slowly tapped the NO function on the tablet. In that instant, he knew his father was telling the truth; was throwing a final fist into Chance’s jaw.
His hands began to tremble as he felt the phantom strike. Years of being beaten into submission, because he reminded his father of the whore who’d left them behind, shot into his hands and they were around his father’s throat before he could think about it. She hadn’t been a whore after his money; she’d been worse: a mother who never looked back once she escaped Justice Bear’s abuse, leaving her son to fend for himself while she started over with another man.
Rage consumed Chance for the life he should have had, and he squeezed tighter until justice was served against the man he called Father.
Jerking upright to escape the memory, his anger spiked again, filling his veins with molten fire so consuming his head spun with it. He closed his eyes and tried to control his urges. His gun was in the glove box, and his hand itched to take hold of it and carry out his revenge against everyone who’d ignored his abuse. Against the siblings who’d had what he never did.
Glancing in the rearview again, he found Skylar folded in the arms of a man who had seen his demons and hadn’t flinched. He would have to be patient with that one. Bide his time until the man they called Logan Storm wasn’t watching so closely. For now, he’d have to settle for the knowledge the town was as blind as his father was dead. They were scurrying in different directions looking for Duke Remington and trying to organize a pointless carnival when they should have been watching over their shoulders for him.
Movement on the street caught his eye. His attention and anger drifted from his sister to the old man crossing the street on stiff legs to his truck. Rip Jackson was nearly eighty now, but in Chance’s youth he’d been the foreman of Bear Claw Ranch. Had been his father’s right-hand man until arthritis took him out of the saddle, but not soon enough to save Chance.
His hand began to twitch again as old Rip pulled out onto the street and drove away, so Chance reached for his keys and started his truck. Payback would be bittersweet.
_______________
“Jake, stop!”
I shot Josh an accusing look before turning back to the scene in front of me. Once again, Logan had Jake pinned to the ground thanks to Josh’s ribbing.
We were getting ready to leave the field after a 42-14 win over our archrivals, Twin Bridges, when Josh remarked, “You better make an honest woman out of my sister now,” when Logan had pulled me into his body for a kiss.
The insinuation hadn’t slipped past Jake, who was pulling off his pads to put his coat on. He’d stopped dead, looked between Logan and me, and caught the blush rushing up my neck and into my cheeks. Logan had about a millisecond of warning before Jake attacked, but the result was the same as the last two times he’d gone after Logan. Jake would never learn his lesson.
“You son of a bitch,” Jake seethed, trying to get to his knees in the snow.
His teammates all stopped and stared, including Chace, who’d been pulled off his father before the refs could eject him from the stadium.
“Now what?” Kenzie asked as she walked up.
“Boys being boys.”
Jake bucked again and kicked out, but it was no use. I wasn’t sure where Logan learned the move, but he’d mastered it like the trained soldier he was.
“You need to calm down,” Logan ordered.
“You fucked my sister, didn’t you?” Jake accused. “After I warned you to leave her be. She’s not some piece you can screw then walk away from, you son of a bitch.”
Logan’s face turned ten shades of angry at Jake’s outburst—while I stifled a moan of embarrassment—and he leaned harder on Jake’s back. “Watch your mouth,” Logan hissed. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I slept with my woman, not some piece of ass. You wanna take a swing at me, go for it. But keep your fucking voice down.”
Jake ignored Logan and his eyes settled on me. “Why, Skylar?”
I opened my mouth to beg him to keep his voice down, then looked around at the crowd who’d gathered for the show. It was too late to keep my private life private at this point, so I shrugged. “He’s the one I’ve been waiting