Chapter Twenty-­Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Tobias

T im set up their RV for the night, insisting they sleep in it, no doubt due to the drama that unfolded today. I helped him set up camp, and with Cecelia occupied with her mother, dashed away to check both phones.

Oz identified the asshole watching us and is digging further into his background at my order.

Tyler was able to execute my request for air coverage, and the ETA was a half hour.

And fuckwit's superior ordered me to continue my watch and report. After a tension-relieving shower, I spent the rest of my day satisfied with bought time, intent on figuring out Antoine's motives and intent.

I will have to utilize my time wisely to make more headway with Cecelia, and I plan to do just that as soon as our unexpected guests leave.

After dinner, we gathered around a makeshift campfire Tim and I managed to scrounge up outside their camper.

Cecelia, Diane, and I sip wine as Tim tosses back the beer he has stocked in his cooler. We are all a few drinks in when Diane speaks up, inevitably ending a day's worth of progress.

"You haven't mentioned Dominic," she asks, looking between Cecelia and me. "Where is he now? "

I stop the glass halfway to my mouth as Cecelia's expression falls, and she turns questioning eyes to mine. We've never been faced with the question together, and try as I might, it's clear on both our faces.

Diane looks between us, her eyes budding with fear. "Please tell me he's okay," she pleads with me as Tim grips her hand in his.

"He died six years ago," Cecelia speaks at the same time I do.

"I think it's time you know the truth." Cecelia's gaze locks on mine as I finish. "The whole truth."

"Tobias—"

"It's time ," I stress softly before staring into the campfire.

"Tobias," Cecelia urges my eyes her way, and I gaze back at her, the fire lifting some of the red tint in her chestnut hair as she quietly assesses me.

"It's time."

After a few tense moments, Cecelia nods somberly. For the next few hours, we take turns talking, and I reveal a lot of my story, of the moments I've been reliving since I've been in Virginia, taking the opportunity to come a bit cleaner with Cecelia.

I leave out my history with Antoine, a secret I've kept for twenty years. As Cecelia and I recall the details of our sordid past together, Diane's eyes dart wildly between us while Timothy speaks up every so often with a question or a " holy shit. "

At one point, too much truth sends Diane into a tailspin, her emotions getting the best of her, especially when we relay the events of the night Dom died and the aftermath. Thankfully, she maintains enough composure to make it through the recall of Cecelia's return to Triple Falls leading up to me coming for her three weeks ago.

"And so now..." Diane eyes me, her voice hoarse, "what will you do?"

"I'm leaving that up to your daughter," I say honestly. "She'll be the one to decide."

Fear shudders through her physically as Cecelia swallows, refusing to answer her mother's question. It's clear she's raw and exhausted from a day of hashing out our past, and for the first time ever, speaking her full story. The sad part is, I still have too much to tell.

I'm not at all worried about hood secrets or any of our secrets being spilled, for that matter. For the most part, Diane has been looking out for the both of us since we were children. I feel safe in that knowledge and better for her knowing the truth of our reality.

"Is this the life you want?" she asks Cecelia. "Even after all that's happened, as dangerous as it is?"

He is, is what she wanted to say, but I can't fault her for it.

"It's my decision, and I've made it."

Diane bites her lip for several seconds before lifting her eyes to mine.

Timothy clears his throat. "I'm in awe, man. Truly. This is... what a fucking amazing story." He shakes his head and glances over at me. "I'm still amazed you went to prep school with the President, and you planned it—" he sips his beer. "Too fucking cool."

"We've hit quite a few bumps in the road."

"I never knew that part, either," Cecelia says, her voice filled with hurt and underlying anger.

"You don't know a lot of the details," I admit softly, knowing I'm in for it.

"No, I don't," she redirects, anger simmering in her voice.

"Ask me anything ," I remind her of the times I've tried to reveal myself to her in degrees over the last few weeks. Her eyes flare before she darts them away.

"Except it's not..." Diane says softly. "It's not a story, is it, Tobias?"

"No." I tip back the rest of my wine, emptying my glass. "It's not."

Diane turns to Cecelia, her expression blank as she gazes into the flames.

"What—"

"Mom, don't, okay? Just—" she sighs—"don't."

"I can't help it!"

"Well, you're going to have to trust me. I'm not yours to protect anymore. "

"That's... bullshit, kid. I'll always be your mother."

"This isn't that, and you know it." Cecelia stands and glances my way. "I'm tired. It's late." She walks around the fire to kiss her mother's cheek before palming Tim's shoulder. "We can talk more tomorrow morning."

Diane nods, barely registering her goodbye as I speak up in an attempt to ease her mind.

"Nine people are guarding us, watching this house, two of them safeguard Cecelia at all times, some are combing the streets of this town for any possible threat. There are two drones in the air right now scanning every square foot of this land and the land around it."

"Jesus Christ," Diane sighs.

"You're safe here. But if you feel more comfortable leaving, I'll understand." I scrape my top lip with my teeth, dreading my next confession. "And when you get home, I'll have the birds who've been watching you two for years finally introduce themselves."

Both of them whip their head in my direction, and I shrug. "I'm sorry, it was necessary."

Diane's eyes shine with a mix of shock and awe. "All this time, you've been protecting me ?"

"I promised Roman I would protect his daughter, and that includes protecting you. And I have good reason to be equally invested in your well-being."

She gazes up at me. "I knew when I met you that you were special, but this is some major overachieving, don't you think?" It's her first joke of the day, and I'm grateful for it.

"I'll protect her with everything I've got."

"Apparently, she'll do the same for you. By the way, she gets her badass gene from me ." Another smile, another joke, and I'm pretty sure the wine is responsible.

"Of course, she does."

"Tobias—" she starts again, her eyes softening substantially.

"No more tears, Diane, and no apologies. Okay?"

She nods. "I'll try. "

"Goodnight."

They give me a goodnight in unison as I walk into the darkened house, the only light on coming from the bedroom. I have no idea what I'm in for, but I slow my gait slightly as I make my way across the living room.

What in the actual fuck, King? Grow a set.

Speeding up my walk, I find her in the bedroom, staring down at her comforter as if it's fascinating. I circle her waist and nuzzle her from behind. "I know it was a lot."

She steps out of my hold, reeling on me, her eyes shooting blue daggers.

"What?"

"You met my mother , one of a thousand omissions you casually left out. Or how about this one: ‘hey, you know I'm the mastermind behind a secret society of vigilantes, but the President is a fucking part of it.'"

"I didn't—"

"You had months to tell me these details when we. Were. Together!"

"Well, in those months, the fucking club was the last thing I wanted to talk about for the few hours I got to steal and escape with you. Up until I met you, my whole life was work. With you, I was selfish. I told you that. I've admitted it, I've apologized for it. But back then, in that time, with you, I was just... myself, me, Tobias. Just a man in love with a woman and loving the freedom I felt because of it." I exhale. "I couldn't risk telling you those details about Preston, Cecelia. I'd already handed you my own demise. And we were still undefinable at that point, all the way up until the day we imploded."

" Preston ," she scoffs. "Even so, you still haven't learned, have you? Secrets and omissions tore us apart before and will again." Fury radiates through her frame as I try and stop the hemorrhaging before it starts.

"I won't let that happen."

"Won't you? "

"I'm trying, Cecelia, so fucking hard." Pulling off my hoodie, I run a hand through my hair before gripping the back of my shirt, tossing it off. Her eyes immediately drop, to the floor, disintegrating any hopes I had of resuming the intimacy we shared this morning.

Tempted to drive my fist through the drywall, I clench it at my side instead, as my frustration threatens to boil over.

"What you did today," she says softly, "for my mother, was... indescribable, so... selfless, and one of the most incredible humane acts I've ever witnessed, which only made me love you more."

I step forward, and she jerks her head back up, her eyes filled with accusation. "And you ruined it ! You ruined it by being the same jackass you've always been!"

"By being honest?!"

I step forward and invade her space, eager for this fight. Because she's fighting her emotions now, and they're winning, and to me, that's more important than the why of it.

"You ruined it by keeping me in the dark about the details. All these things, if I would have known even half of them, I would have had a better understanding of you, you fucking jackass!"

"You do understand me! You see inside me, you've been in places no one else has."

"Maybe so, but these things you consider details are vitally important to me, Tobias."

"Are you on your sugar pills?"

"What?!"

"Nothing. Keep your voice down. Your parents are outside." My head begins to pound.

Welcome to the bliss of domestic life, Tobias.

But it's not my own voice I hear. It's Sean's. "I didn't have time—"

"More excuses, not reasons." She shakes her head and scoffs. "Haven't you ever in your life blurted anything out? Ever ?"

"Once or twice, but only when fighting with you. And you know better, I've trained myself never to do that, you should know—"

"Oh, I know! Trust me, I know, you stupid French ape!"

Biting my bottom lip, I dart my eyes away .

"Don't you laugh at me! This isn't fucking funny! This right here is the why, Tobias. This is why a majority of our problems exist, because of your fucking secrecy!" She slaps her chest where her heart lay. "You want in here?"

"Yes," I clip, my blood boiling.

"You want back in here?" She says it again.

"Yes, goddamnit, that's all I want!"

She rounds the bed and steps up to me, and smacks the side of my head with her finger. "Then let me in here!" I gape at her in shock as she steps away, launching the next missile over her shoulder. "Until then, you're wasting your fucking time here."

"I was honest with you tonight!"

She balks at me as if I've slapped her before turning her back on me. "Just once—" she marches to the bathroom, clicking on the light—"just once, I wish I could make you feel what this is like."

"I think finding out that you were brought into my club and having a relationship with not one but two of the men closest to me is enough fucking surprise to last a lifetime." I hover by the bathroom door, and she pauses with the toothbrush in her mouth before tearing it out, the residue bubbling on the corner.

"That's not the same, and you swore you would never bring that up."

"Not to hold it against you, it was to make a point!"

"A choice point!"

"Fine. I'm sorry," I grunt, my entire body lighting with anger and frustration. "I just meant it was surprising enough. And just to make myself clear, I'm good until twenty years past death with fucking surprises when it comes to you."

"That wasn't a surprise of my design! "

"Doesn't matter. You've met your quota."

"That was then," she argues back. "I'm talking about now . Right now, at this very moment."

The idea of coming clean about Antoine gets tossed out the window as I step in shit, neck deep.

I'm fucked now, either way. If I come clean about our possible threat, then she'll only slam up her defenses .

One fight at a time, Tobias.

"I'm talking about being blindsided without a good reason when you've had time to tell me the truth!"

You're so fucked. Pack a bag for your ass and kiss it goodbye.

The man inside of me refuses to back down, the man who desperately wants to mend this bridge. He wants to crush her mouth, silence her with his tongue, and punish her severely with his cock. This is anything but progress, and I fear all my efforts the last three weeks are fruitless by how she's regarding me—which only enrages me further.

"I've had time? I've had time ? Putain." Fuck . She pushes past me, refusing to meet my eyes, and I follow on her heels. "Between bussing tables and following you around like a second puppy and getting the door slammed in my face, I've had time , right?"

"Don't you dare! I haven't slammed the door in your face!"

She squares off with me across the bed as I unclasp my watch and slam it on her nightstand, unloading my pockets. "Might as well have. And believe it or not, Trésor, you are not the easiest woman to fucking talk to. If the subject would have come up—"

She rips her sweater off, and my eyes drop to the swell of her perfect tits atop her heaving chest.

"Eyes up here, Pierre , and pardon me if I don't ask the right questions pertinent to the secrets you're keeping at the time." She throws up her hands. "Who the hell knows with you!"

"What do you really expect from me, Cecelia? Did you expect me to come back to you a completely reformed man with all the answers, who makes all the right moves? I'm still the same man—the villain. And I'll always play dirty to protect you and keep you safe. I'll consider making any allowance you need to try and make this work, but you're truly fucking mistaken if you think I'll shy away from the ruthless, unforgiving, and cruel parts that still exist in me when need be. You asked for the man you fell for... well there's two sides to him, and neither are going anywhere." I cut my hand through the air. " End of ."

I swear I see smoke coming from her nostrils, expecting fire to follow as her eyes narrow. In a flash, she shoves down her jeans and unclasps her bra before pulling open her chest of drawers.

"Don't you fucking dare!" I boom. "I'd rather you take that fucking Beretta from your purse and shoot my cock!"

"Don't tempt me, King!" She turns, tossing the fresh pair of flannel pajamas on the bed—same fucking pattern, this pair in light blue, and I've never in my life hated the sight of an inanimate object so much. She drops the fuzzy socks—the cherry on top—onto the pile, and I cup the back of my neck and stare up at the ceiling.

"You just want to hold a grudge," I huff. "We were getting closer this morning, and this is your way of fucking that up. You're cowering away, again ."

Silence ticks by along with the small clock next to her head, just before she hurls it at me and misses me by an inch.

I take a step forward as she jerks the top of the pajamas over her head, and it might as well be a knife to the chest. It's clear I'm not the only one who plays dirty. "We just relived every bad fucking thing that happened between us, Tobias. I think it's best we just stop talking."

"Yeah, because that's been working out for us so far. And it makes your whole argument moot. More silence—that ought to help."

When she reaches for the pajama pants, I hit my limit.

"If you so much as stick a toe in those goddamn pants, you're declaring war, and all bets are off!"

She shoves a leg in as my patience snaps.

"Merde. Bon sang, femme. Tu me testes au-delà de mes limites!" Fuck. Goddamn it, woman. You are testing me past my limits.

She pushes her second leg in, pulling the drawstring tight around her waist to rub the salt into my gaping chest. "Well, welcome to the fucking club, Frenchman! Good to see we're finally on the same page!"

"Anything but. We're not even in the same fucking place anymore. "

"Fine with me." She points to the door. "You know the way out."

She sucks in a breath, and I can see her immediate regret. The shred in my chest is barely manageable as I drop my gaze and grab a pillow from my side of the bed. "Well then, my treasure, I'll save you the trouble of showing me the door twice ."