Southerin Nights and Secrets (Boys are Back in Town) Read online

  “Gin”

  “I’ll see you around, Beckett.”

  She couldn’t stay any longer, couldn’t hold her shit together with him standing there in the doorway where he’d begged her to stay with him just two days ago. Not with another woman, fresh from his bed, looking on. Her chest ached, her breath catching in a wrenching tight ball just under her breastbone.

  This was a time when she was glad she was Admiral Anton Crawford’s daughter. Not because she’d somehow inherited some of his magnificent SEAL-genes, but because his more-miss-than-hit parenting and devastating emotional body blows prepared her to not make a complete ass of herself in this moment.

  She made it to the elevator and held her breath until the doors slid shut. She didn’t expect him to come after her but the want that rose up in her for him to do it was overwhelming and made her knees buckle. Virginia grabbed the waist-high railing and held on knowing that if she let go, she’d be in a puddle on the floor. She just needed to make it home and then she could fall apart.

  The doors slid open and the building lobby looked the same as it had ten minutes earlier. Even the goddam sun was shining weakly through the rain-splattered picture windows and casting odd shadows on the wood floor. Virginia took a deep breath and let go of the railing, letting the sheer momentum of her pain propel her toward the doors and out into the parking lot. Here the sun was brighter and she squinted, a headache beginning its tattoo behind her left eye.

  A perfect reason to put on the sunglasses tucked behind her visor as she slid behind the wheel. A double protection from prying eyes as she started up the car on autopilot and pulled out of the lot. The world passed by in a blur of unshed tears, the sunshine mocking her current mood as she made the short trip to her building.

  The car slid into its spot, and she turned off the ignition just moments before she let the tears fall and for the second time in her life cursed herself for ever falling for Beckett Sutherland.

  Chapter Nineteen

  If there was a hall of fame for assholes, he’d just earned his invite.

  Beck slid the door to his condo shut and rested his forearm against the cool wood, counting the seconds as they passed by. He counted to ten. Twenty. He still didn’t feel like he had his shit together so he pushed back and immediately saw the faces of Jack, Lucky, and Teague. All of their expressions held some degree of “what the fuck” and he just couldn’t deal with it right now.

  “I’m not” he began, shouldering his way through the human wall in between him and a little bit of thinking space.

  Jack whipped his hand out and snagged him by the bicep. “Oh, yeah, you are.”

  Beck jerked his arm back, striking out, and shoving Jack out of his way. His friend was a mountain of a man, and he knew that if he were able to move him even a little bit then he was allowing it. He moved his gaze from Jack to the two other men and instead of the anger he expected, their eyes were clouded with something that really pissed him offworry.

  Fuck that.

  “Save it. I don’t need you guys giving me the pity party look right now.”

  “It isn’t pity,” Teague said, his voice deep and even, but the hesitation in his step, the random motion of his hands, gave away his agitation. “It’s confusion.” He took a step closer. “What the hell did you just do?”

  “I’m…” He rubbed his jaw, the stubble rough against his palm and almost painful with the force of his action. It couldn’t be any worse than what he was feeling when he remembered the look in Ginger’s face just a few moments ago. Beck pushed it down deep, he’d have plenty of time to kick the shit out of himself later. “I’m keeping her safe.”

  “Sounded to me like you let her think you just screwed Agent Chase,” Lucky said, his frown telegraphing the disapproval dripping from his tone.

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah? That’s it?” Lucky pushed.

  “It was the best guarantee that she wouldn’t come back. Wouldn’t try to be near me, to help.” Beck took a few quick strides over to the big bank of windows looking out over the condo parking lot. He got there in time to see Ginger’s car leave the lot and he watched it disappear. “I need her to be safe.”

  “And letting her think that you’re screwing around is keeping her safe?” Jack asked.

  Beck removed his hand from the cool glass of the window, not sure when he’d even reached out toward Ginger’s retreating vehicle. He wasn’t sure if there was any way to explain what he’d done and when they got around to what he intended to do, they were all going to lose their minds.

  He turned to face his best friends, his brothers, and convince them to get on board with his plan because he couldn’t get it done without them.

  “The last time I pulled this crap she stayed away from me for nine years.”

  “And you want this time to be for the rest of your life?” Jack jumped into the conversation.

  “If it means that she stays out of the sights of Danny Vega, then yes. She can hate my ass and be first in line to spit on my grave.”

  “We all saw you two together,” Teague was really confused, his brows twisted into a crease. “I thought…” He hesitated for a split second then narrowed his eyes. “I thought you loved her.”

  Beck stared at him, any words he could say were either too much or too little. But the one thing he would never do is deny his feelings for Virginia Baldwin Crawford. Never. He might break her heart, make her hate him, but he would not do this.

  “Yes,” he whispered, clearing his throat of the heavy emotion. “And that is why I needed to make sure that she stays as far away from me as possible.”

  “You couldn’t just tell her? She’s a smart woman, and I bet she could understand you,” Lucky said, his disapproval now tinged with anger.

  “She’s also loyal and stubborn, and I cannot risk that she’ll refuse to follow the plan.”

  “So, you decide to not give her an option?” Jack asked.

  “What if it was Michaela?” He eyeballed his friend and then made eye contact with the other two as he continued to drive his point home. “Taylor or Risa? What would you do?”

  “I wouldn’t let her think I was screwing someone else,” Teague argued.

  “She was soaked from coming in from the rain. Her clothes are in the dryer. Nothing happened.” Beck threw his hands up in the air in defeat at their stupefied expressions. “I didn’t plan that part. Gin jumped to the conclusion that I slept with her, and I went with it.”

  Teague pretended to wipe sweat off his forehead with one of his hands, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. “Whew! At least you didn’t plan to break her heart. That makes it so much better.”

  “Fuck off, Teague.” Beck stalked over to the man who usually understood him more than most, a little hurt that they didn’t have his back on this one and a whole lot of tired of arguing his point. He clenched his fists, giving it one more try. “I will do whatever I have to do to protect her, including hurting her. The only important thing is keeping her safe.” He took a deep breath and reined in his temper. “The. Only. Thing.”

  He did not give voice to the next thought that jumped in his mind, the one where he went to Ginger, explained it all and got her back. That was such a pipedream, even he couldn’t believe it.

  The silence was complete as everyone processed where his head was dwelling right now. They’d all been there and done pretty much the same thing, and he’d thought they were assholes, too, at the time and given them ungodly amounts of crap about it. Karma was apparently a bitch that did not forget.

  Lucky was the one to break the stalemate, walking by him and giving him a pat on the head. Usually Beck was the one to break the tension with humor or a stupid comment and his friend stepped up to the plate. “Okay, we all get it. We’ve got your back.”

  “Did you just pat me on the head?” Beck asked, turning to watch Lucky drape himself over one of the bar stools.

  “Don’t get twitchy, pretty princess.” Lucky gestured to the
woman standing just on the other side of the counter. “You want to explain why a hot, wet, half-dressed federal agentwho you’re not sleeping with is in your kitchen?”

  They weren’t going to like his answer so he might as well spit it out.

  “She’s going to help me send Danny Vega to jail.”

  “Wait. What?” Teague stuttered. “How is that going to happen?”

  “I’m going to wear a wire and get the DEA what they need to get him off the street.”

  “That’s the craziest thing I ever heard,” Teague said.

  “And for me that is completely normal.” Beck shrugged. “So it should work.”

  Jack turned to the woman in the room, his face betraying just how incredulous he was about this plan. “Why him? You have plenty of people on staff. Hell, you guys could have approached me.”

  “We did, Mr. Cantrell and you turned us down,” she said, with a twist of her lips that almost evolved into a smile. “I met Dr. Sutherland in the ER through his father and am aware of the ultimatum issued by Vega. I’m working undercover already and I think this might be the perfect way to get Vega to slip up.”

  “So you think he hates Beck enough to show his hand? To slip up?” Lucky asked.

  “Exactly,” she answered.

  “God knows Beck makes me lose my fucking mind sometimes,” Jack grumbled. “It might work.”

  “So why are we here?” Teague asked, gesturing toward Beck. “Because I’ve got to tell you as this moron’s lawyer, I’m going to tell him not to do it.”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything else. Of course, he will be covered by the agency for all activity under this operation,” Agent Chase answered. “Dr. Sutherland insisted that you all be present for this meeting, and we need him, so we agreed.”

  “Okay, Teague will keep the idiot out of jail but I don’t see why we’re here,” Jack added, waving a hand between himself and Jack.

  “You’re going to be my backup,” Beck cut off whatever Agent Chase was going to say. “This is not my scene and I don’t know these DEA people. I want my guys watching my six.”

  “Jesus,” Lucky groaned. “My mom is going to kill me for letting you do this. I have no fucking idea what she will do if you get hurt.”

  Beck shrugged, not even suppressing the grin when he thought of just how pissed Sissy Landon would be if he got hurt or ended up dead. They frequently joked in the Landon household that God checked in with Sissy to see how he was doing.

  “So don’t let me get killed,” he said.

  “Beck, this is a bad idea, and you don’t have to do this,” Teague made one last pass at changing his mind. They both knew it wasn’t going to work. “You’re not trained and even you have to be running low on sheer damn luck.”

  “You’re wrong,” Beck’s voice felt sandpaper rough as he tried to explain why he had the compulsion to do this. They didn’t have to agree, but he wished like hell they would finally understand. “I’ve got the chance to get Danny Vega off the streets where he can’t touch any more kids or ruin any more families. I am so fucking tired of seeing these children roll into my ER, and if I don’t do something, I’m going to lose my mind. I was part of that life, and I know how to do this.” He paused, looking each man in the eye as he pleaded for their help. “I’m going to do it without you if you say no, but I don’t want to.”

  The room was quiet, the only sound the faint traffic from the street below and the heavy patter of rain on the windows and his balcony. They all looked at each other, he knew the minute they jumped on board because Jack lowered his large frame onto his leather recliner and cursed creatively under his breath.

  “What are we doing first?” Lucky asked, rolling his eyes so hard that it looked painful.

  “Not you,” Beck answered, his tone noticeably lighter. Now that his brothers were on board, he just knew this was going to work. “The first step is all me.”

  “And what are you going to do?” Teague asked, his eyes immediately suspicious.

  Beck couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips.

  “I’m going to let Danny Vega frame me for stealing drugs from the hospital and get me fired.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “I have peanut butter pie from the Comfort.”

  Ginger looked up at the doorway to her office, taking in the sight of a lovely Dr. Michaela Cantrell waving a white paper bag with the diner’s logo printed across the front. It was her favorite flavor of pie and if Ginger had even the tiniest hint of hunger she’d be all over it but…not today. Her entire being was raw and achy like her very soul had been sunburned.

  “Really?” She mustered up a half-ass smile.

  Her friend glanced out in the hallway and entered her office, shutting the door behind her. She resigned herself to the fact that she’d spill her guts and then indulge in eating that piece of pie. It would join the pint of ice cream she’d crammed down last night in between bouts of tears and fits of irrational anger.

  “Jackson won’t let me cut Beck’s balls off,” her friend said as she plopped down in one of the chairs on the other side of her desk. “But he can’t follow me around all the time, and I’ll catch Beck alone sometime.”

  “You’re a doctor. Didn’t you take an oath not to hurt anybody?”

  “I will remove his testicles on my personal time.” Michaela crossed her arms on her chest, her blue eyes on fire with how pissed off she was on Virginia’s behalf. In a weird way, that made her feel better.

  “Thanks for being such a good friend, but I think removing Beckett’s little buddies might have a negative impact on your marriage to his best friend.” She leaned back in her chair, her spirits lifting a miniscule amount with knowing that Michaela cared. “I don’t want anyone picking sides. It’s not like we were serious or anything.”

  Her throat tightened painfully with the little white lie. No promises had been spoken or broken. Any pain she was going through right now was because she’d leapt off the cliff of wrong conclusions. And for a woman who despised the free fall, it was a spectacularly stupid thing to do.

  “I don’t think I believe you,” Michaela said, her voice low and laced with that “old money” Southern drawl. It was sweet like tea but smooth and smoky like the best whiskey. It was no wonder that she was able to soothe scared children and worried parents in her pediatric practice. “I saw the two of you together. I saw Beck, and he was serious about you in the way that only he could be.”

  “He didn’t make any promises. We didn’t profess our undying love for each other.”

  “So why do you look like somebody canceled Christmas?”

  “I…” Virginia debated keeping up the pretense. She was a trained attorney and she could deflect and fib with the best of them, but she didn’t want to. She wasn’t close with her sister, the shitty home they both survived had not pushed them together. Abigail had been one more thing that she was left to take care of when their father had deployed to dangerous places and their mother had withdrawn into the bottle. Both of them were resentful for the role they’d had to play as caretaker and it appeared to be an unsurmountable mountain of angst.

  She had a friend here, and it was getting old to go it alone.

  “I thought we were going somewhere this time. I read it completely wrong.” Virginia shifted in the chair, looking down to play with the edge of her calendar desk blotter. She noted the circle around the upcoming wedding of Teague Elliott and Risa Clay. She’d thought maybe she would go with Beckett as his date, and now she wasn’t sure if she was going at all. “Apparently we were just having a good time.”

  “And you were…right up to the point where he was sleeping with someone else?”

  “Pretty much.” She decided to go for broke and tell someone she trusted what she really felt. “I fell in love with him all over again, and now it’s like someone decided to try and cut a part of me out without the benefit of anesthesia. I’m pretty much a huge fucking mess.”

  Michaela sighed heavily,
her head drooping down, the heavy veil of blond hair shielding her expression. Virginia tensed, her belly doing at little flip flop at whatever bomb was about to land in her lap when her friend looked back up.

  “I gotta tell you that I saw Beck, and if were a highroller, I’d bet it all that he’s in love with you, too.” She held a hand up when Virginia started shaking her head. You didn’t do what he did to someone you loved, and now he’d done it to her—twice. “What he did is not like Beck at all. He screws around but he never leads a woman on, he never acts like he acted when he was with you.”

  “I know you believe it, but I can’t afford that kind of risk. I’m barely hanging on this time.” She pushed back from her desk, crossing her arms over her chest, anything to control the pounding of her heart since it seemed to want to jump out of her chest. “He said he wasn’t good for me…safe enough for me…and he was right.”

  “I hear you, but I swear he’s up to something.” Michaela scooted closer, leaning over the desk as if she needed to shield her words from people who might overhear. “Jackson came home last night, and he was in a foul mood but didn’t offer any details about his time out with the boys. Not a joke or a story about something stupid Beck and Lucky did. He kissed me then went straight into his office and called his father.”

  Virginia knew that Jack’s dad was the former sheriff in town, a position now held by Sheriff Burke.

  “Then this morning he leaves at the crack of dawn and heads off in Lucky’s truck.” She started counting off other facts on her fingers. “Teague wasn’t in the office this morning, and Sheriff Burke drove by my office with Mr. Cantrell riding shotgun in the patrol car.” When Virginia raised her eyebrow at all of the intel gathered in such a short period of time. “I didn’t see that last part but my office manager, Vergie, saw that with her own yes.”

  “The amount of data you collected in such a short time is kind of scary.”