Avenging Us - Gina Whitney Page 0,69

Giving me little assignments independent of Bella. I saw it as another way to assert his dominance, and something he needed to quell his worry. But, at the end of it all, it was his lazy smile that oozed hot sex and danger as he stalked toward me. The gentle way he lifted my chin to meet his lips, and the wild look in his eyes when he caught me staring. He was one big, massive dose of predatory possession. I needed to be wanted, and he wanted to be needed. He always had a way of making me feel speechless, hypnotized, and utterly enthralled with him.

“Give her to me.” Chance reached for Bella, drawing her into his arms. “Are you going to stand there daydreaming all day about the broody alpha that makes your heart pitter-patter? And lord knows what else.” He held up his hand, stopping me before I could speak. “Don’t even tell me. I don’t want to know what twistedness lurks beyond the doors to your bedroom.”

“Ha! Don’t hate because you’re frustrated.” I gazed into the kitchen where Michael was and paused. “What’s up with the two of you? Hit it and quit it type of guy?” I grabbed Bella’s pacifier off the table, quickly pushing it into her mouth. One thing I learned as a mother was the many faces of Bella and what they meant. She was about to have a meltdown, and her feeding wasn’t for another thirty minutes.

He frowned and his handsome face darkened. “I wish I knew, but he’s been cold and distant. I don’t want to push. The broody alpha doesn’t help…throwing his testosterone all over my fairy dust.”

Seeing his genuine sadness made me unhappy. I hoped what he said wasn’t true. Did Abel make Michael uncomfortable enough to back off Chance? A man with Chance’s looks could get anyone, yet there was an unbelievable insecurity about him. “I’ll talk to him. I honestly don’t think it has to do with him. If it did, that would be fucked up. It’s not like his job is in jeopardy.”

“We don’t know if he knows that, do we? Maybe it’s an employment thing? Or he’s backing off out of respect for Abel?”

I pondered the question for some time as Chance walked Bella around. Abel had a way of driving anyone crazy. Maybe he needed to be reminded about desires. That emotion didn’t distinguish between genders. Everyone deserved it.

I grabbed Bella’s burp cloth and followed Chance’s deep voice. He was rocking Bella in a chair under a palm tree. I placed the cloth over his shoulder and sat down next to him. With complete confidence, I asked Chance a question that had been burning my brain for some time now. “What’s the deal with Giselle?”

“She’s a dark sea of troubling thoughts.” Was all he said.

My mood plummeted, and I sank into the possibility that she had Abel on her radar, muddled by the possibility that she and Abel had something sexual at one time despite his protests. “In English, please. I sense she’s here for a reason. And it has nothing to do with business or the interview.”

“You’d be correct.” He paused. “I’ve long suspected she’s been hiding something.”

I gave him a begging look, and he finally relented with a sigh. “Okay, this is just my suspicion, which is often right, but of course, I don’t have any real proof.”

I nodded in a silent standoff. I was dug in and wasn’t moving until he spilled.

“She’s been in love with Jake since she was a teenage girl. But he never paid any attention to it. Ignored it.”

“Jake?” I asked, feeling less irritated and suddenly lighter. “Just because he ignored it doesn’t mean a thing. You read, don’t you? Guys do that all the time. Act one way…when the truth is the polar opposite.” I huffed, almost feeling bad for her. Almost. Then it all came rushing back. The clicking of puzzle pieces perfectly fitting together. My fingers ran through the blades of grass, separating each one as I ran down my mental check list.

An exasperated sigh left his mouth, catching my attention. “I’m bored with this conversation.” His confession caught me off guard…since when did Chance ever bore of gossip?

“I’m not at all.” I looked at him and squinted my eyes, wondering if I would be able to read his mind if I tried hard enough. They say two people who are really close could communicate without words. I’d only hoped that to be