Oak, Sophie - Siren in Waiting [Texas Sirens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (19 page)

Go Away

There were squiggles and dots all over the truck, but the message was what Bo found important. Someone didn’t want Trev in town. Someone was willing to trash his car in the Sheriff’s Department parking lot, where anyone could walk out and see him.

Bo pretty much knew just how that person must feel. He wanted Trev out of his fucking town, too.

* * * *

Trev sat down in the cool sanctuary of Aidan O’Malley’s office and waited. He could hear Aidan talking to his brother. Bo’s voice was low, but Trev got the gist of the conversation. Bo was very unhappy that Aidan was bringing Trev in as the foreman.

One more person who didn’t want him around.

Something ugly was gnawing at his stomach. All he could think about was beer. He just needed one. That other part of him was whining.
Just one beer and I’ll shut up. Don’t you want me to shut up for a while?

“I thought you might like some coffee.” Beth stood in the doorway, a mug in her hand. She had on a well-worn pair of jeans and a button-down shirt that looked to be a size too big. It hung off her, but he knew the curves that were there.

Just like that, the voice fled. There wasn’t a place for it when Beth was standing there looking like sunshine. And he really did need the caffeine.

“Thank you, darlin’.” He held out his hand, and she crossed the room. Her eagerness was like a balm on his wounded ego.

“It’s the good stuff,” a sassy voice claimed. Lexi O’Malley stood in the doorway, a smile on her face. Lexi was a lovely woman with a sharp mind and, oftentimes, an even sharper tongue. “Lucas bought one of those single-cup makers. It’s like heaven in a mug.”

Trev took a whiff. It smelled dark and rich.

“It always tastes like motor oil to me. I prefer tea.” Beth looked down at the mug as though trying to understand.

“It’s all right, darlin’. You stick to your tea.” He took a long drink. It was rich and bitter, and entirely wonderful. He just had to be addicted to something, and all he had left was coffee.

“Mouse doesn’t understand the call of caffeine, I’m afraid,” Lexi explained.

“Her name is Beth.” Despite his affection for Lexi, no one was going to call Beth by that name around him again.

Lexi stopped, and her eyes went back and forth between Trev and Beth, assessing and judging the situation. “You and Beth?”

She hadn’t asked Beth. The question had been directed at him, and he couldn’t misread the momma bear protectiveness behind it. “Me and Beth. And yes, I know what I’m doing.”

She stared for a minute more. “Do you know what you’re doing, Beth?”

Beth shook her head. “Not really, but I know I like doing it.” Her face flushed as though she’d just figured out what she’d said could be taken in a risqué fashion. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

“Yes, it was.” Lexi’s face broke into a huge grin. “Well, I have to say I’m happy for both of you. I’ve been trying to convince Aidan to bring Beth with us to The Club for years since she’s…well…you know.”

Trev nodded. Beth was a natural submissive. He hadn’t met many. Even the subs in The Club tended to be more of the “submit in the bedroom”–style subs. “I know.”

“I don’t know. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Beth’s big eyes looked between them as though trying to decide what was going on.

There was a loud shout from the next room, and Lexi winced.

A tall man with raven-black hair strode into the room, his eyes laser focused on Lexi. He walked in and immediately crowded the small woman. His arms went around her, and Trev could hear his sigh as they connected.

“Hi, baby.”

“Hi, Lucas.” Lexi kissed him, her mouth finding his. Her arms wound around him.

Lucas O’Malley had, at one time, been known as Lucas Cameron. He was the scion of a political family, but he’d left them long before to live with his two loves, Lexi and Aidan.

Lucas nodded his way. “Hello, Trev. Beth.”

Trev liked Lucas O’Malley. “Hello, Lucas. How’s it going?”

Trev reached for Beth’s hand, the impulse so overwhelming, he just gave in.

Lucas didn’t fail to note the exchange. “Well, that didn’t take long.”

Lexi smiled up at him. “You know I always said Trev had the Dom thing down. It’s like a moth to a flame. Speaking of moths to flames, Leo’s in town. Shelley Hughes called him last night when she couldn’t find Trev and worried that he had found a bottle again. I think now we know what he found.”

Lucas smiled. “Seriously, dude, eight hours in this town and you find the sub.”

Beth’s eyes lit up. “Oh, now I get it. I’m the sub. I can handle that. I don’t know why everyone is praising Trev though. Maybe I’m the one who found him.”

Lexi nodded. “Don’t listen to the men, Mou…Beth. They need to have their egos stroked. It’s why they became Doms.”

There was another loud crash from the adjoining room.

Lexi winced again. “Except for that one. Aidan became a Dom because he likes the violence.”

That earned her a little swat from Lucas. “Don’t you start that, brat. You know he’s struggling with this.” The doorbell rang. “That’s probably Leo. You behave.”

Aidan opened the door to the office just as Lucas was leaving. His face was grim, but he smiled as he caught Lucas. “You’re back early.”

Lucas put a hand on his Dom’s waist. Aidan was the Dom, Lucas the switch, and Lexi the sweetly bratty sub. “I finished up. I wanted to come home.”

Aidan leaned forward and pressed his lips to Lucas’s. “I’m glad, O’Malley. Now take our wife out of here, or she’ll run this damn interview.”

Lucas winked at his partner and took Lexi’s hand. He led her out of the room.

Trev looked up at Beth. “Go on, darlin’. I have to talk to Aidan.”

Beth smiled down at him and followed Lucas and Lexi.

Just like that, the light left the room for Trev. He was back to darkness as Aidan frowned at him.

“You playing around with Mouse?”

“Her name is Bethany. Don’t call her Mouse. She isn’t some animal.” Trev tried to keep his anger tamped down.

Aidan walked around the desk and slumped down into his chair. “Thank god someone finally calls her by her name. You serious about her? She’s a damn fine woman.”

That was the question. He could be perfectly serious. He just didn’t know for how long. One day at a time didn’t leave much promise for the long term. What could he offer her if he really couldn’t promise much past tomorrow? “I care about her.”

“So does my brother.”

Bo cared. Trev had seen it in Bo’s eyes. Bo simply wasn’t man enough to really follow up on the emotion. “She’s been alone for years. Don’t make this sound like I walked in and stole her. You know what she is. Bo isn’t a Dom. It would be a disaster if he got together with her. She would be his doormat. She would be miserable.”

“I don’t know if I would say she’d be a doormat, but I do get your point. My brother isn’t a Dom.”

“Not even close.”

Aidan seemed to consider the problem. “But I don’t know that I trust you, either.”

Trev hated this. He hated being at someone else’s whim. He’d spent so long being the freaking center of the universe that it rankled to have sunk so low. His hands curled about the chair he sat in. The need that was always there in the back of his head had taken up residence in his gut. It took everything Trev had not to get up and walk out.

“I can only try my damndest to change your mind. Leo told me Julian called in a favor to get me hired on here. If you’ll just let me work as a hand, you can continue your search for a foreman. I just ask for a year’s worth of honest work.”

Aidan’s brow rose. He leaned forward. “I thought one of the things you required was a safe place to stay. The way Julian explained it, you need a babysitter.”

Trev huffed. Julian had made it sound bad. “I think I have a place to stay. It’s run-down, but I can handle it. I don’t want Beth staying there alone.”

“Out at the old Bellows place?”

Trev nodded.

“That place should be condemned.”

Not if he had anything to say about it. Beth loved it. “It will be fine once she fixes it up. Look, I get you don’t want me here. Just tell me no, and I’ll go. I won’t cause trouble between you and Julian. We can tell him I changed my mind.”

“And then what happens to Beth?”

That was the million dollar question. “I’ll take care of her.”

He wasn’t sure how, but he would do it.

Aidan leaned forward, his eyes never leaving Trev’s face. “My brother is under the impression that you’re just a bump in the road for Beth. He’s sure she’ll come around to his way of thinking if I just tell you to leave.”

“Like I said, do what you need to do. I’ll take care of Beth. She gave herself to me. I can’t ignore that gift. I won’t just because Bo O’Malley has decided to finally step up to the plate after ten years. He didn’t want her until I set eyes on her.”

Aidan sat in quiet judgment, the silence of the room oppressive. It gave Trev too much time to think.

He’d lied to himself. He’d been ready to break the night before. He’d put the coffee mug down. He’d made his decision. He’d shut the door to the truck, and he’d started the long walk inside. It was like he’d been pulled along by some invisible rope. He’d stopped fighting it. There had been a certain peace to just laying down and accepting the inevitable.

And then he’d seen Beth and known he couldn’t afford to give in.

She claimed he’d saved her. It was utterly the other way around.

“Will you submit to weekly drug tests?”

Aidan’s words sent him into another spiral. And what fucking choice did he have? He had a year until he got his money and he could work his own spread. Maybe then he could afford to buy back some small shred of dignity. “Sure. I’ll pee in a cup.”

He was sure his whole face was on fire, but he kept his words measured and even. He drank his coffee. He thought about Beth as Aidan started going over all the rules.

He wished he was still in bed with her. Everything had been all right this morning. The world had been soft and warm. It had been a place where he hadn’t ruined everything. It had been a place where he had never chosen a drink or a line over his family—one where he’d made his parents proud, where he’d shown up at his momma’s deathbed and helped his sister get through it. When he’d held Beth, that real world—the one where he’d screwed everything up—had fallen away, and he was someone else. He’d been Beth’s loving Master. He’d been someone she could count on. He’d been good for something.

“Did you get all that?” Aidan stared at him.

Yeah. The rules. He knew them by heart. Julian had drilled the rules into him every day of the last two years. They all came down to one edict—don’t fuck up. “Yes. I know what to do.”

“I think we can try putting you in charge for a while.” Aidan sat back, his voice softening a bit. “You know how to work a ranch, right? You haven’t forgotten?”

It wasn’t the kind of thing he could forget. It had been his whole childhood. If he’d followed in his father’s path, he might never have gotten into trouble. He would have been there when his mother had gotten sick. He would have made sure Shelley stayed the hell away from Bryce Hughes. He would have lived a quiet life.