Southern Secrets (Southern #7) - Natasha Madison Page 0,85

everything would be okay." He puts out his hands.

"It was," Beau says, shaking his head.

"Does this look like everything is okay?" My grandfather takes off his cowboy hat and holds it in one hand as he holds both hands out at his sides. "Two ambulances. Five police cars."

"It was a precaution," Ethan says. "We had it under control."

"Wait, what?" I say, stepping away from Asher but not far enough that I can’t feel him next to me. "What am I missing?" I look around at all the men, none of them looking directly at me. "What is going on?"

"I’m out," Quinn says. "My phone is blowing up."

"Before we tell you." My father looks at me. "We did it to protect you."

Ethan laughs at him and puts his hand on his shoulder. "Dad, you’ve been using that line forever." He shakes his head. "Also, it never works."

"If you guys don’t mind," Asher says, "I’d like to tell her myself. Plus, you have some paperwork to do." He points at the ambulance. "Are you going to make sure he’s okay?" He turns to Beau.

"Nope." He shakes his head. "He made his bed, so let him lie in it."

He grabs my hand and walks over to his truck. "Asher." My father calls his name, and he turns around. "Told you that you had it in you." He smiles and turns to walk to the ambulance.

He puts me in the truck and leans in to kiss me. My hand comes up to touch his cheek. "We really have to talk."

I nod my head, not saying anything as the tears come. "Let’s go home," I say, and he closes the door. We don’t say anything on the drive to my house, but I don’t let his hand leave my lap the whole time.

When we finally walk into the house, he closes the door behind him. "Do you want some water?" I ask, nervous and scared that he’s going to decide that maybe I’m not the person for him. Maybe me giving him up so easily shows him I won’t stand by his side. I look at him, wiping the tears rolling out of my eyes. "I know that what I did was wrong," I say. "And I know that I should have given you a chance to talk but …"

"It hurt you," he says for me. "I hurt you, and you have to know I never, ever wanted to not tell you. I just." He takes a deep breath. "I just didn’t know how. Look, I was never going to stay." He swallows. "I wanted to come and meet Ethan. I just wondered how he grew up. I wondered if he grew up like me, but when I saw it was night and day, I was glad." I take a step forward, and he shakes his head. "If you come any closer, I’ll forget everything I have to tell you. There were things I found out a couple of days ago I didn’t even know."

"Whatever it is," I say. "It doesn’t matter."

"No," he says. "I’m not keeping anything from you. The day after I told Jacob and Ethan about it, we rode to the bank, and I showed them the papers and letters I got. I didn’t even read it all, but Beau did, and everything clicked into place. Liam was living on an allowance, which was going to end once I turn thirty. It took Casey a couple of hours to find out he was in debt up to his ass. He owed everyone money, and soon, it was running out unless he got rid of me." I gasp out. "We knew he was getting desperate, so it was a matter of time before he did something stupid. We’ve been following him for the past couple days. We knew today would be the day. He was staying at the motel in town. Ethan had followed him to the barn. Jacob was on standby. The minute he cut the alarm wires, we knew."

"You came here this morning," I say. "To say goodbye to me."

His eyes stare into mine. "Anything could have happened. I wanted you to know that I loved you." I try to block the sob that comes out with my hand. He comes over to me, holding my face in his hand. "I wanted you to know that I love you with everything that I have." My hands go to his chest as I feel his heart beating underneath. "Six months ago, I