in my veins where warm blood should have flowed. “You’re fucked if you think I’m bringing a kid into this world knowing what you have planned for them.” And if I thought there was a doctor out there who wouldn’t turn me away, I would have had a vasectomy already.
“Not all of them. Just your sons.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” My father waved his hand dismissively, the discussion over for now. “Thanks to that little fool you call a friend and her spineless father, I’m back at square one. Consider this a momentary reprieve.” With that, he left me alone, his grim-faced security detail following him out the front doors.
Good fucking riddance. I said a silent prayer that he was gone for longer than a few days this time.
It had been hard enough looking Bee in the eye knowing that my father had made Elliot Montgomery an offer he couldn’t refuse. Rather than a wife to make me whole, all my father required her to be was a fucking broodmare for me to mount. By some miracle, none of my friends had figured it out yet, but it was only a matter of time. Luckily, Elliot had got himself arrested before my father could fork over the money. If he had, Bee would never be safe, and what was worse, Jamie would die trying. Bee might have believed her father to be a monster, but she’d yet to look pure evil in the eye.
My phone rang, snatching me from my thoughts. Reading Tyra’s name on the screen, I paused then pressed one of the buttons on the side, silencing the call before heading upstairs.
I’d meant it when I told her she deserved better.
“I HONESTLY CAN’T DECIDE WHO’S the bigger asshole—Vaughn or that Selena bitch.”
I’d just finished telling Lou about Selena’s visit and waking up alone this morning. Oh, and the fact that it’s been hours and Vaughn still hadn’t returned my call. Not wanting to be alone with my thoughts, I’d called up Lou, who immediately invited me over.
I could have used one of Four’s hugs right about now, but she already had her hands full with Ever. I was almost sorry that I’d been there that day. I couldn’t imagine going through yesterday’s drama in front of an audience as Ever had. He might not care on principle what anyone thought of him, but it had still been a pretty harsh blow.
I watched Lou pace the length of the living room, a troubled frown marring her pretty face. “Where’s Wren?”
She paused, her nostrils flaring and lip curling. “Who the hell knows anymore? Who the hell cares?”
“I think you do,” I teased her. She would have done the same to me because Lou was rarely merciful. She made a sound of denial and turned away, but not before I saw the sadness and worry in her eyes. “He loves you. You know that, right?” He even adored the brat. Wren had been dedicated to Lou’s well-being long before they fell in love, and that determination had only intensified.
“I did.”
“Lou…”
“I thought maybe I was enough for him, but he’s gone more than he’s here, and he’s so secretive. He never talks to me anymore.” Staring out the window with her arms wrapped protectively around her body, she whispered, “I think he misses it.”
“Misses what?”
There was a heavy beat of silence before she finally answered. “Exiled.”
I struggled to find the words to say. While I knew all about their hair-raising story, I couldn’t claim to know Wren enough to be sure of anything beyond the obvious. He fucking lived for Lou. He’d die for her, too. If he was keeping secrets, I was sure he had a good reason. But how the hell do I convince someone who’d been his best friend and knew him better than anyone?
The simplest part of the problem was that Lou was spoiled, and Wren had only himself to blame. For years, he’d catered to her every whim and desire while somehow keeping her on a leash. And now, when what she wanted most of all was for Wren to give up his old life, he struggled for the first time to give her what she needed.
Or maybe not the first time.
No one had forgotten Lou’s shameless seduction of Wren until he finally cracked and crossed the line he’d drawn himself. I doubt either one of them had regretted it for a single moment, not even when she found out that he’d