“I’m selfish?”
“Yes! You had Kincaid. You had everything. And you gave it all up—him, your family—just so you could go back to Dean. How could you do that to us?”
Her eyes are glassy but cold. A strange mix of emotions. A storm on the verge of breaking.
“I love him.”
“Love.” She laughs. “Of course. Because that’s what matters in all this. He’s a biker. A felon. God, if it had just been him in the cabin like it was supposed to be, this would all be over—”
“What did you just say about the cabin?”
Her gaze drifts behind me like she’s remembering it, and I think back to that night.
Bits and pieces have returned, but it’s mostly hazy. The cabin was dark when I got there.
Moonlight and shadows.
The floor creaked.
The porch groaned.
But the figure shrouded in darkness was small. I thought it was a trick of the light. Or that I was seeing things wrong. But I saw correctly. The figure was female.
“You’re the one who shot me.” My eyes widen.
“It wasn’t supposed to be you. I thought you were still with Dad.” The first crack of emotion breaks in her voice.
“If it wasn’t supposed to be me—” My eyes widen. “You wanted to kill Dean.”
“He’s the problem, Willa. With him in the way, you can’t see it, but we can fix things.”
I’m shaking my head as she circles the bed, walking over to me.
“He wants to destroy our family. Everything we’ve worked for. You can’t let him do this.”
She pulls a gun from her purse, and I scoot back on the bed so fast I must pop a stitch because pain lances through me.
“It’s all a mess, but we can fix it. He taught us we can fix everything. We can—” Eden holds the gun up, not pointing it at me but waving it around. Tears fall from her eyes, and she’s no longer making sense. Her eyes are wild. Disconnected. Like something inside her snapped, and I don’t know if it can be put back together.
“Eden, don’t do this. Please,” I plead with her. “You’re my sister.”
“You’re right, I am your sister. And you turned on me for him. Can’t you see he’s coming between us?”
“Dean didn’t do anything. Dad did.”
“Dad loves us.”
“No.” I shake my head. “He doesn’t. Dad only loves himself.”
“I just—” A sob rips free from her throat. “I just tried to keep it together. It’s all falling apart.”
“I know.” I reach for her hand, but she backs up. “I’m sorry.”
I truly am. While I’ve been angry, resenting my father for how he’s manipulated me over the years, I was too distracted to see what it was doing to my sister. They set her on this pedestal. Held her to perfection. And now, when it’s all falling apart, she can’t handle it.
“I never wanted this. Let’s just talk. We can sort this out. I won’t tell anyone what you did. I promise.”
“I tried to kill him.” Her voice cracks. “Iwantedto kill him.”
