Page 116 of The Elusive Billionaire

This one deranged man and his equally unstable family are the catalyst for who I am today. Everything good and everything broken that I am came from the shattered pieces of the girl that two families want to blame for their misfortune, and until now, they’ve had the power to do just that.

“We’ve got you,” Elle says as I climb down from the truck bed. She looks like a rodeo clown as she straddles Wrecks while holding onto his collar. If that damn dog wanted to bolt at any second, she wouldn’t stand a chance.

The sight makes me smile despite the rising tension in the air.

Grey jumps down and secures my hand in his. “Can everyone give us a moment, please?”

Cian’s eyes bug out of his head. He’s probably never heard Grey ask for anything nicely, but Brax pats him on the back and heads up the porch steps with everyone else following closely behind.

“I just want you to know—” Grey doesn’t finish his sentence. I think he’s waiting for me to look up at him, but I’m scared of what I’ll find when I do. When he grows impatient, he hooks his finger under my chin and tilts it up. “I understand what it feels like to not have people believe you. So, I want you to know, I do. I believe you, and I believe in you, and so do they.” He nods with his head toward the crew that’s patiently waiting on the porch for us. “We have your back, regardless of what DeVane came here to say.”

Damn him. All the tension that had previously been sitting on my shoulders now lodges in my throat.

“If you need anything while you’re in there, just squeeze my hand, and I’ll take over.”

Really? I fully expected him to commandeer this entire thing, and his smirk tells me he knows it.

“I said I believe you, but more importantly, I believe in you. I know you can fight your own battles—I simply want you to understand that you no longer have to. Are you ready?”

My heart claps against my ribs like an inmate waiting for the jailbreak. Greyson Reyes is breaking me out of the prison I’ve lived in for years, and I’m helpless to stop him.

“I’m ready.” But my wobbly voice betrays me.

Thankfully, he doesn’t comment on it. He simply steps to the side and allows me to lead us to the porch.

As soon as I take the last step, the front door bursts open, and a pissed-off Madi scans all the faces until she lands on mine. “Let’s kick some ass.” She’s five foot nothing of pissed-off mama bear, but she’s using every last inch of her size to her benefit.

She’s going to be an amazing mom.

With a breath that keeps lodging painfully in my side, I nod, then enter the inn, dragging Grey behind me like a silent sentry I didn’t know I deserved.

We find Riley in the den, sitting on the sofa with his arms and legs spread wide, as though he’s the king of this kingdom, and my stomach twists violently as I read every thought in his mind. It’s why he always lost at poker—he lacks the control it takes to mask his emotions.

His dark sneer screams only one word: mine.

Sage and some of his teammates sit across the room, glaring at him, with Clover sandwiched between them. Nervous energy pours out of her, but she too appears to be attempting murder with her stare.

I nod at them in appreciation. This is what it feels like to have a family, and Riley won’t take that from me. Widening my stance, I face him.

“Riley.” My tone is arctic and decidedly unfriendly. “What do you want?”

“Sin.” The word slips past his lips, hissing his serpent-coated lies. Even Wrecks growls, low and dangerous. I smile when Riley sits up straighter.

When the dog trots over to sit on Clover’s feet, I nearly laugh as fear shines in Riley’s expression.

“Savannah is the only name I respond to. I’ll ask you one more time, what do you want?”

He leans back again, as if to show me he’s just getting comfortable, and slowly studies the people at my back.

“You’ve amassed a motley little crew, haven’t you?” He makes no move, but it feels like he threw the first punch.

Grey’s chest presses into my back, but he doesn’t say anything, just silently lends me his strength, and that one small action is enough to erase all the bullshit he’s put me through. Grey is on my side, and I can’t believe I ever doubted it.

Riley expects me to fold first. After all, intimidation is how he always got his way when I was a kid, but I’m not that teenager anymore. Even without the support at my back, I’m not the same girl I once was, so I hold my glare and wait for him to get to his point.

Even Pops stands silently in the corner, but he bounces on his toes—his need to release energy preventing him from staying still.

“Have you told them the truth?” Riley’s voice is oily and slick. It’s hardened with age, but it’s as repulsive as it is in my nightmares.