Chapter 39 Krista
KRISTA
My brothers were waiting at the airport when I landed, and the moment Jeff stepped forward to grab my bag, I broke.
A strangled whimper slipped free and the dam holding back the tears split wide open. Jeff’s eyes widened in horror as I flung myself into his arms and cried for the loss of a man I never would have been able to truly have a happy life with.
“Uh…” Jeff squirmed under my grasp, trying desperately to get away from the crying female clinging to him.
I was well aware that I was making him uncomfortable, but I couldn’t stop it even if I tried.
“That’s it,” Michael snapped. “I’m gonna kill that fucker.”
“And his dog,” Liam added.
“Nobody hurts my baby sister and gets away with it,” Michael continued.
Swiping at the waterfall of tears dripping down my face, I sucked in a ragged breath and desperately tried to control myself. “It’s not his fault.”
“You’re upset!” Michael shouted.
“Because it was never going to work,” I cried. “He has mounted guns and a killer robot. And they train their kids to kill each other!”
Michael shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that.”
Wiping my dripping snot on my sleeve, I looked up into the horrified eyes of my brothers. “How could it ever possibly work? We’re too different.”
“Then why are you crying?” Jeff asked.
Another squeal slipped free as my face contorted in agony. “Because I love him!”
The wailing was a little over the top.
Okay, it was beyond over the top, but my heart was breaking, and I didn’t know how to deal with that.
I had been strong when I was leaving, but now I was miserable.
At this moment, I could very well get on that plane and convince myself that I could put up with the restrictions and the crazy children more qualified to take out a terrorist than I was.
But it would only be a bandage on our problems.
“Hey,” Liam sighed, tugging me into his arms. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded, his eyes sad as he stared at his wrecked baby sister. “There’s someone out there who won’t drag you into potentially dangerous situations or lock you up in a panic room. And when you find him, you’ll forget all about the man you met in Vegas.”
I sniffled, nodding along with him. “Except I still need to get a divorce, so I’ll have to see him again.”
“We’ll go with you,” Michael promised. “You won’t be alone for any of it.”
“Yeah, and we’ll hold you back so you don’t jump him and get your freak on,” Jeff grinned.
I gave a wobbly smile as I shifted my bag over my shoulder. “You guys are the best.”
Sucking in a cleansing breath, I gazed at the beautiful landscape and knew I made the right choice. I was home, back where I belonged. There were no cages keeping me in, and nobody was trying to kill me out here. I might not have love, but at least I was home.
“Come on,” Liam said, grabbing two pieces of luggage. “We’ll help you get settled in.”
“Uh…about that,” Michael winced. “I sort of rented out your house.”
My gaze snapped to his. “You what?”
“Well, it’s just that Blake’s brother Sam was living in that mobile house, and everyone kept moving it on him. So, I said he could live in your house.”
“In my house,” I repeated.
“Yeah, but not in your room. He’s in the guest room.”
“In my house,” I said again, sure I had heard him wrong.
He shifted uncomfortably, seeming to catch onto the fact that I was not okay with this. “I mean, I’m sure he’d be willing to move back into the mobile house.”
“I was gone a week,” I said slowly. “You had someone moved in before I had even unpacked my bags.”
“In my defense, I didn’t think you were coming back. You were so certain it was going to work with Rob. I mean, some might even say you didn’t give it a real chance.”
Liam wisely kicked the man, making him shut up. “We’ll take care of it.”
I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t even going to be able to mope in the privacy of my home because some guy was going to be there. I didn’t even know him!
“Hey, it won’t be that bad. Sam’s a very quiet guy. He’s recovering from an injury still, so he’s been spending a lot of time outside.”
I narrowed my eyes at Michael, hoping to convey just how pissed I was at him. “Well, as long as he’s outside.”
He flinched at my tone, but wisely said nothing else as he grabbed the rest of my luggage.
I glanced back at the plane one last time, waving to the man who had annoyed me the whole flight, talking about his love of Funyuns and shawarma.
I knew way more about both of those things than I ever needed to in a lifetime.
The ride back to the ranch was uneventful, consisting of me staring out the window the whole time while my brothers tried to fill me in on what was happening in town.
Sawyer, Josie’s brother, was dumped yet again, and currently in stage two of the grieving process.
There was a new principal at the high school, and Billie, Bailey’s sister, had the hots for him, which was bound to cause all kinds of problems.
Despite Ryder being one hundred percent infatuated with Ellie, Colt was still worried that Ryder would go after his baby sister.
And my personal favorite, the couple who lived across from the hardware store were upset about the amount of noise coming from the parking lot, and registered a noise complaint with the sheriff’s department, requesting the noise be kept down during the day while they were trying to nap.
We turned down the bumpy drive of Murky Falls Ranch, but my spirits didn’t rise in the least.
“We’re not going to stop by the main house, are we?”
“I told Ma we would stop,” Liam answered. “Sorry, but she was pretty damn insistent that she see her baby after you left her.”
I rolled my eyes in annoyance. “I was gone for a week. She wasn’t this concerned about me when I was on the run from the mafia.”
“Well, back then, she had your wedding to distract her. Now, everyone’s wondering if they should return their gifts.”
Jeff turned in his seat, grinning at me. “If it makes you feel any better, I smashed my finger the other day, and she didn’t offer to get me a bandage. It was like she didn’t care!”
“Were you bleeding?”
“No,” he frowned. “Does that matter?”
“If you weren’t bleeding, why would she get you a bandage?”
“Because it’s the polite thing to do. Everyone knows that. Geez,” he grumbled, turning back around. “You leave for five minutes, and suddenly you forget the way things work around here.”
My door was yanked open as soon as we came to a stop, and Mom smothered me in her boobs, crying as she squeezed me tight.
“Mom, I can’t breathe!” I cried out, smacking her arm.
She finally let me up for air, wiping away fake tears as she fussed over me. “I’m so sorry it didn’t work out, but these things happen.”
“I know, Mom.”
“And if that boy didn’t want you, that’s his problem.”
“It wasn’t that he didn’t want me—” I started, but never got to finish, because why would any mother be interested in what actually happened when she could make up her own version to tell the neighbors?
“You know, I never liked that boy from the start. I knew he was bad news.”
“You did not. You were trying to plan my wedding after I was already married.”
She tucked her arm through mine and dragged me to the house where my father was waiting. “I didn’t trust him. Not after he got you tangled up in that mess.”
“It was actually me who got him tangled up, courtesy of looking just like someone else.”
“Well, not that it matters, who dragged who into what mess, but I still say he could have handled it better. And I never did get to talk to his mother. That should have been my first sign that he wasn’t right for you.”
There was no point in arguing when she was on a roll, so I climbed the stairs and bit my tongue. Dad walked forward, his arms crossed over his chest in disapproval.
“I know,” I sighed, not giving him the chance to argue with me. “I never should have gone out there and shirked my responsibilities on the ranch. My place is here, and by moving away, I put everyone in a bad position. Does that about cover it?”
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “A week isn’t really giving things a shot. How the hell are you gonna know if you could have made the marriage work if you gave up after a week?”
And with that, he stormed into the house, leaving me baffled on the porch.
“That didn’t exactly go as I thought,” I murmured.
“Neither did your marriage,” Jeff chuckled. “Oh, burn!”
I shoved him off the porch, ignoring his yelp as he fell into the bushes.
“I got it!” I shouted at Jeff as he tried to help me get the door open, even though I had two hands and was perfectly capable of doing this on my own.
“I’m just trying to help. Geez!”
“Go away!”
I kicked him in the shin, then shoved the door open and tumbled over my own feet, falling to the floor. “Look what you made me do!” I screamed at him.
“Well, if you had just let me help, none of this would have happened.”
“If you weren’t an idiot, none of this would have happened,” I retorted.
“You know, you’re really mean, and I don’t think I want to play with you anymore.”
“Fine!”
“Fine!” he snapped, marching down the steps toward the truck where my brothers were laughing at us.
They were all assholes and could shove a pickle up their asses.
Getting to my feet, I hauled my luggage inside, cursing when the wheels got caught on my rug.
“You stupid, annoying blue luggage thingy! Stop—Ugh!” I shouted, twisting the luggage around, hoping to get it unstuck.
“Need help?”
I spun, nearly having a heart attack. I wasn’t sure how I could have forgotten Sam was here. Somehow, I just thought he would be gone.
“No, I’ve got it.”
The hulk of a man grunted, shoveling a spoon of cereal into his mouth. “Looks like it.”
“I do. I don’t need a man to help me with anything.”
He continued to chew and stare at me like I was the least interesting thing on the planet.
I quickly looked away, but not before I took in every inch of the tall, muscular boxer.
Frankly, I didn’t see much of Blake in him at all.
Sure, they both had dark hair, but he was covered in tattoos and had sharp angles carved into his face where Blake was softer.
Maybe it was the eyes, not that I got a good look at them, or even wanted to.
The thought of looking at another man was just depressing when the only man I wanted was Rob.
“When are you moving out?” I grumbled as I finally released the wheel from the carpet and gave a firm tug toward my room.
“I’m not.”
I stopped, spinning around to look at him, my face filled with horror. “You’re…”
“I paid up for six months. I’m staying.”
“But—” I shoved the luggage aside and rushed over to him. “No, you can’t. This is my house!”
“And I paid in advance to keep this place for six months.” He dug his spoon into his bowl and scooped out more cereal, shoving it in his mouth.
“Well—that’s just too bad because it wasn’t theirs to rent out! I paid for this house, and I’m telling you that you can’t be here.”
“I signed a contract.”
My nostrils flared in anger as I spun and grabbed my luggage, dragging it into my room.
I let out a long scream as I tossed it on the bed, then realized I still had to go back and get the rest. This was not the way things were supposed to go.
I was supposed to be allowed to wallow in peace without a roommate.
How was I supposed to look pitiful and binge-watch sappy movies if there was a man creeping around in my space?
I went back out to plead with the man, but he was nowhere to be seen. “What a jerk,” I muttered, spinning around.
“Who’s a jerk?”
I screamed, throwing out my fists as he crept up behind me. Unfortunately, being a boxer gave him the skills to quickly avoid my hit. He caught my wrists, smirking at me.
“Nice try, but you need some work on your form.”
I tugged my hands out of his grasp. “I don’t need work because I don’t box for a living.”
He picked up two pieces of my luggage and shoved past me to my room. “Would have helped you when you were running from the mafia.”
“Excuse me, but I defended myself just fine at the hospital. And how do you know about that anyway?” I asked, trailing behind him.
“It’s a small town. Everyone talks. The night you disappeared, news spread like wildfire. Of course, half the rumors were that you’d run away to the city again,” he said, dropping my things at the foot of the bed. “Is there anything else?”
“What?”
“Luggage.”
I was confused. Why was he helping me? “No, I don’t have anything else.”
“Good. I usually get up for a run about five-thirty. Breakfast at seven if you want anything.”
“What?”
Again, I trailed after him as he walked through my house and acted like he owned the place.
“I usually have lots of protein. If you want something else, let me know. I’m a pretty good cook, as long as it’s not too complicated.”
He marched into the kitchen and pulled out meat, setting it on the counter.
“Wait, why would you make me breakfast?”
“Well, we both have to eat. It only makes sense that on days I cook, I make food for you as well. And you can do the same.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“What? We can take turns.”
“Um…no, that is not part of the deal. In fact, there is no deal because this is my house, and I didn’t approve of you living here!”
“But I am, so we might as well make the best of this.”
I sucked in a deep breath, my nostrils flaring as my anger spiked. I was not in the mood for this right now. I wanted to lie in bed and sulk with chips and ice cream, not argue with a man who supposedly had the right to live in my house.
“I will say this one time, and then I’m taking Blake’s method of removing you from my house. You will not stay here. You will not pull out food and cook. You will pack your shit, and you will leave. Do you understand me?”
He smirked at me.
And that was how he ended up laying in a pile of shattered glass outside the back door instead of standing in the kitchen.
Michael shook his head as he stared at Sam on the ground, covered in blood, then at his wife. “You know, it’s like an infectious disease spreading through our family.”
And then he was on the ground beside Sam.
Blake scoffed at her husband. “Infectious disease, my ass.”