Accidental Knight: A Marriage Mistake Romance(99)

My heart sinks when she says it.

Fuck.

This argument is starting to resemble the one before I stormed out of her life forever. I twist my head and look her dead in the eye. “Sis, you’re being a bitch.”

“Maybe I am, and guess what? I don’t care. Her death kept you from your family, from moving on, from having your own life with us. You don’t have to do this. You could’ve let the cops or the FBI or somebody take charge.” She holds her palms out.

It’s hard to even fucking listen. Ang still doesn’t get it. She doesn’t understand none of those jackoffs have the authority or the motivation to solve a goddamn thing. Not for Winnie.

She sniffs loudly, then looks at me and continues. “But whatever. Fine. You go right on doing what you’ve been doing. Forget the kids and I even exist, because it’s sooo obvious we don’t matter as much as Winnie did. Dad didn’t, so why should we?”

I shake my head, not even willing to respond to that shit.

“Is that oil company drilling around here now? Mars – no wait, Jupiter? Do they have a field around here that you’ve been casing, trying to find your mysterious serial killer? Is that what brought you here? Pretending to be a companion for an old man.” Shaking her head, she turns around. “You sure aren’t the brother I knew.”

I turn my back as she leaves the living room, refusing to even flinch when the screen door closes. It guts me knowing what she thinks of me now, but if it’ll make her leave, that’s how it has to be.

“Is that true?” I hear a voice behind me. Not Angie’s.

My insides freeze. Forcing my muscles to move, I turn, and see a flustered Bella standing in the kitchen doorway with a box of candy canes in her hand.

“Who’s Winnie? You’ve been lying to me this entire time?”

“It’s not true, not what she said.” Fuck, it’s so hollow even I don’t believe it.

“What part isn’t true then? That you haven’t been searching for someone who may have killed an old girlfriend who dumped you years ago?”

“She didn’t dump me, and she wasn’t my girlfriend!” Damn. Even if it’s true, I can see why she’s scorned, why what she just heard doesn’t make sense. “I’m here to—”

“Stop! Drake, just stop.” She shakes her head. “I’m so flipping sick of being lied to my entire life. By Gramps. My parents. And now, it’s you. I should’ve known, considering the way this started with that stupid marriage. It’s all been a lie.” She swipes the tears off her cheeks, and venom fills her face. “Screw you, Drake Larkin.”

She whips around and starts walking.

“Bella!” Her name is just a roar, and my footsteps only make her race out faster.

The back door slams shut before I’m in the kitchen. I shove a chair out of the way as I round the table and kick the box of candy canes that’s on the floor.

My chickens just came home to roost, but they’re too big, too mean, too ruthless.

It’s not chickens coming back to tear my life to hell. Instead, I see dragons.





17





Family Mistakes (Bella)





My lungs ache like I’m drowning under water.

The pain just consumes me. That bastard phony.

Lying to me. Just like everyone else. I can’t take it anymore.

None of it.

So I run straight to my Jeep and shove the key in the ignition. Thank God they’d been hanging by the back door. It seems like I haven’t started it in over a week since we’d always taken his truck into town.

The driveway is a blur. I wipe away the tears and stomp down on the gas.

How could I have been so stupid? Believing someone like him would’ve stayed and taken care of Gramps because they were friends.

Believing he’d go through this much to dismantle Jupiter and Avery Briar because it was the right thing to do?

It was all for a woman.

A woman he loved and hid in his messed up, convoluted past, which I suddenly want no freaking part of.

Stupid me. So, so stupid.

I’m still kicking myself when a sudden flash, or a noise, or something makes me glance out the passenger window.

Crap. It’s Edison.

Running beside the fence line, where he shouldn’t be, probably chasing me.

He’s going to have to go home on his own. This time, I’m not turning around.

I stomp down harder on the gas, hoping he’ll get the hint, putting more distance between us.

Of course, he doesn’t.

The pain, the hurt, the betrayal over Drake’s deceptions spar with my love for the horse.

I can’t be stringing him along like this. Edison is too old to run this fast for too long. The highway is just ahead. The fence will stop him, I think.

Wrong.

I’m almost to the mailbox, when he scales the fence, flying at it and leaping in mid-air.

Holy shit!

Slamming on the brakes, I wrench the wheel to keep from hitting him as he tumbles out in front of me. The Jeep ends up crossways in the road, but I’d missed him. Barely.

I stare at him and just groan. His sides are heaving from running so hard and the exertion.

If I thought this day couldn’t get any worse...