I blink at him, then glance toward the oven clock. It flashes uselessly from the reset. The battery-operated wall clock ticks reliably above the pantry. Midnight.
Shit, I was out for nearly four hours.
My stomach growls, a traitorous groan that draws Scott’s attention.
“When’s the last time you ate?”
His voice is stern again. There’s something about it, an edge I can’t quite name that my pussy has taken a liking to. I try to brush it off, because,what the fuck, Ava? This is Scott, your dad’s oldest friend. The man who’s been around since before you were born. But even the internal scolding isn’t working.
“On my way up. I hit a drive-thru in Bryton.”
He mutters something under his breath, voice too low tocatch, but I know a reprimand by tone alone. A water bottle clunks on the kitchen counter in front of me. His gaze roots me in place. It doesn’t move until it’s lifted to my lips and I drain half its contents.
I hate water, always have. It’s bland and brings me absolutely zero joy to consume. So, I typically don’t. But I get the feeling that if I refuse to drink this, he’ll see it as some personal betrayal.
I sit down on one of the stools we tuck beneath the counter and watch him stalk through the kitchen, flinging open cabinets as if they’ve personally offended him.
With all his theatrics filling the small space and providing a distraction, the unsettled feeling from before lifts.
“This is all garbage,” he grumbles. “You brought nothing but sugar and empty carbs.”
“That’s what I was assigned, okay?” I shoot back, annoyed. “Not my fault that the rest of the food never showed up.”
He lets out a huff, leaning into the fridge door again, looking deep into the nearly empty vessel, before slamming it shut. “Man, to be twenty again and live off candy and caffeine with no consequences.”
That grin should be illegal. It’s too playful, too easy. Something I’ve never seen from him. He was always so rigid and boring before.
It feels entirely out of place for a night like this.
“I guess it’s a good thing I brought some stuff with a little more substance. Hopefully, your dad doesn’t mind giving up his half. Give me a sec. I’ve got a cooler in the Jeep,” he says, already turning toward the front door.
I watch him go, like a lovesick schoolgirl. He moves with the confidence of someone who owns the world. Those longstrides make his dark jeans stretch over solid thighs, and his broad shoulders fill every inch of space.
Something in me coils again. I need to knock it away like an incessant gnat buzzing about. This isn’t the man I’ve known since childhood. That man used to answer emails during dinner and wear designer shoes to weekend barbecues. This one… this one looks like he’d dig a grave for me with his bare hands if he had to and make sure no one ever found it.
And somehow, that thought doesn’t scare me as much as it should.
It terrifies me in all the wrong ways.
FOUR
SCOTT
This is the last damn situation I want to be in. Tucked away in a secluded cabin, alone, with my best friend’s daughter. Who doesn’t look anything like the girl I used to know.
It’s been a few years since I’ve been able to get away with the Gallows, and now I’m wishing I’d have added a few more to that calendar.
She’s a woman now. Full-grown, stunning, and utterly unaware of what she’s doing to me. My body clocked her the second she lifted that fire poker in my direction, eyes wide and lip trembling. That split-second adrenaline rush of rage, fear, and unyielding power, it hit me somewhere it shouldn’t.
Now, every time those amber eyes meet mine, twisted images play out in my head. Indecent ones I don’t want, but can’t stop. I’m too old for this shit. Too old to be having graphic fantasies like these about the daughter of the man who’s trusted me since college.
I brace both hands on the snow-covered hood of my Jeep and breathe deep, the frigid air burning my lungs. I’m hopingthe cold shocks the wrongness out of me and leaves it out here in the wild.
I should’ve canceled. The roads alone were enough of a reason. But I made a promise to Stephen that I’d be here for him when he told the family the big announcement. Except there is no family here, just me and Ava.
I exhale, feeling the condensation cling to the beard I’ve grown since quitting the firm. The last time I saw her, I was clean-shaven, slick, and well-suited. Maybe that’s why she swung at me. She didn’t recognize this unkept version, who looks like he’s never seen the sharp end of a razor. Hell, I barely recognize myself these days. Out of the city, out of the game of deals and one overs, I stopped pretending to enjoy polished shoes and morning meetings months ago.
Lifting the small haul of groceries higher in my hold, I crunch back through the snow to the cabin. The light glows warmly through the frosted windows. A soft yellow against the bright white carpeting as far as the eye can see. A Christmas song crackles from behind the closed door, faint and distorted like something from a dream.
