Page 10 of Wilde's End
“I think so. It’s peaceful.”
“It’s dirty. And smells. And there’s some guy out there who wants to murder Hudson.”
I slump. “Well, now I won’t have any issues sleeping tonight.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere, doing up houses that no one will ever buy, digging ourselves into a financial grave, and acting like this isn’t all because Hudson thought he had something to prove.”
“Don’t drag me into this because you’re worried you’ll lose Kennedy.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Hart says, forcing that bored drag back into his words. “I give it a month before we move back home. Tops.”
Hartwell should know better than to taunt me. He says I’ll give up after a month? That only makes me more determined. We’ve made great progress with the demolition, but unfortunately, that’s usually the easy part. Getting supplies up here, services hooked up, tradespeople we need for work is going to be the partthat fucks up our plans. We have some good contacts, but convincing them to drive the four hours here is going to cost us, and we need a place for them to stay once they’re here.
Not everyone is interested in slumming it like we are.
My head already aches over the logistics, and I shake it off as I push to my feet. “I’m going to bed. I’m going to need cell service tomorrow, so I’ll take the car out early.”
“Sweet dreams,” Kennedy says, stretching his arms back.
Hart flicks me a disinterested wave as I pass, and as I’m walking back to the house, my gaze immediately seeks the same spot it has over the last few days. It’s always empty.
Until now.
I stagger to a halt, squinting into the dark that the moonlight isn’t strong enough to shift. The forest is patchy blacks and grays right now, but I could have sworn I saw something. Something that looked like the shadowy figure of a man.
“You okay?” Kennedy calls out, snapping my attention back to him. The figure is gone, and from this angle, it could have easily been a tree.
Is my brain messing with me?
I suck down a breath and keep walking. “Yep,” I call back, bounding up the front steps. “Just a trick of the light.”
I’m not so sure I believe that. I grab the flashlight resting by the front door and make my way into the only ground-floor bedroom. We’re leaving this house until last so we have somewhere to sleep, and with my clothes hung in the closet and my inflatable mattress set up on the floor, it’s almost cozy.
But I ignore those things and cross to the window, flicking the flashlight on and pointing it back toward the forest. The circle of light bounces dimly from one tree to the next, and I hold my breath, convinced it’s about to glint off a pair of eyes.
It takes a few minutes of searching before I’m satisfied.
Iamseeing things.
I click off the flashlight and turn to sink down against the wall. This town is getting to me.
CHAPTER
FOUR
WILDE
All weekend, I’ve been twisted in knots over what the hell to do, and I’m still not convinced I’m making the right choice.
But here I am, forced back into this town I hate, creeping through an eerily familiar house, and pushing the bedroom door open on a man whose presence sets my teeth on edge.
These men have been here for far too long, and it’s time to let them know they’re not welcome.
I’m not a bad guy. I’m not even a mean one. But when it comes to this town, I’ll do anything I need to in order to keep it safe. For me and for all the people who have landed here. Wilde’s End is a safe haven from the harsh realities of the outside world, and that will never change for as long as I have the power to protect it.
It’s the same man sleeping in the downstairs bedroom as last time—Hudson, according to his ID—and I creep closer, curious if he’s still as attractive as I remember or if I’ve built him up in myhead. Unfortunately, even watching him from a distance all week isn’t enough to prepare me for seeing him again.
He’s unnaturally fucking hot.
