Page 13 of Royally Ruined

“She was spotted.” A car engine snarled in the distance; he stared out at the road, waiting for it to pass, before he kept talking. “The Deep Shots know a blonde waitress with a nose piercing went into the room where Darien was. By morning, everyone in this city who’s friendly with our brand-new buddy-buddy gang is going to be looking for her.”

I could barely breathe; I blamed it on the painfully cold night air. Fuck, why hadn’t I worn my jacket?Because she has it. I gave it to her.Just as I’d given my word. I’d promised a dead girl I could keep her alive.

Swallowing, I said, “They know her face, do they—”

“Know her name is Scotch?” He squinted at me. “Sheintroducedherself in front of them all.”

I remembered that moment clearly. I’d burned with disgust at how Darien was treating her, and in spite of the risk, I’d stepped in and gotten involved.

And now I’m more involved than ever.

“Shit,” I whispered.

“Yeah, shit.” His chuckle was empty of any real humor. Thorne was the master of cynicism. “So even ifIbelieve that she didn’t do this—and I don’t know that I do—it won’t matter. No one is going to wait around for her to share her side of the story.”

Right, there were always two. Scotch might be a suspect, but that could be fixed. “When Darien wakes up, he’ll be able to explain everything,” I said quickly. “If I can hide her until then ... we can wait this out.”

My brother leaned away as if I’d struck him. His expression was grimmer than the boiling sky that threatened to snow on us.“We?”He pointed over my shoulder at the motel door. “This girl fucks up our meeting tonight, the one ournot-so-understanding fathertrusted us to handle because he’s in frigging Vermont, and your response is to protect her? This isn’t like you.”

He was right. This wasn’t like me.

Scotch’s pale face and pleading words sank into the grooves of my memory. Thorne grabbed my shoulders, startling me. “Make a plan. You always have a plan!” His smile went crooked, manic. Thorne was freaking out, and I knew we were thinking the same thing.

Our dad is going to string us up for this.

“It’s only going to get crazier,” he mumbled, hardly talking to me. “It’s a miracle Dad hasn’t called us yet to check in. Fuck, maybe the horse farm has no cell reception and no one from the Deep Shots or the club can reach him. Wouldn’t that be fucking lucky for us, huh?”

I gnarled my fists in the front of his coat. “That’s perfect!”

“Wh-what’s perfect? What are you talking about?”

My heart was expanding and shrinking so rapidly that I couldn’t feel the winter air any longer. “The horse farm, the whole damn wedding. You said everyoneherewill be looking for Scotch.”

My brother’s mouth went slack. “You want to bring her with us to Kain’s wedding?”

Our youngest brother’s wedding would be the perfect escape. “Mom and Francesca expect us to fly out with them in the morning, right? I’ll bring her with me.”

He shoved me; I let him go, my smile clearly infuriating him. “Yup. You’re definitely insane. Costello, you can’t bring somerandoto Kain’s wedding. Don’t you think that will look strange? You aren’t exactly Mr.Relationship, no offense.”

I wasn’t offended. I couldn’t be when he was only being honest. I’d never dated anyone seriously, never brought anyone home to our family. Taking Scotch to the wedding and pretending she was my girlfriend would be risky, but ... “Mom will be thrilled,” I said with a soft chuckle.

“Uh-huh. And Dad will do a damn jig at the idea of his son dating the woman who shot a member of his shiny new gang.”

“He won’t know who she is. Trust me, this will work.”

Thorne started to sputter. “I don’t know who you are anymore. Jeez, does she have a pussy made of diamonds or something?”

I’d been moving toward my room. Thorne was following closely, so it was easy to spin around, ball my fists in his coat, and slam him against the side of the motel. “What was that?”

His eyebrows vanished into his hairline. “Whoa! Chill out, man! I was just making a joke.”

My hold on him tightened; we both heard my joints pop. “Never make that kind of joke about her again. Understand?”

“Yes, yeah, okay! Fuck, man.” Thorne stayed where he was when I released him, dusting himself off. “You’re really doing this. You’re going to flaunt her right in front of our family and pretend nothing went sour tonight?”

A car drove by; both of us froze, watching the lights on the road until they’d vanished. Now that I knew people were looking for Scotch, I was incredibly paranoid. Ignoring his question, I said, “Check in with Ox. Tell him to say nothing, and if anyone presses for details,remindhim that Darien ran off with one of the girls for the night. That he’s asleep between their legs somewhere.”If we can breed confusion, it’ll help keep Scotch out of the spotlight.It was probably too late for that, but ...

“And the gunshot?” he asked incredulously. “Everyone in the Dirty Dolls heard it.”

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