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I loved her, and she had always been there for me when I really needed a mom, but we had our moments. She was always about the public image and how we had to be happy and strong in front of others. But when we were alone, she was there, she would let me cry and let me vent. But she wouldn’t do that right now.
She had no idea what was really going on, and our arguments had grown more common since she only had eyes for the wedding that she was arranging. I think somewhere along the way she’d forgotten that real people were involved, especially her daughter.
Sighing heavily, I grabbed a couple bottles of beer from the fridge and snuck out the backdoor. I had no clue as to where Patrick and his father had disappeared to, so I needed to be careful that I didn’t bump into them. The last thing I wanted while outside in the dark, alone.
It didn’t take me long until I crept into the boathouse by the lake. It would always be the boathouse to me regardless of my mother’s change in name to the glasshouse.
I kept the lights off and moved upstairs to the balcony above the boat. It had been made into a living room and was a quiet area away from the main house.
Except as I moved toward the window I saw shadows along the small dock leading out into the water, as though someone was there. I quickly moved away to stand behind the curtain and peered through the gap at the side. I didn’t think that I would be seen but I was curious as to who was out there.
Patrick and his father came to mind as they’d disappeared not long before I’d made my own escape.
I shook my head. It probably wouldn’t be them; perhaps a couple of guests who’d wandered away from the party for some time alone.
Smiling, and not wanting to be a voyeur, I came away from the window and sat on the sofa.
Unable to settle with worry for Stryker in my mind, and wondering when I was going to be able to stop the farce of a wedding, I snapped the cap on one of the beers and took a long drink, hoping it would help me to relax.
I quickly drained one bottle and lay down on the sofa. I’d stay here for a while.
Chapter 14
HE SHOULDN’T BE HAPPY that the Irishman had been pissed over that night’s fight, but he found that he was. The man had brought it on himself.
After his meeting with the Irishman, he’d stayed outside in the dark. The silence of the night by the lake, and his lover by his side, calmed his racing heart with what he was about to do.
Growing up, he never thought he would ever betray his family, but he couldn’t let it go on any longer. He hated being part of it. As long as his mother and lover were protected, then anything else didn’t matter.
“Patrick?” His lover pressed a hand to his lower back, and moved in close to his side.
“I’m okay.” He turned to face his lover. “Are you?”
His lover swallowed and met his gaze. “I’m worried about you, constantly… This thing you’re about to do is dangerous if the Irishman finds out.”
Their fingers intertwined and he briefly leaned in to kiss his lover. “I don’t plan for him to find out.”
The low hum of a boat approached and had them stepping apart.
He turned to his lover, “No matter what happens, what I have to do, to end him, I need you to know that I love you.” He audibly swallowed, having never said those words to another soul, other than his mother, before.
His lover looked choked with emotion. “I love you, too. I always have.”
Silence followed as they watched the men who he planned to help bring the Irishman to justice, slowly approach.
Chapter 15 ~ Stryker
STANDING IN THE CENTER of the cage while the referee held my arm in the air as tonight’s winner, I felt nothing.
The fight hadn’t only changed venue, but I’d been told the cage would be dropped. That had given me a few hours to prepare for the kind of fight that had then been expected of me. Before I’d met Evie those fights never bothered me, but now…now I hated them.
As I looked out at the crowd cheering at my victory, all I could think about was how much money had they’d made because of me.
That’s all I was to them—money.
Looking around the arena now, I stared into a pair of eyes that I hadn’t seen in ten years. I was too stunned to move, and by the time I’d snapped out of my shock, he was gone. I tugged my wrist free and looked, searched, but he really was gone—if he’d been there at all.
The cage slowly started to move upwards, and the minute it cleared the ground, Carter got in my face. “Tell me?” He turned to look out at the crowd, the same direction that had held my gaze.
