Chapter 23
“See, now, doesn’t having fresh air in your lungs make up for not having a huge dick between your legs?” Arena called back down the trail to me.
I snorted a laugh so hard the water I’d been sipping from my bottle came out of my nose. Time spent with my best friend was exactly what I needed when it felt like my life was about to implode.
“Jesus, Arena, give a girl some warning before you decide to show some personality and make a joke,” I teased.
She flipped me off in response, skipping ahead of me.
We were hiking the Cape Canyon ridge, a gorgeous trail that snaked along the cliffside overlooking the ocean.
It was usually a popular trail on the weekends, but given the sun hadn’t decided to come out to play today and the wind was whipping across the water, it seemed the usual crowd had opted to stay home.
We’d bumped into other hikers here and there, but it wasn’t bustling like it usually was.
I’d spent the past week agonizing over the reason for my father’s return, and had managed to settle on only one comforting thought to get me through the day: He couldn’t touch me here.
Not yet. Not with the guys around me when they were so willing to protect me.
It wasn’t like before in Seattle when he could do what he wanted to me and nobody would stand in his way.
Sinclair, Dacre, and Presley would do that now.
And for my father to force me to produce an heir, Boston would have to be a willing party.
He’d returned to Seattle this week to convince his father to rein in my own father’s leash and get him out of Cape Canyon, but it meant I hadn’t had the opportunity to broach the topic with him.
Surely he would be as against the idea of a baby the same way I was.
Then again, maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought. Knowing he’d signed the marriage papers and had willingly entered us into this union, as well as the letter before my father’s arrival claiming Boston was his new attack dog, had cast a hefty dose of doubt in mind.
But that was how my father operated—causing chaos by making me second guess myself and everyone around me. And he was succeeding at it again.
“You know my personality is sparkling at every moment,” Arena said when I caught up to her. “You should have been ready.”
“You’re right. It’s actually shocking you haven’t found a girlfriend or boyfriend yet, given that exceptional wit, as well as the gorgeous ass I’ve been following up the trail for the past hour.”
She stopped, turning to face me with her hands on her hips.
“Don’t get it twisted. This ass could land me a partner in less than an hour.
Plenty have tried. I don’t have a partner, because I don’t want one.
Why would I want to give all of this…” She motioned to herself from head to toe with both hands while wiggling her hips.
“... to just one person for the rest of forever?”
I tilted my head in agreement because she had a point. Arena was bi because she was “attracted to personality, not anatomy” and had enough love to give to everyone. Her openness was something I loved about her as my best friend.
“Anyway,” she said, turning and continuing up the trail.
“You only like dick and there’s plenty of that around here.
So, what’s your excuse for the life of celibacy you seem to have committed yourself to since you arrived here?
” She stopped again like something had just occurred to her.
“Did regretfully fucking Trent on your first night turn you? Do we need to hit up some lady bars? Because you know I’m down. ”
I laughed at her willingness to play wing woman for me.
“I’m still into guys,” I said as we climbed, the wind blowing my hair in my face. “I just… haven’t found anyone I’m interested in sleeping with, I guess.”
Such a lie and I hated telling it. I was very interested in getting naked with all three of my stepbrothers at every opportunity, but I couldn’t say that.
My instincts told me Arena was someone I could trust with my secret, but it was one that didn’t belong only to me.
To share it right now would betray Pres, Sin, and Dacre.
We hiked on, taking another twenty minutes to make it to the top of the cliff, sweaty and panting, but feeling better for having gotten our bodies moving.
“Wow, this view might have made the hike worth it,” I said, side-eyeing Arena with a smile.
“What are you talking about? This is the best view in Cape Canyon!”
Debatable. I’d argue Sin, Pres, or Dacre with their shirts off was the best view in Cape Canyon, but again, I couldn’t say that.
Though the view in front of us was pretty impressive, I had to admit. The ocean undulated for miles, little white caps rolling with the swell. The beach stretched out to our left, back the way we’d just come, and the waves slammed against the rocks hundreds of feet below us.
We whipped out our phones, posing for various shots and selfies together until our vanity was satisfied.
“My miniature bladder wasn’t built to handle hiking.
” Arena grimaced. “I need to go pee.” She backed away towards the dense cluster of trees towards the back of the clifftop.
“If I’m not back in three minutes, come find me.
Bigfoot might have tossed me over his shoulder to take me back to his cave and have his way with me. ”
I twisted my mouth to the side, contemplating. “You sure you want me to come looking for you? That kind of sounds like something you’d be into.”
She considered it. “You know what? Come looking for me if I’m not back in twenty. Just in case Biggie does want to throw down.”
I laughed, shaking my head. She disappeared into the trees, and I turned back to the view, staring out across the ocean.
The ocean and its vast endlessness has a way of humbling a person. While my life was a shit show right now, the beauty of the rolling, dark ocean had a way of putting it all in perspective.
Although what perspective could I actually get on my current situation? It was a living nightmare. My father was not only back in my life to truly haunt me, but we were living under the same roof once again. There really was no limit to my father’s influence.
I shifted on my feet, readying to turn and scan the trees for Arena, when two hands landed against my back and shoved hard.
Jolting forward, I tripped over rocks and my own feet, and rolled towards the edge.
My hands scrambled to make purchase with the ground to stop myself going over, but I grabbed at loose rocks that came away with me.
My body slid over the edge of the cliff and I screamed. Air rushed around me as I fell, my scream dying off as my throat seized in sheer panic. Then pain.
It slammed into me as I slammed against rock, flat on my back.
I laid there, staring up at the sky, panting as my heart hammered painfully against my chest, and adrenaline pulsed around my body.
I’m not dead.
I couldn’t understand how, but I wasn’t dead.
Someone had tried to kill me.
Again.
The thought brought enough feeling back into my body that I managed to drag myself closer to the cliff face until I was almost kissing it.
And Arena was alone up there.
With everything I had, I prayed that she stayed in the trees searching for a freaky time with Bigfoot instead of coming straight back to me. There was every chance whoever had just tried to throw me over the cliff would do the same if Arena saw them.
Sliding myself upright, I pressed my back against the rock, swearing under my breath at the pain that seared through me. The back of my shirt was wet just above my waist, and when I contorted enough to press my fingers to the spot, it came away red.
I was also fairly certain, based on the pain, that my right shoulder was dislocated.
How the hell was I supposed to get out of here?
I didn’t think I’d fallen that far in the end. If I had, I would have been dead from the impact with the rock shelf I’d landed on. I was too scared to poke my head out and look up, in case whoever had tried to shove me to my death was still there.
Even if I hadn’t fallen far, there was no way I could climb back up with these injuries.
I tipped my head back against the rock and sobbed quietly.
Why did this keep happening?
Why was someone trying to kill me?
Swiping angrily at the tears trickling down my face, I swallowed hard, pulling myself together. Crying and rallying was my favorite hobby. And I had to pull it together if I had any hope of getting out of here.
Patting my hands down my legs, I searched desperately for my phone, finding it in the small pocket against my right thigh.
I held it up, praying it had battery and service. The glass front was shattered from my fall and the screen had black sections running through it, but it was still on.
It took me a minute, but I managed to get it to dial Arena.
Her breathless voice down the phone made me want to cry all over again. “Girl, where the hell are you?”
“I’m over the cliff. Is anyone else there?”
Silence filled the line and I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the call hadn’t disconnected.
“What the hell do you mean you’re over the cliff?! I came back from my pee break and you were gone, I figured you’d had a diva moment and left me behind to head back to the car. Are you telling me you fell over?”
“Is anyone there?” I demanded, ignoring her question. “When you came back to the cliff, I mean?”
“No… there was no one. What the hell is going on, D?”
I let out a long, pain-filled breath. “Someone pushed me over.”
There was rustling down the line, then Arena’s voice echoed through the phone and from above me as she called my name.
Shifting slowly, I maneuvered myself as close to the edge of my little rock shelf as I dared, craning my neck back up to the top. “I’m here.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Arena all but screeched in panic.
“I don’t know who it was or why the hell they just tried to kill me, but I need your help to get me out of here.”
She was silent for a moment.
“Okay… okay… this is fine, we can do this. My best friend is just hanging out on a rock shelf over a cliff and it’s up to me to save her,” she muttered to herself.
The shuffling noise came down the line again.
“Can you climb up?” she called.
“No. I’m injured.”
“You’re injured?!” Her panic was clearly rising. “Okay, well that’s… this is fine. We can do this.” She was silent for a moment. “Rope! What about I get some rope, you wrap it around yourself and I pull you up?”
Sounded painful, but I almost smiled to myself at the suggestion. I knew she’d do anything to get me out of here.
“Arena?”
Her voice was stressed and desperate when she replied. “Yeah?”
I shifted, wincing at the pain in my shoulder. “Can you call Sinclair?”
“I don’t…” She stopped. “I can, but…”
She blew out a long, shaky breath that matched my own.
“In order to call Sinclair, I have to hang up with you. And I’m scared, D. Scared for you, and scared for me, and I don’t want to lose the connection.”
Tears filled my eyes. “I’m scared too,” I said quietly.
I was scared I was going to die here like whoever had tried to do this to me had intended.
I was scared that if we stayed here too long they were going to come back and Arena would be next.
I was scared that if I didn’t get off this rock shelf soon that it was going to crumble beneath me, and I wouldn’t escape the death that had been intended for me a second time.
And I was scared that there was a chance I might bleed to death here before help could come for me.
I filled my lungs, pulling myself together enough to say: “We can’t do this alone. We have to call for help, and Sinclair will know what to do.”
It wasn’t just that he was the oldest or that he had the funds to get to me fast all the way up here. It was that he was… Sinclair.
There was nothing he couldn’t handle. Nothing he couldn’t take care of.
He’d come for me. They all would.
“I’m putting the call on hold while I do it. I can’t hang up on you,” Arena said, her voice shaking with emotion. I’d never seen her cry, but I’m pretty sure she was now.
“Okay… I’ll be here.”
She half-sobbed, half-laughed at that, then the line went silent. A moment later, I could hear her talking, though I couldn’t make out the words she was saying.
She came back on the line sounding more clear-headed, probably because she’d spoken to Sinclair and he’d reassured her.
“He’s coming,” Arena said. “They’re all coming.”
I tipped my head back against the rock, my eyes closing.
They were coming for me.
My phone buzzing in my hand brought me back to the moment. I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it.
Dacre.
“Arena, I need to put you on hold.”
She called her agreement, and I tapped at the answer button, but it wouldn’t work.
“Come on.” I swore at my shattered phone, slapping at the button on the broken screen to get it to work. Eventually the call connected, placing Arena on hold.
“Dempsey!” came Dacre’s hard voice. “Dempsey, are you there?”
A tear slid down my cheek. “Yes, I’m here.”
“Oh, thank fuck. Are you okay?”
My voice cracked. “No.”
Dacre softened. “It’s okay, Bambi, we’re coming. Pres has already left with the ATV to get up to Arena. Sinclair and I are at Byron’s helipad, the helicopter is landing now.”
His voice kicked up in volume to be heard over the increasing whirring in the background.
“We’re coming for you, Bambi. Do you hear me? We’re coming.”