Chapter 10 #2
“They found out what I wanted them to.” Micah had turned his tech skills to making a mirror site.
That had been what Rogue and Ivy had accessed with a small amount of influence on my part.
The only reason I’m explaining any of this is because of what Ivy said about Nicole threatening Dizzy.
And the possibility that my sunshine finally went too far.
“I don’t know whether to trust you or jump out of the moving vehicle right now.” Summer backs up nervously, winds her fingers around the door handle.
I hit the central locking system. “Sorry, I can’t let you jump. You’d hurt yourself and possibly my nieces or nephews. That would not help me convince my brothers I’m trustworthy.”
“You want to prove you’re trustworthy?” Her eyes widen. “You’re aloof all the time. Every time I look in your direction, you’re scowling at someone.”
“It’s what I do. Scowl and be aloof.”
“Is that a joke?”
“Yes.”
“And suggesting it was Rogue or Ivy who killed Stains? Was that a joke too?”
“Yes.” I smirk.
“You make jokes.” She starts to relax.
“Sometimes.” I concentrate on the road. “You might not understand me. We are not the same. The way I grew up compared to the others… there are moves I make that will never make sense to you. That doesn’t mean you can’t trust me. I want you to trust me. I want my brothers to trust me. We’re family.”
“When did you decide that?” She releases her grip on the door handle. She must have decided to give me the benefit of the doubt. “You’ve put a lot of effort into keeping everyone at a distance.”
“It takes me a while to warm up to people.” That much is true.
We fall silent for a couple of miles, but then she asks, “So the FBI? You’re dead to them too.”
“If I want to keep Dizzy safe,” I admit.
“But she threw herself at the guy.”
“What do you think the Fed was looking at when she did that? What was he thinking?” The need for violence rises inside me as I recall the details.
“Probably, damn, where’d she come from?” Summer’s eyes widen.
He never bothered to look too closely at the pink haired girl. “He saw what we wanted him to see. What everyone sees when they look at Dizzy. Distraction. Kissing him kept it that way.”
“If she hadn’t, he would have seen you,” Summer says.
“Exactly. I hadn’t registered he was there yet. By the time I did, it might have become a problem.”
“You’re okay then? Everything is good between you?” Summer actually appears concerned about our relationship. Is that concern what makes us family?
“Not at all. She still kissed him.” Of course, her lips brush with the law would have already been forgiven if she hadn’t run off to L.A. and straight into a faceoff with my Aunt. If she’d come to me and taken her punishment, she would be deliciously sore, and reminded she is mine.
And no law man will ever claim her from me.
Summer side eyes me.
“But we will be.” Hopefully sooner rather than later. Once I have my Dizzy back.
She looks at me like I might lunge across the cabin. I am not like my brothers. I am not good because they are. We were raised too differently to ever be the same. She recognizes this. Recognizes the danger.
But curiosity is an insistent thing, making its owner stumble into places they would be better staying far from, so she voices it anyway, “That knife you found in your cabin. Do you think Dizzy— ”
“That wasn’t the deal.” My knuckles have whitened on the steering wheel, and I make myself relax before she spots it. Up ahead the town comes into view.
She sits up taller; her fingers knotted in her lap. “I need to call on someone. An old friend.”
“This friend—”
“Ex.”
“Ex friend? Or ex-boyfriend?”
“It’s my fault they’re hurting Violet.” She turns to me with earnestness. “It’s getting worse. Every time she comes to the ranch she has more bruises.”
“The florist?” I catch on. “Who was still at the ranch when we left? Who has at minimum, three of the Heart brothers sniffing around her like a pack of hungry dogs.”
“That’s crass. But yes.” She quiets as I find a parking space on Main Street.
Her gaze is glued to a banner that crosses the road.
“Last night I got one of the men who hurt me to confess. And Rebel and my brothers put the hurt on him...” She indicates the man on the banner with her chin.
“Warned him to leave us both alone. But today she shows up with more bruises. It has to stop.”
“And you think you’re going to stop it?”
“Maybe I can’t physically stop him. But I can put all eyes on him,” she says, digging out a thick stack of papers from her tote bag. “And his friends. It’s time everyone in town knew the truth.”
The page on top, which I assume is the same as every other in the pile, has a picture of the man on the banner with the headline, “Mayor or Monster?” There are pictures of a group of clean-cut, good-looking teens below the main one.
Him and his buddies. They’re juxtaposed by the other photos.
Cropped bruises on different body parts.
A red handprint on the pale column of a feminine throat.
A police report. Several paragraphs of a confession. And a QR code.
“In case they need to hear it from their boys,” she says bitterly, smoothing her hand over the code box. “It links to a recording of Kurt’s confession. Hopefully it will be enough to make people believe me for once.”
“If they don’t...?” Sometimes people refuse to believe what is right in front of their faces. Whether it’s what they want to believe or not. She needs to be prepared for that.
“At least they’ll be paying more attention, which should mean he and his boys lay off Violet for a while.”
“And it’ll keep your brothers out of trouble too, correct?”
“If only... I could barely keep Owen from going after Duke years ago and he’s still simmering on it.
Jett and Storm are the same. And in case you haven’t noticed my brothers seem to be falling all over themselves when it comes to Violet.
” She sighs. “I am getting the hell out of here once the wedding is over. And honestly, I don’t want to stop them anymore. But I need to try my way first.”
“Okay.” I scoop up three quarters of the stack. “Let’s get these out there.” She gapes at me a little but then smiles instead. “You don’t have to help.”
She could have told me she was going to stab the guy and I would still help. “It’ll be my pleasure to help bring chaos on those who deserve it. We really need to get to know each other better, Summer Heart. Where shall we start?”
“We better go to the post office first. I really do need to pick up the ingredients for the cake. I told Adira I would. And then we’ll paper the whole street from there and finish here.”