38 #2
She shakes her head. “What about boys?”
One of my brows wings up. “Are we going to be real or bullshit?”
She groans again. “Ugh. I hate it when you use my threats against me.”
“Your new guy…you like him?” I ask as I finish the last of my tea.
“He’s handsome, nice, rich.” She chuckles. “Good in bed. Perfect package. But…”
“But what?”
“It’s the little things. Like he’s never remembered Lawless’s name. He kept calling her Lucky.” She bites her lip. “And…this is stupid, but… he makes me walk on the outside. I know it’s small, but—”
“No.” I squeeze her hand. “That isn’t small. It’s everything. Little things matter.”
A one-shouldered shrug. “It’s been fun, but I doubt we’ll last through the summer. I don’t have time for a relationship, anyway.”
“Then why are you doing what you’re doing with Wyatt?”
Tension settles into her shoulders. The flare in her nostrils tells me I’m pressing a red-hot button. “What am I doing with Wyatt?”
I keep a steady gaze on her until she drops eye contact. “Don’t bullshit me. You’re rattling him on purpose.”
She swallows. “Because it’s easier.” The tips of her ears turn pink. “Because it’s what we do.”
“And what’s that?”
She takes a bracing gulp of her wine. “When we’re on the circuit…he’s a—a good way to work off tension.”
I cover my eyes with my hand and groan. “Oh my god, Fallon.”
“We both understand what it is.”
I look at her through parted fingers. “And what’s that? That your constant need to outdo each other either has you fighting or tearing your clothes off?”
Face sour, Fallon refills her wine. “I regret saying a word to you.”
“Are you still mad about what he said? That you—”
“Don’t, Dakota,” she warns, giving me a chilly glare. “I remember.”
I bite my tongue, seeing what my sister’s doing. Fallon’s the definition of keep your enemies close .
She used Wyatt to get better, took his lessons to change the course of her career, and now…
It’s a vicious long game. Make Wyatt Montgomery eat his words.
“You know what I remember about that day?” I say, shifting on the couch to look at her. “You were hurt, Fallon. I remember your face when you got home.” I remember her crying in my arms too and cursing Wyatt Montgomery to hell and back, but I think it’s wise not to bring that part up.
She tosses the cheese knife onto the tray. “Yeah, well.”
“It’s not for him, is it?” I ask softly. “Riding bulls?”
She laughs, a sharp blast of sound that has me wincing. “And give him that satisfaction? No. It’s for me. Getting under his skin is just a bonus.”
I want to tell her you don’t do this with someone you don’t care about, but I bite my tongue. There’s a thin line between love and hate, and Fallon’s walking a tightrope with Wyatt. It’s only a matter of time before they both get burned.
The doorbell rings.
I gasp and jump. My heartbeat pounds in my ears.
“Jesus.” Eyes wide, Fallon slaps a hand to her chest. “If they wake Dad, I’ll kill them.” She hops off the couch and rushes to the front door.
“Shit,” I hear her hiss.
I rub my arm, still achy from the cast. “What is it?”
“It’s Danny.” She pokes her head around the corner and makes a face. “Sorry, I didn’t know he was in town. Topper’s asking if we want to let him in.”
“It’s up to you.” I’m partly curious to meet the guy, even if I know Davis will be ready to murder me.
“We’ll keep it quick, then kick his ass out.” Fallon disappears, and I hear the crack of the screen door. “Jesus, Topper, get out of the fucking way. C’mon in.”
Fighting a yawn, I stand and pick up the bowl of popcorn. Low conversation sounds behind me.
“Danny, this is my sister—”
“Dakota.”
I freeze at the familiar voice. The hair on the back of my neck stands up.
No. It can’t be.
Slowly, I turn around.
Aiden King stands beside my sister with a triumphant grin.
He looks like the picture-perfect golden boy, mussed blond hair and rough stubble, casually dressed in jeans and a tight Henley. There’s a hard candy tucked in his cheek as he stares at me with those intense green eyes.
The bowl of popcorn hits the ground. The world roars in my ears.
Fallon frowns. “Koty, what—”
“Fallon,” I say in a low voice, reaching for my sister. “Get away from him.”
“What?”
“It’s Aiden.”
My sister goes ghost white. “What the fuck?” Fallon bites out. The raw shock and rage on her face gut me.
I grab her wrist and yank her behind me.
Aiden grins menacingly. “Hi, Dakota.” He jerks a gun from his waistband and points it at us. “Nice to see you again.”
My stomach twists.
Fear coils in my chest.
Davis.
The tracker.
Spurred by adrenaline, I reach for the tracker around my throat, but I’m not fast enough. A rough hand darts out and Aiden tears the dog tag from my neck.
I cry out.
He looks at the dog tag and sneers. “You came back for this. Couldn’t stay away, could you?”
I watch as he drops the dog tag and tracker in the cup of tea.
I choke down the scream building in my throat. “Aiden,” I say calmly. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just leave my sister alone.”
He scoffs. “Let you off that easy when I’ve played the game for so long? I don’t fucking think so.”
His handsome face is composed, but I see the cracks. The shaky hands. Those cold, stark eyes. Aiden looks sick, like he’s coming down with something, but it’s not the flu. It’s madness.
Revenge.
“I’d ask you if you missed me, but I see you’ve been doing fine without me.” His eyes drop to my stomach. “You’ve both been doing just fine without me.”
I press my palms to my belly, backing up into Fallon.
Her hand clamps down on my arm.
“If you’re wondering, I’ve been doing just fine without you, too, Dakota,” he says conversationally. A grotesque smile twists his mouth. His gaze bounces to Fallon. “I’ve been having fun playing with your sister. Your pussy was nice, but hers is nicer.”
“Fuck you,” Fallon snarls.
Aiden steps closer. “I jerked off to you every night, Dakota. Jerked off after I fucked your little sister.”
“Stop,” I say on a sob. I want to clap my hands over Fallon’s ears. Block out the bastard’s voice. My sister will never get over this. “Stop it.”
I don’t want this awful memory for my sister. This guilt.
I reach for her. “It’s okay.”
“Don’t touch her,” Aiden orders. The gun bobs in his hand. “He’s good. I’ll give him that. He kept you on that ranch. I couldn’t get to you, so I had to find other ways.”
Fallon swears under her breath.
A chilling rage stains his voice. “I told you that I always win. I get what I want. And I want to take everything away from you, like you did to me. My money. My bakery. My baby .”
No.
His vile words are terrifying, and I wrap my arms around my belly. “Never,” I rasp. “He’ll never be yours.”
Aiden’s mask drops. “Tonight, you’re going to see just what exactly is mine.”
A noise down the hall freezes us all.
Fallon and I lock eyes.
Fear for our father.
Dad ambles into the living room and squints into the bright light. “What’s going on out here?”
Terror grips my heart.
“Daddy,” I gasp.
Fallon and I watch in horror as Aiden raises the gun and aims it at our father. A shot pops off, the silencer muffling the noise.
Stede crumples to the floor.
“No!” Fallon cries out.
“You bastard,” I hiss as I race across the room to our father. “Daddy,” I whisper, crouching beside him. Blood seeps through his pant leg.
Across the room, Fallon stands frozen.
Stede moans.
“Stay still.” I grab a towel from the coffee table and press it over the wound, hoping to staunch the blood. I can’t tell if it’s deep or a graze, and it terrifies me.
Relief fills me when Stede’s hand finds mine. His grip is strong.
“Run,” my father rasps.
I can’t, I mouth. Tears fill my eyes as I look up at Aiden and take a steadying breath.
“So you what, waited?” I ask, trying to draw his attention away from my father. Trying to get one good chance to go for the tracker. Trying to understand his strategy so I can fight for a way out. “Now what? What are you going to do with me?”
“I have plans. I didn’t work this hard with this one”—he jerks the gun at Fallon and she flinches—“to not have a plan. You know that, Dakota. Don’t be so fucking stupid. You know you’re mine. You know I win.”
“Can you let her go? Please,” I beg.
“Dakota, shut up,” Fallon hisses.
I ignore her. “Fallon has nothing to do with this. Or us.”
My eyes land on the cheeseboard. The knife, in particular.
“Doesn’t she now? She’s family.” Aiden circles Fallon. “Why would I leave your pretty little sister out of this?”
He traces a hand down her arm.
Fallon snaps. “You motherfucker,” she shrieks, suddenly charging Aiden.
He backhands her with the gun, snapping her head back and stunning her. Eyes wide she stares at me, makes some sort of tiny, exhaled groan, and collapses to the ground.
A scream rips through my throat.
Choking on sobs, I crawl from my father to my sister. Her breathing’s hitched and her body convulses. “No,” I cry out, digging my nails into her shoulders to hold her steady.
Our father calls to us, his voice anguished.
There’s the crunch of popcorn as wing-tip loafers settle beside us.
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Please don’t do this. Don’t hurt her. I’ll go with you. Please.”
“That’s right. You’re going to pay for taking what’s mine, Dakota,” Aiden says, bending to lift Fallon’s limp body.
When he’s distracted, I slip the cheese knife into the large front pocket of my hoodie.
“Davis will kill you,” I growl, watching as he tosses my sister over his shoulder.
She flops against his body like a rag doll.
Aiden’s gaze snaps back to me.
“If he makes it in time. Which seems unlikely, seeing as how he’s on the other side of town saving little boys from deep dark forests.” Aiden jerks the gun at the front door. “Now get the fuck up and let’s go.”