Rewarded by Jo Davis Read Free Book Online Page A

grabbed his friend from behind.
    “What the fuck are you doing?” the man yelled.
    Then Rio jogged in, shoving Joaquin away from Sloane. Right behind him, to his great shame, was Anna. She was clearly stunned, brown eyes huge in her face, dark hair tumbling around the shoulders of her nightshirt.
    “What the hell is going on in here?” she demanded, looking from him to Sloane.
    He and Sloane glared at each other, breathing hard.
    Her voice rose. “You guys are fighting like two hormonal teenagers? Who threw the first punch?”
    Joaquin’s heart sank. Collecting himself, he knew he had to fess up. “I did. But—”
    “But what? Gray was goading you, I’ll bet,” she guessed. The big agent quelled under her icy stare. “Right?”
    “Yeah, I might have needled him some,” Sloane said, appearing ashamed.
    “How mature of you.” Her tone was scathing. Then she returned her attention to Joaquin. “And you aren’t any better, letting a few remarks get under your skin to the point that you hit someone. Do either of you have any clue how sick I am of violence? Did you care that I’ve seen more of it in the past couple of days than I care to experience again?”
    “Anna, I’m sorry,” Joaquin said.
    Sloane nodded. “Me too. I apologize.”
    She fell silent for a long moment, and Joaquin had a feeling neither he nor Sloane was going to like what she had to say next. He was right.
    “I’m a person, not a toy for two little boys to fight over. I can’t handle this, not on top of having to sort out my feelings for both of you,” she said.
    The statement fell between the three of them, painfully honest. A glance at Sloane revealed the man felt as miserable as he did, despite his bold declarations of a few moments ago. He wasn’t any more sure he’d win Anna than Joaquin was. And he felt as terrible as Joaquin did about letting things get out of hand.
    “I need to think,” Anna went on. “And I can’t do that here. I’m going home to New York this morning. I’ll call a car service to pick me up.”
    “Anna, please, won’t you reconsider?” He hated begging in front of the three other men, including his brother. But he had to try to change her mind.
    Regret was etched on her face. “I have to do this. I need some space, plus I have a life and a business to get back to. I promise I’ll be in touch with both of you when I get my head on straight.”
    He cleared his throat. He wasn’t going to allow himself to cry. “At least accept a ride home in my limo. It will be much more comfortable, and you’ll be able to stretch out and nap during the drive.”
    “You know, I’ll take you up on that. Thanks.”
    “The limo will be waiting out front.”
    She started to walk out, and then turned back. “Just so you both know, I was going to leave anyway. The fight just made up my mind to leave a little sooner.”
    Then she did walk out to go pack, and his heart cracked under the strain of his sadness. This was a disaster, and he wasn’t sure how he would recover if she never came back.
    I’m sorry. Please don’t leave me.
    But his silent plea was in vain.
    ***
    She hurt, down to her soul.
    This wasn’t how she’d envisioned ending her stay with Joaquin. She never thought she’d see Gray again, and the events of the past couple of days were unreal. Both men coming to blows in Joaquin’s kitchen.
Over me.
    She really did need to think—she wasn’t lying about that. The only place to do that was home, surrounded by her things. Now more than ever, she needed her mother. She’d never been more glad in her life that the older woman would be waiting when she got home.
    Packing didn’t take long, and when she was done she headed downstairs with her suitcase and bag. Joaquin met her on the stairs and insisted on taking the suitcase. The walk to the front door was sad, and she just wanted to get this part over with.
    “I could ride with you—”
    “Thanks, but no. I need to go home, alone.”
    “I see.”