Page 70 of Beneath the Midnight Sky
I glanced over my shoulder as Theo strolled into the barn.
“How is she?” he asked.
“She’s okay. Banged up and bruised. Couple of broken ribs and a concussion we have to keep an eye on. Ivy and Payton areat the house with her now,” I told him. I knew I should’ve done a better job of keeping my brothers in the loop on how Aspen was doing. They’d grown to really care about her over the last couple of weeks together, but I’d been in survival mode since the moment I laid eyes on her in that dingy motel room with her piece of shit ex.
“Good. His truck is in the ravine on the way out of town. They won’t find it for a while. Wyatt cleaned up anything that needed cleaning. Did you talk to the cops?”
I nodded. “Yup. Told them we broke in when we’d spotted his truck, and he took off running. Got in his truck, and I wasn’t worried about him until I knew my girl was safe.” I smirked, knowing that old Sheriff Levi wasn’t believing a word I’d said. He’d been friends with my dad growing up, so I wasn’t worried about him trying to dive too deep into the truth of it all. Aspen’s x-rays said anything I may not have been clear enough on.
My accident photos from my truck backed it up even more—as if we needed any more evidence to prove this fucker was a dead man walking. When Wyatt and Theo had gotten there, they’d called the police over immediately, telling them briefly what they knew. They were on their way out and saw their brother's truck smashed to bits on the road. When they’d called Oliver and me, we realized Aspen was taken by her psycho stalker ex-boyfriend. Thankfully, herotherstalker was better at his job.
The fucker had not only rear-ended my truck, he’d also rammed into the side at least three times. I was shocked his truck was even drivable as many times as he’d rammed her. But I didn’t care about the truck. I was just happy my girl was okay. My brothers had brought him out here and watched over him until I could get Aspen back home and safe.
Which brought us here—to the present.
I walked over and picked up a dirty bucket of water we’d used to clean up some of the horse stalls earlier and threw the water on our guest of honor. He let out a half screech, half what the fuck at us, and I chuckled.
“Dumb fucker,” Theo muttered under his breath. “Do you want me to call the rest of the guys in, too?”
I smirked and pulled out my phone.
Me: Going to have to put down the runt after all. He isn’t going to make it through the night.
“There. Alert sent,” I said, my eyes not leaving the man of the hour. His eyes were open, and he was panting now, looking down slightly at me. We didn’t have to hoist him too high because he wasn’t a very tall guy. He had barely an inch on my angel. I wasn’t sure why, but this made me hate him even more.
“Hello, fucker,” I said with a smile.
He glared at me, his mouth drawn in a hard line.
“That’s fine. You don’t have to speak if you don’t want to. The outcome will be the same either way,” I said. I walked over to the side of the barn and pulled out a branding iron. “Do you know what outcome that is?”
“Fuck you,” he mumbled.
“Oh, no thanks, you’re not really my type. You see, I prefer them brunette, curvy, and a bit spicy. I’m sure you know what I mean, right?”
He scoffed. “Nope. Couldn’t wait to sleep around on her, so I can’t relate.”
I rolled my eyes. I knew he was trying to goad me, and it wouldn’t work. Not with this topic at least.
“You drove over ten hours just to stalk her and try to kidnap her, so don’t think you’re fooling anyone there, bud,” Theo said from behind me. I glanced back at him, and he was standingcloser to the barn door, his legs wide and his arms crossed over his chest as if he was ready for a fight to break out at any moment.
Looking back at Samuel, I noticed he hadn’t spoken, but his eyes said it all.
“You’re angry.” I chuckled. “Now, that I get. I’m angry, too. Ya see, I’ve never been much on the commitment train. Childhood trauma. I’m sure you understand. But the moment I saw Aspen? I was hooked. The way she smiled and laughed. How she stood out in a bar full of people like the sun was shining on her in the middle of the night. She was—no, sheismagic. Pure and simple. So when my brothers did some digging and found out some asshole from her past had been dead set on keeping her hidden—caged, hurt—you can imagine the kind of anger that brought out in me. Right, Samuel?”
He stared down at me, his mouth still in that hard line. Made me want to gut him like a pig. Instead, I let out a long breath through my nose. I could feel my twin next to me before he spoke.
“Not much of a talker, huh?” Wyatt said.
“Nah, doesn’t seem like it,” I replied.
“Fuck, there’s two of you? Is that why she chose you? Fucking you both? Makes sense for a fucking whore,” Samuel mumbled. I’m not sure if we were supposed to hear him or not, but it was pretty clear what he was saying.
I looked at Wyatt. “Damn, you’re fucking my girl, too?”
Wyatt chuckled. “Nah, I have a different gal in mind at the moment. Spicy like Aspen, though. I think they’d get along well.”
I nodded. “Makes sense. Can’t wait to meet her.”
