Taking On The Billionaire (Redhawk Reunion #1) - Robin Covington Page 0,26

was a kindred spirit, someone who understood a lot without being told.

This moment didn’t change what they could and couldn’t be for each other. It didn’t absolve her from her lies or the guilt and it wouldn’t shield her from his anger when he found out. It was just a moment. A really special moment. A few seconds of mutual understanding in the middle of a tangled mess of secrets.

“It’s the truth,” Adam agreed, his voice deeply etched by the remaining shards of glass that had cut him for so long. “But I don’t know if I did my brother and sister a favor by finding them. I sure as hell don’t know what to do with them now that they are back in my life. Family is a mystery to me.”

“Well, you all have that motorcycle obsession. Maybe you do a road trip?”

He huffed out a weak laugh. “Roan would probably say yes. Sarina would take the first exit and ditch us both.”

Tess sat back, taking the opportunity to push his hair back from his forehead, needing to maintain the physical connection between them. She loved touching Adam, craved the electric thrill that went through her whenever they connected. He made her feel...seen...wanted.

“Family is very hard.” She gave him a sidelong glance, nervous about giving away too much of herself. Afraid to let him get too close. “I think I told you that once.”

“You did.” He reached up, running a finger along her brow, down her cheekbone. “Sounded like you knew what you were talking about.”

Tess started shaking her head, her grin twisted with her reluctance to share. “You don’t want to hear about it.”

Adam leaned forward, pressing a sweet kiss to her mouth, barely a brush of lips, an exchange of breaths. “I showed you mine...come on, show me yours.”

Nine

It wasn’t right to push Tess.

Adam knew what it was like to have a secret you needed to keep close, parts of yourself that you didn’t want to share. He’d spent his entire life after his adoption guarding his real self from the world he’d been dropped into. Adam had never fit in, he’d always been on the outside. At school. In his new home. Nobody made any effort to ask him about his past, his family, his community. He’d given up after a while; it was easier just to bury himself in the books or sports. Easier to forget the memories that crept back in at night. Easier to forget the family he’d lost.

Justin had been the first person he let in. But he’d also been the first to give Adam the space to keep the secrets he needed to keep in order to survive.

So, he also knew how important it was to have people who respected the distance you needed to function under the weight of the secrets and the pain that went with them. But it didn’t stop him from wanting to know more about this woman who occupied his thoughts and made his body hard with need with just a glance.

But he wanted to know all of her secrets, all the things she hid behind her sexy smiles and bravado. Unlike Tess’s deep dive into his past, he hadn’t done a full background check on her when he’d hired her. Yes, he’d asked his security to check on her and they’d run a criminal scan, verified that her business and license were in order and legitimate, and that her references checked out. He had not had them give him a full dossier on her life, her background. It had felt sordid and unnecessary and overly intrusive. But now when every part of him screamed to get closer to this woman, he wished he’d received that file.

No, that was not the way he wanted to learn all the unique and special things that made Tess Lynch a woman who kept him awake at night.

He wanted her to tell him. Willingly. Because she wanted to make this connection with him too. It wasn’t keeping within their rules, just like the dinner out that he’d suggested earlier before he’d had a minute to think about it. The question had popped out, something that never happened. He wasn’t someone who made a habit of speaking without thinking long and hard about it. It was his strength or his weakness, depending on who you were. His business partners loved it. The women in his life, not so much.

But as soon as he’d said it, he wanted it. More time