Cursing under his breath, he followed the sound until he found the phone lying under the pile of clothes she’d discarded last night before falling into bed with him. It wasn’t as if he needed to see or talk to her, but they’d barely been apart these last few days and after a few hours discussing the Ministry, he was more than ready for a dose of his woman. Where was she? And when would she be back? Damn, he supposed he’d have to ask Rolley if he knew.
As he headed back down the corridor Billie’s phone beeped in his hand, signaling a message. Without thinking, he glanced down at the screen and almost dropped it when he read who the message was from.
Lorna—Made any progress?
What the fuck? Made progress about what? What was his mom messaging Billie about? Hadn’t he told her to stay the fuck away from this place? And surely Billie had gotten the message that he didn’t want her to have anything to do with his mother. Anger burned in his chest, but he told himself to calm the hell down. He checked the phone for other messages and let out a sigh of relief when he saw they were all one-way. This wasn’t Lorna’s first message, but it didn’t look like Billie had replied to any of them. That was something.
He took a deep breath and continued into the courtyard. Rolley was dealing with a customer, so he bided his time, running his hands back and forth over the piano keys until the other guy was free.
Then, he tried for friendly. “Hey dude, do you know where Billie is?”
Rolley screwed up his face. “Why should I tell you?”
Travis’s grip tightened on Billie’s phone, but he forced himself to keep calm. He needed answers, not to waste time bickering with this loser. He shrugged, held up the phone and spoke slowly so Rolley could understand. “Because she’s mine, and she left her phone behind and I want to go take it to her.”
“What do you mean she’s yours?”
Travis smirked as he slipped the cell into his pocket. “You want me to spell it out?” Before Rolley could reply he continued, “When two people are attracted to each other they—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence before Rolley burst out laughing. “She’s playing you, man.”
Travis’s heart went cold. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Grinning now, Rolley said, “She’s gone to visit your mom. You really think someone like Billie would fall for someone like you? She’s being nice as a favor to Lorna, to try and convince you to make amends.”
“What the hell…?” Travis shook his head, his insides twisting. There was so much wrong with this scenario. Billie didn’t seem the type to use sex to get what she wanted, and no amount of sexual favors would ever bring him to forgive his mother, but his stomach churned at the thought.
“Sorry, man.” Rolley didn’t sound sorry at all. He shrugged and gestured to the gate. “If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go see for yourself?”
What Travis wanted to do was wipe the smug grin off the hippie artist’s ugly face, but that would only show how bothered he was. And, considering he was the one with Billie between his sheets, he couldn’t quite work out why. Turning his back on the loser, Travis strode out of the gallery and stalked a few blocks down Bourbon Street when he realized he had no idea where Lorna lived. Cursing, he kicked his boot against a crack in the sidewalk and dragged his cell out of his pocket, hoping she was listed. Moments later, he cursed again when he couldn’t find her.
As much as it would pain him to do so, he was about to go inside and demand Rolley tell him the address when he remembered Billie’s cell was still in his pocket. He yanked it out and brought up his mom’s contact details. “Bingo,” he muttered under his breath, as in addition to her phone number he found her address and email. He knew the street on the edge of the Quarter well, and in his current mood it didn’t take him long to walk there.
Pausing a moment in front of the brightly painted Creole cottage, he shook his head as he tried to reconcile this chirpy little house with the dirty rooms they’d rented in dodgy townhouses when he was a kid. Could Lorna truly have changed this much? That thought didn’t get the chance to take root before the door opened and he saw his mom and Billie step onto the front porch. At the sight of them together, his heart turned to ice and he felt a physical pain in his gut as if someone had slammed a fist into him.
Lost in their conversation, neither woman looked his way, and he watched in horror as Lorna patted Billie’s arm before leaning forward and enveloping her in a friendly embrace. They looked a lot closer than Billie had led him to believe.
His breathing quickened and he had to steady himself on the damn fence.
Fuck, this was exactly what he hadn’t wanted. Feelings. They made him weak and he despised them; he hated the way seeing Billie with his mother made him feel. As if someone had stabbed a knife into his chest and twisted. Could Rolley be telling the truth? That Billie had been in collusion with Lorna, trying to soften him, to butter him up so she could bring him around to her way of thinking? That is, to make him believe that Lorna was a changed woman who deserved his forgiveness and the chance to walk back into his life.
Not before hell freezes over.
How would Billie like it if he’d been plotting with her asshole of an ex-husband? He couldn’t imagine she’d be stoked with that kind of betrayal, and neither was he. If they had any kind of future together, Billie needed to cut all ties with his poor excuse for a mother. That was a deal breaker.
Trying to swallow the sour taste in his mouth, he shoved open the ornate steel gate and made his presence known.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he said, marching over to Billie, taking hold of her arm and yanking her away from Lorna. He’d caught her red-handed and she didn’t even have the audacity to look sheepish.
“Travis!” She glared at him, her hand immediately rushing to rub the spot where he held her. “What are you doing here?”
He loosened his grip a little but didn’t let go. “What am I doing here? What the fuck are you doing here? You said you barely knew my…Lorna.”
“Keep your voice down,” she hissed, glancing over at the street, where a few passersby had slowed. “There’s no need to curse and carry on.”
“I’ll curse as much as I damn well please, and you haven’t answered my question.”
“Maybe if you asked nicely, I would,” she snapped back, pushing every single button in his body.
He sucked in a quick breath. “I don’t know why you’re here, but if you think you’re going to convince me to forgive her,” he thrust a finger in his mom’s direction, “then you’re delusional.”
Billie opened her mouth to say something, but he barreled right over the top of her. “And if you feel the way you say you do about me, then you won’t see Lorna ever again. Understood?”
Billie blinked and then she shook her head, her blond hair flopping into her eyes. “No, that’s not understood. As I’ve told you before, Lorna is a colleague, an important contributor to my gallery. How would you like it if I told you who you could and couldn’t do business with?”
“That’s fucking different.”
“It’s not.” She yanked out of his grasp and slammed her hands on her hips. “My business matters to me, but quite aside from that I want an equal relationship, not a man who thinks he can control me.”
Travis scoffed. “You’re comparing me with your ex?”
Billie shrugged. “If the shoe fits, and right now it most definitely does. I can’t be with a man who thinks he can order me around.”
“Looks like we’re at a standstill, then. Because I can’t be with a woman I can’t trust.”