Page 38 of Tate (The Montana Marshalls #2)

Maybe she didn’t know Tate as well as she thought she did.

Or maybe she knew him just well enough to know that this wouldn’t be the last time he’d be in danger.

Or put her in danger, maybe.

She’d spent far too long staring at the ceiling, thinking about his fight with Slava.

But, I love you, Glo.

Yeah, those words, his voice, seared through her, finding her bones.

She rolled over and hit her pillow, painfully aware that the sun had crested in through the blinds of the guestroom.

Daylight meant she’d have to…well, say something to Tate. The poor man had left his heart out on the street last night. It was all she could do to not launch into his arms. But that would certainly look unseemly after she’d kissed Sloan. She was enough of a politician to figure that out.

She didn’t want to look to see if he’d spent the night on a lounge chair. Probably. Maybe.

The last she’d seen of him, he’d been carrying her up the stairs, Rags holding her shoes after she’d fallen asleep in the car. And she’d simply let herself sink into his warm chest.

Maybe she shouldn’t have had so much champagne, either. But people had been glad-handing her all night, and Sloan kept plying her with champagne, and what could she do, say, No, I’m not going to toast with you?

And now her head hurt thinking about it. She pushed herself up and went in search of aspirin in the adjoining bathroom. She was working the child-slash-adult-proof top off when she heard the voice echo from the living room downstairs.

“Oh…my… Gloria !”

She stilled. Looked at herself in the mirror. Yeah, that was pretty. She hadn’t taken off her makeup, and her hair resembled something out of the sixties, teased and definitely annoyed.

“Are you kidding me?”

She was wearing a T-shirt—she did remember pulling that on last night before falling into bed—and now pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and grabbed a bathrobe.

“Gloria!” The voice turned shrill, and Glo yanked open her bedroom door.

“Calm down, Mother. I’m coming.”

She strode down the hallway and down the stairs and only then did she see Sly walking in the back door, followed by Tate, whose hair was just long enough to resemble her own. He wore a black T-shirt, jeans, and was barefoot.

Clearly, yanked out of bed .

“He’s here, ma’am.”

Glo’s attention went to her mother, who sat on the white sofa and set her iPad on the glass coffee table. “Please tell me that isn’t a picture of you…two… kissing. ”

She looked at Glo, then at Tate. Back to Glo. Who hazarded a glance at the iPad.

Oh, that was a lip lock all right. Tate’s hand around her neck, pulling her in tight. Hers inside his jacket.

“Yes,” Tate said quietly.

Her mother drew in a breath and slowly rose from the sofa. Picked up the iPad. “And this one?”

She flashed to a shot of Rags holding Tate back, a darkness in his eyes that could still send a shiver through Glo.

“That would be me after Sloan hit me.”

“I’d say you deserved it.”

“Mother—”

Reba looked at Glo, raised an eyebrow, then back to Tate. “Have you no consideration at all for Gloria’s reputation? What this looks like?”

“It looks like Glo kissing the right man, finally.” Tate’s eyes sparked.

Sly put a hand on Tate’s shoulder.

“I know this may be hard for you to understand, Mr. Marshall, but Gloria is part of a bigger future than you are. She is on the way to the White House, in some capacity. If I should win this election, she’ll be called on to lead organizations, lend her name to social projects.”

She would? Glo stared at her mother. “Mother, I’m not a politician.”

But her mother seemed not to notice her. “And perhaps Sloan was a little hasty in declaring his feelings for her, but you, Mr. Marshall, made me a promise. As did I.”

Tate’s mouth tightened. “Listen. I?—”

“Can’t seem to control yourself. You’re impulsive and heedless, and you get people hurt.” She tightened her jaw. “ Killed. Don’t you?”

He stared at her, stricken, and suddenly Glo didn’t know who to panic for—Tate or herself.

He shook his head.

“Like your entire squad?”

He drew in a breath, as if she’d stabbed him.

“Mother!”

Her mother held up her hand.

“And there’s the matter of a woman named Raquel Morris? Found dead in your apartment in Vegas?”

Tate’s mouth tightened. “You don’t know the whole story.”

And she heard Sloan’s voice from last night. He murdered a woman. The woman he was living with ? —

He turned to Glo. “I didn’t…I mean…she was?—”

“Collateral damage. From your violent lifestyle.” Her mother looked beyond him and motioned Rags into the room. He was carrying Tate’s duffel bag and a briefcase. He set them on the floor beside Tate, who glanced at them.

“I don’t want my daughter to be more collateral damage.” She walked over to Glo. “How’s that eye healing, honey?”

“Mother, that was an accident.”

She looked at Tate, the bags on the floor, and a hand tightened around her throat. “No?—”

But Tate had shrugged away from Sly and taken a step toward them.

“You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the Bratva found me that night, and it occurred to me that your boy Sloan sure knows a lot about my life.

And according to my sister, RJ, he knows a few Russians.

The kind with connections. I’m wondering just how Slava got Glo’s room number. ”

Her mother looked at him, her face unmoving. “You’re just an easy man to find, I guess, with all the destruction you leave behind.” She put her arm around Glo. “All the broken hearts. Did you love Raquel too?”

Tate blinked. Swallowed. Nodded.

And Glo wasn’t sure why that felt like a fist in her chest. She wasn’t unaware that Tate had a life before her. But…

But he never talked about anyone else.

Or rather, he had, if she’d been paying attention. I fell for the wrong girl once and it blew up in my face. I got sucked in to her world, and pretty soon I was in over my head, with no way out.

Tate’s voice got very quiet. “Oh, you are good, Senator. Very good. I can’t believe how well you played this.

Bringing me in, acting like you’re giving me a chance when all the while you were trying to make me lose it.

Making me follow Sloan and Glo around, knowing it would drive me crazy, hoping I?—”

“Did exactly what I know men like you do? Get yourself into trouble? Gloria is a smart girl, but she has a hard time seeing the truth. She has a type—men who are beneath her. Who will eventually leave her and break her heart. She needs someone?—”

“Like Sloan?”

Reba lifted her shoulder. “Someone steady. Someone who can see her potential.”

“She won a freakin’ industry award last night. I think the entire world can see her potential.”

Glo didn’t know whose words to lean in to. “I’m standing right here, for Pete’s sake. I’m not a child?—”

Except, no one seemed to be listening. Tate held up his hand, clearly schooling his voice. “Listen?—”

“No, you listen!” Her mother rounded on him. “You forget yourself, and what you’re here for. It’s not to destroy Gloria’s life—it’s to protect it?—”

“From what? The lies you told me about the Bryant League?”

She blinked at him. As did Glo. “What lies?”

Tate’s eyes sparked. “I did my research, Senator. The Bryant League was never after you. They haven’t even been active for over a year.

Nothing. They weren’t responsible for the bombing—frankly, I’m not sure it wasn’t all just a convenient story to get Glo to come home and get sucked back in to your world. ”

“How. Dare. You!”

“I’m not usually this stupid, but apparently, I panicked. Well not anymore—I quit.”

Wait. Glo’s breath rushed out. What—? Wait! “Tate, no?—”

“Save your breath, lover boy. You’re fired.”

“No. Wait—Mother.” Glo turned to her mother, her throat closing. “Tate?—”

“He’s trouble, Gloria. Certainly, you can see that.”

She looked at Tate, shook her head. “Don’t go. Don’t quit. Stay?—”

But his eyes had darkened. “No, Glo. This won’t work. I can’t stand on the sidelines watching you with another guy?—”

“I don’t want another guy, Tate—I want you?—”

“Please, Gloria. Don’t embarrass yourself.”

“Come with me.” Tate took a step toward her. “We’ll go back to the ranch—you can write, the Belles can get back together.”

“I am in the toughest political race of my entire career, and if you hadn’t noticed, last night I switched parties. I need my daughter here, by my side.” Glo’s mother slid her hand into Glo’s.

Tate’s gaze never moved from hers. “Your mother is manipulating you, Glo.”

“Don’t be absurd. If anyone is manipulating you, it’s this man. This is not your life, Gloria. You have a future. Don’t let him throw it away.”

If you love me, you’ll stay. The words rebounded in her head, and for a second, she was weeping into David’s chest. Then, to her horror, the words emerged in a choked whisper. “If you love me, you’ll stay.”

His breath caught. “Really? C’mon, Glo.” His eyes were hard in hers.

“This can’t be what you want. Where did the woman who used to paint on a tattoo and wear leather onstage go?

I miss that girl. Now…you’ve vanished. You’re all things to all people.

But who are you? And what do you want? Me? Your mother?”

Her mouth opened.

“See? I told you—he only cares about himself. Which is why he’s going to get you into trouble,” her mother snapped. “Get out of my house.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. He narrowed his eyes and walked over to his duffel and picked it up, threw it over his shoulder.

Looked at Glo.

“Please, come with me, Glo.”

Her lungs stopped working. Yes—yes?—

“I meant what I said last night. I love you. I have for months, and I…I’d give my life for you.” His eyes were broken, reddened. “Please.” He held out his hand.

Her mother’s hand remained locked in hers. “I need you Glo. More than ever.” And, to her horror, her mother’s voice broke. “Please stay. Help me change the world.”

She looked at her mother.

“Tate is impulsive,” her mother said. “Sure, he’s brave, but that kind of bravery is going to get him killed. It almost did, in Vegas. He’ll die, just like David. And then where will you be, Glo?”

She drew in a breath. Looked at Tate, her eyes blurry. “Tate, I…”

Tate’s jaw tightened, and he dropped his hand. “Wow,” he said quietly. “Did I read that wrong.” Then he picked up his briefcase and headed barefoot out the front door.

Don’t go ! She wanted to scream it, but the words clogged inside her. If you love me, you’ll stay.

Sly closed the door behind Tate.

Her mother pulled her into a hug. “It’ll be okay, sweetheart.” She leaned back and met Glo’s eyes. “Let’s have some breakfast. Then you need to pull yourself together. We have work to do.”