Blacklisted (Loveless, Texas #3) - Jay Crownover Page 0,63
hurt to their loved ones in a shallow grave with no questions asked, could it?
Case groaned like he was reading my mind. “Nothing illegal. We want you to stick even closer to Presley. Make it obvious you’re in some kind of relationship with her. Be loud about it. Make sure there is no mistake that the two of you have something going on. Even better if you can make it seem like she’s head over heels in love with you.” He lifted a hand and scratched at the salt-and-pepper stubble on his chin. “A few days ago Presley told Kody that Ashby seems to be particularly triggered by the men in Presley’s life. She’s previously gone out of her way to make sure any relationship Presley tries to start or gets involved in goes up in flames. Hill and I talked it over, and we agree that if you become a constant in Presley’s life, it’s the best chance we have to draw Ashby out into the open. Plus, if you stick close to her, there’s less chance of something like what happened at the bar again.”
Hill chimed in. “Presley has been dangling herself out there as bait from the start and it hasn’t done any good. Ashby wants to hurt her, to punish her. When she doesn’t have something Ashby wants, she serves no purpose. If Presley has you, boom! Ashby suddenly has a reason to resume her plans.”
“How do you explain the trucker trying to take her out of the bar, then?” I understood where they were going with this whole plan, but the recent abduction attempt didn’t make much sense within that framework.
“I think it was a power move. A reminder she’s still here and she’s watching. It was also a really great way to throw the family into chaos.” Case snatched his hat off his head and plowed a frustrated hand through his hair. “It scared the piss out of Presley, but it made Kody, Aspen, and Della feel like they failed her. It also pissed me and Crew off and brought Hill back home. She’s playing with all of us, and Presley is right in the center of the gameboard. There are too many variables. She could go after one of us, one of the family, but there are more of us and the impact is less than if Presley’s attached to one specific person. Ashby left Presley’s mother alone for the most part until Presley got the promotion over her. But, historically, she’s always intervened with her love interests. Our best bet to end this is for Presley to be blatantly and over the top in love with someone. And the only believable ‘someone’ at the moment is you.”
I turned his words over in my head, the dots connecting slowly but surely. “I’ve been hanging around Presley a lot lately. Nothing unusual has happened.” I’d already made my interest obvious, which was why Case had warned me away.
“I think the game changer is making it clear Presley is into you. According to Kody, she’s mostly indifferent to the men who are interested in her, but she seems to like you more than just a little bit.” Case frowned even harder and muttered, “God only knows why.”
I snorted and shifted my gaze between the two men. “So you want me to be the bait instead of her? And you want me to manipulate her feelings toward me for her own good?” I shook my head and clicked my tongue. “You both realize if she finds out about this, if any of the women in your lives find out, we’re all dead men, right?”
Hill tossed his hands up in frustration. He had to know Kody would castrate him if any of this came to light. “What choice do we have, Caldwell? How long is this going to drag on? How long are we supposed to be walking on eggshells waiting for this unhinged woman to hurt someone we love? We have to do something, and this is the best idea we’ve got.” He grunted and looked irritated as hell. “It’s not like you don’t already have something started with the doctor anyway. You might not be formally dating now, but you’re doing something. We aren’t suggesting you pretend to like her, because we wouldn’t want to do that to her or you. We’re just saying, show the world and Ashby just how much you like her, and more importantly, how much she likes you.”
I bit off