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.”

They stared each other a few long moments as if each waiting for the other to back down, to beg. But Billie didn’t say a word and her lips were one hard line, giving nothing away.

“In that case,” he said eventually, “consider this your eviction notice.”

“What?” Her eyes sparked with disbelief.

Lorna gasped. “No! Travis, please don’t punish Billie because of me.”

“Stay the fuck out of this,” he growled, and then spoke again to Billie. “I told you when I arrived I was going to sell the place, and it looks like nothing has changed. I want you to get yourself and your precious art out as soon as you can. Yesterday if possible.”

“You can’t do that! You have to give me proper notice. Please, Travis,” now she sounded like she was begging, “don’t do this to me. Don’t do this to all the people who display their work in my gallery.”

“What? Like her?” He thrust his thumb at Lorna. “Like I give a damn about any of them.”

Billie’s face crumpled, but he ignored the emotions that surged through him—the sympathy, the guilt, the need. He didn’t want to feel so strongly about her when she’d all but thrown his feelings in his face. He wasn’t asking much…just this one thing, and she hadn’t even considering relenting. What he was doing wasn’t exactly legal, but since when had that stopped him from doing anything he wanted? And even if Billie could afford a lawyer, she wouldn’t dare mess with him now that she knew what the Deacons were capable of. His brothers would have no objection to this, since they’d wanted to reclaim the gallery for the clubhouse from the beginning.

That couldn’t happen fast enough. He needed to erase all evidence of Billie from his building, which would hopefully help eradicate her from his mind.

He was more angry at himself than at her—angry that he’d let down his defenses and let go of the hard lessons life had taught him. He’d been well and truly screwed over, and evicting her from the building, from his life, was an act of self-preservation.

Not wanting to be with Billie and Lorna a second longer, he turned in his boots and stormed off back the way he came.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” someone shouted at him as he careened around a corner. Travis didn’t even acknowledge the person, never mind apologize—he was too focused on getting back to the gallery and packing his things.

Rolley was at the piano when he arrived at the gallery, and Travis didn’t make eye contact as he hurried inside. He tried not to look around while he shoved all his belongings back into his bag, nor sniff the air, which was infused with the scent of strawberries, of Billie. Then, he put on his Deacons cut, tugged his bag high on his shoulder and walked next door to The Priory.

—

“I’m so sorry,” Lorna said, her voice shaky as she and Billie watched Travis storm off down the street.

Billie could barely bring herself to look at the woman. She couldn’t help wishing she hadn’t come here today, but she’d wanted to tell Lorna she couldn’t be a go-between for her. Lorna had understood, was overjoyed simply to hear that Travis had found love and was staying in New Orleans. She probably held hope that if he was nearby and living a fulfilled and happy life then maybe in time his heart would soften toward her as well, but Billie guessed after what had just happened right here on her doorstep that any such fantasies were rapidly evaporating.

Until a few moments ago, she’d harbored a similar fantasy because she hadn’t believed Travis could truly embrace the future until he’d made amends with his past. She wouldn’t have pushed him, though. Saxon had tried to control her and the last thing she’d wanted to do was try and change or control Travis. She’d thought he was different—that there was something special between them, more than just mind-blowing sex—but he’d just proved her wrong.

Maybe she was cutting off her nose to spite her face, maybe she’d been unfair considering Travis’s broken past with Lorna, but the insecurities she’d felt with Saxon had raised their ugly heads. If she’d given in to Travis’s demand that she end her business association with Lorna, he’d think he could walk all over her, and no way was she ever entering into that kind of relationship again.