Page 17 of Nothing to Beat (Nothing to… #13)

TRIPP PUT THE PHONE in her hand; she answered while getting to her feet.

“Hey, stranger,” she said, stepping around Tripp’s legs to stride over the living room.

“Take a hit in a sensitive spot? Voice is higher than it used to be, brother.”

On a smile, she opened the front door to go into the hallway. It may not be complete privacy, but she’d prefer to keep as much sense as possible.

“Am I not good enough? Did you need your beloved brother for something specific?”

“Yeah,” Breck said. “Tracking down my roommate.”

Right. Roommate.

And if anyone needed to know something, Tripp was the guy to call. Maybe bringing him wasn’t the smartest move.

Best to go with a tease. “We ran away together.”

“Uh huh. You tell me it’s not a problem to stay here, then disappear.”

So he was at her place? Good. Hopefully he’d think straighter there… but not too straight.

“I didn’t disappear, don’t be dramatic,” she droned. “Something came up. I have to… handle it. That’s all. No big deal.”

“And you called my brother? Is it illegal?”

She scoffed, keeping the tease going. “Why would you ask that?”

“That’s the only reason you’d call Tripp instead of me.”

“You’d do illegal things for me…” Resting against the wall, she flattened one hand between it and her coccyx and lowered her chin. “Wouldn’t you, baby?”

“Hard to be an active parent to our child if I’m in prison.”

“There’s no baby, I told you that. And maybe I called Tripp because he still has access to his trust fund. He didn’t take crazy pills like someone else I know.”

“If you needed money, you’d call my dad, and I didn’t cancel your credit card.”

No, because he’d never do something like that. Whoa but wait, who exactly would be making payments if the guy on the hook for it didn’t have a job?

“It’s not about money. Tripp’s just here. He has a habit of it.”

Thank you, Roxie. The woman wasn’t wrong.

“Tell me where you are and I’ll have a habit of it too.”

“You’re good on the phone. I love how you tease me.”

Though it was conversations like this that made living together a risky proposition. Thank God she’d left the state. If they started having sex again…

“Think you can flirt me into submission?”

“It’s worked before.”

“Your phone’s going straight to voicemail, which means you turned it off.” Specifically so he couldn’t track her. He’d noticed that, huh? “Doesn’t support your theory. You’re avoiding me, which means you don’t trust yourself to lie to me.”

“I’m not lying, and my phone is elsewhere right now.” It was in her purse in the apartment above… and, yes, off, a minor, irrelevant detail. “But you found me. No harm done.”

“There’s harm done if you’re keeping something from me.” Now there was an accusation. “The money matter that much to you?”

When her mouth opened, a squeak of offense followed.

“I’m going to pretend that was a bad joke.

” He needled her to provoke a reaction and she fell for it every time.

“How dare you say that to me, Stat.” The guy was under pressure and he was right, she was withholding.

Except she couldn’t fill him in, not yet.

Time to flip the mood. “Now if you’d asked me if the sex mattered that much… ”

“Come home and you can have it.”

Home. Her guy. Her apartment. The proposition was tempting. Her yearning come to life.

“This is my issue, and we shouldn’t do this.” When would she learn the flirting always led them down the same path? “You shouldn’t give up on everything—”

“You won’t change my mind.”

She sighed. “I know.” If anyone would be able to, it would be her. Even she knew better when his mind was made up. “You have your reasons for doing what you’re doing. Can’t you trust I have my reasons too?”

“I feel better knowing Tripp’s with you. You at Crimson?”

“I plead the fifth.”

“Because you don’t want me to come over there or because you’re not?”

Her lips curled before she laughed. “You missed your calling. Ever think about the law?”

“Can’t afford college.”

And he was doing it again. “I have a good job, I can support you through it.”

“Baby comes first.”

“You think law school will be easier with an infant to care for?”

“You asked first, it’s only fair.”

“Maybe you could stay home with him full-time. Momma brings the bacon and daddy keeps the home.”

“Coy, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“That’s because you’d do anything for me.”

He’d been raised with more traditional gender roles, sure, but that wouldn’t stop him living the life that suited them.

Given his reputation, many people would struggle to visualize him with a baby in his arms. She couldn’t think of anything sexier.

Breck was the most caring, patient human being she’d ever known.

“Come home.”

And the one thing he was asking, she was refusing. Not permanently, just for now.

“Stop saying that.” Closing her eyes, she fought her natural instinct to give in to him. “You call it home and give me hope, it’s not fair.”

“There’s more than hope. I’m here, baby. I’ll fix this. Whatever it takes.”

“You know this was never what I wanted, right? That I never expected you to give up your birthright, your family, your purpose.”

“You are my family and my purpose, Coy. If I haven’t shown you that by now—”

“This is an us problem; it’s not on you to fix it. I might not agree with the way you’re pursuing the ends, but I’m trying to do the same.”

“Find a way for us to be together.”

“It shouldn’t be this difficult. Don’t you wonder if fate is trying to tell us something?”

“I don’t believe in that. We make our own fate, there’s no destiny desperate to pull us apart. Haven’t I taught you that a challenge is simply an opportunity to flex your muscles? The harder a victory’s won, the more it’s appreciated. Just ask my mom.”

Ah, the story of his parents’ beginning. “Yes, I’d have to ask your mom, because if I asked your dad, he’d say Alice created barriers that didn’t exist.”

“Huh, interesting way to put it. Maybe if she’d just trusted him…”

Her throat quivered because he was thinking the same thing about her. Except it wasn’t about erecting barriers, not between them, those barriers went around him. It was her duty to protect the man she loved.

Except that was just it, she loved him. They loved each other, and she wasn’t the only one who deserved a little hope.

“There’s no future without you,” she said. “It’s just… blank.”

“Agreed. So we have no choice, we’re going to do this. We fucked around with it for years and I have to admit…”

“Admit?” she prompted because it wasn’t like him to censor himself, especially with her.

They could say anything to each other. Anything. Was that true? Why wasn’t she telling him the truth of her location and what she was doing? Because he’d want to be with her, and she couldn’t let this toxicity touch him. And they’d only forget they weren’t supposed to…

“Some part of me always assumed you’d get over it.”

“Get over my family poisoning yours?” She could believe he believed that, which proved he didn’t understand the depth of her fear. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for your family or their integrity. Just being together… Have you never considered what people thought when they saw us together?”

“You know I don’t care about the opinion of others.”

No, he might not, that didn’t mean those opinions didn’t do damage.

“They saw us together, and everyone in New York knows you.” In the Breckenridge circles anyway. “They didn’t know me, and whenever someone asked, you want to know what they said to identify me?”

“You’re the smartest, most beautiful woman in the country?”

The flatness of his words proved he anticipated where she was going.

“They said I was a Gambatto. That my heritage contradicts yours. They look at us and judge both of us for tainting the pure, wholesome Breckenridge brand.”

“And if you thought I gave a damn about the brand—”

“Think about more than yourself,” she beseeched. “The work your parents do—”

“My mom adores you, and don’t even get me started on how much my father values you. It would hurt if they found out this was why you kept us apart. You’re worrying about New York society—”

“It’s more than New York society.”

“And we’re not living in the fucking Victorian era. I love who I love and I won’t apologize for that.”

“Our children would be at risk. If my father learned we had a child, he would’ve been a threat to them the moment I said he wasn’t allowed near them.”

“Two of my brothers specialize in security. Our child would never be at risk.”

She sighed. “You’ve made your choice. Let me make mine.”

“You are my choice.”

One of them would have to surrender. “I love you.”

“And that’s enough.” His voice softened. “That’s it. All we need. Come home, Coy, and we’ll figure this out together.”

“I will,” she whispered. “I will come home. Just not yet.”

“Because…?”

“These are my demons. If I’m going to get over this, I have to do this my way. Trust me, Stat, please.”

He exhaled. Yes, there was irritation there, but there was resignation too. “You have until you’re next ovulating.” She smiled. “We have a job to do.”

“The only one you have right now. Breck Breckenridge unemployed, who’d have thought it?”

“Actually, I’ve been inundated with offers.” No surprise there. “Nothing suitable yet.”

“Because every Fortune 500 is clamoring for you. And you can’t have a job that pays well? Are you really the only person on the planet coveting poverty?”

“There’s no poverty if we’re together, Coy. Our child will want for nothing. Breckenridges have more than money in abundance.”

“Love.”

“Yes.”

“Support not judgment.”

“I see you’ve met us before.”

“It doesn’t matter how low your wage is, if my father is still playing his games, he’ll expect you to make demands on your family.

I won’t allow them, or the Breckenridge name, to be exploited like that.

I appreciate what you’re doing, but you’ll always have access to their means. Their money and their name.”

“A name can be changed.”

God, it tore at her. The Breckenridges had pride in themselves, not in conceit, but in their integrity. It sickened her that he thought he’d have to renounce that dignity to be with her. She’d move to Mars before letting that happen.

“Your children will have the Breckenridge name,” she said, “whether they’re mine or not.”

He’d demanded she promise no other man would father her children. She’d never make the same demand in return. He deserved love and optimism. The more time passed, the more she feared Alice’s prediction would come true.

Sucking her lips around her teeth, this was the crux of the issue. He’d never give up on her, on them, so there was only one thing for it. She had to do whatever was necessary to take down the Gambattos.

Betray her own blood for the man she loved? Yes, no hesitation. Why hadn’t she done it years ago?