I knew Cole had his reasons for not believing—and that’s okay, it’s his choice—I just can’t help but feel like this might have something to do with it.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
Cole’s icy voice startles me and the picture frame falls from my hand.
“I’m so sorry.” Not thinking, I drop to the floor and pick up a shard of broken glass. “Sh—shoot,” I say as the glass slices through my finger, remembering I’m still holding onto the Bible.
Cole leans down.
There’s a dark, menacing look in his eyes as he examines my finger. “I warned you you’d cut yourself on my fucked-up pieces, Bible thumper.” His teeth flash white and he points to the closet. “That’s where he did it. Wanna have a look? Satisfy your curiosity even more?”
I open my mouth to apologize again, but he doesn’t give me a chance. “Let yourself out when you’re finished snooping.”
With that, he storms out of the room.
A moment later, the front door slams shut.
Chapter 69
Cole
Rage pumps through my blood as I charge out the front door. I feel around for my keys, but remember I don’t have a fucking car.
Turning around, I make a run for the guesthouse.
Oakley answers on the second knock. The look in my eyes as I demand to borrow his car must tell him I am not fucking around, because he hands the keys over.
“What’s going—”
I’m off before he can finish his sentence.
She shouldn’t have gone in there.
She had no goddamn business poking around Liam’s things.
A flash of dread runs through me.
Now she’s going to ask questions about him.
Questions like—why did he take his own life?
What was up with that Bible passage?
I might be able to skirt around the truth with Jace for the sake of our family, but I can’t lie to her.
She sees right through me.
I slam on the gas so hard I burn rubber as I fly down the street.
I’m gonna lose her.
I grit my teeth as I make a sharp left.
I need to beat the shit out of something—someone—before I lose my goddamn mind.
Lose her.
Unfortunately for Stone, his big brother’s no longer around to take the heat.
A morbid laugh flies out of me as I pull around to the back of Sawyer’s job and cut the engine. My big bro isn’t here either.
I was planning to wait until his shift was over, but I don’t have to, because I spot him taking some garbage to the back dumpster.
While Bianca chases after him, screaming her head off.
I have no idea what that’s about, but I’m already fired up, so I hop out of the car.
“Yo, DaSilva.”
It’s the only warning he gets before I bash his face in with my fist.
Chapter 70
Sawyer
“I don’t know what to do,” Bianca yells. “Jace won’t answer his phone and I don’t have Dylan’s number.”
Jesus. I’ve never heard her so terrified.
“Okay, calm down. What’s going on?” I grab my purse and walk down the Covington’s stairs. “Better yet, tell me where you are. I’ll come get you.”
There’s a moment of hesitation before she says, “I’m at Cluck You.”
“Why—”
“It’s not important. What’s important is that Cole is currently beating Stone to a bloody pulp. It’s bad, Sawyer. So fucking bad.”
My heart jumps to my throat as she screams, “Get off him, Cole. You’re gonna kill him.”
I sprint to my van. “I’m on my way.”
I never should have gone inside Liam’s room.
I honestly didn’t think it would set him off this much.
I just wanted to know something.
Because he tells me nothing.
“Cole, please!” Bianca cries out. “Sawyer, I don’t kno—”
“Hit him,” I yell. “Hit him with something. Now. It will make him stop.”
Money doesn’t always guarantee you’ll get out of a murder charge and I can’t lose him.
I hear a loud bang on the other line. “I threw a brick at his head.”
I almost veer off the road. “Jesus, Bianca—”
“Don’t worry, I missed. It hit the side of the dumpster. But it broke up the fight and—shit. What are you doing now, you maniac?”
“What happened?”
“Cole’s taking off.”
“Taking off? How? He doesn’t have a car.”
“He’s driving Oakley’s car.”
Fuck a duck. I thought he took an Uber.
“Okay, just…call an ambulance for Stone.”
“Are you kidding—”
“Just do it, Bianca. He’s probably seriously hurt.”
I hang up before she can protest and dial Oakley.
“Hey—”
“Does your car have some kind of GPS tracker thing?”
Fuck if I know what it’s actually called. My van is old as dirt.
“I figured you and Cole might be fighting, but I don’t—”
“Cole is fighting Stone, Oakley. At least he was before he took off again. Do you have a location tracker or not? OnStar? Anything?”
“Yeah.”
I suck in a breath. “Good—”
“But I had Jace disable it. I didn’t want my pop’s tracking me.”
Of fucking course it’s disabled. Jesus, take the wheel.
“Do me a favor and call Jace. See if he picks up for you.”
“If he does, do you want me to tell him Cole beat up Stone again—”
“No. I want you to ask if he knows where Cole would go when he’s upse—” It hits me so hard I feel like I just got hit in the head with a brick.
“On second thought, I figured it out. Gotta go.” Another thought occurs to me. “Call your dad. Bianca said Cole beat Stone up pretty bad—”
“Why was Bianca there?”
“I have no idea. And right now, I honestly don’t give a fuck. The only thing I care about is getting to Cole.”
And there’s only one place he’d be right now.
Chapter 71
Cole
“Are you fucking happy now, Liam?” I scream at the night sky. “Is this what you wanted?”
The pain is so deep it cuts like a thousand knives stabbing me at once.
So crippling, every breath feels like it might be my last.
Karma.
I took his life…so it’s only fair he destroys mine.
Fillet me open and expose me for the ruthless asshole I really am.
“Cole,” Sawyer calls out before she comes into view. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”
I look up at her. The way the moon shines behind her head makes her look like an angel missing a wing.
Because I destroyed it.
I destroy everything.