Page 35 of For the Promise (The Raider Brothers #2)

“And now you know why I don’t trust men.” ~ Blossom

Blossom

“B lossom!” Dakota chases after me and I hurry my pace.

Harper intercepts me. “Use the back hallway. There’s an exit through the storage room no one knows about.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

She squeezes my hand. “I don’t know what Jaxon did but you are strong. You’ll be fine.”

She’s being sweet but I can’t accept her kindness. I need to hold onto my anger a little bit longer. I can’t fall apart in this bar in front of half of the island. Everyone will think I’m some silly girl. I’m not some silly girl.

I’m an idiot who was seduced by a triton. I never saw the male equivalent of a siren coming. I thought Jaxon was this nerdy man who has no social skills. Ha! He’s an asshole who got what he wanted and now is done with me.

I should have figured it out when he refused to message me for the past two days, even though he knows how it causes me anxiety to be ignored.

I never should have lied to Alan. If I hadn’t lied, I wouldn’t have been forced to pretend Jaxon was my husband. And this whole charade wouldn’t have happened.

No more should haves. I can’t change the past. What’s done is done.

“Thank you.”

Harper nods before nudging me toward the back hallway. “Go. Dakota and Paisley are hot on your heels.”

They are? I glance over my shoulder. Dakota and Paisley are pushing their way through the crowd. I don’t wait. I run down the back hallway to the storage room and slam the door shut behind me.

Shit. It’s dark in here. I search for the light switch but hit a bottle instead. It crashes to the floor. How am I going to find the secret exit in here?

“Blossom!” Dakota shouts as she bangs on the door. “We know you’re in there.”

I don’t respond. She knows no such thing.

“I was born and raised in Smuggler’s Hideaway,” Paisley says. “I was sneaking out of the secret exit of Rumrunner before you knew the island existed.”

“Thanks for reminding me of how much of an outsider I am.”

The door flies open. I should have known a locked door wouldn’t keep these two out .

With help from the light in the hallway, I watch Paisley and Dakota as they enter. Paisley doesn’t hesitate. She marches straight to the light switch.

“Are you okay?” Dakota asks after Paisley shuts the door again.

“What do you think?”

She cringes. “Sorry. Stupid question.”

“I’m confused.” Paisley pushes her glasses up the nose and my stomach sinks as the gesture reminds me of Jaxon. “Did you or did you not agree to an annulment?”

“We agreed to an annulment before. When the marriage was fake. Before we started dating.” My bottom lip trembles and my eyes feel hot, but I refuse to cry. Not yet. “I guess Jaxon always thought our relationship was fake.”

Dakota grasps my hands. “No. That’s not true.”

“How do you know? Do you know he’s been ghosting me for two days?”

“There could be a number of reasons for his failure to return your messages,” Paisley says.

“Such as?”

“He got caught up in work. He dropped his phone in the toilet.”

Dakota grunts. “That happened one time. Will you let it go already?”

Paisley’s nose wrinkles. “You stuck your hand in dirty toilet water. No. I will not let it go.”

While they argue, I scan the room. Where the hell is this secret exit? This place is a speakeasy but the speakeasy part is for tourists, right? There isn’t seriously a secret exit left over from Prohibition in here?

“It’s behind a fake wall,” Paisley says.

“Can you show me where it is? I need to get out of here.”

“I don’t want you to be alone,” Dakota says.

“I can’t be in this bar. I can’t be in the same building with the man I love who doesn’t love me back.” I sniff to stop the tears from falling. “Why didn’t he pick me? No one picks me.”

Dakota wraps her arms around me. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. Don’t say you’re sorry.” After my parents died, all I heard was ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again. They’re just words. They don’t mean anything. They don’t change anything.

“Okay. I’m not sorry. Jaxon is a complete asshole. Let’s go get drunk and forget all about him.”

I laugh as I pull away from her. “You don’t drink, and she’s pregnant.”

“We can go to your apartment and eat tons of bad food and watch scary movies instead,” Paisley suggests.

“It’s a sweet suggestion, but I really want to be alone.”

Paisley squeezes my hand. “But you’re not alone. Whatever happens between you and Jaxon doesn’t change a thing. You’re still my friend.”

“And mine,” Dakota adds. “My best friend. You can’t rescind best friend status. It’s not allowed.”

“Even if you refuse to go on a rollercoaster with me?”

She scowls. “I went on the rollercoaster.”

“And peed your pants.”

She huffs. “I did not pee my pants! ”

“You two are sweet, and I love you to bits, but things are changing. You’ve got a little one on the way.” I nod to Paisley’s still flat stomach. “And you’ll be busy with a dozen foster kids soon.”

“I wouldn’t say a dozen,” Dakota mutters.

“And I’ll be the best aunt I can possibly be.”

But I won’t be their sister. Once again, I’ll be alone with no family. Silly me. I was so anxious to find a family, I didn’t hesitate to embrace the idea of being a sister to the Raider brothers. I should have kept my heart encased in steel.

“I never should have married Jaxon.”

“Your ex never should have sued you for half your inheritance,” Paisley says.

“I really know how to pick men, don’t I?

Maybe I should join a convent. Do nuns brew beer?

There are monks in Belgium who brew beer, why not nuns?

I could open up a convent and start a brewery.

I’m going to call it the brewing nuns. Would we get tax breaks for being a religious organization even though we brewed beer for profit? ”

“Good question. Usually—”

Dakota holds up a hand to stop Paisley. “Are you seriously discussing opening a nun brewery right now?”

“I think the proper term would be convent brewery.”

She moans. “I had to become best friends with two women who brew beer.”

“Don’t feel bad. I didn’t give you a choice.”

“Blossom!” Jaxon calls as he knocks on the door .

“Who told him where I am?” I whisper. “If Harper sold me out, I’m going to prank her so bad. She’ll wish she never messed with a woman with a chemical engineering degree.”

“I doubt Harper sold you out,” Paisley whispers back. “Jaxon is an islander. He knows there’s a secret entrance in here.”

“And you didn’t exit out the front door,” Dakota adds. “Where else would you be?”

In the bathroom, crying my eyes out.

“Blossom! Can we talk?”

Is he kidding me? He wants to talk now? After he humiliated me in front of his entire family. Entire family? Scratch that. The entire bar? Hell. The entire island of Smuggler’s Hideaway probably knows by now.

“Do you want to talk to him?” Paisley asks.

“No way.”

She pats my shoulder. “I’ve got you.” She walks to the opposite wall and pulls a bottle like a lever. The wall slides away, revealing a door.

I rush to it but pause with my hand on the handle. “Where will I go? He knows where I live.”

“Go to Prohibition Beach. He’ll never follow you there. It’s where the family had Eli’s birthday party before his dad left.”

I feel a ping of sympathy for the fourteen-year-old boy who lost his dad. Losing your dad sucks. I know all about it. Except my dad didn’t choose to leave me. He was taken from me. Having your dad choose to leave you must hurt worse.

I shove those thoughts away. I am not seriously standing here feeling sympathy for the man who threw me away without a second thought. We all have our histories, our issues, our trigger points. It doesn’t give Jaxon an excuse to tell me we’re getting our marriage annulled in front of his family.

I thought he chose me. I thought he wanted me. Wrong again.

“Blossom. Can we talk, please?” Jaxon asks through the door and spurs me into action.

“Prohibition Beach. Got it.”

“Go. We’ll keep him occupied. But I expect you to answer when I phone you later,” Dakota says.

“I will.” I always answer my phone.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. Correction. I always answer my phone unless an asshole is trying to reach me.

The door handle rattles and Paisley shoves me out the secret door before slamming it shut behind me.

I stumble outside and find myself in an alley.

“Hey!” A drunk couple stagger toward me. “Where’s the speakeasy? We can’t find it.”

Tourists have to complete a riddle before the location of the speakeasy is revealed. One of the first things Paisley told me after she hired me was to never tell anyone where Rumrunner is. It’s a Smuggler’s Hideaway rule.

“Go right. It’s the second alley.”

“Thank you!”

They won’t be thanking me when they end up in the alley behind Smuggler’s Cove, where they keep their dumpsters .

I force a smile and make my way past them and toward the beach. Prohibition Beach is a small beach on the other side of the boardwalk.

Locals cast me sideways glances but I maintain a smile on my face until I reach the beach and ascertain it’s empty. And then?

Well, then I let the dam break.