by Lacey Heart
“You don’t know, do you?” Ryder’s face loses all color and he looks like he’s just seen a ghost.
“Know what?” A huge ball of nervous energy drops into my stomach and before he says another word, I already know I’m not gonna like it.
“Wow. I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” he pauses for a moment before taking a long pull on his beer, and then finally clears his throat. “Your mom and dad haven’t separated, Colby. They’re dead.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
WILLOW
“I don’t give a damn who you are. I’m telling you to take your whore-ass out of my house.”
Hadley’s voice takes over my ears as I open the front door and my initial thought is to panic. What the fuck is Seb doing now, but then I quickly realize she wouldn’t be calling Seb a whore-ass. Not unless she’s finally found out about his cheating ways.
As I cautiously continue to step closer to the living area my heart starts to race in my chest at the mention of a familiar name.
“Colby told me you were a firecracker, but the similarities between the two of you are crazy.”
“Colby?” Hadley questions as I walk through the doorway. “What the hell do you know about Colby?”
At that the girl laughs a sadistic laugh and Hadley scrunches her face up in distaste. “Honey, what don’t I know about him?”
The whore-ass, as Hadley so kindly put it, has her back to me, but I can still feel the smugness rolling off her in waves. I decide right here and now that I don’t like her. I couldn’t give a damn about not judging someone until they’ve had a fair trial—this smug bitch isn’t getting shit from me.
I clear my voice and say, “Is there a problem, here?” I finally ask, coming to my best friend’s defense. Whore-ass spins around so fast to face me I’m surprised she doesn’t fall over in her designer clad heels before giving me a leisurely roam up and down with her eyes.
“That all depends. Do you have a problem?”
What a bitch. She’s confident, I’ll give her that. Confident, and smug, and I’ve only just realized I’d completely forgotten to give Hadley the heads up that Colby was back.
“Look, I don’t know who you are, and trust me, I really don’t care, but I’d love to know why you’re in our house.” I try my best to be polite, but I know I’m failing miserably.
“Don’t you mean Colby’s house?”
“Hold up.” Now it’s Hadley’s turn to speak and I have no idea which direction this conversation is going to take. “If you’re someone he’s knocked-up along the way then I’m sorry to tell you, he’s not here. Hasn’t been for five years, so how about you turn around and go try to find him elsewhere.”
The girl smiles a wicked smile and steps closer to Hadley. Oh god, please don’t let her be some psychotic bitch on the path of revenge. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.” She smiles some more, displaying a perfect set of fake white teeth, and then she gracefully takes a seat on the sofa. “And just so you know, I’m not someone Colby can fuck along the way.” She holds her hand out to Hadley, offering peace. “The name’s Tiffanie, and I’m Colby’s girlfriend.”
Girlfriend?
Is this chick for real. Does she even know Colby at all? Colby has a girlfriend. Jeez, those two words have never gone together and I never thought they would.
“Well, Tiffanie,” Hadley says, smiling right back at her. “I hate to break it to you, but Colby doesn’t do girlfriends, and if my brother was back in town then I’d like to think I’d be the first to know.” Hadley looks pissed and my heart sinks. Not only has she come home to find a stranger in her house, said stranger is claiming to know Colby’s whereabouts, and even though I don’t want to admit it out loud, I know this chick is right—about him being back home, at least. I’m still a little skeptical about this whole girlfriend business.
“Maybe he hasn’t had time to check in on you yet?” Tiffanie offers and for the first time since I walked in, she sounds genuine.
But this doesn’t go down too well with Hadley. Her nostrils flare and I can tell she’s trying so hard to stay calm. “Are you crazy? Of course he’d have time. Colby would find the time—for me.” Her voice cracks with defeat as she realizes Colby may be back. “He wouldn’t keep me in the dark—not again.”
“He is back.” I call out before I can stop myself, and Hadley snaps her head toward me. Her big brown eyes fix on mine and they glimmer with disbelief.
“Wait. You knew Colby was back and you didn’t think to drop me a message to let me know?”
“Had’s, it’s not like that.” I plead with her and I know she’s majorly pissed at me. I’m her best friend and I know how much she struggled when Colby left. I should have called her straight away, but my head wasn’t in the right place. “Seb turned up, totally out of the blue. He wouldn’t listen to me as usual and things got out of hand. The next thing I knew Colby was hurling him off me, and truthfully I was too shook up to stick around.”
It’s not a lie. Seb turning up did set me on edge, but it was the unexpected arrival of Colby which threw me well and truly off the cliff. Jeez, when I saw Colby all I wanted to do was get the hell out of here as fast as I could and not come back until he’d disappeared again. I was kind of hoping all traces of him would have vanished by the time Hadley arrived home, but obviously his whore-ass didn’t get the message.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
COLBY
I heard the words ‘they’re dead’ clear as day but my mind is refusing to process them.
Dead?
How the fuck can my mom and dad be dead? They were two of the healthiest people I knew and for them to both die at the same time is crazy. How the hell did they wind up in the ground, and more importantly why wasn’t I fucking told about it?
I need answers and I need them now. I don’t think as I push myself out of the booth, almost knocking my beer as I go.
“Colby, wait.”
I can hear Ryder saying something, but I don’t process it. His voice and everything around me sounds like white noise. I have one thing on my mind, and I won’t rest until it’s done. Adrenaline courses through me, spurring me on.
As I make my wat through the bar, I don’t see anything. Everything is hazed with a red hue as anger grows stronger. Everything except the door to the right of the bar.
I don’t bother knocking and when I shove the door open, I find Bryson at his desk, smoking a joint without a motherfucking care in the world.
He looks up to see who dares enter his office without knocking and his eyes grow wide with shock when he sees me, and that only intensifies my rage.
“Colby, my boy.” He slams his hand down on the desk and smiles at me, only I don’t return his excitement. If I hadn’t spoken to Ryder before coming in, this would have been a totally different story. “When did you get back?”
“Does it matter?” Venom laces my tongue and if he notices then he doesn’t make a deal of it.
“Well, a heads up would have been nice, at least. We could have sorted a welcome home party for you, or maybe got in one of our best girl’s early.”
“You think so, huh? One thing I’ve learned while being away is that not everything can be fixed by some titties and ass.”
“But it sure makes for a good distraction.” He laughs and I pull out the seat opposite him. I keep my eyes locked on his—the same eyes as my mother—while I spin the chair around and lower myself down, my chest flush against the back. I’ll need to keep something between us and right now this is the best I could come up with.
“How about I raise you, old man? Why didn’t you give me the heads up about mom and dad?”
Bryson drops his head into his hands and circles his temples with his fingers. What the fuck does he have to be stressed about? I’m the one who just found out my parents don’t fucking exist anymore and here he is massaging his motherfucking worries away.
“Colby…”
“Quit with the bullshit, Bry because I seriously don’t wa
nt to hear it.” I tell him, trying my damned hardest to keep the raw emotion out of my voice. “I’ve been back five fucking minutes and after a brief encounter with Ryder I’m suddenly finding out that my parents—both of them—are dead.” I slam my own hand down on the table and he jumps. “Now, what I want to know is, what the fuck happened and when. Also, why the fuck did no one tell me about it?”
Bryson shakes his head and he looks at me with sadness in his eyes. I don’t fucking want his pity. I don’t need it. “Colby, I thought you knew.” When he looks at me again, he looks destroyed. Like his whole world has just come crashing down around him.
“What, am I supposed to be psychic now? How the fuck would I know if you didn’t pick up the phone to tell me?” I ask, my patience growing thinner and thinner. “You were the only person who knew where I was, and why. Why didn’t you pick up the damn phone?”
“Watch your fucking mouth, boy.” He warns me, but it’s a bit late for him to start giving out his orders now. “I understand you’re upset, but don’t you dare storm in here and start telling me what I did or didn’t do. I fucking made that call, and you better believe it.”
“When?” I really hope he isn’t trying to cover his tracks and make out he did the right thing.
“As soon as I’d heard.” He barks and his brow furrows telling me that he’s also on the brink of no return with his temper. A family trait. Not that I care much for that right now. “Do you really think I’d sit back and keep you in the dark? What the fuck do you take me for? Alana might have been your mom, but she was also my sister, so don’t you go forgetting that, boy.”
He’s right. I know he is, but it does absolutely nothing to ease the heat of the fire bubbling deep within me, building and building, ready to come to blows at any given second. Fuck. If it’s true and he made the call, then why did no one tell me?
“What happened?” I finally ask after a few minutes of awkward silence, with the exception of my ragged breathing filling the room.
“Car crash.” No one can ever say that Bryson isn’t straight to the point. His voice is void of any emotion and for once in my life I’m at a total loss for words. “Two years ago. Halloween to be exact.” Bryson’s eyes wander off as if he’s reliving it for the first time, and my chest aches. “Your mom and dad were on their way back from some fancy event in the city. The weather was bad. It was crazy. Weather warnings had been put in place and people were told they shouldn’t travel unless absolutely necessary, but you know what your dad was like. No one could tell him what to do and if they did, he went ahead and did it anyway. He was as stubborn as they come, and they travelled anyway. Everything was fine up until a freightliner swerved at the intersection, tipping their car right over the edge of a drop.” He sighs once before and then his eyes find mine again. “Both Alana and Dustin died on impact.”
What the actual fuck. Is this supposed to be some kind of messed-up joke? Did Deano send me all the way back to Redlake so they could play some sick and twisted game? “Is this a joke?” I ask, refusing to believe what he’s just told me. “Because if it is, you’re all fucking twisted in the head.”
He laughs a sad laugh, and my gut knows he isn’t lying. Why would he? What would he possibly have to gain from making this up apart from landing six foot in the ground himself? “I wish I was, kid. Really, I do, but sadly it’s the truth.” He reaches down and opens the bottom drawer of his desk. The one I know contains his best liquor, and then a bottle appears in his hand.
“And Hadley?”
He shakes his head again and slides a glass full of amber liquid over to me. “That girl’s as tough as they come. She’s made of strong stuff, but I won’t lie, kid. It’s changed her.”
“Where was she?” Images of Hadley all alone flash across my mind. How could I have been so far away doing stupid fucking jobs for Deano when my sister was here all alone. Our whole family has been ripped apart and I was playing the role of someone’s puppet.
“She was at home. Your mom wanted to take her along, get her out of the house for a bit. She’d just split from some douche and your mom wanted to help take her mind off it. Fortunately, Hadley put up a fight and stayed home.”
Thank fuck for small mercies. It’s bad enough to hear I’ve lost both my mom and dad, but I wouldn’t have had anything left to live for if I’d have lost Hadley as well.
“I promise, son. I called Deano straight away. I was surprised when you didn’t show for the funeral, but Hadley and I assumed it was your own way of dealing with it.”
“Wait. You told Deano?” Why the hell didn’t that motherfucker tell me? He’s had plenty of opportunities over the years too.
“Sure did, kid.”
I pick up my glass and down it in one, and as the liquid burns my throat, I make a promise. Deano is going to pay. I don’t know how just yet, but as soon as I’m done in Redlake I’ll make him suffer. He’s going to be my number one target.
He knew my parents were dead and he didn’t think for a second that I’d need to know. Maybe he did, but he knew I would have been out of there and he would have had to find someone else to do his dirty work.
Maybe now’s the time I finally stood my ground with him. As far as I’m concerned, the deal is off. He can fight his own fucking battles from now on. I’m not going to be his puppet anymore.
I swear, on my parents graves he will be sorry he ever messed with me.
Consequences be damned.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WILLOW
My eyes flutter open and the darkness consumes me.
It’s still early, and my eyes are heavy with sleep, but something has disturbed me.
“It’s been a hell of a long time since I last saw you in my bed, princess.” Colby’s rustic voice penetrates my ears and filters into my mind, and I bolt up right in bed, my hand desperately reaching out for the switch on the nightstand. I hear him chuckle as I struggle and when I find it and turn the light on, I wish I hadn’t have bothered.
Colby’s cold, gray eyes lock onto mine and I can tell he’s slowly undressing me as they lazily roam up and down my body. I instantly pull the sheet up to my neck to protect my modestly as best I can from his heated gaze, but it doesn’t do much to help me.
I feel my cheeks heat with embarrassment, because we both know what’s hidden beneath these sheets. He’s seen me naked many times before—more than what I’d like to remember, but there’s also been some changes over the past five years. One’s I’m not proud of, but one’s I’ve been strong enough to overcome.
“Why are you here, Colby?” I ask before I can stop myself, but he doesn’t answer me, instead he watches me closely and a dangerous smirk dances on his full lips, warning me of the destruction he’s caused me and my fragile heart over the years. “It’s too early for your games, Colby.” I yawn, my voice is tired and weak, and I hope he’ll get the hint and leave me alone. But this is Colby, and I know he’s in no rush to leave. He’s made himself comfortable on the edge of the bed, and now it looks like he’ll be here for the foreseeable.
I don’t move as he leans in close to me, the smell of liquor heavy on his breath and I instantly freeze when his soft, warm lips tickle my neck as he whispers, “it’s never too early for my games, princess.” Butterflies flutter in my stomach as his lips press against my jaw until they fall on my lips. I breathe him in, relishing the feel of his hard body pressed against mine, the softness of his lips on mine before I bite down, hard.
“Ah.” Colby pulls back and his eyes burn into mine. “Still a grade A bitch, I see.” His words sting. I know they shouldn’t, but they do. It doesn’t matter how much I hate every fiber of his being; my heart still beats frantically for him—just like it always has. I guess I just need to be a hell of a lot smarter this time around. There’s no way I can allow him to destroy me again.
“Fuck off, Colby.” I’m please to see blood form on his lips and his eyes burn into mine as he licks it away. “I’m sure your desperate girlfriend is
waiting for you.”
I wish I’d never said the words as soon as they leave my mouth as Colby smiles and a soft laugh escapes him. “Jealous, princess?”
“Are you crazy?” Jealous? Jealous of someone like Tiffanie? No, I’m not jealous. I just don’t like sharing a house with strangers. Plus, she looks like a spoilt little rich bitch and I haven’t got time to waste on people like that.
“Crazy? I’ve been called worse. But I know you princess, and I also know we have unfinished business.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
COLBY
It feels crazy as hell being back home.
A home where my mom and dad no longer reside. I haven’t had a chance to speak to Hadley yet. The whole house was masked in darkness when I staggered into the house around four this morning, in a fully-fledged drunken stupor.
I’d walked straight into my room, not realizing the sight waiting for me. Willow, sprawled out half naked and fast asleep on my bed.
I didn’t even stop to wonder why she was there, but I knew it wouldn’t be for me. I fucked that up long ago, but I did it for a reason, and even though she hates me for it, it’s a reason I will always stand by and I will keep treating her this way—no matter how much it upsets her.
I know I should have turned around and left her, but the magnetic pull that’s always been there between us was still there, burning strong, intensified by the bucket load of liquor swimming in my body.
I’d wrongly assumed Willow would have moved out of Redlake by now. At least that was supposed to be the plan, but clearly something went wrong. I’d told Bryson to make sure he kept her on at Sinner’s so he could keep a close eye on her. I didn’t tell him why, I just told him what he needed to know. I needed Willow out of Redlake, but still close enough to watch.
