Time Will Tell (Maybe #3)(54)

Tracker tilts his head to the side, taking me in from top to bottom. “You kind of look like Rake if you squint your eyes, so yeah, no, thanks.”

He doesn’t expect the punch in the gut. “Ow! You’re strong for someone so little.”

Rake grunts. “Come on, Anna, stop bullying my brothers.”

Tracker laughs and rubs his rock-hard stomach. Like that even hurt him.

Arrow chooses that moment to walk in, and as always, he garners my full attention. I watch as he storms into the kitchen and comes out with a bottle of Scotch in one hand, a cigarette in the other.

He plops down on the couch and starts to drink straight from the bottle.

He doesn’t look up, or pay attention to anyone around him, until Faye walks over and starts to talk to him in a hushed tone. I follow behind Rake as he leads me toward a long hall, forcing myself not to look back at Arrow. We stop at a door, and he grins boyishly at me as he opens it.

“This is your room. So, you know, you always have somewhere to stay, no matter what,” he says, gesturing for me to enter. The room is bare except for a stunning black leather bed.

“It’s new,” he explains as I turn to stare at him.

“I have my own place,” I tell him, feeling confused. Growing up, we didn’t really have a house. We moved around and stayed wherever we could, couch surfing or living with our mother’s latest boyfriend. We didn’t have a stable life, or many other things that most people took for granted. We didn’t come first to our mother; the drugs did. Maybe that’s why he wants me to feel as though I have a home here? That no matter what, I’ll always have a place to go? A place that I will be welcome?

My heart warms at the sentiment, but it isn’t necessary. I am no longer that scared little girl; I am now a woman who knows how to take care of herself.

“I know you do, but you also have a place here. With me. You will never have to worry again.”

Looks like I was right.

“Rake—”

“You don’t have to call me that,” he says, not for the first time.

“I know, but it’s weird when I’m the only one calling you Adam and no one knows who the hell I’m talking about. Although I still call you Adam in my head,” I try and explain.

His laugh makes me smile. I like seeing him laugh. “It’s weird having my baby sister calling me Rake.”

I raise an eyebrow. “So you’re nicknamed after a man who lives in an immoral way and sleeps around a lot.”

I used the dictionary for that one. It says a rake is another name for a womanizer, or a libertine.

The flush that works up his neck lets me know he isn’t exactly pleased to be having this conversation with me. “Maybe I just like to . . .”

He searches fruitlessly for another reason to be called Rake.

“. . . get rid of leaves?” I suggest in a dry tone.

“You always were a smart-ass,” he says with good nature. “Fine, I like women. Sue me. I’m the perfect example of a man you shouldn’t date. Learn from it.”

“Surely there are some good men around this clubhouse . . . ?” I say casually, pretending to look around.

Like Arrow.

That’s what I really mean.

Rake’s laughter isn’t what I was expecting in response. “No one will go near you, Anna. They know you’re off-limits.”

“How would they know that?” I ask him suspiciously, my hackles rising.

“Because I told them,” he replies, unable to keep the smugness out of his tone.

My mouth drops open. “Why would you do that?”

“Because you’re my sister,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yes, but I’m not asexual,” I reply dryly, walking farther into the room and sitting on my new bed.

“To me you are,” I hear him mutter. “Look, Anna, now that you’re back here . . . I want to be here for you, like I haven’t always been in the past.”

Ahh, the infamous Jacob incident.

“That wasn’t your fault,” I say for the hundredth time.

He ignores me.

“Do you wanna get a drink?” he asks, the conversation clearly over. “You can tell me how your week has been.”

“Sure, I could use a drink.”

I wonder if Arrow will share his bottle.


Pre-order Arrow’s Hell here.

Pre-order Tracker’s End here.


About the Author

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Chantal Fernando is twenty six years old and lives in Western Australia.

Her published novels include four books in the Resisting Love series – Chase, Kade, Ryder and James; the New York Times Bestselling novel Maybe This Time and its follow up, This Time Around. Her latest releases include Toxic Girl, Saxon, and a USA bestselling biker romance novel Dragon’s Lair.

When not reading, writing or daydreaming she can be found enjoying life with her three sons and family.

Represented by Kimberly Brower from the Rebecca Friedman Literary Agency.