Page 10

Chapter Ten

brUNO

Everly's face when she sees that red sedan tells me everything I need to know. The color drains from her cheeks, and she looks like she's about to throw up. Whatever this Trent bastard put her through, it was worse than she let on.

I grab a shirt. “Stay inside. I mean it, Everly.”

But she's already shaking her head, pulling on her sundress from last night with trembling fingers. "You don't understand. He'll make a scene. He'll…"

“Let him try.” I button my shirt with controlled movements, every muscle in my body coiled for a fight. “He's trespassing on my land, harassing my woman. That gives me all the reason I need to remove him.”

Her eyebrows shoot up at the words 'my woman,' but before she can respond, Trent's voice cuts through the morning air again.

“Everly! I drove six hours to get here. The least you can do is talk to me.”

The fucker tracked her down and drove through the night to get here. The possessive rage that surges through me is primal, dangerous.

“How did he find you?” I ask, my voice deadly quiet.

“I don't know.” Everly's hands shake as she looks for her clothes. “Maybe social media, maybe he asked around town. It was pretty obvious we went up here together. Trent doesn't give up when he wants something.”

The implication hangs between us. He wants her back. And he's arrogant enough to show up to get her.

“Well, he's about to learn what happens when he messes with what's mine.”

I stride toward the door, but Everly catches my arm. “Bruno, please. Let me handle this. If you go out there looking like you want to kill him…”

“I do want to kill him.”

“That's exactly why I need to go first.” Her big blue eyes are pleading. “Just... let me talk to him. Get him to leave. Please.”

Every instinct I have screams against it. The thought of her anywhere near that piece of shit makes my teeth clench. But the fear in her eyes stops me.

“Five minutes. Then I'm coming out there whether you want me to or not.”

She nods. “Five minutes. I can do this.”

I watch from the window as she steps onto the porch, her spine straight and shoulders back. My beautiful, brave girl facing down the demon from her past.

Trent's standing beside his car like he owns the place, arms crossed and that smug expression firmly in place. He's everything I expected; pretty boy looks, expensive clothes, and the kind of entitled attitude that comes from never being told no.

He clears his throat as he eyes her up and down. Slicker than snot on a doorknob, this guy. “Looking good, Ev. Mountain air agrees with you.”

“What are you doing here, Trent?” Everly's voice is steady, but her shoulders are tense.

“I came to talk. You won't answer my calls, you blocked me on everything. What choice did I have?”

“You had the choice to respect my decision and leave me alone.”

Trent laughs, and the sound makes my hands clench into fists. “Come on, babe. We both know you're just acting out. This whole thing…” he gestures toward the cabin, toward me watching from the window “...it's just a phase. You're trying to prove a point.”

“The only point I'm proving is that I'm better off without you.”

“Are you? Really?” His tone turns mocking. “From where I'm standing, it looks like you're playing house with some old cowboy who's using you for a quick fuck. You think he actually cares about you? You think this is real?”

The words hit their target. Everly flinches, wrapping her arms around herself.

Fuck this. Five minutes or not, I'm done listening to his shit.

I'm through the door and down the porch steps faster than a jackrabbit in July. Trent takes one look at my face and steps back toward his car.

“You must be Trent,” I say, my voice steady.

“And you're the rebound guy.” His recovery is quick, that smug smile sliding back into place. “Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. Just came to collect what's mine.”

The words 'what's mine' send murderous rage through my veins. “Funny thing about that. Far as I can tell, nothing here belongs to you.”

“Everly and I have history. Two years together. She was my fiancée. Will be again. You really think one night in bed is going to change that?”

Everly steps between us, her hand on my chest. “Bruno, don’t. He's not worth it.”

But Trent's not done. “Tell him, Ev. Tell him this is just a phase. Tell him you're coming home with me where you belong.”

“I am home,” Everly says quietly.

Trent's face twists with anger. “Stop it, Everly. You're not some mountain man's plaything. You're better than this. Better than him.”

I step around Everly, putting myself between her and this piece of shit. “You’re wrong. She's not better than me. She's better than you . Which is why she left your sorry ass and ended up in my bed.”

“Bruno,” Everly warns, but I'm past caring.

“You want to know what she told me about you?” I continue, moving closer to Trent. “How you spent two years tearing her down, making her think she wasn't good enough, critiquing her body like she was some project you were working on. Real manly of you, targeting a sweet girl's insecurities.”

Trent's face flushes red as a beet. “You don't know anything about our relationship.”

“I know enough. I know you're the kind of coward who shows up uninvited because you can't handle being told no. I know you're standing on my land, harassing my woman, after she made it clear she wants nothing to do with you.”

Trent laughs, but there's no humor in it. “Your woman? You've known her for what, a week? I was with her for years. I know her better than you ever will.”

“If you knew her at all, you'd know she deserves better.”

“And you think you're better? You're twice her age, living alone on a mountain. What kind of future can you offer her?”

The words hit deeper than I want to admit. Because he's not wrong. I am twice her age. I do live alone on a mountain. What the hell am I offering her besides good sex and a place to hide from the world?

But then Everly's hand slips into mine, her fingers intertwining with mine, and the doubt evaporates.

I stand to my full height. “I’ll offer her whatever she wants. And be damn proud to do that.”

Trent throws his hands up. “This is ridiculous. Everly, you can't seriously be choosing him over me? Over what we had together?”

Everly's grip on my hand tightens. “We didn't have anything together, Trent. You had me, and I was too young and stupid to realize I deserved better. But I know now.”

“You're making a mistake.”

“The only mistake I made was wasting two years on you.”

Trent's composure finally cracks completely. “Fine. Make your choice. But don't come crying to me when this fantasy falls apart and you realize you threw away something real for a summer fling.”

He gets in his car and slams the door, gunning the engine as he backs out of the driveway. Gravel sprays from his tires as he speeds down the mountain road.

I turn to hug Everly, expecting relief on her face. Instead, I find tears streaming down her cheeks and something that looks like doubt in her eyes.

I cup her face in my hands, thumbs brushing away her tears. “Hey, beautiful. He's gone. It's over.”

Her voice is small, broken. “Is it? What if he's right? What if this is just a fantasy? What if…”

I tilt her chin up so she has to look at me. “Stop. Don't let that bastard get in your head.”

“But he's not wrong, is he? We barely know each other, and already I'm causing drama in your life.”

“You're not causing anything. That was all him.”

“Because of me. Because I brought this mess into your world.” She pulls away from me, wrapping her arms around herself. “Let me give you some space to think about whether this is really what you want.”

Panic claws at my chest. “Like hell.”

“Bruno—”

“No. You're not running away because that piece of shit got in your head. You're not letting him win.”

“This isn't about winning or losing. This is about being realistic. About facing the fact that maybe we're moving too fast, maybe this is all just?—”

I crush my mouth to hers in a desperate kiss. When I pull back, we're both breathing hard.

“Does that feel like a fantasy to you? Doesn’t that feel real?” I demand.

Her lower lip trembles. “I don't know anymore. I don't know anything anymore.”

The defeat in her voice nearly brings me to my knees. “Come inside. Let's talk about this properly.”

But she's already shaking her head. “I think I need some time. Some space to think.”

“Everly…”

“Please, Bruno. I just... I need to figure out what's real and what's just me running away from my problems.”

She won't look at me as she gathers her things. Won't let me drive her and calls a taxi. I stand in my driveway watching the taillights disappear down the mountain.

I don't know if she's coming back. And for the first time since my parents died, I understand what it means to lose something you can't live without.