I turned to leave, and Brandy stopped me. “He misses you, you know.”
“I don’t want to talk about him. Especially not with you.”
“Grace—”
“What did I fucking say?” I hissed, keeping my voice low so Karlyn wouldn’t hear me.
“I’m not sleeping with him,” Brandy blurted out.
That had me stopping in my tracks. “What?”
“I’m not sleeping with him. I mean, I have, in the past; I won’t lie to you. But he hasn’t been with anyone since you moved to town.”
That couldn’t be right. I’d been in Diamond Creek for nearly three years. I’d seen him take Brandy’s hand and lead her down the hallway.
“He’s free to do whatever the fuck he wants.”
“You’re such a bitch,” Brandy muttered.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me. Look, I get it; you think I’m his favorite because that was what he wanted you to think. He wanted you to believe he didn’t want you, and you fell for it. The truth is, Amber was his favorite, and she never slept with him at all. She was the one who usually did this shit; I took over recently. But this is your fucking job.”
“I can’t deal with you right now.” I walked to the door and yanked it open.
“You can’t run forever,” she said as I left the room.
“Watch me,” I answered quietly to myself.
I made my way back behind the bar just before King walked back into the main room. As soon as he entered, he turned to me. He looked me over, and when he’d had his fill, he walked over to the table where Kronos sat with his wife.
I made myself busy organizing behind the bar, cleaning up and occasionally handing out a beer or a drink. I was comfortable behind the bar. And if I couldn’t work for the next few days, at least I could stay busy doing something I was good at.
It shouldn’t take long for the bar to be back up and running. King had called Derek, Jack’s brother, to do the work. He’d been working on Ryder and Ellie’s house, but Ryder agreed the bar should be the priority.
I tried to ignore him. But all I kept seeing was him yell out that Ravage was his brother, coupled with the look on his face, over and over in my mind. I wanted to go to him—no, I wanted him to come to me. Like he always had.
I looked over at him, and he was staring at me. His eyes held me in place until Nav walked over and leaned in to tell him something. Then his eyes turned hard as Ravage and Karlyn entered the main room headed for the door, the other two men following closely behind.
King launched himself out of his chair. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
Ravage stopped and turned. “Lincoln, Nebraska. I assumed that was what Nav just told you.”
“He did. It was a rhetorical question, dumbass, meant to make you think about what the hell you’re doing before you fucking do it!”
“I don’t need to think about it,” Ravage argued.
I quickly moved around the bar and went to Karlyn’s side. I put my arm over her shoulder as King and Ravage argued with each other.
“You are both being hunted, and you’re fucking hurt. I’ve sewn you up twice already.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“Stop being a fucking dick.”
“King,” I hissed.
“Stay out of it, Grace,” he barked, his eyes never leaving his little brother.
