Page 16 of Finding Denver
Colt’s silence is permeated only by the sound of passing traffic.
“I won’t excuse what my brother did, Denver,” he says. “I’ve made it very clear to him that he fucked up. I know I can never fully put that across to you, and that’s fine, but I won’t let you label me as the kind of man who would do that. Because I’m not.” A strange kind of shame curls around my heart, one I try to banish with images of Ethan and Harley’s faces. “I love my brother, but I’m far from fucking proud of him right now.”
The tiredness is in my bones, and that’s the only explanation I’ll give for the tear that rolls down my cheek before I brush it away. “What do you want, Colt? I’m tired.”
“I called to check on you.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not, and it’d be fucking strange if you were.”
I squeeze my hand into a fist. “You don’t know me.”
“I’ve been following Spider’s activities for years. I know the kind of trauma he leaves behind, Denver. It’s like oil on your skin. It doesn’t come off first time.”
I climb out of bed and go to the en suite, splashing water on my face. My face is pink, cheeks flushed. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why have you been following Spider?”
He clears his throat. “I have a vested interest in him dying. Slowly.”
I scoop cool water into my mouth before speaking again. “Then I guess we have something in common.”
Colt’s laugh is filled with anything but amusement. “The enemy of my enemy.”
My eyes shine, a wave of emotion washing over me so quickly that I press the back of my hand to my mouth to hold back a sob. “I have to go.”
“Before you do … I heard what happened with the casino. Ronan and Finn McEwan have some land they’re not using, and it could be a good place to build another if you’re ever looking to branch out here.”
The words have me straightening. Colt’s behavior makes no sense and the suggestion is not an option. Ranger hates the McEwans. He always has. If I were to even entertain the idea of buying from them, he would be beyond furious.
I frown. “Why … why would you even tell me that? Why are you being so nice to me?”
His silence hurts more than his kindness. I don’t know how to handle either.
“Consider it an olive branch,” he says. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”
“Wait.” I scrunch up my nose, hating myself for the words that have danced on my tongue since I answered the phone. But despite the time I’ve spent delving deep into the role of Deluxe, despite the things I’ve done and the lies I’ve told, it’ll keep me up at night if I don’t say it. Because while Colt may be hiding his brother, and I’ll likely have to kill them both, he still wasn’t the one who killed Ethan or Harley. “Thank you for not walking away.”
I don’t know where I’d be if he’d left me. Dead, or … somewhere far worse.
“I would never walk away from that.”
For some reason, I believe him.
“I’m still going to kill you,” I remind him.
“Counting on it.”
Chapter 5
Colt
Idrop my keys onto the kitchen island, my back aching from hours of hole digging and a long-ass flight. Taf had begged me to hire extra guys to do the dirty work with Spider’s dead men, but I thought it could be like old times.
It wasn’t. Fuck old times. I’m not twenty anymore. I’m too old for digging graves and hefting fully grown men into them.
