two peas in a pod. In your face and abrasive are the nicest things I can say about either one of them.

Her verbal abuse turns up a notch. “You’re about as useless as she is anymore. Why are you even here right now? What the fuck do you even do around here? You couldn’t make it as a lawyer, and that’s the only reason Kail’s a partner in this firm.” Dara turns away from me and points at the door where Kailin stands, watching us. “And to make it worse, Tyler, she’s taking after you. She can’t keep up with Eden and me.”

Normally, my dad would be standing between Dara and me, forcing me to leave and get some fresh air. Really, all he would be doing is giving his pride and joy her way.

Well, I’ll be damned if I do that. Things have to change around here, and today is as good a day as any for it to start. Not to mention, now that we know that our father’s health condition will not allow for him to continue doing what he was so passionate about, it’s up to us to keep this business moving in the right direction.

This type of behavior is not going to uphold the reputation that he spent years building. No matter the strained relationship I have with my father, it’s important to me that we make him proud. With that said, I have to put Dara in her place and set a line in the sand that she’ll soon learn even she can’t cross.

“You know damn good and well that Kail is an excellent lawyer. She’s going through personal shit that you wouldn’t know anything about because you’ve never had a man who would put up with your shitty attitude for more than a day. Maybe you need to focus on your own personal life and quit sticking your nose in ours. Being a raging bitch has gotten you nowhere.” I turn and walk toward the door before looking back at her. “And I won’t apologize for not enjoying sitting in an office all damn day. I’m happy with what I do now, and I promise you that I don’t need you to approve of what I do for a living. Just for this bullshit you pulled today, don’t ask me to work your cases anymore. Good luck, and we’ll see just how useless I am when you have to do all your own work.”

As good as it felt to get all that out, the whole day has sucked.

I leave the office and meet Kailin at her house. We discuss Dara and her unwavering bitchiness, and she fills me in on some details about Eden that she has not shared with anyone else. It seems as if her husband, Cal, has been spending a whole lot of time dealing with his father’s mysterious illness, which I already knew. What I didn’t know is that she’s pretty sure another woman, an old acquaintance, is the reason he finds it necessary to travel back to his hometown and not let his siblings who live there handle the situation.

My sisters are a damn mess. Shit, but I am, too. We’re all a damn mess.

I don’t know what the hell is going on. All of a sudden, the people closest to me are hurting, and I don’t like it. Worst of all, I can’t fix it.

The month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Things are pretty much back to my version of normal now. Rion has gone back to New York for school. I’m busy with working on several cases for my sisters and one for an attorney in Chicago. I meet Cory at Perdue’s most every evening for a drink.

My hook-up with Katie was just that once. I haven’t even been tempted to go there again. I avoid her at all costs, and she’s noticed. I don’t care though. Sex isn’t enough, and the sex wasn’t good enough to begin with. She still makes it clear that I have an open invitation inside her pants. I have no interest and will never take her up on that offer again.

I’m content to carry on just as I always have.

I find myself thinking of Truly every single day. The few weekends that we spent together have changed something for me. If I believed in magic, I would swear she put a spell on me, that she ruined all other women for me. Somehow, I don’t look at women with the same intentions as I did just a few months ago.

It seems there’s only one person who fully satisfies me, and she’s too far away. I wish the miles were the only thing between us, but that just isn’t the case. I’d travel to New York every weekend just to see her. I have to remind myself that distance is not our biggest issue.

Truly gets inside her own head, and that’s a place no map can guide me. I wish like hell I could understand what goes on in that manic mind of hers. And how she can fight the feelings I know she has for me, too. I swear, she’s punishing herself, and this is just one of the many ways she does it.

What better way than to remain in a lonely state of being?

There’s no possible way that she has never once had feelings for a guy and wanted more out of the relationship.

Yes, I’m positive she enjoys the pain of denying herself the things she most wants, as fucked up as that is. The problem is, I don’t deny myself what I want. Quite the contrary, I don’t stop until I get what I want.

The more I analyze this whole situation, the more it pisses me off.

Aside from the brief conversation Truly and I had via text when I returned to Fallport, I haven’t heard from her. This is so typical of her that, until right now, I’ve not let it bother me like I did when she left Fallport last time. In fact, I’ve carried on with my life as it was before she showed up on her birthday a few months ago.

Don’t get me wrong. I miss everything about her. It’s not so casual anymore. We used to fuck, emotionless fucking. When she was here to settle her mother’s estate, it felt different. I chalked it up to being more mature than the last time we were together. When we were younger, only the start and the finish were exciting. Everything else was a challenge to see how long we could last. When I was in New York, something changed. What was in between the start and the finish took center stage. It was an intensity that I’ve never felt, and I’m pretty sure it’s because I love her.

The only thing I have left of her is that bottle of Chanel No. 5. It’s no replacement though for her smart mouth that I wish to God I could kiss every night before bed or her soft skin that I would give anything to glide my hands over every morning. Most of all, I crave the feeling of sinking deep into her while she moans my name and drags her fingernails down my back. No woman has ever felt like an extension of my own body when I’m inside her the way Truly does. Even so, I’m smart enough to accept that if she is not capable of being the partner that I need, then this is where it ends.

I’m forty years old and set in my ways. I have no interest in making a home or a life with anyone else. So, I’ve settled for life the way it’s been for years, and I wait to see where it’ll take me.

I’ll look forward to every visit with Truly. I do, however, plan on seeing her more often than every ten years. She doesn’t know it, but when I go visit Rion next week, I’ll be stopping by Truly’s office for an unannounced visit.

And I will make sure she remembers that I am the only man she needs, the only man who will bend her over that desk and fuck her like she needs it. Even though it isn’t exactly the way I want it, it is exactly the way Truly needs it.

pronunciation
dis-hahr-muh-nee

(n.) something disagreeable to the ear; strife

I
t’s ten a.m. on a Monday morning, and I haven’t yet made it out of bed. I have a few missed calls from the same number, but I don’t recognize it, so I’m not worried about it.

Being the genius that she is, Marie has left my schedule open this week, knowing full well that I would need it after a second go at Rodney Addison.

I don’t have a good feeling about this guy.

The past year, we have become lax in investigating our clients before we agree to work with them. We’re really lucky this is the worst that has happened. Frankly, I think we are all getting a little tired and feeling less interested in what once started out as a passion to help people.

Most of all, I’ve seen the shift in Marie. She’s been spending more time developing her lingerie line. It’s about time, too. She’s so talented, and her designs are absolutely stunning. Besides, her involvement in the business she shares with Lissa and me is a sore spot with her husband, Thomas. He tolerates it only because she was years into it before they even met. He’s a wonderful man, and he would never ask her to walk away, but he doesn’t interact with Lissa and me at all. He keeps anyone and anything to do with the business far removed from his life. The day she no longer is involved will be a very happy day for him.

Lissa seems to be only tolerating the lifestyle these days. I really think that’s why she’s dating Ellis. She’s never had an interest in him, outside of a friendship, and I’m surprised that she would be willing to risk losing that friendship just to have a companion who accepts what she does for a living. Being our first client and playing a major role in how we modeled our business, he knows exactly what Lissa does when she’s at work. He won’t challenge her.

Besides, I guess not everyone can be satisfied with being a lonely bitch like me. What a joke that is. I’m so dissatisfied with myself that it’s sickening.

Sighing aloud and rolling my eyes, I sit up and throw my legs over the side of the bed.

I miss Tyler. I miss him so much that it’s painful. Not only emotionally, but physically. My head and heart have ached for him since the moment he walked out the door, and now, my body is beginning to crave his touch.

I trace my bottom lip with my own fingertips, wishing they were Tyler’s fingers. I slide my hands down my neck and between my breasts. It’s been over a month, and I’ve been sexually frustrated. I was used to long lapses in my sexual encounters before I arrived in Fallport to settle my mother’s estate. Now that everything is settled, there’s no reason for me to continue seeing Tyler. One more thing that I can blame on my mother.