Page 20 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

“Delaney, get inside!” he shouted, putting Cade on his feet at the bottom of the porch and giving him a little push of encouragement. “Protect your mom and Reece for me, kid.”

Cade came charging for us, his eyes glinting with determination. He’d sensed the change in the atmosphere and was ready to do exactly as his father had said.

My little hero.

Delaney was right about the people around here.

But I couldn’t move. My body was frozen in fear, and I hated that this one insignificant man could elicit such a reaction in me.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

I never meant to bring him here after me.

CHAPTER EIGHT

BOOKER

If this fucker thought he could come here and hurt her again, he was sorely mistaken.

Val bristled at my side. She could feel the anger running through me, and she was ready for whatever happened next.

“I need details,” Trace said grimly as he stepped up beside me.

“I don’t know who he is, but I know he hurt her.”

Trace grumbled under his breath. “Then let’s show this fucker what happens when you mess with what’s ours.”

I glanced at my brother out of the side of my eye, impressed that he was standing beside me right now. Trace had never been the one to get into trouble when we were kids. Well, if you didn’t count the fact that he got his teenage girlfriend pregnant. He’d changed since she’d come back into his life, though. He knew what it was like to lose something precious, and it had awoken a different side of him.

The sports car pulled up a short distance away from us, and the sun glared off the windshield, obscuring whoever was inside.

“I’ve got your back, Book,” Trace told me as I stormed forward, ready to rip whoever had dared to come here out of the car.

Val growled softly as she stalked forward with me. She was low to the ground and ready to go. And she was getting the biggest damn steak for her dinner tonight.

I braced as the car door opened, the need for violence running through me.

This man had hurt Reece. He’d beaten her until she’d thought she was going to die. She was scared of him. He wasn’t walking away from this place until he knew what that felt like.

As the fancy leather loafers stepped down with a crunch onto the gravel and he stepped out of the car, I was moving. I didn’t even look at his face. What was the point? He wouldn’t look the same once I’d finished with him.

But Trace’s gasp behind me had me coming back to my senses, thankfully, before my fist flew for this guy’s face.

“Xander?”

I blinked, coming to a stop as I took in the sight of the brother I hadn’t seen for two years.

Val growled at my side, hunching down further as her fur bristled in agitation.

“Fucking hell, Book. I know I haven’t been around much, but are you really going to set Val on me?” Xander asked, sounding confused.

At the mention of her name, Val sat, her tail wagging and her tongue drooping at the side of her mouth as she panted happily. Yeah, she wasn’t really much of a fighter, was our Val, but she had my back whenever I needed it.

“What are you doing here?” The question came out as a growl. I hadn’t quite pulled my mind back to where it normally was yet.

My heart thumped in my chest, and I squeezed my fists in time with it, hoping the adrenaline would leave my system soon.

“Wow, I know it’s been a while, but I didn’t think you’d hate seeing me quite this much, Booker.”

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