“Yes, I know exactly what you’re thinking,” he says. “And you’re right. Skyla cannot know, not yet, not like this. We must have a plan in place for that moment—if and when she finds out.”
“Two different plans, Gage. We’re on different sides of the battle line. Don’t forget it.”
“No, we’re not.” His voice hikes a notch as the rain begins to drive hard around us. “We’re still on the same side, Wesley. Whether you like it or not, I’m dragging you across the finish line with me. I’m securing your eternal standing just the way I am mine. You are a corpse tied to my back because you choose to be. But you will share the spoils of my victory just the same.”
“I have to go.” I begin to stagger off, and he pulls me back by the elbow.
“Cooper”—he squeezes his eyes shut, and there’s a distinct look of remorse on his face—“months ago he blackmailed me. He said if I didn’t give him an edge with Laken, he would tell Skyla the truth.” He gives a subtle nod, and suddenly everything that transpired in the last year makes perfect sense.
A dull laugh squanders in my chest.
“And that’s why he was your new best friend. That explains his presence at every function, at every juncture.” I tip my head back and let the rain slap me senseless. “Shit,” I growl it out like a roar. “Here I thought it was dumb luck, and yet Coop was playing a superior game all along.” I shoot a sharp look to Gage. “Some brother you turned out to be. You cost me everything.”
He shakes his head. “I have no doubt you will pay me back in spades.”
“You got that right.” I take off like a bat in flight.
Cooper Flanders, I don’t give a shit if you’re about to do your best to bring another life into this world. I do not care what you are up to at the moment.
We’re going to have another little chat.
* * *
The first thing I do when I jump into my truck is shoot Coop a quick text. Turns out, he’s not home pumping my wife with his super sperm. He’s at the lab with Ezrina.
I waste no time heading out that way.
Now that I’ve cut ties with the Barricade, Ezrina, Nev, and Logan are far more accepting of me. So when I show up at Whitehorse and barge in as if I own the place, it won’t be one bit suspicious to them.
I’m glad about it, too. The truth is, I miss working side by side with Ezrina. She’s the freaking genius, not me. I’m not even close. But I was close to the serum. And she’s damn close to the serum. Together we should be able to knock this out, easy as scarfing down a bag of potato chips.
Celestra will be back on top in five minutes.
My brother will eat shit and die. Literally.
Laken will look into my eyes and I will feel her light again. There is only life in Laken’s eyes for me. I bloom under the warmth of her love like a flower in the spring. I am hers completely. And to think Coop feels the same—well, it’s damn unfortunate, for him—hell, at the moment for me.
Whitehorse is the stately mini-mansion that Logan built for Skyla out of the piddly money he had left in the world, out of his bionic love for Skyla.
Skyla is Logan’s Laken. Hell, she’s Gage’s Laken, too.
I pause for a moment and glance to the sky as a morbid curiosity pulses through me. Why so many mirror images in our lives? Why must I look like Gage—and I don’t believe for a minute just because I’m older that he looks likeme. Why must Coop look like Logan? Why must both Skyla and Laken require the undying devotion of two men who believe with every fiber of their being that they are their true soulmates, the one true love of their lives?
I stagger my way to the porch, but before I storm in like I thought I would, I turn and look to the bruised purple sky. A feeling overcomes me, and I don’t like it. Am I being played? Is this all some cosmic joke, some predetermined destiny that I’m stepping into—walking a path that was outlined by some unknowable being—although, I’d bet all the money in my bank account that being is very knowable. In fact, I’ve met her many regrettable times.
Could Candace have hatched some big scheme? Laid out my heart like a game piece? What does that make me? An actor in some prehistoric script? A puppet? A piece to the puzzle? A pawn in someone else’s game?
I shake my head at the thought. No. Regardless of it all, my heart, my feelings for Laken are real. And if it’s true, that Candace chose Laken for me to war over, to desire more than my next breath, then I am eternally grateful to her. She chose wisely. I am forever in her debt. It is a privilege, and an honor, to feel so inescapably in love with Laken. I wouldn’t trade what I feel for her, not for fame, not for fortune, not for any Faction, not for a win in some war that my ego may or may not be invested in. Candace Messenger is wise beyond comprehension for allowing me into Laken’s life on such an intimate level.
But why Coop? Why Gage and Logan? Why the emotional sparring? Is it because Candace Messenger is a bitter bitch who doesn’t believe in happily ever after?
Maybe. And if that’s the case, I’d like to know who burned her so badly that she’s taking it out on the rest of us.
A pair of headlights pulls up, and I turn to see Demetri evicting himself from that Rolls Royce Phantom he likes to cruise around the island in.
“Son.” His eyes light up with certain mischief once he spots me. “Paying a visit?”
“I’m here to see Coop.”
