Page 1

PROLOGUE

A lec Malone was a scary son-of-a-bitch.

Opal definitely didn’t want to get on his bad side.

Unfortunately for her, he was frowning as she entered his office.

“Opal,” he said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. “Take a seat.”

She knew an order when she heard it and instantly wanted to do the opposite. When was she going to learn to just do what people wanted?

It would make her life so much easier.

But no matter how many times Stefan had tried to beat the lesson into her, she just kept failing.

She raised her chin.

“Please, Opal,” he said in a soft but firm voice. His dominance was solid but not overwhelming.

Or mean.

Well, hell.

She was sitting before she could stop herself. “I don’t know how you do that.”

His lips twitched. “Lots of practice. I did help raise my brother.”

“They were raised?” she queried.

Alec shrugged. “They’re all alive. They’re good men. They might have been a bit wild in their time, but they’ve calmed down. Mostly.”

“How much bail or restitution money have you had to shell out over the years?”

“I should be a billionaire by now,” he said with a straight face.

Damn it.

That’s why she liked this man. She hadn’t thought she would. She’d worried he might be like Stefan. Full of himself. Power hungry. A king who saw everyone around him as peasants.

But she’d seen the way he stared at his wife. The gentleness he showed her and their son.

How his hand would drift to Mia’s belly, which was round with baby number two.

How he had doted on Ryleigh since he’d discovered that she was his sister.

Yep, Opal had wanted to remain wary and detached. It was safer that way. If you cared, you could be hurt.

It was bad enough that she cared about Lilac, Ryleigh, and Kye. They were weaknesses and she’d kill anyone who tried to harm them.

But they were hers.

Although, they didn’t need her as much anymore. They had this big family now. So now it was time to think about what she was going to do with her life.

“Ryleigh told me that you’ve been talking about moving out,” Alec said.

She raised her chin. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about renting an apartment. I can’t stay here forever. The drive to work is taking too long.”

Sure.

That’s the reason.

“Don’t lie to me, Opal,” Alec said quietly. “I won’t take that. What’s the real reason?”

Well hell.

It wasn’t fair that the man could read her so easily.

“I moved in here to make sure that you were treating Ryleigh and Kye right, to help protect them. But they’re both good now and they have all of you.”

“That doesn’t mean they don’t need you.”

“I know that and I’m not going far. Just figured it’s time to be on my own. I haven’t really lived on my own before.”

He eyed her for a long moment. “Do you think you’ll be happy living on your own?”

“Only one way to find out, isn’t there?” she countered with a grin. “There’s no reason I can’t, is there?”

If he tried to stop her . . . well, there would be hell to pay.

And he also wouldn’t be the man she had thought he was.

Jeez. The man certainly had a penetrating stare.

But Opal had learned how to fake it with the best of them and she kept her worries hidden deep down where he couldn’t see them.

“You know that women in Haven need a guardian.”

“I do. The sheriff can do it, right?”

“The sheriff won’t be acting as your guardian. Christ, I’d have a fucking rebellion on my hands. Jake in charge of a Malone woman.” Alec shook his head.

It was unexpected.

And she had to work hard to keep from showing how his words affected her. She cleared her throat. “I’m not a Malone.”

“You might not have the name, but you’re one of us, Opal,” Alec told her. “You’re our family because you are Ryleigh and Lilac’s family. And if there’s one thing that I hope you’ve learned about me it’s that I take the protection of my family seriously. And that includes you.”

“Do I get a say in this?” she demanded.

This time she got a definite smile. “Nope.”

“That’s what I figured,” she muttered. “Not sure I can cope with being a Malone. Seems to require a certain level of crazy.”

“It does. I think you’re fitting right in.”

“Nice backhanded compliment,” she told him dryly.

“Being a Malone comes with some rules.”

“Have you told your younger brothers that?”

“They know the rules when it comes to their women. And, like I said, they’ve calmed down. I haven’t had to post bail in months.”

“You sound sad about that.”

He pointed at her sternly. “Don’t get any ideas. Now, Tanner wanted to have this talk with you, and I told him this was on me. If you’d rather have this chat with him, though . . .”

She shook her head. “Rather not have it at all.”

“I don’t want to be an asshole, Opal. But you’re part of the family now and that comes with certain cautions. Like, taking care of yourself. Like, I don’t really want you to live alone, Ryleigh certainly doesn’t want you to leave?—”

“But I?—”

“However, I get it.”

“I just need to be on my . . . wait, you do?”

“Yeah. This place is chaos on a good day. Not everyone wants that.”

That part didn’t worry her.

In fact, she kind of liked the crazy.

“And sometimes you have to be on your own to work out what you really want,” he added.

Maybe he did kind of get it.

Part of her wanted to cave and tell him that she wanted to stay.

However, Opal wasn’t really a Malone. She didn’t quite fit in here.

And, worst of all, she didn’t deserve to be.

That was also a reason to leave. She couldn’t start to wish and hope.

No, she had to leave before she started to buy into the bullshit he was spouting.

“So you’re letting me leave,” she said.

“Not letting you do anything,” Alec said calmly.

Darn it.

Why wouldn’t the man rile up a bit? Anger, she was used to. Anger, she could use as a reason to not like him.

As it was, she found herself liking him a bit more every day.

“I want to help you. We all do.”

“What do you mean by help me?” she asked suspiciously.

Opal wasn’t used to good things happening to her.

“Have you found a place to live?”

“Well, no. There doesn’t seem to be much around. So I was thinking that maybe I could move into Sugar?—”

“Yeah, nope.” His face was firm. “You’re not living in that bus.”

Why not? She’d lived in it before.

Now she was starting to find it easier to dislike him. “You can’t tell me no.”

“Hmm, it’s me or Jake. And we’re both going to say no because it’s not safe to live in a damn RV. And, like I said, there will be a revolt if I let Jake be your guardian.”

“You know, I really don’t need a guardian. I’m close to turning thirty. And I’m not stupid. I can make my own decisions.”

It had been Stefan’s favorite insult to call her stupid.

Stupid, ugly whore.

Okay, don’t think about that right now.

Taking a deep breath in, she let it out slowly.

“I know that, Opal. But we just want to take care of you. Which is why I found you a house.”

“A . . . a house?” she asked, sitting up straight.

“Yep. Mrs. Easton has gone into a rest home. Hope they’re ready for her. She used to supplement her Social Security with home brew that she made in her basement. And when Jake told her that she had to stop, she tried printing money. Looked terrible, all wonky, and Benjamin Franklin looked suspiciously like Homer Simpson.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope.”

“Wow. She’s my new idol.”

Alec raised an eyebrow. “Anyway, her family decided to sell her house and I bought it. For you.”

“W-what?”

“Well, for you to rent. It’s hard to find a place to rent in Haven, it’s strictly controlled. So you’ll live there. This is the rental agreement, since I figured you would want one. It’s got my bank account on it and the amount you’ll pay each month. There’re a few rules written in there.” He handed over a piece of paper.

“What sort of rules?” She was guessing it would be things around not having loud parties or pets and when to pay the rent or what might happen if she didn’t.

Turns out, she was completely wrong.

“One, is that you’ll do your best to keep yourself safe. Two, you’ll let me or Tanner know if something is wrong, if you need help, if someone threatens you, or you are ill. And that you will call one of us immediately. Okay?”

“That’s it?”

“Yep.”

“What about paying on time? Or repairs? Or not having loud parties?”

“I wouldn’t worry about loud parties,” he told her. “Mrs. Easton used to have ragers several times a year. Pretty sure most of the town turned up. The nursing home really has no idea what they’re in for. As for repairs, you’ll need to let me know if anything needs fixing and I will take care of them. You want to see the place first?”

Should she do this? Would she be indebted to him? Opal hated to be reliant on anyone.

“I, um, I could find my own place.”

He tapped his fingers against the desk. “You don’t want to accept my help?”

“I don’t want to accept anyone’s help.”

Alec nodded. “Doesn’t make you weak, you know. A long time ago, I had to get my family out of a bad situation. Had no idea how I was going to do that. Someone helped me and now here I am, in a position to do the same.”

“So you’re just paying that forward?”

“I’m looking after family. You took care of Ryleigh for a long time. I want to do the same for you. I know it’s hard to believe that I don’t have an ulterior movie.”

He had no idea . . .

“There’s no catch, no hidden agenda. You want to live alone, and I want to make sure you can do it safely. Or you can stay here.”

Opal took a leap of faith and leaned forward to pick up the pen before signing.

“You can move in at the end of the month. That good?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s good. Thanks, Alec.”

“No need to thank me. Just looking out for one of my own.”

She still couldn’t let herself believe in the dream he was weaving . . . nope. She wasn’t going to be fooled.

As much as she would like to buy into it . . .

Don’t.

People weren’t like this without an ulterior motive. She just hadn’t figured out what his angle was.

But for the moment, she’d take his offer of help until he and the others showed their true colors.

And then she’d need to decide what to do next. But she wouldn’t get taken by surprise.

Never again.

* * *

They all came.

Every single one of them.

They came to help her move. Although she didn’t have any furniture. She’d planned to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag for a while.

Opal wasn’t really made for camping, but she’d been in worse situations and survived.

To her shock, though, they didn’t come empty-handed. The house wasn’t a big one, but it was adorable. There was a small front porch and then a larger one out the back. The house was painted a deep purple with white trim, which she personally loved. It had a path leading up to the front door with white roses planted on either side.

There were two good-sized bedrooms, a surprisingly large living area, and a kitchen with a small dining area.

There was no way she could furnish the place, which was something the Malones obviously knew since beds and chairs and linen had all turned up with each of them.

By the time they left the place was fully furnished, down to her having a month’s worth of fucking toilet paper.

But she still wasn’t drinking the Kool-Aid.

This town and these people were too good to be true and Opal had learned that when something was too good to be true . . .

That you should run.