Sienna is looking at Brett, her eyes pleading.
“It’s okay, baby,” he says.
Baby? Brett called Sienna “baby?”
What the hell happened while I was gone for one damned day?
“For the love of God…” Emily huffs and grabs June by the arm, nearly dislodging her towel. “Come on.”
“Wait a minute?—”
“I said come on.” She tugs June toward the back and looks over her shoulder. “You too, Sienna.”
Sienna looks once more at Brett, and he nods to her. She gives him a weak smile and follows Emily and June.
I’ve spent years keeping everything in balance. Holding my cards close, making sure the right people knew just enough while the truth stayed buried. Jake found his way, and I sent him cash when he needed it.
It worked. Jake was safe. He worked odd jobs and slept in bunkhouses until he turned eighteen. Then he legally changed his name to Michael Maddox and bought a one-way ticket to Florida.
It was a good plan. It worked. Eventually, Jake healed from the loss of Marnie, dealt with what he’d done.
Now, it’s all coming apart.
“Start talking,” Brett says through gritted teeth.
I open the front door. “Let’s take a walk.”
Brett pushes me out of the way and walks through the door. I nod to Jake, and we follow him.
Jake doesn’t know how Brett felt about him. Hell, none of us knew.
And I haven’t told him.
I know only that he’s been in a relationship with his neighbor Felicity for the past year. He says he loves her, but that he’s never really loved anyone the way he loved Marnie.
I follow Brett to the concrete path that leads to the beach. He turns, ready to yell at me again until he moves his gaze to Jake.
“Fuck it,” he says. “Fuck it all.” He grabs Jake into a bear hug.
And I watch. I watch as Jake hugs him back.
Then the tears begin to fall.
But they’re not Brett’s
They’re Jake’s.
EPISODE 195
NEW KID IN TOWN
Sienna
Seriously? Emily, June, and I were just dismissed? By River?
And Emily went for it?
That doesn’t seem anything like the woman who had a threesome with Zion and me mere days ago. That Emily would have stood her ground, told River where to get off.
