Chapter Thirty Blaze #2
Nash’s lips twist into a grimace when I don’t respond because I can’t keep lying.
“You’re delusional. Besides, you’ve made a lot of enemies because of Wilkerson.
I wouldn’t put it past any of them to target people you care about, which is why I told you to stay away from my sister.
And what’s gonna stop Wilkerson from coming after Savvie to get his hooks into you again?
The cattle-stampede chaos wasn’t an accident.
That was done intentionally. Maybe by him thinking he can get to you through her?
You coming around here, helping her, screwing her, you think he doesn’t know about that?
Everything you touch turns to shit, and now my sister may be in trouble. ”
My blood turns to ice as Nash’s words loop through my mind.
Everything you touch turns to shit.
The truth of it hollows me out.
But I can’t walk away. Not now. Not when she’s crying because of me and still in danger because of Wilkerson.
I have to fix this. Somehow.
Even if Nash is right. Even if I’m poison.
“Look, I know you’re angry. And you have every right to be. But I’m not leaving, Nash. I need to talk to her.”
“Talk to her?” Nash bellows. “She hasn’t been able to stop crying since she last saw you, Blaze. I think you mighta done and said enough already.”
“No.” I edge closer to him, my eyes doing a quick study of the heavy metal shovel in his hand. “She needs to hear everything. I don’t want to carry this with me anymore. And it has to be eating you up inside too.”
He points the shovel at me, his green eyes bright with anger. “I’ve had to hang on to this fucking toxic secret for years because of you.”
“Because of us,” I interject, my jaw twitching. “This isn’t only on me, and you know it.”
“Yeah, but you were the guy. Wilkerson’s guy,” Nash bites out. “I had no choice but to go along with it.”
“Bullshit,” I growl. “Don’t you dare pretend you had nothing to do with it. Yeah, my dad brought you the opportunity, but you and your parents agreed to let Wilkerson use their trucks for that job. It was supposed to be quick and easy money. A win for everyone. Remember?”
“And where the fuck were you that night, huh? While that rival crew stole the goods and lit the whole place up?” he seethes, his hand clenched tight around the shovel.
“That’s right. You were fucking my sister.
While my parents and my uncle burned with the ranch.
Your father, who put the whole damn plan together, wasn’t even there. I was alone.”
“You always put the blame for what happened that night on everyone else, Nash. It was about Savvie and me betraying you, sleeping together behind your back, not being there for you because we put ourselves first. You blamed my dad for deserting you. But you never once took responsibility for your part in the whole thing. I get that you were hurting, but you weren’t exactly innocent either. ”
I lean back against the fence, my head in my hands. “Look, I’m so fucking sorry, Nash. And I wish I could take it all back, fix everything and everyone. That’s why I’m here. To finally make things right. To own up to what I did, to tell Savvie the truth about what really happened.”
“Yeah, well, you can’t fix the past.” He levels me with a fiery stare. “So do the next best thing and just leave, okay? Because you being around just causes people pain. And I can’t lose my sister the way I lost my parents.”
“I’m not leaving until I see her.” My voice is quiet and resigned.
Nash throws the shovel and shoves his hands against my chest. The force makes me stumble. “You’re not gonna bring her down with you.”
I grab him by the shirt and hurl him against the barn wall. “Are you really worried about her or about yourself?”
“You’re not gonna take her away too,” Nash yells. “You’re pathetic. A fucking coward who couldn’t face what he did, so he turned his back on it all and left. And after all this time, you want forgiveness? You don’t deserve it.”
His fist explodes against the side of my face. The taste of metal fills my mouth. A sticky red trail of blood streaks my hand.
A choked cry cuts through our panting and grunting. I stagger to my feet, my shirt spotted with blood, my jaw swollen and throbbing. Slowly, I turn in the direction of the tortured sound.
Savannah stands about ten feet away, grocery bags in her hands, eyes wide with terror. All color drips from her skin as she stares, open mouthed, between me and Nash. Even from here, I can see her body tremble and shudder as if she’s just been plunged into an ice bath.
Fuck, how long has she been standing there?
How much did she hear?
When she looks back at me, I can see the answer in her stricken gaze.
Everything. She heard everything.
Every word. Every accusation. Every truth.
I take a step toward her. “Savannah . . .”
“No,” she cries out. “Don’t come any closer. My parents . . . you used their business to transport stolen goods. For that criminal. You were supposed to be there.” She narrows her eyes at me. “But we were together. And a rival crew . . .”
“Savvie, please let me explain—” I try to close the distance between us, but she holds up her hands.
“Don’t come near me.” Her eyes are wild. She backs away from us.
“We were only trying to protect you,” Nash says.
“Don’t. Don’t you dare. You’re my brother. You knew the truth about what really happened, and you’ve been lying to me about it for six years. Making me feel guilty about not being there that night, then about leaving Whiskey Creek when I was so grief stricken over everything I lost.”
She covers her face with her hands, sobbing into her palms.
“They died because you were working for criminals. Using their business. Bringing danger to their door.”
She whips her head toward me. “You left me. Right after it happened. You let me grieve alone, you selfish bastard. And you knew. You knew the whole time why they really died.”
“I couldn’t tell you—”
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”
But the words catch in my throat before I can spit them out.
“You came back. You got close to me again. You touched me, you—” She fists her hair and lets out a frustrated scream. “And the other night, you still didn’t tell me. You fed me a bunch of half truths, hoping it’d satisfy me so you could keep showing up in the middle of the night to fuck me.”
She drops the grocery bags on the ground next to her. “Stay away from me. Both of you. Just . . . stay away.” Then she turns and runs to her car, her sobs echoing in the tense, thick air.
The car engine roars, and she speeds down the drive, tires kicking up gravel and smoke in her wake.
I stare at the back of the car, my stomach plunging into my boots, my jaw in flames. I slide to the ground, hunching over to hold my aching head in my hands because everything she said is true.
Now she’s gone.
And this time, I don’t know if there’s any way back.