Chapter 13
I lurched to my feet, whirling around. The move was less than graceful and had me suddenly tipping backward. My arms windmilled as panic gripped me.
Ronan surged forward, grabbing my arm to right me.
The moment his skin touched mine, visions filled my mind.
A younger version of Ronan covered in gashes and his eye swollen shut.
Pain filled his expression as he shifted on a cot.
Then an entirely different vision. He looked as he did now, but his face was different somehow.
There was none of the pain and darkness that lived in his eyes currently.
They were filled with peace, joy…love. And he was looking at me.
The crash of the waves against the rocks had me jerking out of the bizarre imaginings. Ronan dropped my hand as though he’d been burned, but he was looking at me with…wonder. He quickly covered it. “What are you doing out here?”
I swallowed hard. “I didn’t know it wasn’t allowed. I couldn’t sleep.”
There was a flicker of something in Ronan’s amber eyes. “It’s not safe.”
My brows rose at that. “The property’s gated. There are security guards. And this is the ritziest neighborhood I’ve ever seen.” It’s not like I’d risk walking up on a drug deal. At least, not one where I’d be in danger of being shot.
A muscle in Ronan’s jaw ticked. “It’s dark. The waves crash high. You could fall and be carried out to sea without anyone noticing. Hell, you almost were.”
I stiffened at that. “I almost fell because you snuck up on me and scared me half to death.”
There was no apology in Ronan’s expression. “You should be more aware of your surroundings.”
I let out a huff. “Excuse me if I don’t have ninja training.”
Ronan’s jaw clenched harder. “This is going to be a disaster,” he mumbled.
Pain lanced my chest. I barely knew the guy in front of me. So, why did it hurt so badly that he didn’t want me here? “If you didn’t want me to move in with you guys, why did you come with Colt to find me?”
Ronan sighed. “I didn’t say I didn’t want you here.”
“You don’t always need words to communicate things.”
He looked out at the water. “I don’t think you’re prepared for life in this world. You don’t have what it’ll take to defend yourself. I think Colt wanted you here, but at the end of the day, that was a selfish move.”
I shifted to follow his gaze, careful not to send myself flying again. “It’s not like my life in Louisiana was peachy. I know how to defend myself.” I was an expert at avoidance and evasion.
Ronan shook his head. “It’s different.”
“How?” I pushed.
He turned toward me, his gaze sweeping over my face. I swore I could feel all the places it touched. “It’s hard to explain. The people here…they’re playing with a whole different set of weapons.”
I saw it then. The worry deep in his eyes. “You’re worried about me.”
He shrugged.
“You don’t even know me.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Colt talks about you all the time. I think I’ve heard every story about your summers growing up together at least a dozen times.
When you tried to keep the pet frog but it escaped, and your mom screamed her head off.
How you made that epic fort in the woods that was your hideout from your parents.
The time you fell in the creek and Colt had to jump in after you. ”
A vise tightened around my chest. There were a million of those memories. But the through line was the same. Colt always had my back.
“I missed him,” I whispered.
“I bet. And he missed you. So much that he brought you here, even though it was risky as hell.”
I still didn’t understand that. As far as I could tell, Colt’s world was beyond sheltered. “It doesn’t matter because I’m here now.”
That ticking along Ronan’s jaw was back. “You’re right. There’s no putting the cork back in the bottle.”
“When did you move in with the Carringtons?” There were a million questions I had about Ronan. He was this living, breathing mystery standing just inches away.
He stiffened. “Why?”
I shrugged. “You know all these things about me, and I know nothing about you.”
Ronan studied me for a moment and then nodded. “When I was thirteen.”
“Why?” It was a simple question. I’d never heard about a friend named Ronan when Colt had spent his summers in Michigan.
Ronan’s fingers flexed and clenched. “You’re not the only one who has a parent that’s a monster.”
Bile swirled in my stomach as the memory of my earlier vision swam in my mind. Had I somehow intuited that Ronan had a past similar to my own when I’d seen the familiar pain etched in his face? Was my imagination simply taking that leap?
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t need your pity,” he clipped.
“It’s not pity,” I said. “It’s understanding.”
Ronan turned. His amber eyes glowed gold in the darkness. A million different silent things passed between us. It eased something in me to simply stand in silence with someone who understood.
Ronan’s head jerked in the opposite direction, and he shifted in front of me in a flash. “Get back in the house.”
I struggled to clamber up the rocks. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Now, Leighton,” he growled.
“Should I get someone?”
“No,” he barked. His gaze flicked back to me for a brief moment. “Don’t come out here alone. Not ever again.”