27. Evan
TWENTY-SEVEN
EVAN
“Stop dragging your dick and let’s go.” Scott’s voice had me flipping him the middle finger before I took one last glance around the cottage and closed the door.
It had changed since Gemma left—fewer clothes scattered on the floor, and her shoes weren’t haphazardly thrown in front of the door.
It was quieter. My shoulder ached as humidity hung in the air, and I pressed my thumb into the ridges of my scar, a constant reminder of what we’d been through.
We’d both endured that night, but I had chosen to step in front of the gun.
Gemma wasn’t given a choice, and instead, she was disfigured simply because grown men were afraid of what a kid had overheard.
I never wanted her to feel fear like that again.
The men responsible also hadn’t counted on inciting my hatred and me choosing Gemma over the life.
Over Parker. I thought of her again and how she looked so much like our mother.
I’d choose this kid again in a heartbeat.
I ambled toward Scott. The windows were down in his truck, and he draped one arm over the steering wheel.
“Where to, Agent? ”
“Ma wants us checking on fence posts around the north pasture. A few need replacing.”
I nodded as I climbed into the cab. Scott was a born-and-bred Montanan.
His transition to the work on a ranch was seamless—you’d never know he was actually a federal agent and had seen some gruesome shit in his lifetime.
More and more it seemed, at Redemption, we were all battle weary and had pasts we wanted buried.
With Scotty, it was easy for me to let the past go.
Same with Val.
Even thinking of her made my chest feel tight.
She hadn’t mentioned anything more about her fitness for duty evaluation or her leaving Montana in weeks.
I couldn’t help but think about it, and a few times I almost asked, but then decided to say fuck it .
I was more than happy to pretend it didn’t exist and go on living the lie that we could stretch out whatever was happening between us.
As long as Val was working on the ranch, she fit perfectly into the new life I was building.
“We gonna get ahead of those clouds?” I nodded toward the ominous black clouds rolling in.
“That’s the plan.” Scotty pulled onto the dirt road and headed out toward the pasture. We spent the next hour in near silence, checking each post, reinforcing ones that were salvageable and marking ones that weren’t and could be replaced later.
“How’s Gemma liking her new place?”
I eyed Scotty.
Why the fuck is he asking about Gem?
“She loves it. Like any nineteen- year-old loves their freedom.” I’d been sure to emphasize and remind him about her age. I didn’t give a fuck how much I liked Scott, Gemma was off-limits .
Unfazed, he continued, “That’s great. Good for her. Everything else fine?”
I knew he was prodding. It was no longer a secret Val and I were sleeping together, and though everyone knew it was temporary, no one talked about it. “Yep.”
It wasn’t fine. As recent days wore on, I was fixating on her evaluation more and more.
The less she mentioned it, the more I waited for the other shoe to drop—for her to breeze in, pack her shit, and move on to bigger and better things.
A few times I’d almost slipped and told her how I felt.
That I fucking loved her more than I ever thought I was capable of loving, and it scared the shit out of me.
But nothing was tying her to Montana once that evaluation was cleared, and I wasn’t about to be the weight around her neck that dragged her down.
She would move on from here. They’d be fucking idiots to not snag her for the ATF, and she’d be gone. Somewhere far from Montana where she would kick ass and lead the life she had always wanted. Val Rivera would cease to exist at Redemption Ranch.
Except I knew that was total bullshit. Val was the type of woman who left a brand.
My fingers grazed the scar on my shoulder.
In her case, I would carry my very own reminder on my skin.
Even after she left, I knew I would think of her every day for the rest of my life.
I’d reach for her when I slept. I’d hear a stupid pun and want to share it with her just to hear the tinkling of her laugh.
She would haunt me.
I pounded the final post harder than I intended, shoving down dark and dangerous thoughts with every thwack.
“If you’re done beating that post to death, let’s go. Rain’s coming.”
Outside my cabin, I held the water hose to my lips.
The rain held off, doing nothing but spitting and making the warm air thick and charged.
After washing the mud from my boots, I let the cool water ease the burn in my throat.
The clouds hung heavy and low. Before long rain would wash the film of dust off the day.
Down the dirt path that sloped toward the main cabin, I saw Val running toward me.
Heat bloomed in my chest. Excitement tittered in rippling waves under my skin. Her black hair blew back as she ran toward me like a fucking movie.
Then I saw her face.
Panic.
Fear.
I dropped the hose and tore off toward her. My boots slammed into the gravel and dirt.
“Evan!” I could see my name on her lips before I could hear her.
“Val!” I screamed back at her. I needed her to know I saw her and I was coming. My lungs burned as dust and dirt choked me. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. I finally— finally —reached her, and Val slammed into me.
Her breath was ragged as she sucked in air. “Gem.” Her eyes were huge, and I could barely understand the words. Her arms gripped mine. “It’s Gemma.”
Razors sliced at my gut. “Where? What happened?”
I’d started to pull away, to run the rest of the way toward the main lodge, when Val’s grip tightened. “Evan. Look at me.”
I did, but I couldn’t focus as panic and worry took over. “She’s safe. She’s at the lodge with Robbie and Ma.” Val pulled me toward the lodge, and we started walking as fast as our feet would take us while talking. Her legs were long, but she trotted behind me as I barreled toward the lodge.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“I don’t know. Something happened at the diner. She had a panic attack or something. One second we were talking about school and classes and the next, she ... I don’t know. She freaked out.”
I slowed my feet so Val could catch up, relaxing just a bit, knowing Gem was at the lodge and safe. “Gemma’s had panic attacks before. Just after we got here. She still has nightmares sometimes, but I think those have gotten a little better.”
Val nodded, and her hand gripped my forearm. “Ev, there’s more. She’s saying she heard Parker.”
My head whipped to her. “Heard? What do you mean heard ?”
“I mean, she said she didn’t see him, but heard him at the counter of the diner. His voice. I don’t really know.”
When I reached the door to the lodge, I nearly ripped it off its hinges.
Sitting in the living room, Gemma was in a chair, silent tears streaming down her face, and Ma was next to her, rubbing slow circles around her back.
One look at me and Gemma dissolved into a fresh round of sobs.
I stormed up to the chair and sank to my knees, pulling her into me.
“He’s here. He’s here. He found us.” She was clawing at my back. Panic rolled off her in waves as untethered rage whipped through me.
I’d promised her this was over. That she was safe. I sold my soul to make sure this would never happen again.
I held Gemma’s shoulders and forced her eyes to mine. “No one will hurt you. I’ll take care of it. ”
Straightening, I turned to leave and met a wall of agents. “Get the fuck out of my way.”
Scott tried to reach out, but the glare I shot him had him lowering his hand. “Slow down. We’ll take care of this. Get the details. We don’t even know if it was, in fact, your brother.”
Gemma’s small voice floated over my shoulder. “It was him.” She hiccuped as she tried to even her breathing. “I’d know his voice anywhere. I know it was him.”
“Scott’s right,” Val said. “We need to investigate. Follow protocol.”
I studied her face, only then realizing she was standing with the agents. “We? What do you mean, we ?”
“I’m here. Helping. All of us are helping. We’ll figure this out.”
“Scott. Give me your keys.”
“Can’t do that, man. Sorry.”
“Evan, I can drive you home.” Val’s warm brown eyes pleaded with me. “Ma will take care of Gemma, and we can figure out what to do next.”
My breathing was heavy, but she was making too much sense to argue, which pissed me off even more.
I didn’t need Gemma to see me lose my shit either.
I stalked toward the door, found the truck, and slammed the door to the Silverado.
The short drive back to my cabin was in heavy silence.
The entire ride I thought of all the ways I was going to find and murder my brother.