Chapter Twenty
Zach was in her shower.
Because he’d slept in her bed.
Because they’d finally stopped making love—having sex—somewhere around three in the morning. And what was the point of him going home at that hour? Right? He had to be at the clubhouse by nine, and she’d planned to swing by the diner at the same time. That left precious few hours of sleep and it would have been pointless to send him home for what amounted to a long nap.
These were the excuses running through her mind as Toni watched the coffee drip into the pot. All very flimsy excuses when the reality of the situation was she hadn’t wanted him to leave. He felt so wonderful spooned all around her after they’d finally collapsed, sated and sleepy.
She should be exhausted. The lack of sleep should have had her stumbling around like a zombie. Instead, her body hummed and zinged with anticipation of what was next. Must have had something to do with the number of times he’d made her come the previous night—and once when they first woke up.
With a huff, Toni strummed her nails on the countertop. She needed something to occupy her until the coffee percolated and Zach finished up in the shower. It was either that or hop in there with him and start the process all over again. Fun, but not the wisest choice if she wanted any chance of keeping some distance between them.
It was becoming harder, no pun intended, to be with him and remain detached. A sex-only thing wasn’t going to work for her. Not when he was sweet, and funny, and seemed to genuinely care for her. And that sex? Well, it was off the charts. So much so that she found herself replaying it over and over, then fantasizing about what was to come.
And there in lie her biggest concern. She didn’t have the greatest track record making sound decisions when her body was in charge.
The coffee maker beeped twice and Toni poured herself a steaming cup before settling at the kitchen table. Sometimes she doctored it up, but today was a black coffee kind of day. Nothing to dilute the caffeine. Maybe it would wake her mind up enough to clear it of its sexy cobwebs.
While she waited for Zach, she powered up her laptop and skimmed through neglected emails. It’d been at least three days since she’d even checked them. A few messages awaited from the school district she worked for. The reminder of that part of her life gave her an uneasy feeling. With each passing day, she felt the desire to return to her life and job in Chicago fading away. The time in Tennessee had been wonderful. She’d found a passion for running the diner and seemed to be performing well, if the steadily crowded tables were any indication.
Decisions had to be made, and soon, as the summer was moving full-steam ahead. But nothing had to be decided in that moment. She bypassed the work emails and then her eyes landed on a message from Chris.
Shit.
How could she have forgotten?
Lots of orgasms, that’s how.
“What do you think you have that will make me come running back to you, jerk?” she asked aloud as she clicked open the email. It consisted of a short message and a video attachment. Unease slid through her. A video?
Toni,
The school district would love a copy of this. So would everyone in your shit town. You’ll be sorry if you mention this to Mark. Shit like this goes viral in a heartbeat. Come home and convince Mark to make me a junior partner.
See you back in Chicago soon. You have three weeks to return home.
-Chris
Fear turned her blood to ice while she stared at the unopened attachment. Chris had something. Something big. Something that would bring her running back to Chicago. “Please don’t let Mark have done something stupid or illegal,” she whispered. She’d do damn near anything to protect her beloved uncle.
Her finger hovered on the trackpad, but she couldn’t make it click the video.
“Just open it,” she muttered then clicked. A video screen filled the monitor and Toni stared in horror at what played before her.
“No.” She shook her head as her eyes flooded with tears. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening.” She tried to close it, but her hand was shaking so badly she couldn’t control the cursor.
Unable to turn away from her nightmare, Toni’s hand flew to her mouth, knocking her coffee mug to the floor in the process. The clatter made her jump so violently, she fell off the chair and onto the floor.
She kicked out at the chair and scrambled backward as though a million spiders were coming out of the laptop and gunning for her. When her back hit the cabinets below the sink, she burst into heaving sobs.
“Toni?” Concern laced Zach’s voice as his footsteps moved down the hall. “I heard a loud bang. You okay?” He stopped dead in the entrance to the kitchen. “Fuck, baby what’s wrong?”
Toni couldn’t speak around the hysteria coursing through her. As Zach started to kneel beside her, her stomach lurched and she shot to her feet, shoving him out of her way. Managing to position herself over the sink just in time, she lost whatever little coffee she’d drank that morning.
Zach rubbed her back. “Shit, baby, what’s wrong? Are you sick? Did, fuck, did I hurt you?”
Toni wiped her mouth and slid back down to the floor. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t process, couldn’t even think. Terrible memories that she’d worked so hard to move past descended on her like a category five hurricane. She’d have to return to Chicago.
Chris would win. No one could be allowed see that video. She dropped her head to her knees and let the tears fall.
“Toni?” Zach’s voice was starting to sound panicked. “What can I do for you, baby? Are you hurt? Do I need to call an ambulance? I think your phone is on the table.”
He spun toward the table.
Toni’s heart stopped. The video still played on the open laptop screen. He was going to see the very worst, most humiliating, and degrading moments of her life.
“No!” she cried crawling toward the table, but it was too late.
Zach’s arms dangled at his sides and his face was an ashen mask of confused fury. “What is this?” he whispered before screaming, “What the fuck is this? Is that fucking Shark?”
Oh God. He knew Shark.
Were they friends?
No one knew. Her parents had been so mortified by her behavior they kicked her out and never spoke of it. Mark would never betray her trust by telling her secrets. The Gray Dragons gang operated in a different county. It had been rare for any of them to be seen in Townsend, so no one from her younger days even knew about her association with Shark.
This was the first time she’d returned home since Mark rescued her from herself. No one was ever supposed to know about this. Did the MC know? Had things changed so much in the years she’d been gone that the MC and Shark’s gang were now connected?
“Fuck,” he spat out, pacing away from the computer then returning and pointing at the screen. “This is the motherfucker who has Maverick. That piece of shit that has his hands all over you? He fucking kidnapped my brother.”
Toni felt her world unraveling. The room started to spin out of control and bile climbed up her esophagus again. She sprang up, turned to the sink, and dry heaved since there was nothing left to lose.
Only there was. There was so much to lose now.
And one of those things was standing three feet away, witnessing her greatest sins.
How would Zach ever be able to look at her with anything but revulsion?