was falling in love with you? Was that part of your plan too? Capitalize on whatever you think I felt for Hadley in the past to get your way in the present? Because I have news for you. I felt absolutely nothing for your sister. But you… You had me. Hook, line, and sinker. Bravo. Truly. Good job.”
My whole body blanched. He was falling in love with me. It was what I’d always wanted to hear from him. But, now, it just felt like a slap in the face.
“Caven, please.” Unable to resist any longer, I stood up and reached for him.
He backed away, each step crumbling my heart. “No. Don’t touch me. I don’t even know who the hell you are.”
“I’m me.” I patted my chest, my voice breaking with desperation. “I’m Willow. The girl from the mall. The woman who believes you were her hero. I eat brownies with ranch and spill glitter all over your floor. I love your daughter with my whole soul, and I’m more than falling in love with you. I’m in love with you. And not because of our past. But because of the man and father you are in the present.” Tears were pouring down my face, and I used my shoulder to attempt the futile task of drying them. “After I told you Hadley’s truth that night at the diner, the things I’d read in her journals about the darkness that surrounded her the night she had Rosalee? After that, I always gave you Willow. You know me. You know me better than anyone else in the world.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you now. It’s convenient. Your sister is dead. No one to back you up. Just your word about having a baby in the middle of some epic PTSD episode, making me feel like I somehow caused it.”
“You didn’t cause it. But it is the truth. And for the record, I didn’t do any of those things, but I would have taken responsibility for every single mistake Hadley ever made to be a part of Rosalee’s life.”
His eyes were hollow as he stared back at me. The emotion was gone. The confusion. The betrayal. He just looked…empty. “You know what? I don’t even care about the bullshit you fed me. I can handle it. But I have a daughter. And I trusted you enough to let you into her life, and now, I have to break her heart and tell her you’re gone.” He let out a loud growl. “I’ll never forgive you for that.” And with that, he turned and marched out the door.
“Caven!” I called, hurrying after him. “Please don’t do this. Please. She’s all I have left.”
He stopped when he reached his SUV, his angry, blue eyes finding me with the burn of a laser.
And then Caven Hunt landed a blow far worse than the bullet that had pierced my stomach. “Then you have nothing left.”
CAVEN
I cut the engine and watched in the rearview mirror as the garage door slid down behind me.
Everything hurt.
My body.
My heart.
My brain.
Rosalee’s mother was dead.
The woman I was falling—oh, fuck the bullshit. The woman I was in love with was Willow. The kid who had saved my life. The girl who had forgiven me even when I couldn’t forgive myself. Now, she was the woman who had lied to me and dragged my daughter into the middle of it.
I wanted to be pissed. I wanted to be a vortex of rage. I wanted to hate her the same way I’d been able to hate Hadley.
But this fucking hurt.
I’d expected her to follow me when I’d left or, at the very least, blow up my phone with texts of explanation and profuse apology. But her silence spoke the loudest.
Movement from the interior door caught my attention. Ian was standing there, concern etched on his face. But it was my daughter sitting on his hip that got me to climb out of the car.
“Hey,” I called, doing my best to sound normal even though it felt like I was being torn in half on the inside. “Why isn’t she in bed?”
Ian half shrugged. “She said she missed her daddy. So I distracted her with a movie.”
“What happened to no TV?” I asked her.
Rosalee might as well have had Busted! painted across her forehead. “It was Uncle Ian’s idea.”
“It sure was,” he boasted. “And as we all know, you can’t punish me.”
Rosalee giggled and it nearly stole my breath.
From the day I’d brought her home