Feel (Sovereign Book 3) by BJ Harvey Page A

I instinctively looked up to see a furious Barrett stalking toward me.
    Just seeing a familiar—albeit not necessarily friendly—face made the tell-tale lump in my throat come back with a vengeance. All the anger I’d been harboring toward Gavin rushed back to the surface.
    “Alyssa, we need to talk,” Barrett demanded, as he came to a stop a foot away from me. Filled with rage, I leaned forward and jabbed my finger into Barrett’s chest.
    “This is your fault.”
    “What?” he asked, his brows knitted together.
    “I asked you in Vegas to tell me what was going on with Gavin and you wouldn’t . . .” Jab . “Tell.” Jab. “Me.” Then I jabbed him one last time, extra hard. He didn’t even flinch; he just stood there and took everything I gave him.
    His hands came up and gripped my biceps, holding me still while he lowered his head to look in my eyes. “What’s wrong, Lys?”
    Then, as if right on cue, it started raining, but I was too far gone to care. “It’s gone.”
    “What?”
    “All of it.”
    “Lys.” His voice went soft. All of his anger seemed to have disappeared. “You’re not making any sense.”
    “Gavin. He’s taken it all, now. My company, my mom . . .” My voice cracked but somehow I stood strong, Barrett’s grip on my arms steadying me.
    “I was trying to protect you,” he said. He let go of my arm and swiped a hand over his face to clear the water away. It was a fruitless effort, as the rain continued to pour down, washing over both of us.
    “Protect me?” I shrieked.
    We stood there on the sidewalk. It was as if the world around us had disappeared and we were the only two people left standing.
    He moved in closer and tilted his head, then I remembered his role in this. Investigation or not, he’d played his part. I still didn’t know what information he had about me. I didn’t know if part of his cover was to report back to Gavin on whatever the hell it was he was supposed to be doing for him.
    It didn’t matter that he’d told me everything he could last night, or that he’d taken me to his bed. None of it mattered in that moment. As all of my thoughts crashed together in my head, I lost it.
    “Instead of protecting me, look what happened! My mother got married without me, and now I’ve just lost my company!” I yelled, not caring about the rain. My emotions were pulled one way and then another, all because of three men; the one standing in front of me, another hundreds of miles away, and Gavin – the one who fooled us all.
    “It was my job, Alyssa,” he said, his voice full of regret.
    “You were paid to lie to me. He paid you to find out everything about my life for what?” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “He’s taken everything, and I have no fucking idea why. What have I done to him? Why me? What more can he fucking want, Barrett?” Tears streamed down my face, and I fisted my hands in his shirt and clung to him.
    “I’m going to make this right, Alyssa,” Barrett vowed, and he looked sincere, almost determined to make me believe it.
    “Why, Barrett? Why does it even matter to you?” I cried.
    “Because you fucking matter to me.” Then I was in his arms, his fingers fisted in my hair. The other hand circled my waist and pulled me hard against him just as he kissed me. His lips slammed down onto mine and his tongue slid into my mouth. My mind and body were at odds, but I was powerless to stop it.
    Then, as quickly as it started, it was over, because two arms moved between us and violently wrenched us apart.
    My eyes snapped open and went wide as I gasped in shock when I saw a stony-faced Aiden glaring back at me. I stepped toward him, and my mouth opened to say something but I stopped when I saw the look he shot Barrett.
    “Lawrence, what the—” Barrett began but stopped when Aiden moved forward, reared his arm back, and slammed his fist straight into Barrett’s jaw.
     

 
     
     
    Barrett lifted his hand and rubbed his jaw where