“I’m all for that. Especially since I have a feeling they haven’t changed their ways,” he says. “Just next time, take me with you. Let’s do it together.”
“I would have asked you to come with me, but you and my brothers were doing something sneaky. Care to explain?”
“Bonding.” He smirks, but then it turns serious. “We went to see Duke about a goat.”
“You went to...” I step back.
“We weren’t actually talking about a goat,” he says.
No, my brothers went to threaten Duke. And Rebel went along like it was some kind of loyalty test. “I suspected as much.”
They’d wanted to take matters into their own hands back when it happened, too, but I’d been too ashamed and worried that maybe I was partly to blame. Scared they would do something that would take them from me when I needed them more than ever. So they’d taken me to the sheriff instead and that had made everything a hundred times worse.
And I’d taken myself far from them as soon as I could run away from Devil’s Bend. “I should have let them deal with this a long time ago.”
“Those guys who hurt you shouldn’t get to live their lives without consequences. Duke hurt Violet too,” he says. “Or... your brothers think he did. She didn’t exactly confirm or deny. But she was there when we arrived. Fleeing.”
Shit. Poor woman. They’re still acting like they own this town. Like the women in it are something to use until they break. “So, you did what to him exactly?”
“We asked him some questions.”
“With your fists?” When I run my thumb over his knuckles, he lets out a hiss.
His pupils look darker in the light. “He said some things. But we also asked him questions.”
“Did you get any answers?”
“Nothing we didn’t already know,” he says. “He sent the card. He probably hoped you’d freak out and want to go home.”
I do want to go home. But I won’t run away this time. I’ll leave when the wedding is over, and when I’ve shed light on the evils this town perpetuates.
“We did find some common ground. Your brothers and me are on much better terms.”
Owen must have overheard because he says, “We’d be on better terms if you’d marry our sister and make an honest woman of her. There’s still time for you to go missing before those babies come, Hollywood.”
“Leave him alone, Owen,” Jett says, having entered the room with Violet. Storm files in behind them, a bowl of apple pie in one hand. The spoon in his other hand is halfway to his mouth.
“Joking,” Owen says.
Rebel’s eyes crinkle in the corners. My emotions expand and make my eyes sting. If anyone asks, I’ll blame the damn pregnancy hormones.‘It was the baby’sounds a hell of a lot better than crying over my brothers accepting Rebel.
“I’ve made tea,” Violet says. “If anyone wants some.”
“That would be lovely.” Kelsey is the first one to move. She’s halfway across the room when a police cruiser cuts its motor in front of the shop.
“Kyle,” Owen mutters, shifting so that he’s standing in front of Violet.
Jett and Storm close in on either side.
“He’s here for me,” I say at the same time Violet slips between my brothers and tells Owen, “He’s here for me.”
Dizzy jumps up and flaps her hands like she’s trying to take off. “I can’t be here. West is going to kill me. This is bad.”
Ivy grabs her hand. “Is there a back door?”
“No,” Violet says. “But go that way, then down the hallway. You can hang out in the storeroom. He needs a warrant to search the place. You’ll be okay there.”
“Thanks,” Ivy says before the two girls run into the back room.
