“I have my own.” I open the tin in my purse and pull out a small roll-up.
Jesse flicks his lighter, and I inhale, feeling the hit at the back of my throat. I cough, inhaling too much. Jesse lights his own, the cherry glowing red as he inhales.
“So, what’s the deal? He expecting you home soon or what?”
“No, I can go home when I like. I was just bored at the party, that’s all.”
He flicks the ash through a gap in the window, then shifts, facing me. “You should have said we could’ve come for a drive sooner. I could’ve made the night a little more interesting.” His fingers circle the flesh above my knee and tease under the hem of my dress. All the pent up arousal from the last few weeks with Kane pools between my thighs and I worry if he keeps circling my leg, I’m gonna leave a puddle on his seat.
I open the window on my side to flick the ash from my joint. I’d hoped it would make me relax, but the longer his gaze lingers, the more tense my body becomes.
Jesse flicks his head, forcing his dirty blonde hair from his eyes. “You wanna sit in the back? There’s more room back there.”
“Sure.” My voice is a little high pitched as the heat from my belly creeps into my throat.
Jesse jumps out of the Discovery, makes his way around the bonnet to my door, and opens it. With his joint held between his lips, he helps me out, holding both hands. I slide out, both feet crunching the twigs and foliage littered along the ground. He takes the roll-up from my fingers and the one from his mouth after inhaling another long drag, then stomps the butts out under his shoe.
“Relax, Letty.” His hands slide up my dress until they reach the top of my thighs and he squeezes my chunky flesh. My mouth parts with a gasp and he swallows it, covering me with his lips.
He pulls away with a dopey grin and opens the back door. “After you.”
I climb in with trembling limbs, giving him a good view of my full behind, but I’m so desperate to take care of business. I would have probably shagged anyone from that party just to get a release. Anything to stop me from constantly thinking about Kane.
Fuck. Kane. His warning about staying away from the brothers rings in my head like a fire alarm going off. I’m too far into this now. It will be okay. I’ll just take care of this, get dropped off near the house, and he will never know.
12
KANE
My phone vibrates in my pocket, letting me know she’s on the move. I open the tracking app that links my phone to hers and watch the dot travel at speed towards the lake. Glancing through the kitchen window, her car’s still parked on the gravel. A pounding in my chest reminds me, there’s only one reason anyone goes to the lake at this time of night. Heat courses through my veins, blood rapidly drains from my head, making it difficult to think rationally.
With no time to spare, I grab my keys and jump in the Ranger, flooring the accelerator. The wheels spin against the gravel, before I take off down the country lane, with nothing but the moon and my headlights leading the way.
My fingers curl tight around the steering wheel. Fear clawing at my insides, the not knowing if she’s gone willingly or not. It’s clear she’s far from innocent; she’s not the introverted girl her mother was. She’s streetwise, fierce and confident, which only makes me more worried. If she has gone willingly, she must know what she’s getting into. The thought of someone else touching her has my stomach tightening.
I dropped her off at the party on purpose, so everyone would see she’s with me. I’m no fool. I know what the town says about me and I let them believe I’m a monster, letting only my close friends see the real me. Nobody would dare touch her. Onlythem. The ones with a grudge that spans decades. I’ll be damned if I’ve carried her mother’s secret all these years to let them get their grubby hands on her daughter now.
Acid burns the back of my throat, thinking about what they could do to her to get to me. She can’t know the truth and neither can they. My only option is to keep them as far away from each other as possible.
Driving down the long winding hill towards the water, I spot the Bennett’s Land Rover tucked under a canopy of dense foliage from the towering trees, confirming my worst fears.
My foot slams against the brake, bringing my truck to a screeching halt, inches from colliding with his Discovery. Anger seeps from every pore when she lifts her head from the back seat. His smirk is vicious as I corner the vehicle. I yank the back door open and, with both hands, grip his t-shirt, pulling him from her like a wolf protecting its young.
She yelps my name, but her cries muffle with the pounding between my ears. Blood curdles as my body tenses and it takes every ounce of strength I have not to imprint my fist in his face. Instead, I pin him to the side of his car. He knows I can’t touch him without landing myself in a cell for the night, and his smirk is all too enticing.
“In the fucking truck, Vi,” I growl.
She scrambles around the back seat, pulling her dress down.
“Now,” I shout, running out of patience with this smarmy bastard.
“She was begging for it,” he whispers. The saliva in my mouth turns to battery acid and my fist tightens around his shirt where I pin him against the Discovery.
My jaw ticks. Fucking keep it together. If I land myself in a cell tonight, I can’t protect her.
“Her fat pussy was weeping for my dick.” He’s taunting me, knowing I’ll cave at any minute.
I’d gladly kill this motherfucker. Him, and his whole damn family, but I’m not that guy anymore. I’ve spent years controlling my anger after living with the fallout of that fateful night and this little shit isn’t worth me leaving her vulnerable like I left her mother.
