Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
ROYCE
Mom wasn’t home when I got back, but there was a note telling me she’d left me some French toast in the microwave. Plucking a cut strawberry from a bowl on the counter, I ran upstairs to check Taryn’s room.
Empty.
I pulled out my phone and saw that she hadn’t texted me yet.
With the arrival of Connor, it still felt as though she would randomly pop up as well. Probably wasn’t even the same hoodie that she’d worn, and the smell, that was…it was Connor, and Taryn would never go there.
“Stupid,” I whispered while exiting her room.
While I showered, I brushed off the nagging feeling that I was being lied to. There were things my sister wasn’t telling me, and we told each other everything. She was never gone this much, and if she was, then she’d leave me endless voice notes as to how miserable she was.
The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became. I needed to talk to my ex-boyfriend.
I didn’t have Connor’s cell phone number anymore, so I was on my way to his parents’ house on my bike.
Stopped at a red light, my foot on the asphalt, I watched as the cross traffic moved through the intersection.
Rodney’s white Tesla flew down the road, heading toward the docks.
I made a split-second decision to follow him.
Part of my anger revolved around him and the discovery that he’d been lying about his salary.
I should have known when he bought a brand-new fucking Tesla.
I’d assumed he had savings or something, but no, he was skimming off the top.
Now I was determined to discover what he was up to.
I twisted the throttle, going faster so I could catch up with him.
There were two other cars in front of me, but I still had my eyes on him.
He cut over toward the bridge until he was nearing the waterfront, which is where the other cars left us.
I had no idea if he’d noticed me following, but my stomach flipped.
I knew I was too close for him not to pick up on the fact that I was there, but I had nowhere else to turn off.
Finally, Rodney veered toward an abandoned lot, where two bikers were already parked and waiting for him.
I continued to drive, so I couldn’t make out which club they were from.
I would need to make a U-turn. I crested a hill and found a spot to turn off, but the moment I pulled into the gravel lot a bike came rumbling from behind me.
I twisted to see who was approaching and immediately groaned.
Ford pulled his motorcycle in front of me, blocking me from going anywhere.
I let a curse fly, dropping my feet and pulling on the brake.
Ford wore a smug grin, a backward-facing hat, and a pair of dark sunglasses. His boots came down, planting in the gravel while he steadied his bike. I wore my pink helmet, visor down so he couldn’t see my face. I remained prepared to ride away until he lightly tapped on the dark film over my eyes.
“What do you want?”
I was in no mood with how confused Ford kept making me.
He’d flirt, hurt, then reveal something that threatened to tug my heart from my chest. I had too many questions running through my head: Like why he said he wasn’t into me but told Connor that he wanted him to lay my head in his lap.
Why did he push my face against his erection this morning, and why did he seem to care if I kissed Julian, and what was he about to say when he’d mentioned not kissing.
Instead of tapping again, he reached over and slid my visor up with his finger. I knew my eyes blazed with ferocity, and I wished I could see his so I knew if he was affected at all by me the way I was by him. “What exactly are you doing out here, Rose?”
His raspy voice wrapped around me in such a way that all I could think about was how that must have felt against Jasmine’s ear when she was in his lap last night.
“Why do you keep calling me Rose?”
I couldn’t see his eyes, but I caught his dark brows caving inward. He quipped, “Do you not know what your name means?”
How did he know what it meant? People didn’t typically walk around with that knowledge running through their head.
“Back to my question…why are you following Rodney?”
“How do you know I was following him?” I asked with a bit of a sneer.
Ford didn’t smile this time. His head swiveled over to the abandoned lot that now lay below the hill we were on.
“I don’t want you near this, Royce.”
“Well, you don’t really get to make that decision, Ford.” I winked and then went to pull my visor back down when he reached out to stop me.
“I’m serious. Rodney is into some dangerous shit.” He pulled his shades off, revealing a bruised eye. That’s when I registered the cut on his upper lip, and a small bruise on his neck.
I smiled. “Dad got ya pretty good, huh?”
“Not as good as I got him. I think we might understand one another now though, so there’s that.”
Glancing back toward the lot, I reminded Ford, “I work with Rodney nearly every single night. What exactly do you think is going to happen?”
Something dangerous moved behind Ford’s eyes. I saw it that night I had cupped his face when he nearly killed that guy. “Just don’t follow him anymore. The last thing I need is them assuming you know more than you should and deciding to kill you because of it.”
I hadn’t considered that, but like hell was I going to tell him that.
I decided to change the subject. “Did you ever figure out why Connor was in town?”
Ford held my gaze as he nodded. “Your dad wanted to see if he’d accept a job from him.”
“What sort of job?”
Amusement lit up Ford’s features as he glanced to the side. “You’ll have to ask him about that, but Connor won’t be taking it.”
“Why not?” I asked, confused.
Ford pushed his sunglasses back into place on his face. “Told you. Your pops and I finally understand one another.”
With that cryptic response, Ford twisted his fist and took off. Leaving me sitting there, confused and unsettled.
I decided not to hunt down Connor and instead used my rage to tick off the request Natty left me with.
Some time alone, up near my favorite place on Earth was probably a good idea anyway.
The Silva cottage was surrounded by a grove of trees, and a patch of grass that was big enough for a trampoline and clubhouse.
Not that either of those things had been in the yard any time recently, but I remembered playing on both as a kid.
White brick that was once red encased the home, with black shuttered windows and a beautiful, screened porch that I used to love sitting in as a kid when it would rain.
Their home always felt like a fairy tale to me, with streaks of sunlight parting the trees and the scent of lemon on the air from the nearby orchard. It was magical.
Using the key kept inside of a hidden fake rock, I unlocked the door and made my way inside.
Longing and nostalgia tugged at my emotions, making my eyes water.
I missed how full Rook and Ryle used to make this space feel.
The cottage was smaller, much tinier than the house I grew up in, but it was cozy too.
Leather armchairs, overfilled bookshelves, thick rugs that accented dark wood floors.
The cottage was quiet as I moved to the windows and unlocked each one to push open.
I paused when I got to the boys’ room, seeing that their window was unlatched.
It was an odd thing, considering Uncle Silas would never leave their home open.
He would have double- and triple-checked all the doors and windows.
Glancing down at the hardwood floor, I saw the smallest hint of a boot print. Anxiety twisted inside me as I stood and turned in a circle. No other prints could be seen, and nothing else seemed out of place.
Two twin beds sat on either side of the room, matching bookshelves with way too many books.
Rook’s side had a few framed photos, along with a ceramic bowl for loose change.
I checked their closet, slightly worried an intruder might be hiding inside, and came up empty, then hesitantly inspected the rest of the house.
No other window or door was unlocked, nor were there any more boot prints of any kind.
It was probably something from a while back, but to be on the safe side, I returned to their room and snapped a quick picture, which didn’t turn out at all.
Heaving a small sigh, I got to my knees and angled the camera a bit better to see if I could make it turn out.
That’s when something else caught my eye.
It was a piece of lined paper, half under Rook’s bed.
I would have never invaded his privacy, except I saw my name written on the paper.
But it was still under his bed, and it belonged to him.
Shaking my head, I stood and exited the room before I was tempted to do something like dig through all of Rook’s belongings.
Before I talked myself out of it, I shot the picture off to my dad, letting him know the boot print seemed off but that no one was here and the door was locked.
After that, I stowed my phone and wiped down Natty and Silas’s bathroom, which was easy as it was just dust from how long they’d been gone.
I refreshed their bedsheets and shook out all the rugs.
Music played from one of the speakers in the kitchen while I made my way from one room to another.
It took longer than I assumed it would, but I had a feeling that had a lot to do with the shit sleep I got the night prior.
I’d yawned more than a few times. I had even broken down and dug out an energy drink that I knew the boys kept in the shed, tucked inside of a small fridge.
While I was still outside, I inspected the space under the boys’ window to see if there were any more boot prints. I couldn’t find any, so I wandered back inside. The sky transitioned from a bright blue to a heavy purple, which meant I was going to be late for work if I didn’t hustle.