Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Well, not my chest exactly, but the arms I had crossed over my chest. It was just a natural part of my stance, but to him, I supposed it did look somewhat combative and intimidating.
If he only knew what it would take these days to send me to my knees quaking in fear…
“Sorry,” I murmured. “You shouldn’t let him leave. He’s in trouble.”
Surprisingly, Nolan seemed to know exactly who I was talking about. “Did he tell you that?”
“Didn’t need to,” I said. I wasn’t really interested in explaining my instincts when it came to Isaac and his cute little brother, because I couldn’t even make sense of them myself. So I decided to take advantage of the few moments of privacy I had with my brother’s boyfriend. I didn’t know why it mattered so much that I say anything, but it did.
“Dallas gave up believing our parents would change, but I guess I never did. That’s why I didn’t even think to question our father when he said Dallas was driving. Dallas never even denied it.”
I was coming to acknowledge that I’d made a terrible mistake in trusting my father. But that meant accepting my own father had not only lied to me, he’d betrayed his own flesh and blood in the process. And I’d somehow made things even worse for Dallas because his earlier reaction of shock and hurt couldn’t have been faked. He’d clearly been stunned to learn our father had told me Dallas had been the one drinking and he’d insisted on driving, despite both our parents trying to stop him.
Which meant one of my parents had been driving that car…
I couldn’t even process that yet, so I focused on Nolan, who was watching me curiously. “I didn’t think our father was capable of a betrayal like that. But I guess I never thought I was capable of saying what I said to my own brother.” I felt bile rise in my throat as I thought about all the times I’d practically ordered my lawyer to make sure Dallas didn’t get even one cent of his inheritance from our parents’ estate. “I didn’t mean it, but it doesn’t matter. I said it and I let the shame of what I did afterward keep me from telling him how wrong it was.”
“You tried to keep him from getting his half of the inheritance. You let him face this vindictive town by himself for years. The one person he should have been able to count on and you weren’t there.”
Nolan’s words cut into me like glass, but I deserved them. And I was glad he didn’t pull his punches. My brother had chosen himself a valiant protector in the small-framed violinist.
“Yes,” I agreed, because what else could I say? I’d done everything Nolan had accused me of. And that didn’t even include all the internal things I’d had to do to cut Dallas out of my life. Shame curled through me as I turned to go. But my limbs seemed to stop of their own accord. I kept my eyes down–a move wholly unusual for someone like me–and said, “Will you tell him something for me?”
I didn’t expect an answer because I didn’t deserve one, so I continued with, “Tell him… tell him I have his back.”
And with that, I left the house and hurried across the property. It was pitch-dark outside and cold as fuck, but those things made it a little easier to catch my breath and calm my raging nerves. I pulled out my phone as I cut across the property to begin the walk home. I found the number I wanted and dialed.
“Alex, it’s me, Maddox,” I said.
“Hey, Maddox, when did you get back into town?” my friend said. Alex Miller was someone I’d gone to school with. He also happened to be Sheriff Tulley’s deputy.
I didn’t answer him. Instead I said, “I need a favor.”
“Sure, what do you need?”
I pulled in a deep breath and said, “Can you get me the pictures from the accident, specifically of the car?”
Alex hesitated for a beat, then said, “Um, sure.” There was a hint of something in his voice, but I didn’t have the energy to decipher it.
“I need it tonight,” I said. “And I need to talk to you about something else. Can you meet me at my house?”
“Uh… yeah, your house as in—”
“Raven’s Wing,” I cut in. God, I just hated that name. Leave it to my parents to not only build a completely out of place Victorian-era mansion on a bluff overlooking the small town of Pelican Bay, they had to go and give it a name that sounded like it belonged in an Edgar Allan Poe tale. “I’ll be there by nine,” I said as I glanced at the clock on the phone. “Will that be too late for you?”