Page 47

Seeing the implosion building behind his eyes, I tread lightly. “I would if I could but you already used a lot of my parent’s life insurance money. I don’t have enough to—”

“Are you calling me a freeloader, is that it? I told you I was going to pay you back as soon as I get my inheritance in a few months. I would have already if my dad wasn’t the trustees on the account and keeping it for himself.” He turns and stalks several feet. Stops. Pivots back. “You’re being a bitch right now, you know that? I ... this is so fucking important to my entire career.” All ten fingers shove back through his hair. “You just want to see me fail. You don’t give a shit about me. You probablythink you could do better, but here’s a reality check, Everly. No one fucking wants you. No one. You’re weak and pathetic. Boohoo, my parents died. No one fucking cares, Everly. Look at everything they left you. You don’t have to worry about anything. Not all of us have that luxury—”

“You think losing my parents was a luxury?”

He ignores me, lost in his own outrage. “—some of us have to work our asses off. I have to fight every day at work just to be told Abram is better because he’s got roots in this useless town.” He’s breathing hard. Spittle clings to his lips and chin but he doesn’t seem to notice. “You know what? Fuck you. I’ll do it on my own and you better not ask me for anything.”

I watch him storm off. The thunder of his feet echo through the house. Rattle across the walls. Each stomp up the stairs rings like bombs exploding. His bedroom door cracks shut and then there is silence.

Semi silence.

My heart is an unsteady tempo between my ears. A frantic bird begging for escape. I stand rooted to the plastic, clammy and cold despite the heat. My brain fluctuates between going after him and giving him the money I don’t have and just leaving.

It’s three feet between the door and the stairs. A fork in the road. If I give in, I’ll have Bron. If I leave, I’ll have nothing. I’ll lose everything. Not just Bron, but Lachlan. I’ll lose thethousands of dollars he owes me, which I’m beginning to accept I will never see anyway, but I’m still hoping.

“Want me to beat his ass?”

I jump at the quiet murmur from behind me. I spin to find Van in the patio doorway, eyes fixed on my face. My tear-stained face that I’m not quick enough to wipe.

I force a chuckle. “Not today. It’s too hot.”

The cold silver softens, but barely. “Raincheck, then.” He takes a small step closer. “You okay, baby?”

I reach for an abandoned dish towel on the island and busy my hands shaking it out and folding it.

“Yeah, just a disagreement.” I tuck the edges into the oven handlebar. “I should go home.”

“You should stay,” he counters smoothly. He takes another step. “I need you to stay.”

I lift my face to find him a foot away. A towering force consuming every drop of air. It’s taking everything in me not to close the distance and step right into his chest.

“I don’t want to bring the party down,” I joke.

The pad of his thumb lifts and brushes a stray tear. The calluses scratch my cheek.

“Then I’ll come with you.”

I chuckle. “To my house?”

He shrugs a massive shoulder. “Wherever you go.” He searches my eyes with the magnitude of his words. “You’re not allowed to go alone.”

Something in that statement breaks me. My ears ring even as the sight of him vanishes behind a blur of tears. I try to turn away only to have my arm captured and my entire body pulled into his arms. Caged in his warmth and strength.

He holds me through the waves. Through the sobs I try to muffle in his taut skin. He says nothing, not even when I stop and he lightly wipes my face with his knuckles. Not when he walks me to the bathroom and waits outside for me to clean up.

It’s only when I finally emerge with my face scrubbed and my emotions in check that he brushes a damp strand of hair off my cheek and says, “The next time he makes you cry, I won’t ask for your permission. I’ll fucking kill him.”

“Lachlan—”

“Will understand.” My fingers are lifted to his lips and the warmth of his mouth sends fire up my arms. “He’ll help me bury the body.”

Not waiting for me to gather my thoughts, he tugs me back through the patio doors to face the two remaining people in my life.

Lauren immediately bounds into my arms. She squeezes me close. Too close.

“Can’t breathe,” I squeak, patting her arm.

“I’m just so happy you stayed.” She pulls back with her hands on my shoulders to peer into my face. Hers assessing. “I’m going to figure this out.”