AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His eyes told me everything I needed to know. He’d forgiven me for my absences, for my choices because he knew I wouldn’t have done them if it weren’t for the right reasons. I saw the resignation on his face.
No words were needed.
He knew Jolie wasn’t just a fuck. He knew from my reaction that she was my woman. And even though he was surprised, he was happy for me.
The wind had picked up, the sun now gone, casting an odd darkness over the beach. Sand was blowing all over us, the gun now buried in sand.
It was fucked. We both knew it. He grabbed it out of the sand and threw it as far as he could into the water so a kid didn’t stumble across it.
Together, we headed back to the cafe to meet up with Bennett. Neither of us spoke but we didn’t need to.
“What in the fuck?” I heard Gunnar swear. I traced where he was looking to see him staring at a figure in black heading our way. He was followed by the men who followed him in everything.
Fuck.
Tyler.
He must have seen Jolie back and guessed I had hurt her. Fuck. We didn’t need this right now.
I didn’t want to battle it out with him just yet, I needed to find out what my father was up to so I could overthrow him. But Tyler did have a knack for turning up when I didn’t need him to.
With nowhere to hide now, and in the middle of a sandstorm, I knew we’d have to meet him face to face.
“Go, Gunnar, I’ll handle this.”
“No way,” he shot back. “He’ll kill you.”
I had no doubt that he would try to. He’d wanted to do it for years. Verona was on the brink of ruin, and justice was going unanswered. Both Edward and my father were planning their own takeover. It was dangerous being back here, but I refused to let Verona go.
“Just go, Gun. Get your dad.”
He didn’t want to leave, but I could see him edging away. I knew Tyler wouldn’t hurt him. He and Tyler were friends once too. Tyler was within earshot now and I stood still, waiting for what he was about to deliver.
“You should have stayed gone,” he yelled over the howl of the wind. Sand whipped our faces but we didn’t wince, we didn’t move, we stayed put. His men were copping it hard behind him and struggled to stay upright.
“This is my city, why would I do that?” I yelled back.
“Like hell it is,” he said, pulling his gun free and aiming it at me. His men both yelled at him not to do it, and to flee. I stayed where I was, wondering if he had what it took to use it on me. He looked down at it, and I realized then and there that he had tried to use it but the sand must have prevented the trigger from firing.
He ditched the gun in the sand and pulled a blade from his leg holster. It was a custom blade, the kind you see in street gangs in the other parts of the world.
“Do your worst,” I said. “Believe me, Tyler, if you don’t do a good job, I’ll come for you and your family.”
Tyler launched at me but I ducked the swipe of the blade and landed a punch in his gut. He hunched over, trying to breathe as I stepped to the side. His men stayed back, knowing that I would have them on their asses in no time. This was always going to come down to me and him.
Tyler got back up, his eyes even angrier than they had been before. “You tried to defile my cousin, you asshole.”
“I defiled your sister first,” I shot back. “Seems I’m irresistible to Caldwell women.”
He ran at me, trying to crash tackle me to the ground but I moved out of the way. He tumbled but righted himself before he fell into the sand. The rain began to pour down over us, and the dark sky seemed to get darker. I could barely see him before me until I heard him grunt and launch at me, I fell back with him on top of me. I blocked his arm, catching his wrist in my hand as I held back his stabbing.
He grunted as he tried to get my hand off his wrist, landing blow after blow on my face. I kicked my leg out and rolled us so I was dominating him, holding him down into the wet sand. I slammed his wrist against a piece of driftwood nearby and he let go of the blade. It fell into the sand as he rained blow after blow into my chest. I shoved him down, picking up the piece of driftwood and slamming it across his face. He stilled for a moment and I wondered if I had killed the fucker.
But he simply rolled over as I got to my feet and jumped up with his blade in his hand again.
Oh shit.
The skies brightened slightly, enough for him to see where I was, and where to aim to seriously wound me.
