Page 75 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

“Do you think…”

“That the guy who trashed the cottage is still hanging around?” Booker asked grimly.

I nodded somberly.

What had happened today had been dangerous on so many levels. We could have all been hurt. Hell, someone could have been killed. This was beyond tearing up someone’s clothes, and I couldn’t even bring myself to be slightly outraged about my pie when I was facing the reality that Booker could have died today.

“It’s time to tell you my entire story, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, baby, it is. But it can wait until we get home. Just you and me, okay?”

Booker’s arm tightened around me, and I was opening my mouth to tell him I just wanted to get it over with and tell him everything now, but then the curtain was pulled back, and his worried family walked in.

I could wait.

Booker’s eyes found mine as the others started fussing around him, and I could see his understanding in them. He knew there were parts of the story I hadn’t wanted to tell him. In reality, he knew most of it already. The only question left about the whole thing waswho.

Only Camden Carter.

And all the ways he could ruin our lives.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

BOOKER

Someone had rung my bell harder than it had ever been done before. Yet it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart when I saw the scared reluctance on Reece’s face about facing her past.

Whoever this guy was, she was scared of him. But it seemed like something so much more than I’d thought before. I’d assumed he was just a guy who got off on breaking women, not that that wasn’t bad enough. From the look on Reece’s face back at the hospital, she seemed to think there was something so much worse.

I climbed out of the back of Trace’s truck as Delaney and Reece fussed around me. It should have been pissing me off, but there was something nice about knowing someone cared that much about you. As nice as it was, though, I was reaching my limit. But I gritted my teeth and tried not to come across like a completely ungrateful bastard.

“Okay, now one step at a time,” Trace said as we approached the front porch. “Hold on to the railing. Better yet, wrap your arm around me.”

“Nope, that’s it! I can’t take it anymore!”

Trace started laughing, and I glared at my brother and the amused look on Delaney’s face. That Reece looked thoroughly confused was the only thing that saved her. That and the fact that I was now absolutely certain I was madly in love with the woman.

“Twenty bucks for me!” Trace crowed.

“Damned it! You play dirty, Trace,” Delaney said, waving a finger at him.

“What can I say? I have more years of experience at poking the bear than you give me credit for.”

“I hate you both,” I snapped as I stomped up the steps, followed by their laughter and a confused-looking Reece.

Damn, I needed that, though. I needed a dose of normalcy to scare the worry away from my mind. If that bastard had done something to Val, I was ripping his legs off.

I stormed into the dining room we rarely used, checking under the table before heading into the kitchen to look for her. It wasn’t like Val not to come out if someone turned up at the ranch. She wasn’t one of those dogs who would sleep in her basket all day.

I laid my hand on the cushion of the basket and found it cold.

When I turned around, scowling in thought, trying to think of where to look next, I found Reece standing in front of me with a sad look on her face.

Trace and Delaney were looking around, confused, but Trace seemed to figure it out first.

“Where’s Val?” he asked.

“We haven’t seen her since before the…accident?” Reece looked confused by the word, and I couldn’t blame her.

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