Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Suspicion leaks into my confidence, turning it sour along with my stomach. I do my best to play it off—it’s second nature by now. “What kind of rumors?”
“The kind where the guy who was supposed to inherit your biological mom’s ranch went missing right after you announced you were her heir.”
It’s so fucking obvious.
How did I not already hear this? Oh right. I’ve been focused on Allie.
I thought I had everything planned out. Like I was looking at this from all angles, anticipating every move, and staying a few steps ahead. The sound of faint laughter on the chill breeze makes my shoulders lift. Where is it coming from?
It’s coming from inside my head. It’s Roman fucking laughing at me, taking pleasure in this. He always did think I was less than nothing, completely worthless. He’d have a great time with this, watching my plans fall to pieces.
“Did you do it?” There’s no judgment in Calder’s question, not exactly, though that doesn’t make it any easier to hear. “Tell us.”
“We can’t help you if you don’t tell the truth,” Sawyer adds.
“And if I said yes?”
The three of them wince at the same time. “I would say you made a pretty powerful enemy,” Calder murmurs. The tightness in his jaw tells a different story from his calm, measured response. He’s imagining ripping my head off and shitting down my throat. At least.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t touch him. That’s the truth,” I add when all I get are skeptical stares.
“So what did happen?” Sawyer asks.
“How would I know? He could’ve wrecked his car somewhere. Maybe he flashed his money around the wrong place and wound up in a ditch. I couldn’t say.” I need to stop answering questions. I don’t want to bring them into this. It’s bad enough I’m involved. “All I know is, somebody tried to run Allie Porter off the road last night and could’ve killed her, and for what? Because some rich rancher in Utah paid them to intimidate her? It’s bullshit, and you all know it.”
Levi squints and tips his head to the side. “So what is your part in this, then?”
“Am I in fucking court?” This is too fucking much. Trying to keep up with their questions while protecting Allie—I can’t keep it straight.
Maybe I shouldn’t bother trying. We’re stronger together. Here I am, pulling them into something without giving them the full story. It makes our position weaker.
I know what I need to do. I only hope she’ll forgive me when she finds out.
Dropping my attitude, I shrug, arms stretched to the sides. “This means a lot to me, personally. I need to know I can trust the three of you.”
“Here we fucking go.” Calder folds his arms. “Finally, we’ll get the truth.”
“Only I need to know it goes no further than here and now. I’m serious. I will tell you what happened, but I need your word.”
Slowly, they nod in turn.
“It was Allie. I went to the house looking for her after we had our little talk.” I glance at Calder, who scowls. “When I got there, I heard her screaming. The door was unlocked. I ran in, and I found her sitting in a pool of blood on the floor with her fiancé’s body on top of her. He was already gone.”
Levi blinks hard. “What are you saying? Did he have, like, a heart attack or something?”
“She said he tried to rape her. There were bruises on her neck—she’s been covering them with scarves and makeup. She swears she doesn’t remember, but she must have hit him with a lamp that fell on the floor. Caved the side of his head in.”
“Jesus,” Sawyer whispers.
“I made a judgment call, and I cleaned it up.”
“Fucking hell,” Calder grits out. “That wasn’t your problem to clean up.”
“Were you planning to use this as leverage against Emma?” Levi asks.
I’m surprised he’s the one who cut to the heart of it so quickly. It would be simple if I could say no. I wish I could. I wish it more than almost anything. “At first. I’m not proud, but that was my knee-jerk response. It’s not anymore.”
“I don’t need to hear anything else about it.” Calder stares at me like he’s trying to see inside my head. “The less we know, the better, so long as this doesn’t blow back on the family.”
“I don’t see how it could.”
“He says this after leading a pair of hired men to our land,” Sawyer mutters. “Dammit, we don’t need this.”
“Then step away from it,” I tell him with a shrug. I should’ve known all I would get is a superior attitude, the way I always have. “Once again, Kade Bishop fucked up. You can wash your hands of me, pretend we never had this conversation, and walk away. I’ll handle this on my own if necessary.”