Page 27 of Deceit & Desire

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Snapping back to the present,I realized I was sobbing, my face hot and wet with tears brought on by the memory of my mother’s death. Turning away from the bathtub, I slumped against its side. I pulled my knees up, rested my arms on them, cradled my head, and I let myself cry.

I let myself cry for the little girl who died right along with her mother in the bathtub that day.

Someone pounded on the front door and I jumped, pressing a hand against my thundering heart. Sucking in a steadying breath, I used the hem of my shirt to scrub the tears off my face, then grabbed the edge of the vanity and dragged myself upright.

Feeling a hundred years old, I shuffled to the front door and opened it, yowling when the man standing on my front porch grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me out, slamming me up against the wall beside the open door hard enough that I saw stars.

“I can’t believe the gall of you, Zoe Brandt, coming back here after all this time and having the audacity to feel sorry for yourself when it’s my sister who’s dead, but I’ll be more than happy to give you something to cry about.”

Chapter10

Secrets Got Her Killed

PLAYLIST: ”SECRETS” BY ONEREPUBLIC

ROMAN

Dust billowedin the air as a truck roared up the gravel drive and turned, almost careening up on two wheels as it skidded to a stop up at the big house. Cody and I both froze in the open door of the barn, and all the blood drained out of my head as I turned to look at him.

“Is that?—”

“Michael Carter? Yeah.”

“Fuck!” I bolted toward the big house on numb legs, praying with everything in my body that I’d get to Zoe before Michael did.

Cody ran right alongside me, and for once, I was grateful for the shithead’s presence. I shook my head, hardly believing such a thing had crossed my mind.

God only knows I might need Cody’s help to manage this situation if Michael really believes Zoe or I killed his little sister.

My pulse roared in my ears, but I just barely made out the sound of someone pounding on the front door of the house.

“Don’t answer it, baby, please,” I panted the words under my breath, changing my trajectory and aiming for the front porch.

Just as Cody and I rounded the corner of the front porch, I saw Michael Carter reach out a long arm and snatch Zoe out of the house by her hair, slamming my girl up against the wall, growling something in her face like the rabid fucking dog he’d become… a dog I had every intention of putting down for manhandling my woman like that.

Neither of them saw us coming, and my steps faltered when Zoe’s knee snapped up and connected with Michael’s balls almost hard enough to lift him off the ground.

“You bitch!” Michael howled, his face turning a sickly green as he grabbed his crotch.

I pumped my legs harder, not sure how Michael was going to react to Zoe fighting back.

Zoe followed through with a vicious right hook that busted Michael’s lip and sent him staggering back a half-step. “Tell me something I don’t know, asshole.”

My chest swelled with pride at the sight of her fighting back, and I shoved past Michael, trusting Cody to handle him as I pulled Zoe into my arms and kissed her until my head swam and I had to come up for air. I rested my forehead against hers, taking in her red, puffy eyes and blotchy skin.

“You good, baby?”

Zoe pointed at her face and grimaced. “This isn’t because of him, and I’ll be a hell of a lot better just as soon as somebody escorts his sorry ass off our property.”

Michael lunged toward us, snarling something that sounded an awful lot like he called my future wife a murderous whore, but I decided it was best for his health and my criminal record to tell myself that he didn’t say any such thing.

Cody wedged himself between us and Michael, gripping his old friend’s shoulders and giving him a stern shake. “Come on, man. I know it fucked you up when Missy died, but you can’t really believe Zoe hanged your sister in cold blood. They were best friends?—”

“Best friends who had a massive, vicious catfight in front of more than half the ranch hands who worked here, including you and me, and what were they fighting about?” Michael spat blood on the porch and lifted an accusing finger, pointing it right in my face. “Him.”

Cody gave Michael another shake, harder this time, like he was trying to jar the wild, hateful gleam out of Michael’s eyes as he stared Zoe and me down.

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