Unforgiven--Includes a bonus novella Read online

  When I hit the brink, it was like getting knocked upside the head with a two-by-four. My head spun. My chest felt too tight. My lungs locked, and my vision blurred out. I’d never experienced anything like it, because I’d never been with anyone who meant as much to me as Kody. It gave a whole new meaning to coming together.

  I collapsed on top of her, trying to catch my breath and get my brain back in working order. She squeaked at the weight and playfully pushed at my shoulders to get me to roll off her. When I pulled out of her welcoming warmth, we both made a sound of regret. It felt good to be inside her, really good. It was nice to know it felt good for her to have me there as well.

  Rolling onto my back, I ran my hand down my sweaty chest, trying to work up the energy to get up and deal with the necessary things in the aftermath. I let out a loud yawn and rolled my head to the side so I could look at her. Her eyes appeared sleepy and heavy, but there was a slight, very satisfied smile on her face. I felt like the ruler of the entire damn universe for being the one who’d put it there.

  I shifted so I could give her a kiss on the cheek. Reluctantly I climbed off the bed, meandering to the bathroom to take care of business. I was putting my discarded jeans back on when Kody suddenly sat up in the center of the bed with the rumpled sheet wrapped around her.

  She gave me an indecipherable look and asked, “Do you want to go first?”

  I paused, one leg in the denim, one leg out. “Go first?”

  She nodded and lifted a hand so she could tug on her lower lip with her fingers. “Do you want to talk first, or do you want to hear what I have to say?”

  It was tempting to let her take the lead, but the reality was, I should’ve told her what was going on with Presley Baskin before falling into bed with her. She wasn’t going to like it, and she was going to like what I had to say about it even less. But it was well past time she and I figured out how to be honest with one another. If we couldn’t face each other’s truths, maybe there wasn’t anything more for us than this single, special moment.

  I finished pulling on my pants and raked my hands through my hair. I walked over to the end of the bed, stopping when I was directly in front of her. I put my hands on my hips and gave it to her straight.

  “We found the weapon that was used to kill your dad.”

  “What?” Kody sat up, the sheet falling forgotten around her waist. It was hard not to be distracted by her full, high breasts.

  “Dr. Baskin had it, and she surrendered it to Hearst.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She lifted up on her knees and leaned forward eagerly. “Does that mean you arrested her? Did she kill my dad? Did it have something to do with him leaving her everything?”

  “She’s saying someone set her up. There are things not adding up. She believes someone is trying really hard to frame her for Conrad’s death.”

  Kody flopped back on the bed, pulling her knees up to her chest. “You believe her?” Her excited tone changed to something frosty and sharp.

  “I believe there is more to the story. I arranged to put her in protective custody until Hearst and I can clear a few things up.”

  “She gave you the gun responsible for my father’s murder and you’re protecting her? What is wrong with you, Hill? Whose side are you on?”

  She scrambled from the bed and made a dive for her discarded clothes, pulling them on in a rush. I tried to stop her, but she shook me off, glaring at me over her shoulder.

  “Don’t. Just…don’t. If you push me right now I’m going to say something that hurts you on purpose instead of by accident. You need to back off.”

  I lifted my hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay. But you need to know I’m on your side no matter what. That doesn’t mean I can ignore the facts, or my own intuition. I don’t think Dr. Baskin is a bad person. Or a murderer. I think she’s someone who ended up in a bad situation and she’s just doing her best to get by. I know that’s not what you want to hear.”

  She glared at me, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she stormed toward the door. “It’s not what I want to hear, and it makes me question what I was going to say. Let’s just talk later, Hill.”

  I was always waiting when it came to her. What else was new?

  She slammed the door with more force than was necessary. Swearing long and loud, I kicked at my boots on the floor, pausing when I caught sight of Kody’s bright pink phone case peeking out from under the corner of the bed. It must’ve fallen out when I wrestled her out of her clothes.

  Sighing, I picked it up and stalked to the door.

  She always wanted space, and I was always running after her. It was like an adult game of tag, only I never managed to catch her. I swore to myself the next time I got my hands on her I was going to hold on so tightly there would be no way for her to wiggle away.

  Chapter 15

  Kody

  Kody…wait a second.”

  I didn’t stop my angry retreat across the parking lot toward my Jeep. I came here to be honest with Hill about how I felt. But right now I was pissed as hell, and I knew talking to him wouldn’t lead to anything good. Walking away was the best option right now, even if it sort of felt like I was taking the easy way out.

  “Goddammit, Kody.” I turned my head to shoot a glare in Hill’s direction. I’d been waiting for the man to come after me for a very long time. It was annoying how happy the sight of him jogging across the parking lot made me—even if he was clearly upset, with his shirt hanging open. I needed a minute to figure out how I felt about this new information, but it was nice to know he wasn’t going to let me get too far away anymore when I got lost in my own head.

  I caught sight of my pink phone in his hand, and the little bubble of delight in my chest popped. Maybe things hadn’t changed as much as I thought. It was entirely possible we were going to have to use actual words to communicate.

  Sighing heavily, I paused in my angry march and crossed my arms defensively across my chest as I watched him move toward me. His unwavering determination to be absolutely impartial when it came to my newfound half sister might be aggravating, but it didn’t change the fact that I enjoyed watching him move…and I liked it even more when he was moving in my direction.

  “Kody!” When he screamed my name this time, it was almost shrill.

  I took a step in his direction as his jog turned to a run, my phone falling from his hand as he screamed my name once again.

  My head whipped around as the squeal of tires and the smell of burning rubber suddenly hit my nose. I was only a handful of steps away from my Jeep when I caught sight of a white car barreling through the parking lot in my direction. For a split second, I thought maybe it was someone trying to show off, but it became startlingly clear that wasn’t the case as the car picked up speed and headed directly toward me.

  I’d like to think I’m the type of person who is pretty good in a stressful situation.

  I didn’t panic when Aspen’s stalker tried to run us off the highway.

  I didn’t lose my cool when her mother took a shot at both of us.

  I freaked out only marginally when Crew was stabbed in an FBI sting gone wrong.

  And I was willing to stick it out with Aaron no matter how rough things got between us as his illness became harder and harder to handle.

  I watched in horror as the sports car zoomed closer and closer to where I was stuck, immobile, watching my life flash before my eyes. It was all so clichéd. If I hadn’t been terrified to the point of being unable to function, I would want to kick my own ass.

  An ear-piercing scream blasted through my eardrums. I wasn’t sure if it came from me or Hill. It was loud enough that it whipped my head around, just in time for me to catch sight of the tall, blond man flying toward me. I had no idea how Hill had made it from one side of the parking lot to the other in such a short time, but he had. When he slammed into me, the force sent us both soaring through the air. I felt his arms wrapped protectively around me and heard the car’s tires squeal
even louder. It was so close, a rush of air lifted my hair and tangled it around my head. This time I knew the scream was mine, because it was Hill’s name at the top of my lungs as we both rammed into the front of my Jeep. I yelped in pain when my elbow connected with the front bumper, watching as Hill’s face flushed from red to an alarming shade of white as he immediately loosened his hold on me and slid to the ground once we were out of the path of the car.

  Hill made a sound that was a mixture of a groan and a wheeze, his eyes fluttering closed as his hands flopped to the ground next to him.

  I looked to make sure the car wasn’t coming back around and caught sight of several people in the parking lot already on their phones. I hoped they were calling 911, because Hill looked far too pale.

  I fell to my knees at his side, none too gently tapping his cheek with my palm as I called his name.

  “Hill. Hill! Did you hit your head? Open your eyes.” I tapped even harder, trying to keep the furious panic at bay.

  I couldn’t get my head around the thought that he might be dying right in front of my eyes. I couldn’t breathe when I thought about what my life would be like if I really, truly lost him for good. I spent a lot of time being angry—at him, at myself, at the world—but now that Hill was getting paler by the minute, it seemed like such a waste. What if he died and we never got a chance to start over? What if I never got to tell him he wasn’t alone in either the love or the guilt he felt when it came to the two of us?

  No God would be cruel enough to take both brothers away from this Earth—or me— right?

  I jolted a little, almost falling over when Hill’s slick-looking partner was suddenly crouched in front of me on the other side of the still man.

  “He didn’t hit his head. The fender of the car clipped him when he dived in front of it to tackle you to the ground.” The man sounded surprisingly calm, but his eyes were huge in his face as he reached to check Hill’s pulse and muttered, “You better wake up, Gamble. Don’t you dare make me explain this to the brass.”

  A wheezy groaning sound pushed out of Hill’s chest, and his eyelids twitched. “I’m awake.”

  I gasped in relief and practically threw myself on top of him, only to be pulled immediately off by Hearst. “Be careful. We don’t know how badly he’s hurt. That was a direct hit and the car was flying.” He gave me a pointed look. “It was aiming right for you, Ms. Lawton.”

  I shot him a narrow-eyed look. “I’m aware.” I stroked the backs of my fingers over Hill’s cheek and silently prayed for him to open his eyes. My hands were shaking, and a freezing numbness was spreading through my whole body as Hill remained still as stone.

  The sound of sirens caught my attention. I waved off a couple of curious bystanders, forcing myself to give Hill a more thorough once-over. I could see his side already blooming with dark bruises under his loose shirt. They dotted his ribs, getting darker and uglier as they reached his hip. His jeans were ripped at the knee, and I could see the skin underneath was torn and bloody, but his leg didn’t seem to be twisted, so I was holding out hope it wasn’t broken.

  I rubbed my thumb along his jawline and whispered, “I guess all those years playing football paid off. That was one hell of a tackle.”

  Hearst snorted, climbing to his feet to wave to the ambulance and one of the marked patrol cars from my brother’s office. Case wasn’t going to be far behind once he heard his sister and best friend had been involved in the same incident.

  I recognized one of the paramedics from high school, which meant he was probably going to recognize Hill. It made me feel slightly better. One good thing about being in a small town was that people did tend to take care of their own in a crisis. We might gossip and drag that same person through the mud when their back was turned, but we rallied together when need be.

  I let the first responders shoo me out of the way, refusing to take my eyes off Hill as his partner caught my elbow, sending a jolt of sharp, white-hot pain up my arm as he pulled me to the side. He handed me my abandoned phone, which now had a shattered screen, as he bent his head and spoke in a rough whisper only loud enough for me to hear.

  “Did you catch sight of the driver? Male? Female?”

  I shook my head, my entire body stiffening when Hill moaned painfully as the paramedics checked him over.

  “It was a Tesla. That’s the only thing I could tell you for certain.”

  Hearst nodded. “Yeah. That was the first thing I noticed as well.” He lifted his eyebrows at me and cocked his head to the side. “You know the driver wasn’t Dr. Baskin, right? It couldn’t be her.”

  I tossed my head back and glared up at the sky. “I know. Hill told me you guys put her in protective custody.”

  Hearst nodded. “We did. She’s being monitored twenty-four-seven by the Rangers. She’s nowhere near Loveless.”

  “But someone wanted us to think it was her.” Hill had mentioned the doctor saying someone was trying to set her up, and it looked like this was empirical proof her theory was right.

  Hearst nodded and tilted his head even closer to mine. I couldn’t take my eyes off Hill as he was loaded onto a stretcher. His eyes flickered open and immediately sought mine out. I took a step in his direction, only to be brought up short by his partner’s hold on my arm.

  “Dr. Baskin traded in her Tesla yesterday and went on the run. My guess is whoever tried to run you down doesn’t know that. They assumed the car would be recognizable enough to jam the doctor up. Someone really wants her out of the way.”

  I shook his hold loose and gave him a dirty look as I purposely moved toward Hill. “And who might that be?”

  “Not sure yet. But it is no doubt someone the good doctor told about you. Someone who knows how angry you were about the changes in the will. Someone who knows you think the doctor is responsible for your father’s murder.” He was talking more to himself than to me at that point and I couldn’t care less. All I wanted to do was get to Hill and make sure he was all right. “Do you need a ride to the hospital? There’s something I need to check on.”

  “I’m going with Hill.” I wasn’t exactly family, but I was close, and I would fight to the death if they didn’t let me ride with him.

  Hearst nodded, walking off with his phone in his hand.

  Hill’s eyes were on me once I got to his side. His head was immobilized and strapped down, but some of the color was back in his face and he seemed mostly coherent.

  “Hey.” I was shocked by the press of tears in my eyes and the catch in my throat. Seeing someone so strong, someone I always viewed as invincible, taken down because of me did something to all that ice surrounding my heart. I could feel the cracks splintering through the shell and the heat seeping out.

  His mouth twisted into something that was probably supposed to pass as a grin but looked more like a grimace. “I’m okay.”

  The familiar paramedic snorted. “Mostly okay. We need to see if that hip is dislocated or broken. You won’t be running any touchdowns into the end zone anytime soon, Gamble.”

  Hill grunted. “It’s not that bad.”

  I sniffed a little and reached out so I could pat his hands where they were folded over his bare stomach. I needed to call Case and ask him to grab Hill a change of clothes and whatever else he might need for a few days in the hospital. I wasn’t leaving his side until he was back on his feet.

  “Bad enough. You scared the shit out of me.” My voice cracked, and some of those tears spilled over.

  Hill made a noise and whispered, “Don’t cry, Kody.”

  I couldn’t seem to help it. Luckily, the paramedics lifted the stretcher and moved Hill to the ambulance, so I had a second to collect myself.

  I pictured the scars and imperfections decorating his skin. Remembered the way they’d felt, smooth and raised, under my fingertips when I ran my hands over the rest of his perfect skin. Getting hit by a speeding car was probably nothing to a man who’d been shot at and stabbed more than once, but it was one of the scariest
things I’d ever witnessed. I was going to see Hill jumping in front of that car whenever I closed my eyes for a very long time.

  Squinting at my phone through my tears and all the spidery screen cracks, I sent Case a text letting him know I was going to the hospital with Hill, and telling him we were both okay. I asked him to pick up some personal things for his friend and scurried to climb into the back of the ambulance before they left me behind. Thankfully, no one put up a fight when I took up a spot on the opposite side of the stretcher from the first responder.

  Hill muttered again that he didn’t want me to cry over him, but I couldn’t seem to stop. I cared about him…so much more than I’d realized. It shouldn’t have taken nearly losing him for me to realize it, but it had.

  Well, crap.

  That meant that not only was I going to have to be brutally honest with him from here on out, but I was also going to have to get myself in order. It was time to stop being so careless. If I couldn’t handle seeing Hill incapacitated, it was only fair to make sure I didn’t unwittingly put him in that situation. I needed to cut ties with the risky areas in my life so I could make room for this larger-than-life man. The only one I was willing to let take care of me.

  The only man I wanted to take care of.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Hill. I’m staying right next to you until you’re back on your feet.” It was a vehement promise I was determined to keep. It was the first commitment I’d made to another person as a grown woman. It was me staking my claim to this man I’d decided was mine.

  Hill rolled those pretty gray eyes in my direction, and I caught the crinkle in the corners as he tried to smile.