“How did you play along with such a horrific plan?’’
“I kept thinking of my brother. I wanted Dino put away.’’
“Did you find her?’’
“He gave me all her old cellphone records, her family’s information. Every lead turned up a dead end. About another three weeks after he’d put the death request on the table, I got lucky and was able to track her down through an old friend.’’
“My God. What happened?”
“I wasn’t about to have her blood on my hands, that’s for sure. I never let Dino know that I’d tracked her down. But I did get ahold of her for my purposes. I asked her about the steroids and what she knew about Dino’s operation.”
Frowning, Tyanna shook her head. “I still can’t believe that Dino could be capable of any of this. Murder plots. Illegal steroids. Honestly, I feel as though you’ve zapped me into the twilight zone.’’
“But you believe me?” There was almost a desperate quality to his tone.
She didn’t want to, simply because she didn’t
want to believe that the Dino she’d cared about as a colleague could be so coldhearted and evil. But she knew he was dead. And if he’d been killed by the police, then that meant that the rest of Sheldon’s story had to be true. “Yes. I believe you.’’
“That really means a lot, Tyanna.’’
She saw something stir in Sheldon’s eyes, something that disturbed her. And she felt a pull in her own stomach.
This couldn’t be happening. They couldn’t be talking about murder and mayhem and actually be feeling the stirrings of desire.
Or could they?
Tyanna swallowed, uncomfortable with the sudden direction of her thoughts. She didn’t like them—not one bit. They were completely inappropriate.
The last thing she wanted was for this conversation to steer off course, so she gave him only a slight nod in recognition of his comment. Then she went on. “So your brother was helping Dino sell the steroids?”
“Unfortunately. He had started off working as an assistant in the juice bar. The next thing, he’s involved in this shit? I don’t know how the hell he got caught up in that, but Dwight was always the type of guy to follow, not lead. I’m sure Dino offered him a lot of money to do the pickups, to make sure that if anything ever happened—like someone getting caught—Dino wouldn’t be the one caught with his hands dirty.’’
“I’m sure your brother wasn’t the only one in
volved. An illegal operation like that—it’s got to take a whole crew.’’
Sheldon’s lips curled in a small smile. He appreciated that she was trying to make him feel better through all of this. It was a quality that had attracted him to her in the beginning, her caring nature.
“I’m sure of that too,” Sheldon told her. “Not to put down my brother, but he didn’t have the initiative to start this kind of illegal operation. But he could drive a car, pick up some packages for some cash. Keep an eye out at the gym while Dino administered steroid shots to his various clients in the back. Still, I wish to hell I’d known what he had gotten himself into at a time when I could have done something to stop it.’’
“Do you know who else was involved—the other members of Dino’s operation?”
“I know Dino got his stuff via a connection in New York, and that person got the steroids from Mexico. I was trying to find out who his connections were so I could give the police a flawless trail. But Dino was very tight-lipped about that. You know the saying that there’s no honor among thieves?’’
“Yeah.”
“Well, I figured that Dino didn’t tell me about his contacts because he didn’t want me to steal any business from him. I didn’t press the issue. I just tried to snoop around as much as I could. And then when I finally got close—’’
“Something went wrong,” Tyanna supplied.
“Yes. Like I said before, Dino caught me in the back of the juice bar one day going through his personal files. Stuff I had no business touching. I tried to come up with some lame excuse, but he wasn’t hearing it. And the expression on his face—it was like he was looking at me for the first time.’’
“Dwight,” Tyanna said softly.
“Yeah. I guess he finally saw the slight resemblance. Anyway, I knew I was in trouble. Serious trouble. All I could do was get in my car and take off.’’
“You mean you left right then?’’
“Yeah. I didn’t even go home, because Dino knew where I lived, and I was certain he would send someone there to take me out. I had been so careful—then I screwed everything up.’’
“If you didn’t go home, where did you go?’’
“First, I went to the bank and took out every penny I had. I couldn’t chance using credit cards. I called my mother from a pay phone and told her that if anyone called asking about me to deny she knew me. I had given Dino a false surname, and because I didn’t officially work for him, he never knew me by anything else. But he knew Dwight’s last name, which meant that once he made me, he would no doubt start looking for anyone named Ford. After that, I just drove. For days. I headed north, to get as far away as possible. I finally ended up in Kansas City. I have some relatives there.’’
“Not a girlfriend?” Tyanna asked, though she was pretty sure of his answer.
“No. I didn’t have some other girlfriend. I eventually told my mother that so she would tell you that story. She told me you’d been asking about me. And…I wanted you to forget me.’’
Even though she had heard his entire story, those words stung. When Mrs. Ford had told her that Sheldon had a new girlfriend and a new life two months after he’d taken off, Tyanna had been devastated. Before that, she had hoped he would come back to her and give her the kind of story he’d given her now—something to explain his out-of-character behavior.
But when she’d learned that he had a new girlfriend…So many nights she had been tortured by the image of Sheldon and someone else. Kissing some other woman the way he’d once kissed her. Touching her the same way.
Making love to her with the same kind of passion.
Tyanna steeled herself against the hurt the memories brought. She said, “Like it was supposed to be that easy to forget you.’’
“Nothing about this was easy,” he countered. “But I had to keep you safe. If you were angry with me, disillusioned by what I’d done, you were less likely to look for me. And if Dino by any chance found out about our relationship—then subsequently learned how pissed you were with me after I’d taken off—he would have been less
likely to bother with you. At least that’s what I hoped.’’
Tyanna drew in an uneasy breath. His story, his reasoning—it made sense. But still it hurt. “I wish you would have told me.’’
“I couldn’t risk it.’’
“You didn’t trust me.’’
“This wasn’t about trust.’’
“Wasn’t it?’’
“I did the best thing I could.’’
“Really?” She gave him a hard look, but he didn’t say anything. “What exactly do you think I would have done if you’d told me the truth about Dino? Gone to the gym all emotional and confronted him?’’
“Maybe not intentionally.”
“At least I would have understood. I wouldn’t have gone half out of my mind with worry.” Her eyes narrowed. “And what do you mean ‘not intentionally’?”
“Tyanna, if you knew what Dino was truly about, you might have acted differently around him. I wouldn’t have blamed you; it’s only natural. Maybe you wouldn’t have.” He shrugged. “It was a chance I couldn’t take.’’
“You should have told me,” Tyanna insisted. “Given me more credit,” she added pointedly. “I could have quit. Gotten a job somewhere else.”
Gone with you.
“At least I would have understood what was going on. I wouldn’t have gone crazy worrying.”
“Wouldn’t you? If you knew that Dino had connections to organized crime around half the country, you’re going to tell me you wouldn’t worry about me, no matter where I was?’’
Tyanna opened her mouth to speak, but promptly shut it. He’d caught her with that one.
“Exactly.”
Tyanna shot to her feet. “Don’t give me that. Like you made the right decision. And so easily.” She could hardly believe her ears. At least at this point, she hoped he would have understood the gravity of the decision he had made, how hard it had been for her. Show some regret over that. “Do you have any idea what I went through, Sheldon? Wondering what the hell had happened to you? Wondering if you were dead or alive? Maybe I didn’t know about Dino, but with the way you just disappeared…I worried about you anyway. I was terrified that you were dead. I watched the news for stories of any unidentified bodies turning up, car accidents. I was afraid to call your mother initially, because I dreaded hearing bad news. I know it doesn’t make sense, because I wanted to know, but then I wondered if I could really handle knowing something awful had happened to you.
“I waited a good few days before calling your mother. I was relieved to learn that you were okay, but she didn’t know why you’d left or where you were, and once again, I thought that maybe you had an accident wherever you’d been
driving to. Sure, the doubts had started in my mind, but I pushed them aside, even while my family kept telling me they were sure you’d dumped me but didn’t have the courage to say so. But I couldn’t—”
Tyanna stopped abruptly when she felt the sting of tears. Even now, the memory of that time hurt. She had never known she could care for a man the way she had cared for Sheldon, and his disappearing had almost been her undoing. But she’d be damned if she’d let her emotions get the better of her.
“Then when I got that
lame
letter from you in the mail—all I heard was ‘I told you so’ from my relatives. Do you know how that made me feel? I looked like a fool. I called your mother to find out what was really going on, and that’s when she told me—reluctantly—that you had apparently moved away to be with another woman.’’
“Fine,” Sheldon said. “Maybe I didn’t do the right thing.’’
“Maybe?”
“I was afraid, Tyanna. I had no clue what the right thing was.’’
“You cared about yourself.”
Sheldon was on his feet in a flash. Before Tyanna knew what was happening, he had gripped her upper arms and drawn her toward him.
For a full five seconds, neither of them spoke. Their hot breaths mingled, and Sheldon was
aware of the rise and fall of Tyanna’s chest. He looked into her eyes, at the surprise in their depth, and he damn near forgot what the hell he’d been talking about.
“I cared about you, Tyanna,” he managed on a ragged breath. “Yes, I was afraid for myself. But if anything had happened to you, something because I’d been too stupid to keep my emotions in check…”
“Seems like that’s all you ever did.’’
Ouch. The words hurt more than he’d expected. Despite the fact that they were true.
Tyanna continued to stare up at him, her eyes challenging him to deny what she’d just said. He remembered the fire, the passion of their relationship. And soon his thoughts were venturing beyond the parameters of their current conversation. His gaze lowered, settling on those full lips of hers. They were moist and slightly parted, almost like she was silently begging him to kiss her.
So, God help him, he did. A deep moan rumbled in his chest as his mouth covered hers, anticipation and desire spilling forth in a mind-numbing combination. Sweet Jesus, it had been so long.
At first she was stiff, but her body soon relaxed in his arms. Her lips opened wider, accepting more of him, and his tongue delved hungrily into her hot mouth. His hands were tangled in her shoulder-length ebony hair. He could no longer think. Only feel. And what he felt was hot and
wet and turning him on more than he’d ever imagined possible.
Damn, he’d lived without this too long.
He was aware of her body leaning into his, of her soft breasts pressing against his hard chest, her arms slipping around his neck. Her soft mewling.
His rock-hard erection.
A year had passed, but it was just the way it had always been between them. Once they touched, it was all fire and need.
Sheldon’s hands urgently roamed Tyanna’s body. He pressed his palms into her back, then dragged them lower, cupping her buttocks. Christ, he wanted to rip off these damn athletic shorts she was wearing with one hard pull. He wanted to feel her naked body against his.
He wanted himself inside her warm softness.
“Tyanna…” He growled. “Ah, baby. It still feels so good.’’
His hands moved for the waist of her shorts, and there they paused. He waited for some reaction from Tyanna, a gentle movement that would let him know he should continue.
There was something different about what he was feeling with her today…. Intense was the only word that would come close to describing it. He’d wanted her before with every fiber of his being, but this feeling was different. It was the kind of feeling that consumed him completely, in a way that frightened him.
Tyanna moaned softly and pulled away. As she looked at him, she brought the back of her hand to her mouth. “Sheldon…”
Sheldon was suddenly disturbed, and he didn’t know why. He turned away, needing to gulp in air. This was, as he’d known it would be, dangerous territory.
“Sheldon, I…’’
She didn’t finish her statement. Sheldon didn’t say a word. He couldn’t.
After a moment, she said, “I don’t think you should be here.’’
He slowly turned back to look at her. Tyanna stood with her arms crossed over her chest, a confused expression on her face.
She was right, of course. Things had gotten out of hand. But damn, if he didn’t want to pick up where they’d left off a year ago. “I know this all seems fast. Out of the blue, even.’’
“When you left, I had to go on.’’
“I understand.”
“Then what do you want from me?’’
Sheldon simply stared at her, unsure of what to say. What did he want?
“I’m still attracted to you,” he finally said.
“And you want to sleep with me?’’
“Is that so wrong? I mean, your body still reacts to mine….”
Tyanna chuckled mirthlessly.
“Tyanna—”
“No, Sheldon.” Her eyes met his, her expres
sion unreadable. “Sex. I know, I shouldn’t be surprised. And sure, it would be so easy to fall into bed with you again. But my heart’s not there.” And even if it was to some degree, it sure as hell shouldn’t be. “I’ve moved on. You gave me no choice.’’
And while it had hurt, she was much better for his breaking off the relationship. She was back to her old self again, no longer deluded by this thing called love.
What had happened with Sheldon had proven to her that no matter when the end came, it always did, and it was bound to be painful. She needed to protect her heart, and the truth was that Sheldon was still a threat.
“I’m trying to figure out who I really am,” Tyanna went on. “What I’m supposed to do with my life. I can’t be a personal trainer forever.’’
“It suits you.’’
“For now. I know I’m not a nine-to-five–type girl—that much is a given. But it will be much easier to figure out what I’m supposed to do if I’m on my own.”
And if your touch isn’t distracting me.
Sheldon nodded, though his eyes told a different story. “I didn’t come here planning to do this. But I guess…Well, I guess sex was always easy for us.’’
“Maybe too easy.’’
Sheldon’s eyebrows shot up. “And that’s a bad thing?’’
“I’m not saying that. But I think we probably
concentrated more on sex than on the relationship. Sex won’t keep a relationship alive. When I look back, there’s a lot that was missing.’’
The question “Like what?” was on the tip of Sheldon’s tongue, but he held it in check. A man had to have a bit of pride, didn’t he?
So instead, he said, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.’’
“Good. That means you understand why…why this would be a bad idea. I know you were in a tough situation, but the fact that you could just walk away…That says something. It says a lot. Maybe I didn’t give you something you needed, or maybe the relationship was strictly about sex. I don’t know.” Tyanna shrugged. “All I know is that looking back, it certainly wasn’t about love.’’