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Her mouth opens and closes, like she’s struggling to find the right words to finish what she’s trying to say. Instead, I put the conversation to bed. “You don’t owe us anything, Teigan. End of story.”

“I can’t take handouts from you, Evan,” she whispers, chewing on her bottom lip anxiously.

“Then you can work with me, and you can earn the money. If you’d prefer doing that?”

Now when her eyes widen, there’s a sparkle to them, and I can tell I’ve caught her interest. All too quickly, the light dims, and she narrows her gaze at me. “Doing what exactly?”

Fuck, does she think I want her to sell her body again?

“I will talk to Bree, and we will find you something. I’m sure there are some things you can do while you’re stuck here. You got a degree before you ended up working for Desmond, didn’t you?”

She nods her head. “In criminal psychology and counselling.”

I can’t help but chuckle. “Well, you’re surrounded by fucking criminals, and most of us are a little insane, so I’m sure we can come up with something for you.”

This time when Teigan smiles, a light laugh slips from her lips, brightening up her face, and I hate how my heart skips a fucking beat. “I never thought I’d get to use my degree again.”

There’s a sadness to her voice that I hate hearing, and I have to take a gulp of my wine just to avoid saying something stupid. Thankfully, before I’m able to open my mouth, her phone beeps.

“The food is nearby, it will be here in about twenty minutes. Shall we move into the living room and pick a film?”

I nod my head, following behind her as she leads the way. I definitely don’t focus on her round ass, or the sensual sway ofher hips as she walks. I most certainly don’t need to adjust my growing hard-on because it’s pushing painfully against my jeans.

I take a seat on the sofa opposite the TV, as Teigan walks over to the coffee table to collect the remote. When she sits down, she’s closer to me than I’m expecting. She’s practically sitting in the middle of the sofa, leaving more than enough space on her side. Instead, she’s choosing to sit closer to me. So close, I can feel the heat from her body, and smell the intoxicating vanilla strawberry scent of her shampoo.

Fuck, now there’s no denying my cock is painfully hard, and I have to think about every boring thing in the world to distract myself. I’m imagining my mum reading the cricket scores while my father yells at me for something random. It seems to be working, until Tee breaks the illusion by speaking.

“What do you fancy?” she asks, and I almost choke on the wine I’ve just taken a sip of. Her eyes widen comically, as she takes in my coughing and spluttering. “I mean…what film?”

I clear my throat, ignoring the way it burns as the wine hits in the wrong way. “You choose,” I choke out.

She averts her eyes, picking up the remote and holding it towards the TV. She presses a few buttons as I focus on trying to catch my breath. I notice her discreetly looking at me out of the corner of her eye, quickly turning back any time I catch her. I can almost feel the energy crackling between us, and it sets me on edge.

“What aboutFight Club?” she asks.

A small smile spreads across my lips, as I remember all the times we’ve watched this film in the past. I remember the first time I made Tee watch it, and she moaned at first that she didn’t want to watch an aggressive fighting film. It had barely been on for twenty minutes and she was hooked. There was a little bloodthirsty girl inside threatening to break out, and I loved watching her cheer each time they got into fights.

She starts downloading the film, and just as it’s ready to start, the doorbell rings, startling us both. The silence in the house is almost deafening sometimes, and we don’t often have visitors. Even though I know it’s the food delivery, I still reach into the drawer beside the door, and slide the gun I keep there into the back of my trousers.

Teigan’s eyes widen, and she begins to splutter. “What the hell?”

I pull my finger to my lips, indicating for her to be quiet. “We’re still in hiding. There’s a good chance this is just our food delivery, but you can never be too careful.”

I motion for her to stay in the living room as I make my way to the front door. I look through the peephole, confirming the man on the other side appears to be a delivery driver, but still, I don’t let my guard down. Not when Tee’s life is on the line. I know security would have never let him get this far if he wasn’t safe, but I still need to be prepared, just in case.

I open the door slowly, one hand on the handle of the gun behind my back. “Chinese?” the man asks, holding the bag of takeaway in front of him.

I reach out and take the bag from him, sighing as the tension begins to defuse. It may look like I’m overreacting, but I’m not taking any chances with Teigan’s life. “Thanks,” I reply, as I grab hold of the bag. Without another word, I slam the door closed and turn back to see Teigan glaring at me.

“Well…that was rude. You didn’t even give the poor kid a tip,” she snaps, looking at me with a fierce scowl that gets me hotter than it should. I’ve always enjoyed winding her up.

“He’s lucky I didn’t shoot him. I couldn’t tip him and keep hold of my gun,” I reply with a grunt, handing the bag of food to Teigan as we make our way into the kitchen.

She places the bag on the side as I go to the cupboard to get the plates. We move around each other like we’ve been doingthis our whole life, settling back into a routine I thought was long since forgotten.

“You were an asshole. You could have at least said thank you. The poor kid has had to drive out into the middle of nowhere,” she groans.

“He gets fucking paid,” I snap, as I start piling food onto my plate, before handing the remainder of my meal over to Teigan. “And I did say thanks.”