Page 117 of Branded Betrayal

I stop and slowly turn to face him.

“You couldn’t keep it in your pants, could you? Had to go sniffing around that girl again.” He shakes his head. “You had to go and complicate things. Like always.”

“Are you fucking serious?”

“You never showed up when it counted. Always screwing around when you should have been working. Now look what you’ve done. Because of her.” Disdain drips from every word.

“You’ve got some nerve blaming me. This was all your fault. Everything was. You’re a pathetic excuse for a father. For a man. Mom deserved so much better than you.”

I step closer to the police car. “One thing is for sure. We are done. I never want to see you again.”

Dad scoffs. “Fine by me, you ungrateful—”

“Dad, shut the hell up,” Colt says, appearing at my side. He looks at me. “Go check on Savannah. I’ll deal with him.”

But the look on Savannah’s face when I approach makes me stop dead in my tracks. She whispers something to the EMT, and he looks at me, then closes the ambulance doors, effectively shutting me out.

I let out a shuddering sigh. Wilkerson’s trap worked. He wanted to destroy me, and he did. I may still be alive, but he turned me into someone the woman I love can’t even bear to look at.

Death would be preferable.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Savannah

I look up at the warm and cozy home I tried to create here at Red Rock as Nash pulls up beside it, my insides empty, mind numb. Nearly a week ago, it was my hope for a new beginning, a possible future in a town I used to love with a man I fell in love with all over again.

Now as I stare blankly out the window, I can’t stop the horrific memories from assaulting me. I don’t remember leaving the warehouse. I don’t remember the drive home. All I hear is the crack of gunshots popping between my ears, with the tip of the scalpel pressed to my throat, and my panicked screams. Six years of lies and betrayal, all centered on one evil bastard as the source.

The EMT asked if I wanted to go to the hospital. I said no, that I just wanted to go home.

My throat closes around a gaggle of unshed tears.

It doesn’t feel like home anymore.

It hurts to think. And every time I close my eyes, I see Blaze stop short as he approaches me, his dejected expression making my heart clench when the ambulance doors closed. I twist my wrists, wincing at the scrape of the bandages against my raw and cut flesh.

What could he possibly have said to make all of this better? My parents, my uncle. Dead. And yes, he was strong-armed into doing all of those god-awful things, but it doesn’t change the fact that my family is gone, in part, because of his actions.

A sob rises in my chest. He could have warned my parents, Aunt Marg, and Uncle Aaron to leave the ranch before the job was supposed to happen, so they’d be safe in case anything went wrong.

But he didn’t. Neither did Nash.

And they burned because Nash and Blaze were too focused on themselves and their orders. I lost everything in those torturous minutes.

Nothing Blaze could have possibly said or done back at the warehouse would heal my tormented soul.

He tried to break me. On purpose. The fact that he’d make me question myself, doubt myself, when he knew how hard I was working to build Red Rock back up again, proves to me how self-centered he really is.

As if leaving me years ago wasn’t enough of a red flag.

Nash parks the truck and rushes around to open the door for me. I ignore his outstretched hand. I don’t need his help. I don’t need any of them.

He follows me up the stairs and opens the front door. I walk into the living room in a daze, not really seeing my surroundings, my nostrils filling with the scent of lavender even though I haven’t picked any in days. The rich aroma is normally like a calming balm for my senses.

But now it just reminds me of everything I lost.

“Do you, um, want some tea?” Nash asks.