He growls, and then, to my utter horror, he punches the wall by my head, busting through the drywall, before he stomps away, and I hear the car door slam.
Holy fucking shit.
He’snever. . . What’s happening?
With a shaking hand, I push my hair behind my ear and then grab my purse and walk out to the car, where Aiden’s sitting in the back seat, fuming.
I guess he doesn’t want to sit next to me. That’s fine.
I don’t say a word as I shoot off a quick text to Ryker to let him know we’re on our way, start the engine, and pull out of the driveway. We’re just leaving town when Aiden demands, “Where the fuck are we going?”
“You’ll watch your mouth with me.” I hate the tremor in my voice. “You’ll see when we get there.”
“I don’t want to go to the freaking ranch.”
I don’t bother replying. I don’t want to fight with him, especially when I’m driving. It’s so early that the sun isn’t fully up yet. I wantedto have him out there by six because the ranch gets going early in the morning, but we’ll be late.
Aiden used to love the ranch when he was younger. He couldn’t get enough of it. Now, he never wants to go out there.
It’s a tense, quiet hour, and finally, I pull into the driveway and see that Ryker is standing on the porch, waiting for us. He’s in old, worn blue jeans, a T-shirt with a flannel over it because it’s cool this morning, and work boots.
“What the fuck,” Aiden grumbles, and I sigh out a breath. My hands still aren’t altogether steady after the altercation at home.
He’sneverdone that before.
And frankly, it hurt my feelings.
“Hey, Trouble,” Ryker says with a grin as he walks down the stairs, but then that smile falls when he sees my face. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head and wait for Aiden to join me.
“Say hello,” I say to my boy.
“’Sup,” Aiden says.
Ryker’s eyes fall to Aiden’s hand, which is swollen and bruised. A little bloody. And then he turns to me again and tips my chin up.
“What. The fuck. Happened?”
I swallow hard, caught in his gaze. “He wasn’t happy about going out this morning. Punched the wall.”
Ry’s eyes narrow. “Where?”
“By my head.”
The lethal rage that rolls through Ryker’s eyes has me stepping back a pace, and he turns to Aiden.
“Did she tell you that you’ll be working for me this summer?”
“No.” Aiden glances at me, then at the ground.
“Well, you are. I have one rule. Are you listening to me? I’ll only say this once.”
“Whatever.”
Ryker moves into Aiden’s space, crowding him until Aiden looks up into his eyes. Ry is at least three inches taller than the teenager and is certainly stronger.
Aiden swallows hard.
