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I fumbled with the brush and it landed with a thud on the cobblestones. Shit, he was seriously pissed off and it was directed at me. “Ream?”
“That should be a statement, not a question, Kat.” God, he was in a foul mood. Deck usually had a smidgen of sympathy in him, and yet he had none for me. Well, I didn’t want his pity anyway. I just wanted him to get lost. “Now drop the attitude. I have forty-eight hours to get back to my men.”
“Then I guess you better stop talking to me and go do whatever Georgie called you here for.” Yeah, I knew Deck wouldn’t have come back just for Ream’s sake; he came back because Georgie asked him to.
Deck didn’t move and from the corner of my eye. I cautiously watched him. I knew he killed people, and I knew he could do it easily without a second thought at ending a life.
“Ever seen your best friend blown up right in front of you?” The brush dropped from my hand. “It’s not fuckin’ pretty. Being too far away to do anything. Having to run for cover instead of running toward your friend to see if there is even the slightest possibility of saving him. But you can’t because bullets are like sideways rain and you have seven other men who need you.” I steadied my hands on Clifford, and the horse must have felt my nervousness because he started shifting his weight. “Then when you do manage to go back, his body is unrecognizable. Ashes. Not even dog tags to take back to his family.” I looked up at him, fingers curled into Clifford’s mane. I knew who he was talking about—Riot, Georgie’s brother and his best friend. He watched me, his gaze unwavering.
“Why? Why are you telling me this?” I tried to hold back, but my throat was tight and I trembled at the thought of that happening. Of watching your friend blow up right in front of you and unable to stop it. Jesus, my shit seemed so trivial now.
“Because I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. I even heard the ding when the grenade hit the metal at the back of the Jeep he was in. I watched it explode. I thought I saw my friend burn to a crisp.”
I sniffled and jerked as his words resonated in me.
He knew I heard right and he nodded. “Yes, I thought. It happened in front of my eyes and yet I was wrong.”
I choked, eyes widening. “What?”
“And now you’re wrong.”
Oh god.
“You think you saw something, it was real to your eyes, but sometimes what you see isn’t always the truth.”
I swallowed. “Is … is Riot alive?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know that yet. But he didn’t die in that explosion.”
Oh Georgie. Hope. After all these years there was hope that her brother was out there somewhere. That was squashed when Deck said, “Probably dead by now, but I’m working on finding out. Do you get what I’m telling you, Kat?”
I nodded. That seeing Ream in bed with another man and woman may not be what I really saw. That maybe … maybe there was a chance I missed seeing the truth.
“I know Ream. Been around him since Crisis’ parents took him in. Ten years ago to be exact. Know his story too. He doesn’t know I know, but I always make it my business to know everyone’s story. Even yours.”
I felt the color drain from my face.
“Not too hard to figure out when you have two thousand dollars draining from your trust fund every month to a drug company. A few phone calls later and I have your neurologist’s name.”
“Deck—”
He shook his head. “Not my business. Not why I’m here. I’m here because Ream’s past is dark and fucked up. He tell you?”
The churning in my stomach violently shifted as Deck’s words ripped through me like a shredder as I thought about what Ream told me. “That he had sex for money?”
Deck’s brows rose. “That’s all he told you?”
“Yeah, Deck. I just saw him with another man and woman. I wasn’t into listening much.”
“You saw.” It was a statement.
How could I be wrong though? Crisis saw it too. There was nothing clearer than seeing Ream’s butterfly tattoo on his arm, the tat on his back. It was him. He admitted it was him.
“Ream would never cheat on you.”
“I saw him. A guy was naked with him. He was naked and …” My voice heightened as the flash of scene repeated and I felt ill.
“Heard that from Georgie. Doubt it’s the truth.”
Deck pushed away from the stall and stalked toward me. Clifford looked at Deck, his lips wobbling and ready to nibble on him. Then he snorted and lowered his head. Smart horse.
Deck was really unnerving. I mean Ream and Logan were too, but Deck surpassed them by far. It was like he didn’t give a shit whether he hurt your feelings or if you died at his feet. He was steady and calm and subtle and that was damn terrifying.
“He’s been gone three weeks.” Another statement. “And I suspect you know where he is.”
“Why would I …” I shut my mouth because Deck tensed and then I nodded. “Maybe.”
“Where?”
“You seem to know everything else, why don’t—”
“Don’t have time for this shit, Kat!”
I looked up at him. “I can’t say.” His scowl deepened and I hurried. “When we drove there it was dark and when we left I just remember Stephenson Road was the cut off of Hwy 11. It was about a two and a half hour drive.” I thought of the twenty minutes we’d pulled over to have sex and my stomach churned with a combination of everything. “Maybe more like two hours.”
His expression never faltered as he continued, “Let’s go.”
“What? I can’t.” I couldn’t. I felt sick to my stomach at the mere thought of seeing Ream. I had nothing left to give him.
“You love him?”
Now that was a surprising question coming from Deck. I didn’t think he would even know about the emotion love. “He cheated on me.”
