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I grinned up at him, and we shared a smile. He was just so freaking beautiful and likeable and… And too perfect to be true.
Hayden suddenly stopped talking and pointed between me and Ezra. “What the hell? What was that?”
I turned to look behind me, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Ezra was similarly glancing around before he blinked at Hayden. “What was what?”
“You two,” Hayden said, stepping toward us, his eyes narrowed with warning. “What was that look you shared? Are you two dating? I didn’t even know you knew each other.” He zipped a glare to Brick. “Are they dating?”
Brick snorted. “No.”
Hayden’s eyes grew big and worried. “Holy shit. They are?”
“No.” Brick frowned. “I just told you they weren’t.”
“And I just told you, I can tell when you lie, you idiot.” Hayden whirled to us, his frown as frosty as ever. “Are you insane? You realize how dangerous this is, don’t you?” His gaze pinned me with accusation. “Lana wants him for herself. She won’t let you get away with trying to take him.”
“Hey, can we stop talking about me like I’m some kind of possession?” Ezra growled.
“See, I told you she had the hots for you,” I taunted. “Even Hayden sees it.”
“Of course I can see it,” Hayden roared. “Everyone can see it.”
“I don’t see it,” Ezra muttered under his breath.
Hayden pointed a finger at him threatening. “This thing with you and Kaitlynn stops right now.”
Ezra lifted his eyebrows. “Did you just give me an order, Carmichael?”
“If you insist on putting my stepsister in such a dangerous position, then hell yes, I am.”
I blinked at Hayden, not quite able to believe what I was hearing. But, oh my God. Was he… Was Hayden trying to protect me?
No. He didn’t care that much about me. He didn’t care at all.
Did he?
I was suddenly confused, because he was sure acting like he cared about my safety.
“Why does everyone seem so convinced a relationship between Kaitlynn and me would spark the wrath of Lana? Even if it did upset her, what the hell can she really do to us?”
Chuckling out a low, knowing laugh, Hayden only shook his head and sighed. Narrowing his gaze on Ezra, he said, “Let me give you a little rundown on Lana Price-Carmichael-Judge and her past relationships with men.” He ticked up one finger. “First guy she ever fell in love with didn’t want her back, so what did she do to him? She married his father, ruined the relationship between the two, and made it so the son was completely cut out of his father’s life… And will. Which brings us to the father, also known as husband number one.”
The second finger went up as he glanced at Brick before turning back to me and Ezra. “What happened to him? Well, he’s dead.”
I gulped at Hayden’s clinical, monotone voice since he spoke of his own dad. I’d heard about the existence of Hayden and Brick’s older half-brother on their dad’s side, but I’d never heard that story before. It made a strange dread flare in my stomach, so much so that I actually jumped when he flipped up the third finger.
“The next guy she got involved with ended up being married already, but we can’t ask him how his relationship with Lana ended because both he and his wife are still missing… Twenty years later. So Lana moved on to husband number two.” His eyes were hard as they slid to me. “And we all know what happened there, don’t we?”
His voice was so quiet and ominous I shivered. For a moment, I swear he was suggesting it was Lana’s fault my father was no longer alive. I even felt the need to shake my head and murmur, “That was a heart attack.”
Wasn’t it?
Hayden just stared at me, making dread pool in my stomach. Then he glanced away, settling his gaze on Ezra. “Doesn’t matter,” he murmured. “Once Lana fixes her attention on a man, he either ends up dead, destroyed, or missing.” His lips quirked smugly. “Where do you think you’ll land, Nash?”
Instead of growing in
timidated, Ezra merely narrowed his eyes right back. “I guess I’ll have to create an option four: none of the above.”
