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“Maybe instead of looking into my problems, you should be fixing what’s wrong with you and Mom. Fuck. Maybe actually talk about a separation or divorce, but you can’t keep going on like you are. It’s not healthy for any of us.”

“Eli—”

I stand. “I have a date tonight with a girl who I’ll never treat the way you and Mom behave toward each other. Either forgive her for sleeping with William Foster or get a divorce. Stop acting like children fighting over the same toy. I’m fucking over it.”

I leave the office as my father watches me with concerned eyes. But I’m done with this bullshit. That’s not what love is. I know that now. It’s time they grew up and realized it too.

CHAPTER 6

The Landmine

Caden

“Are you sure he’s home?” Luke asks. His foot taps on the floorboard impatiently.

We’re cutting this shit close, but it needs to happen. Then we need to get changed and back for our date.

Dating. Something I never thought about before Harper. Couldn’t even imagine being with just one woman. Now I can’t see any future without her in it.

“Yeah,” I say and turn down an alleyway before parking. “Double-checked with Cook.”

Jack’s had Mike Cook tracking Tanner Lewis for a while now.

Tanner’s is the last car we need to tag. Zach’s was locked up in his garage, but I picked the lock for us to get to it. We aren’t leaving anything to chance tonight. Not when it’s Harper at risk.

We also didn’t want to give them the chance to find and remove the tracker before today. We both slip out of my car and quietly shut the doors. Zach might be barred from going to the dance, but Tanner Lewis will be there tonight. We know he has a date.

He’s not done with us. Not done with me.

Which means I want to know where the fucker is at all times.

Our footsteps are quiet as we head toward the rear of Tanner’s house. All the windows are shut and three cars are parked in the driveway. We found out a lot about Tanner so we could take him down. Including the layout of his house and the surrounding neighborhood.

We never tied him naked to a flagpole like Grant Perkins—that shit was funny—but we needed to be aware of every possibility. And Mia was helpful for some of that.

It’s probably not a coincidence that Zach and Tanner are working together. Mia, Tanner’s sister, and Olivia Miller, Zach’s obsession, were best friends. We don’t know how much Mia talked to Tanner about shit. But given that his whole reason for coming after my sister in the first place was because his sister wanted to fuck us makes me believe that she shares with him enough.

“You okay?” Luke whispers as we wait next to the garage for a few minutes just to survey the area. He’s asking because he cares. They all do.

I nod, but Luke knows I’m not all right. I know how hard they worked to keep Tanner out of my sight. To prevent me from going apeshit on his ass. I appreciate it, but now I have even more reasons to take him out completely.

Unfortunately, he’s not some mindless simpleton I can scare off. And beating him to a pulp would only result in my parents having to come home to bail me out of jail. Not something I want to happen.

I don’t like that Tanner’s targeting Harper or that he’s targeting Ava. Fuck. I run a hand through my hair and nod toward the car. We need to do this and get out of here before I do something stupid. What he’s already done is enough for me to want to take him off the map.

I crouch and run over to the end of Tanner’s BMW. Luke watches the house to make sure no one comes out the back door. Before I can get low enough to slip the tracker into place, brakes squeal in the front of the house, followed by the slam of a car door.

A pounding on the front door precedes a female voice yelling, “Tanner Lewis, get the fuck out here.”

Ava!

Fuck. My mission is forgotten as I rise and creep along the side of the house. Luke grabs my arm to hold me back, but I’m just going to watch. I trust my sister. What she went through because of Tanner Lewis, no one should have gone through.

But she’s stronger for it. I’m not surprised she hasn’t told me what’s been going on, but the guys following her keep Luke informed. Tanner texts Ava almost every day. When she blocked his number, he got a burner to continue to harass her.

The guys are keeping notes so if we want to go to the police to file a restraining order we can. There just hasn’t been any time, and we’d need a parent to help with that.

The door opens and Tanner steps out into Ava’s space. She glares up at him as she takes a protective step back.