Chapter 22
Cassidy
I blinked my eyes open, peering into the dim cottage. It took me a few frantic heartbeats to work out where I was. Then awareness hit me like a bucket of cold water.
Xavier's arm was still wrapped over my body.
The damn mountain of money in the middle of the floor was the first thing I saw. It was like waking up to a nightmare.
Then I remembered the kiss.
Heat flooded through me, followed immediately by a wave of shame and longing so tangled together I couldn't separate them. The way his lips had moved against mine. The desperation in his touch. The sound he'd made when I'd pressed closer.
You could be my sister.
His words thundered in my head, and my stomach twisted.
I'd wanted that kiss. Still wanted it and much, much more if given half a chance.
I was in way over my head.
Pale threads of light bled through the windows. Is it dawn already?
Xavier's warm body was against my back, making me feel safe in a way that made my chest ache. His breath stirred my hair with each exhale, and despite the hell he was about to unleash on my family, being held by him felt incredible.
Too incredible.
I was so surprisingly comfortable, I wondered what had woken me. Other than Xavier's soft breathing, the cottage was silent. Not even the birds had started their early morning wake-up call.
A distant thump cut through the silence. The chopper!
I threw Xavier's arm off my waist and bolted upright. "Xavier, get up. They're here!"
I scrambled out of the bunk, grabbed my hat, and raced outside, my bare feet slapping against the cold verandah boards. The sound grew louder, and I could just see the chopper in the distance, a dark silhouette against the orange-streaked horizon.
"Xavier!" I yelled back through the doorway. "Get out here!"
I ran into the burned paddock, waving my hands like a maniac. "Here! Over here!” I yelled, even though I knew they couldn't hear me.
Xavier stumbled onto the verandah, hair sticking up in six directions, rubbing his eyes. And shirtless. Of course.
"Put your bloody shirt on!" I snapped.
He blinked at me. "What?"
"My brothers are about to land, and I don't need them to get the wrong idea. Shirt. Now."
He marched back inside.
The chopper descended in a roar of noise and wind, kicking up a cyclone of ash and charred vegetation. I shielded my eyes as it touched down about fifty meters from the cottage. The rotors whined as they slowed, and as I sprinted toward them, the doors swung open.
Mitch jumped out first—tall, broad-shouldered, moving with that military precision that defined everything he did these days. His jaw was locked tight as he scanned the carnage around the cottage.
Kayden leaped from the pilot seat before the rotors had fully settled and charged at me like he was going to wrap me in a headlock, which wouldn't be the first time.
I ran toward them, and Mitch caught me in a bear hug that squeezed the air from my lungs. "Jesus, sis, what the hell happened?" His voice was rough with worry.
"Long story." I pulled back, gasping. "Really long story."
Kayden's eyes darted between me and the burnt-out landscape. "You okay? You hurt?" His hands grabbed my shoulders, turning me roughly to check for injuries. "What the fuck happened—" He froze mid-sentence, his gaze snapping toward the verandah. "Who the hell is that?"
I glanced over my shoulder. Xavier was walking down the steps, thankfully now wearing his shirt.
"That's Xavier." I turned back to my brothers. "Come on, I'll introduce you."
We met halfway across the scorched ground. Xavier extended his hand. "Morning."
Mitch took it, his grip firm. "Mitch Branson."
"Xavier Hawthorne."
Mitch's hand went still. "Hawthorne?" His voice dropped dangerously low as he released his grip.
"Yeah," I said, bracing myself. "From Hawthorne Global."
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Kayden moved forward, squaring up like he was gearing up for a fight.
"Calm down, Kayden." I stepped closer to Xavier. "I met Xavier at the pub. He came to talk to Frank."
"Frank?" Mitch's eyes narrowed. "Or the person who was on that call?"
Xavier nodded. "I know it was you and not Frank."
"Oh yeah?" Kayden's tone dripped with suspicion. "How'd you figure that?"
"Cassidy told me." Xavier's voice stayed level. "Look, I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want to talk to your father."
Kayden's head whipped toward me. "What else did you tell him?"
"Will you just calm down?" I said. "As you can see, we've been through hell. And it's ... complicated. We'll explain everything. But first?—"
"First, you need to tell us what happened," Mitch interrupted. He crossed his arms, every inch the commanding officer. "Start from when you stole Bruce's ute."
"How do you know about that?"
"Bruce reported you to the cops,” Mitch said.
"That son of a bitch!"
Xavier stepped forward. "I can assure you, Cassidy?—"
"Hey!" Kayden yelled. "Shut your mouth, you bloody Yank."
I backhanded him across his chest. "Stop it. Xavier saved my life."
All three men stared at me. I yanked off my hat and tried to run my hand through my hair, but it caught in the tangled knots.
"The Henderson brothers picked a fight with us at the pub.
They chased us through the rail yard, and we stole Bruce's ute to get away.
He started shooting at us—blew a hole clean through my hat.
" I took it off and poked my finger through the bullet hole. "See?"
"Jesus." Mitch's eyes went wide.
Xavier crossed his arms. "That bullet missed her by inches. She's lucky to be alive."
"We were lucky to get away," I said.
"Yeah, only after you put the tow bar through their radiator." Xavier's mouth quirked.
I grinned. "Right. Forgot about that part. His car blew up, that's how we escaped. Then about a mile up the track," I gestured toward where we'd left the ute, "we ran out of fuel and had to walk."
Mitch's jaw tightened. "You walked here?"
"Yeah, took about an hour, and just as we got settled in, those bastards torched the bushland trying to flush us out."
"Those pricks." Kayden clenched his fists. "I'm going to kill them."
"Not if I get to them first," I said.
Mitch's expression darkened. "They told the cops you lit the fire. Said it burned down half their property."
A nervous laugh burst out of me. "Well, that's their own damn fault. We had nothing to do with it." I turned to Xavier. "Right?"
Xavier's gaze stayed level. "They tried to kill us. Multiple times. If Cassidy hadn't gotten us out of there in that truck, we wouldn't be standing here."
“That fire is on them,” I added.
"Well, Bob Ackerman's coming to Koolaroo this morning," Mitch said. "He wants to talk to you about the fire and about stealing Bruce Henderson's truck."
"I didn't steal his—" I stopped. "Okay, technically I did, but he was trying to kill us."
Xavier straightened. "It's the truth. I can vouch for every word."
Mitch scowled at him.
Kayden rounded on Xavier. "Nobody asked you, mate."
"Kayden—" I started.
"No, seriously." Kayden's eyes flared. "Who the fuck are you to come out here and?—"
"Back off." Xavier's voice stayed calm, but there was steel underneath. "I'm just stating facts. Cassidy did nothing wrong."
Something warm unfurled in my chest. He's defending me . Actually standing up to my brother for me.
Kayden took a step closer. Xavier didn't move. The space between them crackled with tension, and my pulse kicked up—not from worry, but from watching Xavier hold his ground for me.
I knew Kayden, though. Backing down wasn't his style. I stepped between them. "Kayden. Please. Stop."
"He knows nothing about us." Kayden flicked his hand at Xavier.
"Actually, he does."
Kayden's head snapped toward me. "What does that mean?"
I looked at my volatile brother, seeing the wild energy thrumming through him. "There's something inside you both need to see." I turned on my heel and walked toward the cottage.
"What is it?" Mitch called after me.
"Just ... come inside."
Xavier fell into step beside me, and I whispered, "Sorry about that."
"No need to be." His hand brushed against the back of mine—brief, deliberate, and completely dangerous. “They seem nice.”
My chest tightened as I fought back a laugh.
Inside the cottage, I stepped aside. Xavier moved with me, a solid presence at my shoulder. Morning light filtered through the grimy windows and damaged walls, illuminating the fire's destruction and the bare studs we'd stripped.
And the money. So much money.
Kayden strode in and stopped dead. "Holy shit." He walked to the pile of foil packets and picked up wads of cash from the ones we'd split open.
Mitch followed, his eyes going wide. "Fucking hell. What is this?"
"Someone's bad idea of a bank vault," I quipped.
Kayden looked from the cash in his hands to the mountain of foil packets still piled against the wall. His face split into a grin, wild, greedy, and dangerous. "Do you realize what this means? We're rich! We can buy new trucks, new equipment, we can finally?—"
"What are you? Crazy?" I cut in. "We can't spend it."
His head snapped up. "What?"
"It's dirty money, Kayden. It's not ours."
"It’s on our property. So it is ours!"
Mitch scowled at Kayden, then flicked his gaze between Xavier and me. "Did you find any clues to who it belongs to?" His expression was grim.
We shook our heads. "Nothing. Just a ton of money," I said.
"Jesus Christ, Cass. This is bad." Mitch’s jaw clamped. "This is really bad."
"Bad? Are you guys seeing something different from me?" Kayden stood, clutching the money like I might try to take it from him. "This is the opposite of bad. This cash solves everything—the equipment, the loans, the?—"
"What about the part where someone might kill us for it?" I snapped. "You think this money was hidden in these walls by someone legitimate? This is illegal cash, Kayden. Probably drug money."
"Drug money?" Kayden blurted. "You don't know that."
"Look how much is here," I yelled. "It's thousands."