Flawed (Triple Canopy Book 2)

by Riley Edwards

  I didn’t finish my explanation. I was plucked off the stool and my booty was planted on the counter. I still hadn’t gotten my bearings when Trey’s hands went to my thighs and he roughly opened them before stepping between them.

  Face-to-face, our eyes locked and he gave me everything.

  “Takin’ my back.”

  That was all he said before his mouth slammed down on mine and his tongue invaded. Then his hands started moving, but not to grope—to pull me even closer when my front was already plastered to his. One arm was diagonal across my back, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe. His other hand was fisting my hair, holding me where he wanted. I gave myself more and melted into him, taking from him as surely as he was taking from me. My fears liquefied and then evaporated. Another thing I didn’t understand, but with Trey’s tongue in my mouth I didn’t take the time to contemplate how I could be scared and happy at the same time.

  Through this, a phone rang then until it stopped. Just as Trey was grinding his erection between my legs it started again. He tore his mouth from mine and I dazedly stared up at him wondering how upset he’d be if I tossed the ringing phone in the garbage disposal.

  “Cute.” He kissed my nose and tagged his cell off the counter, not taking himself away from me when he answered.

  “Lenny?” There was a pause, and even if I hadn’t been studying his handsome features, had his body close, I would’ve felt it. The room filled with ugly. “Right. Sorry about that. Let ‘em in.”

  Trey tossed his phone on the counter, it bounced off and landed on the floor. So maybe he wouldn’t have cared if I’d chopped it up in the garbage disposal.

  I lifted my gaze from the face-down cell back up to him and I wished I would’ve taken my chance with the disposal.

  “Fuck,” he clipped. “Fucking hell.”

  Trey not being one to shy away from using the f-word, the use of it twice didn’t concern me. But the look on his face did.

  “My parents are here,” he announced, like Ivan the Terrible and his army were getting ready to storm the premises and we needed to find weapons and shields to beat them back.

  “I take it this is not good news.”

  “Fuck. No.”

  All righty then. Another f-bomb. This one unmistakably irate.

  “Okay. So, they’re here and they’ll be pulling up any minute. What do you need from me?”

  “Fuck.”

  “Not sure we have time for that, honey, but is there something else I can do?”

  “Goddamn cute,” he huffed. “And takes my back.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that so I remained quiet, though I feared we were running out of time. If Trey didn’t explain what was about to happen, I’d have to wing it and I’d never been very good at improv. I needed a clear picture or I tended to put my foot into my mouth and choke.

  “My dad’s an asshole. He’ll likely say shit that is inappropriate and it will piss me off. It will also hurt my mom, she’ll try her best to hide it, but I’ll see it and it will piss me off more.”

  Um. That didn’t sound good.

  “Why are they here?”

  “Fuck if I know.”

  “Where do they live?”

  After I asked, I wondered why I hadn’t asked sooner.

  “Maine.”

  “Maine?” I repeated.

  “Yup.”

  There was a knock at the door and Trey stiffened. When another loud bang reverberated, I jerked. Trey saw it and his lips flattened.

  Oh, boy, even the knock sounded mean.

  “I will not let him fuck with you.”

  That didn’t sound good.

  “But you’ll let him mess with you?” I inquired.

  Trey didn’t answer, which was his answer.

  Crap. Maybe Ivan the Terrible was here.

  “Seriously, baby, if he opens his mouth and says something, I’ll set his ass out. You do not need to worry.”

  A third pound came and Trey took a deep breath before he came to me, kissed my cheek, and asked, “Do me a favor and turn down the burner, yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  He left the kitchen and I went to the stove to do as he asked. I also flipped the chicken and pushed around the vegetables in the other pan. I took my time, making sure every broccoli floret was turned over.

  “Babe?” Trey called, and I jolted before I gave myself a mental pep talk, plastered a fake smile on my face, and turned.

  Holy crap.

  Not what I was expecting.

  At all.

  Not being mean, but Trey was exceptionally good-looking, so I’d envisioned a devastatingly handsome older man and beautiful, graceful older woman.

  Trey’s father was shorter than him by at least three inches, he had a beer belly that strained against the buttons of his shirt, and his hair was gray. Not in a devastatingly handsome way that makes a man look interesting and arresting. No, in an unkempt, uncared for way that looked almost oily.

  His mother was pretty with delicate features. She was indeed aging gracefully, but not gracefully enough to be considered a beauty.

  I noted all of that and felt like a royal twit for thinking it. It was mean, but I only thought it because I couldn’t imagine how the two of them had created a man as beautiful as Trey.

  Next to them was a younger man. And he was openly staring at me in a way that made me want to take a shower to wash the ick off. He was not good-looking, or handsome, or beautiful. He was average and that was at a push. I didn’t know how old he was, just younger than Trey, but he still had acne and it could be described as not attractive.

  “Hi, I’m Adalynn.” I introduced myself, not knowing why, just wanting to get it over with so the three of them would stop staring at me.

  “Fucking-A, brother. Even with your face all fucked up, you still nail down a hot piece.”

  “CJ,” Trey rumbled at the same time his mother gasped.

  “What? Dude, just saying it like it is. Thought for sure after you got mangled, your options would dry up. Clearly, they haven’t.”

  “Clearly,” Trey’s dad agreed.

  Yuck.

  “This is your only warning. Both of you. One more comment like that and you’re gone.”

  “Hello, Adalynn, I’m Paige. Trey’s mom.”

  I glanced at Trey’s mom and took her in. Weary. That was the first thing that came to mind. Weary and bone-tired.

  “Paige. Nice to meet you.”

  “This is Carl, his dad. And CJ, his brother,” Paige continued.

  “Carl. CJ.”

  I didn’t add the ‘nice to meet you’ part because so far it hadn’t been pleasant and my mama taught me it wasn’t right to lie.

  I turned to Trey who’d made it to my side and asked, “Should we order something in?”

  “Why?”

  Why? How was it possible he was asking that? Three guests had arrived and the meal he’d been making surely wouldn’t feed five. And as mean as it was to think, but I wasn’t too torn up about it because Carl was more of a butthole than Trey had explained. He alone could eat all the stir-fry that was on the stove.

  “Have y’all eaten?” I asked.

  “Been driving ten hours. I’m starved,” Carl answered.

  “Well, Trey made dinner. It won’t be enough to feed us all, but how ‘bout we use it as an appetizer and we’ll order—”

  “Trey cooked dinner?” CJ snickered.

  “Hm?” I glanced up at Trey to find his jaw clenched.

  “What can I help you with, Adalynn?” Paige asked.

  I didn’t know the answer to that. I wasn’t the one cooking, but I felt it was in everyone’s best interest not to bring that up again.

  “Trey, honey, you wanna tell me what needs to be finished, or do you want me to call in an order?”

  “What are you doing here?” Trey asked instead of answering me.

  “Driving down to Florida. Thought we’d stop and spend the night,” Carl replied.


  Anger started rolling off Trey so I stepped closer and slid my arm around his middle. His hand went up, rested on my shoulder, and he pulled me to his side. Only then did he speak.

  “Florida?”

  “It’s your Aunt Betty’s birthday. We’re going down for the weekend. Big bash for her seventieth.”

  “Right. So you thought what, you’d use my house like a hotel? No call? No invite? You just show up unannounced and uninvited?”

  “Not like you’d go anyway,” CJ said, as he opened Trey’s refrigerator and shoved his head in. The next part came out muffled, “You got anything besides Rolling Rock? Bud? Coors? Something fuckin’ drinkable?”

  Apparently, CJ had no issue dropping the f-bomb either.

  Good to know.

  Except nothing was good at the moment. Trey had gone statue-still and I hadn’t heard or felt him exhale in several seconds.

  Evidently, CJ had no issue complaining about his brother’s beer and drinking it anyway. With bottle in hand, CJ turned around and finished with, “You never did like going to family shit, and after you got your face fucked up and they kicked you out of the SEALs, you pretty much stopped going to anything. And it’s not like you don’t got the room in your big-ass house. Guess it pays. I mean, I’d take a bomb to the face if it meant I’d get a wad of cash. Guess bitches really do love the dolla—”

  “Are you for real?” I asked. “His face isn’t fucked up, you moron.”

  “Addy—”

  “No, Trey. A bomb to the face?” I screeched. “Who says that?”

  “I do,” CJ piped up. “Since that’s what it was, a fucking bomb to the face. You can’t be blind. You see all those scars. It’s fucked up.”

  “Please, Trey, tell me I’m stuck in some sort of weird dream after I was force-fed mushrooms. You know, the kind that made you go all wonky.”

  “’Fraid not, baby.”

  “No? So no one handcuffed me, rolled a fatty, and forced me to inhale? And now I’m so high I’m imagining I’m standing in your kitchen with your brother?”

  “No, baby.” I watched his lips twitch and I didn’t understand how that was possible.

  “So this is the real world, the normal one, and your brother’s talking to you about taking a bomb to the face?”

  “Yep.” He smiled.

  “Has he lost his mind? Dropped on his head as a baby? Played some full-contact sport where he sustained multiple concussions that rendered him stupid?”

  “Yes, not sure, no, and no.”

  “She might be fine but she sure is mouthy,” CJ blurted out.

  “Are we gonna eat?” Carl asked.

  I stared at Trey a beat, then I busted out laughing. I couldn’t help it. There wasn’t anything funny about Trey’s brother being a big, fat jerk. And to top it off, his father was worried about food instead of how incredibly insulting his younger son had been.

  “This can’t be real life,” I sputtered.

  “Unfortunately, it’s mine.”

  That sobered me.

  I didn’t understand how Trey came from these people. And I wasn’t talking about looks. Trey was not rude, he was not inconsiderate, he wasn’t an asshole. Sure, he was gruff and a little rough around the edges. There was a hard exterior but he was kind, gentle, and good at his core.

  “Tell me what you need me to do,” I whispered.

  Trey’s eyes drifted closed, and when they opened, that light shone so bright it blinded me.

  “Just this.”

  I didn’t know what ‘just this’ meant, but I pressed closer.

  “Ma, there are takeout menus in the drawer by the fridge. Find something and order it.” Then he turned to his brother. “Keep your trap shut or you’re sleeping in the car.”

  “What—”

  “You fucking know what,” Trey returned. “Addy and I leave at eight to go to work. You’re out by then.”

  “Eight? Wanted to sleep in. Hotel beds suck. Haven’t had a good night’s sleep in two nights.”

  “Not my problem. You’re out by the time we leave.”

  “Adalynn’s moved in?” Paige asked.

  “Yep.”

  That was stretching the truth but I decided not to correct him.

  “Well, that’s wonderful. Cute as a button. I bet she’ll have this house in tip-top shape in no time.”

  Tip-top shape? Trey’s house was a showplace, not a frat house. There was nothing to get into shape.

  “She’s my girlfriend, not my maid.”

  “Of course, I just meant it will be nice for you to come home and have things done. You know, like dinner and such.”

  “Addy doesn’t cook.”

  Well, I did cook. I just didn’t make my own stir-fry sauce. Mine came out of a packet from the awesome Asian market around the corner from my condo.

  “She doesn’t?” Paige gasped.

  Trey ignored his mother and turned us to the stove, and together, we finished making dinner.

  No way in heck Trey grew up with these people.

  I took my time washing my face, then I took more time brushing my teeth to the point they were sparkling clean and my gums were near bleeding, then I took even more time and thoroughly lotioned every inch of skin that wasn’t covered by my pjs. When I ran out of stuff to do, I had no choice but to exit Trey’s bathroom.

  I wasn’t avoiding him. I actually wanted to get into bed next to him and check on him. My problem was, I was in a state of shock and had been for hours. The Durums were a strange bunch. Paige was nice enough in a weird, downtrodden kind of way. It seemed to me like she knew her husband and son were total jerks and she’d given up. She was nice enough to me, she spoke to Trey like he was a distant relative, not her beloved son. This was different than how she treated her other son. CJ needed a fresh beer, Paige got up and got it. CJ wanted seconds, Paige got up and filled his plate.

  Throughout dinner, they mostly ignored Trey. None of them asked him a single question. They just barged into his house, took over, and then talked amongst themselves about a vacation they were taking that Trey had not been invited on.

  How freaking weird was that?

  In an act of bravery, I put my knee on the bed by Trey’s hip and swung my other one over him. I planted my booty on his lap, straddled him, and looked down at him. Both his hands came up and landed on my thighs. He was not looking at me—his eyes were closed, and not because he was asleep.

  My big, rough, brave Trey with his eyes closed, possibly in shame.

  Damn those people.

  My hand went to his face and his body went solid. I ignored this heartbreaking shift and continued stroking his cheek. My fingertips were met with puckered marks, the proof of what he’d endured. He hadn’t shared more than bits and pieces of what had happened that day, and mostly the parts about how he blamed himself. But I knew what happened. My cousin Liberty had told me. Of course, her side of the story was filled with guilt as well, she felt she should’ve known what was going to happen and warned Trey and Luke sooner to flee. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but the man who’d been wearing a suicide vest. But none of them would accept the truth. They all went on blaming themselves. Drake would sort Liberty—she was on a path full of love and healing. I would see to Trey.

  But who would help Luke?

  I shoved those thoughts aside. That was for another day. Right then, with all that had happened at dinner, I needed to see to my man.

  My hand slid up to his temple, then over his forehead as I smoothed the creases between his brows. This was not the first time, not even the tenth time, I’d taken him in. Strong, square jaw, fantastic bone structure, full lips, perfectly set eyes. He was too rugged to be considered pretty, especially with his scars. He was classically handsome, but the marks that dotted one side of his face intensified the rugged and made him look indefatigable.

  “What do you need from me?” I whispered.

  “Just this.”

  Just this.

  That was the second time that n
ight he’d said those words to me. I still wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I’d do it for as long as he needed it.

  18

  Luke had left me alone at the shooting range when Jason made his approach.

  I was in no state of mind to go another round with Addy’s brother. My family’s unwelcomed sneak attack from the night before still had me simmering. I had not wanted Addy to ever meet them and especially not like that. But as always, my family did whatever the fuck they wanted to do, uncaring I didn’t want them to do it.

  Now that I had Addy in my life, it was high time I cut them out. I’d never been one of them. As a kid I was different, as a teenager, the distance grew, and when I joined the Navy, a chasm had formed. I didn’t want to work beside my father and not for the reasons he claimed. There was nothing wrong with being an electrician, it just wasn’t for me. And working for my dad would’ve sent me over the edge. CJ was of another mind. He couldn’t wait to join our father. My brother was twenty-nine and still lived in the apartment above my parents’ garage. He was a man-child that needed his mommy to wipe his ass for him. And my mother after years of conditioning happily did it.

  Yeah, it was time to cut them off, something I should’ve done the day I left for boot camp but didn’t because I loved my mother. That was, the mom she was when her husband wasn’t around.

  And Addy was there to witness their bullshit. My family was a far cry from hers.

  With all of that on my mind, Jason stopped beside me.

  “Not a good time,” I warned.

  It would become apparent Jason gave zero fucks when he turned fully to me, took in the rifle in my hands, and launched in.

  “Have a lot of shit on my mind. Mercy’s having a rough pregnancy, still not a reason for me being a dick. Bottom line is, I was way out of line yesterday and I know it.”

  “This is a conversation you need to have with Adalynn,” I returned.