“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” I wave a hand to the envelope on the table. “I came here to help you, and I did. But this doesn’t involve me. I’m leaving.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Dean—”
“Willa, look at me.” Dean grabs my arms, not hard but with enough force that my gaze finally snaps to his. And that’s when I finally accept that the sharpness in his tone isn’t anger. It’s fear.
“What’s wrong?” My throat tightens. I’m starting to come down from the adrenaline, and my head is pounding. “What are you not telling me?”
He loosens his grip and steps closer. His fingers tangle with the hair at the side of my head, tucking it behind my ears. Which is when I realize my ponytail is an absolute mess. But he doesn’t seem to mind as he trails his fingers through the dark strands.
Dean stands in front of me, his body telling a story of a man I used to know. Of a life he’s lived. Of all the things I’ve missed. They’re written in scars and callouses. In lines where his eyebrows furrow.
His eyes are dark in a way that extends beyond how deeply brown they are. Something greater that casts shadows on the hazel threads throughout them. If I thought the fire in them snuffed out after his mother died, I was wrong. They’re a furnace of emotions.
“You’re coming with me to the clubhouse.” He clears his throat, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“I already told you I’m not here on a mission for your brother. I’m not lying to you.”
“I believe you.”
“You do?” My eyebrows pinch. “But a moment ago—”
“The truck had Texas plates, Willa.” Dean cuts me off.
I shake my head, taking a step back. “That’s not possible. I didn’t use Kincaid’s credit card. Or my father’s. No one knows where I am. And even if they did, this doesn’t make sense.”
Everything is coming out in half a thought.
Why would Kincaid send people after me?
When I left, he was still happily busy between my sister’s legs. I told him he could forget he ever knew my name, and he seemed fine with that. He might have held onto me this long, but we both knew it was over. And now that Kincaid and Tate cut my father out of the picture, they didn’t need me at all.
Unless it isn’t about me, but who I’m with. Of all the places I went when I left town, I ran to his brother.
I don’t realize I’m shaking my head until Dean grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, stopping me. He steps close again, tipping my face up to his.
“Do you understand what I’m saying, Willa?”
“Are you sure?”
He nods. “The back of the truck had an Ironside Ridge decal on it.”
Dean’s grandfather’s ranch.
My teeth clench, and fear turns to anger. It stokes this resentful beast inside me. I’ve given up everything for Kincaid. My happiness. My heart. My life. And he has the nerve to send his men after me?
“Fuck him.” I take a step back, grabbing my purse.
“Willa.” My name is a threat, but I ignore it.
“Seriously, Dean. Fuck your brother. And fuck you while we’re at it. I guess this is what I get for trying to help. Your entire family is infuriating.”
When I step around Dean, Venom pauses in the doorway with his arms crossed, blocking my path.
I glance over my shoulder at Dean. “Tell him to move.”
“Sorry, princess. No can do.”
