Page 46 of Finding Denver

Del. I think I can deal with that, too.

“Okay. Good night, Del.”

She smiles. “Good morning, Colt.”

By the timeI get home, Finn McEwan is in my kitchen, and he does not look pleased. I drop my keys on the counter and go straight to the refrigerator.

“You disappeared.”

“I took Denver home. I told you I was going to.”

His attention burns into the back of my head. “I’ve known you since you were thirteen years old, Colt. I may not be your father, but you’ll show me some respect when I don’t hear from you all fucking night.”

I take out a bottle of water and face him. “I was fine.”

“But I didn’t know that!” he rages. “Someone tried to kill you last night, and the only thing I get from you is a half-assed message through Taf? A message that said you were with a woman who’d vowed to kill you.”

I grit my teeth. “I’m not a child, Finn.”

“You will always be a child to me!” he says, green eyes flaring with the kind of anger only my mom uses for me. He runs his hand across his mouth. “Did you sleep with her?”

“Give me some fucking credit.”

His look could melt through glass. “Did you?”

“No, Finn. She’s married.”

“And is that the only reason?” I lean against the counter. “Ranger already has an issue with us. If he’s about to have another, I need to know.”

His concern is understandable. Wars have been startedover far less than drinking with an enemy’s wife. Finn has seen more bloodshed over love than money in his time, so I get it. But he should also know me better.

“I went to talk to her about Wilder. The fact that she was in a hotel and we had some drinks is irrelevant. Nothing happened. Nothing will happen. I’m trying to fix Wilder’s fuck-up.”

“By making your own?”

I slam the bottle down, my patience fraying. “It amazes me that you stand there and question my fucking judgement, but not once have you done the same for my brother.”

“Because I expect more of you!”

“Why? Why can’t I make mistakes? Why can’t I fuck people I shouldn’t? Why does it always fall to me to be the responsible one?”

He watches me with a dark expression, with knowledge beyond my years, and I feel the shame of his words before he even says them. “Because you’re the head of your family, Colt. Just like I’m the head of mine. This is the life you chose. You don’t get to make mistakes, and you don’t get to pick fights across the country. Do I need to protect you from Ranger?”

I drink more. “No.”

“He won’t find out you were there? Or what you discussed?”

“No.” I could add that by the sounds of what Denver said last night, she isn’t even talking to him, but that isn’t my business.

He grips his jaw and lets out a sigh. “Is she okay?”

Far from it. But that’s not my business to tell, either. “She’s fine.”

“Is she letting this thing withWilder go?”

I wish I knew. I wish she’d said the words. “I think she’s considering it.”

Finn folds his arms, and it’s only now that I note that he’s wearing the same suit he wore to dinner. He’s probably been up all night worrying, and he’s right. I’d dismissed him.