“When we were digging into Gavin and Wren’s dad, Talon asked Reed to look into Coach too,” Kade says. “He ran his background, financials, you know, that sort of thing.” He pauses, eyes flicking briefly toward the room before settling back on me. “He pulled some old records and found payments going to a woman named Dianne Taylor.”
My jaw tightens. “Payments for what?”
Kade doesn’t answer right away. “About a week after she gave birth, Coach ordered a paternity test for a girl named Brinley,” he says finally. “He wired her over a million dollars not long after.”
The words hang between us.
“So he knew,” I say slowly. “He knew she existed.” I shake my head once. “And what? He paid to make sure no one found out?”
Kade nods. “That’s how it looks, doesn’t it?”
And suddenly, her sitting in on practice doesn’t feel random at all.
“She told me she was new,” I say, the pieces clicking together in a way I don’t like. “Didn’t know anyone. No family either. Came tonight because she works at Broken Saddle and Sasha invited her.” I exhale. “She might’ve been a bit tight-lipped, but if she knows, why would she lie about it?”
Kade goes quiet, eyes unfocused as he thinks it through. “Maybe she thinks he doesn’t know she’s here,” he says. “Or maybe she does, and she doesn’t want anyone else to find out.”
The silence stretches, thick with implication.
“Do you think she knows about the rumors?” Kade asks finally. “About us looking into him?”
I shake my head. “I doubt it. And if she does, she’s hiding it better than most.”
Either way, Brinley showing up in Rixton doesn’t feel random anymore.
Kade takes another drink, his expression hardening. “If she does though, that could be a problem.”
I glance back toward the living room.
Brinley stands in a loose circle with a few people. I’m guessing whoever Sasha decided she needed to meet. Owen is there too. She’s laughing at something one of them says, her shoulders relaxed, her hair pulled up off her neck like the heat finally got to her.
She looks happy. Almost at ease. Like the secrets she’s carrying aren’t weighing her down. Who knows, maybe they aren’t.
Owen’s smile falters when he catches me watching her. He almost looks guilty, though I can’t figure out why.
Then Brinley glances up, and our eyes meet. She stills for a beat, then smiles again.
Something tightens in my chest.
“She doesn’t feel like a threat,” I say quietly.
Kade studies me. “That’s not the same thing as saying she isn’t one.”
“I know,” I say. “But it doesn’t mean she’s lying to hurt anyone.”
Kade exhales through his nose. “You’re already defending her.”
I don’t bother denying it.
Because the truth is, I don’t believe for a second that Brinley came to Rixton to cause any trouble. If anything, she’s here searching for answers. If she found out that Coach is her fatherand he paid her mom off, I wouldn’t blame her for wanting answers either.
I finish my drink and set the bottle down, eyes still tracking her across the room. “I’m not gonna push her to tell me,” I say. “Not yet.”
Kade nods slowly. “Just… be careful.”
“I will.”
I take another sip of my drink and let my gaze drift back toward the crowd, where Brinley stands with Sasha. Every so often, her eyes flick over to me, and I can’t help the smile that takes over my face, knowing she can’t help but seek me out too, or the way my pulse races when our eyes lock.
