“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Well, that is interesting.”
I grinned wryly. “Yeah, well. I imagine Evan’s clean. What with your dad being who he is. Am I right?”
She nodded.
“So he changed. Evan, I mean. He changed for you.”
“He changed,” she said. “But it was for himself. I don’t think I could be with a man who was someone other than himself. Could you?”
“No,” I said, “I couldn’t.”
But I also couldn’t be with a criminal.
When we returned to the guys, they were still talking work. This time, the gallery space.
“You mentioned it before,” I said. “You’re opening an art gallery?”
“We are,” Cole said. “And it’s an amazing space. You should check it out, Evan.”
“You know I’m not signing on with you.”
I raised a brow as I looked at Tyler. “Something shady going on under the layers of paint?”
As soon as I spoke, Evan and Cole glanced sharply at Tyler.
He just shrugged. “I told her,” he said. “Everything.”
I saw them tense, and then relax at his next words: “I love her,” he added, then held out his hand for me.
The other men said nothing, but I saw the acceptance in their eyes. That was all it took, I thought, as I rested my head on Tyler’s shoulder. They were family.
“Come take a look,” Tyler said to Evan. “It’s not like we’ll make you sign in blood. And who knows,” he added. “Maybe we’ll end up going legit. Stranger things have happened.”
We stayed another two hours, and then Tyler pulled me away, making our excuses to the others. Angie gave me a hug, and Cole and Evan both kissed my cheek. I felt, I realized, like I belonged.
“I like them,” I said. “We can hang out longer if you want to.”
“Can’t,” he said, checking the time on his phone. “We’re on a schedule.”
“We are?”
“We are,” he affirmed, with mischief dancing in his eyes.
“Will you tell me what?”
“Nope,” he said, but when we stepped out of the building, I saw my first clue—a stretch limo, complete with liveried driver holding the door open.
I turned to Tyler to ask, but he just shook his head. “In,” he said, and I complied.
He followed me in, only now he held a single, blood-red rose. He gave it to me, followed by a long, slow kiss.
“I like this,” I said, when he drew away. “Mysterious and romantic. How far are we going?”
“Not far,” he promised, as he put his arm around me and pulled me close.
The watch that Jahn had given him brushed my shoulder and that, coupled with the fact that we’d just left a condo that had been owned by Jahn, made me remember what I still hadn’t asked.
“Will you tell me now why you won’t get the watch fixed?”
He turned, looked at me, and nodded. “Howard Jahn was an incredible man. Brilliant. Engaging. Entrepreneurial. He taught Evan and Cole and me everything we know,” he added, with a meaningful grin.
“He wasn’t, however, good with women. He kept too many secrets, and they always left. Apparently one of his first wives got so fed up with him that she threw the watch at him. And then another one did the same. Instead of fixing it again, he decided to wait until he found the woman of his dreams.”
“He never did,” I said, thinking of the broken watch. “That’s so sad.”
“I know, it really is. But when he got sick, he wrote notes to the three of us. And in mine he said that he thought he and I had a certain spark in common. That we each needed to find the right woman to make us whole, and he hoped that I would find her soon, so that I wouldn’t be lonely like he was.”
His eyes were on me as he spoke, and my pulse quickened.
“He said that time could start again once I found her.” His smile was quick and just a little winsome. “I’m hoping to have the watch fixed soon.”
“Are you?” I said, smiling.
“I am,” he said, and had just enough time to kiss me before the limo came to a halt and the driver pulled open the door.
I peered outside. “The aquarium? Weren’t we just here?”
“I thought we should try again. I like this place. I want you to have good memories.”
“But it’s the middle of the night. It’s closed.”
“Not for us,” he said, then led me to the entrance. Sure enough, we were allowed in, then led back to the Caribbean Reef Rotunda again.
“Tyler,” I said, the word little more than breath.
The room was set up with just one table, draped in a white tablecloth. A violinist played off to the side, and a private chef stood at the ready.
A single candle lit the table, and there was an empty bud vase for my rose.
I looked at the room, at him, and felt tears prick my eyes. “Why?” I asked.
“Because I look at you and all I want is to be inside you. To touch you. To throw you down and take you, any way and anywhere. It overwhelms me.”
“It overwhelms me, too.”
“But even with all of that,” he said, “I don’t want to forget to romance you.”
He took my hand and pulled me into his embrace. “I’ve gone out with a lot of women, Sloane, but I’ve only fallen in love with one. I want to make this work.”
“So do I,” I whispered, though I’m not sure how I managed to speak through the roar of emotion. “But I don’t know how.”
“We’ll figure it out together.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Venti nonfat latte, right?” the barista asked, and I cringed, just a little.
“I should probably cut back,” I said. “But yes.”
I paid, then scooted over to wait for my drink. And as I did, Kevin came up to me.
“I need to talk to you,” he said.
I gaped at him. “What the hell? Have you been following me?”
“I just need two minutes.”
“Jesus, Kevin. You’re going off the rails.”
“I’m not,” he said, then shoved an envelope into my hands. “That’s everything I have on them, a laundry list of the operations I think they’re involved in.”
My heart pounded in my chest with the rising fear that Tyler—that all of the knights—were in trouble. I worked to stay steady. To not let Kevin see my reaction. Or, if he did, to think it was the thrill of the chase.