“This is how you want me to prove that I trust you?”
Shyla thought she’d made that clear and didn’t like the hint of suspicion in his gaze. A confrontation would push him away, Score was stubborn like that.
Shyla took a deep breath. “The club is a front,” she said, choosing to share what she’d figured out… or been told by her brother. “You’re not interested in the nightclub business. You’re using it as a way to launder money.” He leaned back like he intended to walk away, so she tightened her grip. “I don’t care about that. Maybe instead of letting me jump to my own conclusions, you fill me in. Is it drugs? Is that what you’re selling? Does Burl know you’re running something? Is that your payback? To take his business? His money?”
When his arms loosened, her hands fell away. “You’re not cut out for that life,” he said, his fingers drifting up her cheek. “I couldn’t drag you into it.”
Raising her hand to his, she linked their fingers and took it from her face. “Don’t assume I wouldn’t want it. I know I want to be with you, that is my choice. The only thing that will change it is if you don’t reciprocate. If you tell me to leave—”
“You left,” he said. “That was your choice.”
“Coming back was my choice too.”
His head began to move in a slow, shallow shake. “Your life is worth more than this. Your children’s lives—”
“If we go back to Burl, we won’t have kids,” she said. “That saves us ever having to witness them walking in his shoes… I think maybe Nicole has made the same choice. Maybe she doesn’t want to see her children live that life either.”
“You shouldn’t deprive yourself of what you want.”
Sliding her hands onto his waist, Shyla edged closer. “The only thing I want is you. I need you, Phoenix… Are you working with your father?”
“Why would you think that?”
“You still talk to him,” she said and smiled. “And because it’s been mentioned to me that going out on your own without your father’s approval could be dangerous.” He still seemed hesitant. Shyla wanted to put him at ease. “That is the life you know, returning to it after all you’ve been through was probably a comfort. I understand.”
“No, you don’t,” he said again.
If the only way to get to the truth was by her asking a million questions and throwing out random theories, they could be there all week.
“Spell it out for me, my love.”
“I do run money for Burl,” he said.
Shyla nodded, doing her best not to show any hint of judgement. “How does that relate to you getting payback and Burl wanting to kill me?”
Instead of answering the question, he cupped her head in both hands and raised her chin as he bowed lower. Score pressed his mouth to hers in a long, slow kiss that lingered just long enough to weaken her.
The moment his lips left hers, his hands fell away too. For a few seconds, she just hung there in midair, forgetting all about revenge and retribution. He’d just proved her right. With just that kiss, Shyla’s mind wandered away from answers and toward the bed not far behind them.
“There is no payback.”
Snapping from her daze, she opened her eyes to find he was at the window with his back to her again.
“No payback?”
“I gave it up,” he said.
Even more confused, Shyla couldn’t figure out what his payback had been or why he’d sacrificed it.
“Why?” she asked. “Why did you give up on getting justice for yourself?”
His justice wasn’t the type found in a court, but that made it no less real. “Risking my life was worth it. Risking yours wasn’t.”
As the truth filtered through, she couldn’t decide whether to be angry or overwhelmed by his show of love. “You gave up on it because of me… That’s why you thought Burl would want to hurt me… If you got your payback on him or Biz or whatever it was, Burl would’ve come for me.”
“Probably not himself, but, yeah.”
“And you didn’t think you’d be able to protect me?”
“I wouldn’t take that chance.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that,” she said.
While sacrificing his revenge proved the depth of his love, it also had the potential to foster resentment. Giving up on it now during the early part of their burgeoning relationship would be easier than coming to terms with that sacrifice in the later years. If it was only going to tear them apart in the end, then it wasn’t worth giving it up.
“Shyla, I…” he started, but stopped to release a long breath.
Though she couldn’t see his face, she did note the tick in the back of his jaw that suggested frustration gritted his teeth.
“Talk to me,” she said, approaching to slide her hands onto his waist again. “Whatever it is you have to say—”
“I’m new to this, I don’t… Before you I didn’t consider the future. I did what I needed to do.”
That attitude may have come from his upbringing. Acting in the moment rather than considering the future was probably what kept a lot of wise-guys and criminals alive. Focusing too much on consequences could lead to hesitation.
Prison couldn’t have helped either. Going through every day in the same routine forever over and over with no end in sight, had the potential to drive a man insane. Living on death row didn’t exactly have a lot of prospects.
His release, whether it was expected or not, could’ve led to him thinking about what might be, about what he wanted for himself. His decisions had taken him to one point, he needed payback.
“Did you think about it in prison?” she asked. “About what you’d do
