My stomach tightens, and I snap my gaze back toward him.He’s crossing a line!“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?”
“She was there for weeks, and no one had any answers while she was getting sicker and sicker. She was ninety-nine, and the doctors told you it was old age. Everyone accepted it… but you.” He scrubs his hand down over his beard as he looks toward me. “You went crazy. You checked her out of the hospital against doctors’ orders, and you drove her to fucking California. An eighteen-hour drive to see a doctor you believed knew better. Did he?” Clint snaps as though he’s proving a point.
I don’t answer because fuck these guys for showing up to talk me out of something I’m already doing.
“Get fucked, the both of you.” I turn back toward the lake, trying to calm myself before I do something I’ll regret. I’ve never fought either of these guys and I’d like to keep it that way, though right now, Clint is pushing it.
“I’m not trying to hurt you, man. I’m trying to say you have a habit of going too far, and it never ends well.”
A flash of my grandmother passing away in the passenger seat beside me comes to mind. We were on hour twelve of the drive, and though she was sick and barely talking, she asked me to play one of the songs she listened to from her childhood. I thought it was a good sign, that the open road was what she needed. Grandma had always enjoyed a road trip.
Instead, she listened to the song with the window down, then rested her hand on top of mine, thanked me for giving herone last memory, and closed her eyes. That was it. We never made it to California, and I’ve never known how to feel about that day.
Reed rests his hand on the back of my shoulder. I flinch, jaw tight, chest burning like I need to drive a hole through something, anything.
“It’s over, dude. Those clients are gone. Nathan won.” He readjusts in his seat as he says, “Are you going through with the ransom, ‘cause if you’re not, someone needs to know where the girl is.”
I scoff and stand from the edge of the patio where I’ve been sitting. “This fuck mademillionsof dollars teaching a fucking computer the field fixesItaught him, using the client listswebuilt.” I shake my head and nod back toward the house. “And now I find out he’s hurting that beautiful little creature in there? That he thinks he’s so big and fucking mighty that he can put his hands on her and get away with it? This isn’t a ransom anymore. This is a fucking murder.”
“A murder?” Reed shakes his head and draws in a deep breath. “Do you hear yourself? You’re doing it again. You’re getting all obsessive and over the top. You need to stop before you end up in jail. That girl won’t come visit you in prison. She’s too young for you. She’s got her whole damn life ahead of her.”
My fingers twitch and my cock pulses as the memory of that young pussy squeezing down on my hand haunts me. I agree she’s too young for me. I should stop myself for a plethora of reasons. Hell, I should’ve known better from the start. But now that I’ve tasted her, there’s no turning back.
I laugh under my breath and stare out at the horizon as the sun dips beyond the cragged, snow-capped mountain peaks, pink and orange streaking across the dark blue sky. I should be out here with Pepper, not with these fucks.
“I gotta take a piss,” Reed says, his tone ragged as though he’s depleted by my nonsense. The guy is exhausted by everything lately, and if anyone needs to get a grip, it’s him. He needs to get out more, do something besides sit inside that damn boat house and rot.
“We’re not here to piss you off,” Clint groans. “We love you, but maybe it’s time you had a reality check.”
I roll my eyes and nod slowly. “Well, thanks. I appreciate the concern.”
“I’m just saying,” Clint continues, straightening his shoulders, “you could finish painting this week. We’d be finished with the houses and then sell everything. Afterwards, maybe we all head over to your grandparents’ farm and work on that place next.”
“Man,” I shake my head, “what have you got against my grandparents today?”
“Nothing.” He grins. “They were some of the best people I’ve ever known, but you’re still living in that old farmhouse all alone. It’s gotta get lonely out there.”
“Is that what you think? That loneliness is driving me insane?”
“You’re not insane. You just get attached to things and you don’t want to let them go.” He shrugs. “I get it, but we could fix up the farmhouse and get you a nice nest egg out of it. I’m sure all that land is worth more than half of what we’ve lost out on with Nathan. Take the money, start over, make a new story before it’s too late.”
Reed pushes out the back door, the screen slamming shut behind him as he tucks his hands into his pockets. I don’t know what the hell is up with him, but he’s chewing his bottom lip like it’s covered in fucking steak sauce.
I shake my head and lean up from the perch I’ve been resting against. “I appreciate the help, guys, but I’m going to take this a day at a time.”
“Whatever you say, man.” Clint slaps me on the back once and steps away. “Just know that people are talking. You don’t have a lot of time before this blows up.”
I nod and head back into the house before I lose my shit, leaving the guys to take the long walk through the garden to get back to their trucks. Deep down, I know what they’re saying is right. I shouldn’t have taken Pepper, but now that I have, I should’ve stayed on the mission.
Instead, I stripped her down, fingered her, and made her call me daddy.
This is why I can’t feel things. When I feel things, I get really fucking fucked in the head, and all I want to do is protect, possess, and own.
It was shades of that with Grandma and Grandpa too. They were everything to me and I would’ve done anything to keep them safe.
This feeling with Pepper is similar, though much more intense, like nothing I’ve ever felt. And now that I’ve touched her, now that I’ve felt her soft skin and slid inside her warm, virgin body, tasted her cream, felt her squirming against me as she orgasms…there’s no going back.
It’s over.
