Page 104 of Finding Denver

“The same reason you helped me put Wyatt in the ground,” I say, finishing my drink and pouring a third. “She was never going to be mine unless she was entirely mine.” I place the empty glass down and run my hand across my mouth. “If you’re going to kill me, Cal, just do it.”

Minutes pass. I finish another drink.

And when I look up, he’s gone.

The only sound I hear is the whiskey filling the glass. But with every mouthful, the pain remains, and Denver still isn’t home.

I measure the passing of time by the slowly emptying bottle. Once it’s finished, the house is still quiet. No laughter from Denver. No conversation from Axel. No Cal asking when we’re going to work. No barks from Wesson.

The office blurs. The wedding photo on my desk falls over. I think it breaks.

I’m alone.

They took her from me.

Chapter 27

Colt

Denver links her arm through mine, her other hand holding Wesson’s leash as we walk to the park. It’s a clear, cold day, sunlight glittering through the buildings and trees as we take our time. Wesson is stopping to sniff everything, but that’s fine by me, because it means I get to have Denver to myself for a little longer. The moment we’re home, she’ll be dragged away from me by Lewis, Helena, Ronan, or even Finn.

Right now, she’s all mine.

“I can’t believe you got him. Ranger could have hurt you.”

I focus ahead of us, and not on the men watching us walk, protection we’ve doubled in the hour I’ve been home. “Now you can decide what you want to do. You have everything you need. You can stay, you can go somewhere else … you can stay.”

She laughs and rests her head against my arm. “I want to stay.”

“There’s your answer. We can go apartment hunting right now.”

“But I can’t.”

We stop and face each other. We’re shaded by the buildings but for a sliver of light that brightens her eyes, the pale gray filled with sadness.

“Why?”

Denver chews her lip, focusing on her gloved hands. “How exactly would this work, Colt? We keep being friends, I spend time with you, with Finn, Helena, Ronan, and we just forget who I am?”

“Yes. Why does it matter who you are?”

“Because Wilder is still your brother,” she says, and the words knock the air from me. I’d buried it. The pointless feud that isn’t pointless to her. I’d hoped that our friendship, or whatever the hell this is, could overcome my brother’s mistakes. She searches my face. “If I’m here, every day will be about you living two lives.”

“I can do that.”

“No, you can’t, because Holly has already asked me to meet her dad. We almost crossed paths when he dropped her off last week. And I don’t know how I’ll feel when I see him. He still killed Harley. He still caused Ethan’s death.”

I grit my teeth and can’t meet her eye. “I know.”

“I want to let it go. I want to be able to see Holly’s dad, or your brother, but what if I can’t? What if all I see is the man who tried to kill me on my wedding day?” She’s whispering now, her voice tight. “You … you mean so much to me, you all do, but?—”

I squeeze my eyes closed. “Please don’t say it.”

She touches my face, and I look at her. “I have to go, Colt.” It’s too much. The reality that she might leave. That what Wilder did is still this chasm between us, and how I feel isn’t closing the gap. “I wish things were different. I wish I’d met you any other way. Because then …”

“Then?”

Her eyes shine. “Then I would never even think about leaving.”