Valley of Fire (Valley of the Moon Book 2)

by Bronwyn Archer

  “Caleb. You couldn’t be worse, trust me.”

  “I’ll be a lot better,” he said softly. “I won’t ever hurt you. You know that, right?”

  I nodded. Until you break up with me, that is. I pushed the negative thought away. No more of that, I decided.

  “Well?”

  What do you even say when your real life starts to exceed your wildest dreams?

  “I think you’re crazy. But . . . I accept.” I ran my hand down his arm. His skin was still warm from sleep. When my fingers touched his palm, his hand closed around mine. “And we don’t tell anyone, right?” I asked. “I mean, how will it work? You know, the whole cousin thing.”

  “Let me worry about that.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to the warm skin below his ear. He groaned and we kissed and rolled around for a minute when his phone buzzed on the side table next to the bed.

  “Shit, hang on.” He glanced at the phone. “Back to reality. Gotta go.” He scrambled out of bed and headed into the bathroom. I followed him. He stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

  “I think I’ll go see my dad today. I need to tell him the good news about Victor.” Through the frosted glass I could just see the outline of his gorgeous body. I already missed it. I leaned against the sink countertop and casually watched.

  You know, like girlfriends do.

  “Of course, I’ll need to take a cab.”

  “What exactly do you plan on wearing?” he asked. “Because I’m fresh out of hotel robes.”

  “Good point. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

  “There’s a shop across the street, you can probably find something to wear for today. Oh—you can drive your Ferrari! It got delivered yesterday. It’s parked outside—new tires and all. Keys are on the hook by the front door.”

  “What! That is awesome, thank you!”

  “There’s more: Bannister FedExed paperwork for you to sign to my office. I’ll bring it back here tonight.”

  “Ugh, more paperwork?”

  “Being an heiress is hard work, I know. It’s your father’s final divorce agreement, your official new will, and your trust and estate plan. Once you sign and send them back, no one else can make a claim if something happens to you.”

  “So Ramona will stop trying to kill me.”

  “She’s not very good at it, is she? A bunch of Russians are dead or in jail, yet here you are.”

  “True.”

  “You sure you don’t want to press charges against her? You’ve got plenty of evidence by now to get her in real trouble.”

  In the steamy bathroom mirror, my cheeks were flushed and my lips looked fuller. The after effects of a night with Alexander. I ran my fingers through my matted hair and smoothed it down. “Not yet. As bad as Ramona sucks as a mother, I don’t want Eden to have to visit her in prison.”

  He sighed. “Lana.”

  “I can’t, okay? Forget it. So when will I see you?”

  “Meet me here later—I’ll be back around six. We'll go out to dinner and celebrate your epic victory over the local Russian mafia don.”

  “And then?” He stopped rinsing his hair and peeked out the glass shower door. He had a silly grin on his face.

  “And then your big beautiful future begins.” A thrill reverberated through me. “We’ll start with a few more girlfriend lessons. But I have to say, you’re learning fast.” I filled a cup of cold water and dumped it into the shower, where it landed on his head. He yelped and I ran out of the bathroom, laughing.

  #

  I pressed the gas pedal and the Ferrari sped up Chauvet Road like it knew the way. My heart rocketed in my chest. I hadn’t been home since I’d fled weeks before, on the morning of my graduation.

  On my eighteenth birthday.

  It felt like it was a billion years ago. The Maranello’s new tires crunched over the gravel and the car bounced up our driveway. My mission was to calm my dad down after our short frantic phone call that morning, explain what happened with Victor without revealing too much, prove that I was not maimed or dismembered, and then get back to Alexander as fast as I could.

  At dinner I was finally going to tell him how I felt. That I was in love with him. That I was his.

  I gasped when I saw my little house. The roof was completely gone and the surviving walls were charred. One had collapsed. The brick chimney jutted up into the sky and the insides were black and gutted. Was that all that was left of our entire lives?

  There were two other cars in the driveway. I recognized Cesar’s restored black Mustang and figured the other one must be my dad’s. An older Honda Civic. I shook my head thinking how it much it must have been killing him to drive it. I made a note to myself to buy him a new car. I knew he’d refuse my money, but he wouldn’t be able to refuse a gift from his daughter.

  I parked and walked over to my mother’s rose garden. Her pristine lavender rose bushes were shriveled and brown and a thick layer of gray ash covered the soil. I trudged up the long drive that hugged the house and disappeared around a bend under the trees. The converted barn’s doors were thrown wide open and I heard hammering and a radio playing inside. I heard my dad’s voice and my heart leapt up into my throat. I hadn’t seen him in weeks, but it felt like years.

  I didn’t want him to know exactly what had happened. How close I’d been the last few weeks to getting killed—or worse. Another stress-induced heart attack and then I’d officially be an orphan. I needed my father to live.

  “Dad? It’s me!” I called.

  “Lana!”

  I started running towards the barn. I heard footsteps and then he was in front of me and we were hugging and crying. When we finally calmed down and looked around, wiping our eye and laughing, I saw Cesar standing behind him and I hugged him. “Great to see you in one piece, Lana. Maya can’t wait to see you.”

  My dad looked me over. “Except for that haircut. My God, Lana, did Victor Savitch make you do that on his boat? Or did you join a cult?”

  I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “Short hair is trendy, Dad.” He raised his eyebrows. He looked like he’d lost weight, and there was more silver in his hair.

  Heart attacks will do that to you.

  “Guess it’ll grow.” He squinted and blew out a big breath. “That Victor—I should have killed him when I had the chance. When I think about you on his boat, because of me—” He wrapped me in another tight hug and whispered, “Can you ever forgive me, honey?”

  My throat tight, I squeaked, “I know, Dad. It’s not your fault. Everything you did, you did for me. And it worked out okay.” I gently pushed him away and put a hand on his cheek. “Look at me! I’m fine. I’m alive. I’m healthy. And we are very, very, extremely rich. So relax and cheer up! We have literally nothing to worry about ever again.”

  His jaw dropped and he stared at me. “Well, when you put it like that.”

  It was true. The days of worrying and stressing about money, bills, tuition, scholarships, business loans—were over, once and for all. For the first time, I realized how incredibly liberating my new status as a millionaire was going to be. A shot of adrenaline raced through my veins.

  I wanted to share the feeling with Alexander. If not for him, none of it would have been possible. And there was no one else I could talk to about it. No one else would understand what I’d gone through.

  As if he could read my mind, my dad said, “Where’s Alexander? Thought he’d be with you.”

  “He had to work.”

  He shook his head and his voice cracked as he spoke. “I’ll never be able to thank that boy for what he did. Do you know he hired a security guard to stay with me at his place? An ex-special ops guy. Lana, I hope you were nice to that boy on your trip, because he’s the man.”

  My cheeks pinked up and I avoided looking at Cesar. “Yes, Dad. I was.”

  My dad peered at me. “But not too nice.” My cheeks flamed red and I rolled my eyes. Cesar roared with l
aughter. They gave me a tour of all the work they were doing in the barn. They’d converted the garage to a loft apartment, with a small kitchen, an office with a computer set up, and a basic bathroom. He’d even built out a small guest room for me to stay in. I didn’t want to tell him I’d probably be staying in the city . . . with my new boyfriend. I’d save that bit of info for another moment.

  I noticed a newly built wall dividing the barn in half.

  “What’s on the other side of the wall?” I asked.

  My dad chuckled. “Well, why don’t you go see?” He pointed to a regular sized security door in the wall. I pushed the heavy door open and stepped into a brightly lit car garage, and they all followed me. Five gorgeous vintage cars were in various states of repair.

  “You’re starting work again?”

  “Cesar made some great finds recently, so we thought we’d get a new shop going. It’s all we know how to do.”

  “Yup,” said Cesar. I almost leapt for joy. I’d expected to find a broken man, his career destroyed, but he seemed jubilant. Without a killer debt hanging around his neck, he was a new man.

  “I want to be an early investor in your new shop. You know, with my inheritance. It’s actually mom’s money, so she’d want you to have it.”

  “Okay, honey. We’ll talk about it later. Now please go check out that red Corvette.”

  I narrowed my eyes. There was someone sitting in the Corvette.

  Maya jumped out of the car and ran to me screaming. “Surprise!” I thought I would pass out as she squeezed me. “Lana, oh my God! We have soooooo much to discuss.” She backed away and looked at me, beaming. “Wow, your hair. I like it. And your outfit . . . nice.”

  The shop near Alexander’s apartment had been a super high-end boutique, complete with a snobby saleswoman who’d given me the stink eye when I’d shown up in a baggy pair of shorts and a sweatshirt I’d borrowed from Alexander. They’d reluctantly allowed me to try on a pair of slim, high-waisted black jeans and a snug t-shirt that cost as much as the jeans did. I couldn’t resist the soft black leather jacket I’d found. Maybe I wouldn’t lose or destroy it, like I’d done to all the others I’d acquired on the road.

  Maya noticed my shoes and her eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t even know Prada made sneakers.”

  “The better to run from the bad guys in," I said.

  #

  “Alexander is just super hot. It’s such a shame he’s your cousin, cause . . . oh man. How did you even sit in a car with him for so long without dying?”

  We were exploring my burned-out house together. I bent down to pick something from the charred floor to hide my burning cheeks. “Maya, come on.” I spotted what looked like a piece of melted jewelry, but it was just a fork that had been reduced to a bent and twisted hunk of metal. “It turns out he’s not my cousin. I mean he is, but we’re not related by blood. His father, who’s my third cousin or something, is his step-dad.” I tossed the melted fork into the front yard, which was easy since there were no walls.

  Her eyes widened. “You guys are step cousins?” I nodded. “Not biological cousins?” I nodded again. She fist-pumped the air. “Please tell me you guys hooked up . . . did you?”

  My three-second delay in answering her was all the answer she needed. “Holy shit, I KNEW IT! Driving cross country together, spending all that time together—he totally fell in love with you!”

  “More like, the opposite.” I stared at my charred bed. There was nothing left in the room but black bits of furniture. “I need to have this house torn down. So depressing.”

  She frowned. “Why did they burn it, Lana?”

  I sighed. “Same reason they chased me across the country. Let’s get out of here. There’s nothing left.” I jumped down onto the driveway and she followed me. I was brushing dust and ash off my jeans when Maya grabbed my hands and stopped me. “There’s one more thing I need to know.”

  “What?”

  She cleared her throat. “Caleb told me and Evan you hate him for something you think he did, but he swears he didn’t. He won’t tell us what he’s talking about” She raised her eyebrows. “Do you know what he means?”

  “You’re trying to help clear his name? Just because Evan’s his cousin, he doesn’t get a pass for what he did.”

  She looked confused. “I don’t even know what this is about! Can you please just TELL me what happened already?”

  I kicked the outside foundation of the house. The toe of my sneaker broke through the damaged wood beams. “Caleb put something in my drink at Cressida’s party after the formal. I blacked out, and when I woke up, I was naked. And bleeding. And there was other evidence, too. Used evidence.”

  She clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Ewwwww!”

  I took a steadying breath. “I know Evan’s your boyfriend, but his cousin is going to jail.”

  Her eyebrows shot up to the top of her forehead, where they stayed. “Have you already gone to the police?” I pursed my lips and brushed some dark soot off my arms.

  “There’s no proof. It’s my word against his. But I have to try.”

  She wrapped me in a tight hug. Her voice cracked. “I’m glad you told me. I’m your friend first, Lana. We’re going to figure it out,” she said in a deadly serious voice. “But I need to know if you’re a hundred percent sure it was Caleb.”

  I blinked, my shoulders suddenly tight. “So you don’t believe me? He was the only one who knew where I was that night!” I flashed back to that terrible party. The girl in the yellow dress passed out, wasted, on the couch. Brett, Trevor’s friend, pouring us drinks at the small bar. Brett made me a drink and called it a ‘Lana.’

  Technically Caleb wasn’t the only one who knew I was in the pool house guest room that night. I shook my head to clear the doubts. “It was him! And if it wasn’t, he’s still a dirt bag because he had sex with Cressida that same night! I saw them together.”

  Maya shuddered and looked at me sheepishly. “But . . . that makes him just a dirt bag, not a rapist, right? I believe you, Lana, I believe you! But I just . . . think you should talk to him.”

  “Nope.” I chewed the inside of my cheek. I didn’t want to discuss it anymore. Of course it was Caleb—he’d been on top of me and pulling off my clothes as I lost consciousness. There was no one else.

  Was there?

  “Let’s talk about it later,” I snapped. She bit her lip and checked her phone. “Evan’s here. I have to go. We’re going to a birthday party.” I waited for an invitation but she just gave me a sad smile and hugged me. “I love you, Lana. I’m so sorry about everything. We’ll talk more later.”

  Right on cue, Evan Weaver, Maya’s boyfriend, pulled up the driveway and parked his black BMW 5 series next to my Ferrari. He spotted Maya and waved. He saw me and his smile tightened. He got out and walked towards us.

  “Hey babe!” Maya called out to him. He was like a taller, lankier version of Caleb—and looked exactly like the Cal Bears basketball player he was. I shifted awkwardly on one foot. “Evan, you remember my best friend, Lana.” He nodded.

  “How’s it going, Lana?” I shrugged. Did he really care how I was doing? He checked out my car. “Is that . . . a Ferrari?”

  “It was my graduation present.”

  Evan raised both eyebrows. “Pretty fancy for an eighteen-year-old. But then, you’re like the richest eighteen-year-old in American now, huh?” His mouth cracked into a wry smile. Was I?

  Before I could answer, Maya was pushing Evan towards his car. “I told you not to mention that. Let’s go, we’re late.”

  Before they drove away, she held a white Nordstrom shopping bag out the window.

  “I almost forgot! Eden wanted me to give this to you. She said she found it in a box of your old stuff while she was packing.”

  I took the bag. “Is she doing okay?”

  Maya’s face brightened. “Oh yeah. She was thrilled to move to her dad’s house in Malibu. He got full custody, you know.
” She whispered the next sentence. “Her mom didn’t even show up for the hearing.”

  I shrugged. “Good. Maybe she’ll have a chance.” I was relieved. She’d have a better life.

  Ramona Crawford ruined everything—and everyone.

  Chapter 26

  Palus Somni ~ Marsh of Sleep

  I hugged my dad goodbye in front of the blackened husk of my old house. “You know you can stay here,” he said, wiping a tear. “I just miss you, sweetheart. I was looking forward to having you home until you leave for school.”

  Home. Where was my home? Everything had changed. I had the money to buy any house in Sonoma. And . . . school? I was supposed to leave for college in six weeks. How could I even think about that?

  “Thanks, Dad. I left my stuff at Alexander’s, so I think I’ll just stay there for now. He, ah, has a nice guest room, as you know.” He nodded. The poor guy—what would he do when he found out that cousin Alexander had turned into boyfriend Alexander.

  Even I couldn’t really believe it.

  I slid into my Ferrari and started the engine. According to the map app on my phone, it was going to take me just over two hours to get back to his apartment. My nerves shivered in anticipation. A dinner out to celebrate. And then . . . the possibilities made my stomach muscles tighten up in a good way. The fear and tears and violence and loneliness—it was all behind me.

  Nothing else stood between me and my happy future.

  At the light at the bottom of the hill, I braked a little too hard and the Nordstrom bag from Eden toppled over. Something fell out and landed on the floor of the car.

  I blinked, stunned.

  It was the stuffed teddy bear from my childhood. The little brown bear that had sat untouched and unloved in my room at the Crawford’s. We’d had that in common. I’d last seen it the night of Cressida’s party. When I’d woken up, broken and bloody, it had been staring at me through the metal slats of the bed frame.