Page 22 of Savage Truth

“I’m on the same page now,” Damon snapped, “so let the pieces fall where they may. If she clears him out, he’ll have something to think long and hard about. If Mom was still here, none of that would’ve happened.”

“He’s got a point,” Phoenix, ever the voice of reason, said. “Besides, Raelyn has to be a damn good actress to pull it off, and I don’t know… I’ve seen how they look at each other too. Maybe this isn’t a con. Maybe it’s real.”

I hoped it wasn’t. Dad was an asshole. If she took him down a peg or two, I wouldn’t complain. “Fine. I’ll keep it to myself.”For now.And maybe, if it could work to my advantage, I would torment Riley with what I knew. It would be much better to have her around than in jail. My gut clenched at the thought of that happening, and I frowned.

“Ever notice how familiar she is?” Damon asked. “I think she worked at the Coffee Cabana for, like, one weekend.”

“So?” I didn’t see where he was going with that.

“It was the same weekend we lost our mom.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve never seen Riley at school before.”

“No.” Damon dropped onto one of the lounge chairs around the pool. “She had black hair and a lot of dark eyeliner on. I only saw her at the coffee place that one time.”

It couldn’t be…A hazy image from a party invaded my mind, merging with that of the girl I’d dreamed about—our cousins’ Fourth of July party and the girl who tried to swipe their dad’s gold lighter. They wouldn’t have cared if she’d taken it. But it was the principle of the thing.

I’d seen her. Under all that goth makeup and clothing, the girl was hot. I’d taken the lighter from her and copped a feel of that sweet ass while doing it. She’d challenged me, and I faced the gauntlet she’d thrown down.

The kiss. Even drunk, I knew it was spectacular.

I suddenly understood why there was something so familiar about Riley that I couldn’t shake. Something wasn’t adding up. The difference in appearance. Her being at the party. Then seeing her mom with Dad at the conference. Even the slight change to Raelyn’s hair. Riley was the goth girl from last summer.What game are they playing?

What the fuck have I gotten myself into?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

RILEY

Lucas will pay for making Mom cry. The knob to his study was cold in my overheated hand. With a hard turn and push, I opened the door with force, and it smacked against the wall with a satisfying thud.

Lucas met my gaze, his blue eyes eerily similar to Damon’s, and didn’t flinch. He closed his laptop and leaned back. The chair squeaked in protest—he was a big guy.

He waited, not saying a word.

Fine by me. I had plenty to say. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but it ends now.” I crossed my arms and glared. “I’m only here by default because of Mom. She won’t stay. You may think you can save us. You can’t. You have no idea what’s coming.” Screaming at him wouldn’t have helped, so I stopped before raising my voice. If I continued down that path, I might have given too much away, and that asshole already knew too much.

He rubbed his forehead. “I don’t want your mother to leave, Riley. I love her. I fell for her seventeen years ago. I’ve never stopped searching for her, wanting her in my life. I will keep both of you safe.”

I snorted. “You have a funny way of showing you love her.” I motioned to him then circled the room. “You’re in here, completely oblivious to Mom’s pain—which, by the way, is temporary.” We would be leaving this hellhole soon, before our past caught up with us. I felt the clock ticking like a live grenade with every cell of my being.

“I mean it. I’ll keep you safe.” His eyes blazed like Cole’s did when he was heated over something—usually me. “Both of you.”

My heart hurt, which was weird. Cole was gone and hated me more than ever. I needed to deal with it—I needed to forget him. The whole thing was ridiculous. I came in here to tell Lucas off, and I needed to stick to that then get out.

I clenched my jaw. “You won’t. Those are just words. You may think you’re powerful enough, but you’re not. This thing you’ve got going on with Mom is just as toxic as what happened to her with my dad. You’re cut from the same cloth: arrogant, smug, the kind of guy who uses women and throws them away. The only difference I can see is that you use money and emotion as your primary means of abuse, while dear old Dad uses the threat of violence as his primary means. But you both share emotional blackmail traits.”

None of that was fair, but I had resolved myself to being pissed, and Cole’s accusations said otherwise. I wanted to scream and threaten then run as far from this town and the men we’d encountered in it as I could. The problem was Mom. She didn’t want to go. And she asked for so little.

Lucas stood, pressing his knuckles into the top of his desk as he leaned toward me. Before he could say anything, his phone rang. It was the distraction I needed. I whirled around and left the study as abruptly as I’d entered.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Ever since we arrived last summer then again this time, things had been a mess. The connection between Mom and me was weird. It was as if I’d lost my best friend.

I raced up the stairs, barreled into my room, kicked the door shut, and launched myself onto my bed. The fluffy white duvet puffed around me then settled.What am I going to do?The anger dissipated enough for me to think clearly. What Lucas thought of my outburst didn’t matter. I’d defended Mom, and that was what I’d set out to do.

I flipped onto my back and stared at the chandelier overhead, missing my old life more than I could bear. This world was different. There were pluses and minuses, and I liked some things… like the diving team. I knew who I was, and no one had discovered my weaknesses: my asshole sperm-donor father, the sense of betrayal and abandonment I felt because of Mom’s relationship with Lucas, or the sheer loneliness of being unable to hang with her and talk about everything and anything like we always had.

Then there was Cole. What had happened in the kitchen? The explosion of emotions, Cole punching his dad, and then Lucas shoving him away were too much. Despite what he thought, I hadn’t known about our parents’ affair or how it had affected his mom.

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