Unforgiven--Includes a bonus novella Read online

  It hurt, somewhere inside my frozen heart, when I remembered how tired and haggard Hill had looked today. I never really gave much thought to the fact that he was a few years older than me, but today each of those years had shown on his handsome face. He hadn’t complained, had not fought when I begged him to stay with me today. I didn’t want to read too much into his actions, or into the fact that he was reliable no matter how bratty and immature I acted toward him. Hill was a pillar of strength, just like Case. It was in their DNA to take care of others, to protect. Which was why it drove me nuts that Hill had never seemed to know exactly how fragile Aaron was. In the back of my mind, I always wondered: If Hill had paid more attention, would Aaron still be here? It wasn’t fair to lay that on him, I knew it, but that didn’t stop the thought from popping up whenever Hill was exceptionally good to me.

  Since we were always in sync, it was no surprise when Crew chided a very inebriated Case. “She was engaged to Hill’s younger brother. She loved Aaron, Case. Don’t you think it would be a little awkward if she was suddenly gaga over his brother?”

  I shot Crew a grateful look, but it quickly faded away when Case threw his arm over my shoulder and grumbled, “She only picked Aaron because he was as messed up as we were. She didn’t think she deserved better, didn’t think she deserved a good guy like Hill.”

  I gasped in shock. I felt like his words were a physical blow. The sting from the truth in them made my skin burn and set my ears ringing.

  When I suddenly pulled away from Case, his blurry eyes widened as he landed on his rear end on the wooden floor of the bar. His Stetson fell off, making him swear up a storm as he glared up at me and Crew.

  My middle brother shook his head at the man on the floor and reached out to pull me into a tight hug. He rubbed a hand on my back and barked at Case, “I know you’re drunk, but that’s uncalled for. Some things are off-limits. We don’t talk about you getting tricked into knocking up the prom queen when we all know you’re smarter than that, and we don’t talk about the man Kody chose to spend her life with, the man she loved, with anything other than respect. You get a pass because today has been shit, but next time it won’t be Kody putting you on your ass, it’ll be me, and you won’t get up so fast.”

  Case groaned, flinging his arms above his head and flopping on the floor on his back. He was lucky Hill had played drill sergeant and made my staff clean the place. Usually the floor of the bar was the last place I would recommend anyone getting comfortable, but right now it was clean enough it wouldn’t do him any harm.

  “Remind me of this the next time I offer to be your private bartender.” I kicked the bottom of Case’s cowboy boot with the toe of my sandal. “You better get a damn good apology ready.”

  I was still scowling at him when the door to the bar opened and revealed a statuesque blonde and a petite brunette. Della and Aspen couldn’t be more opposite in appearance, but they both had a quiet, steady core to them that I admired immensely. Neither one had lost who she was or given up on her own goals when she fell in love with one of my brothers.

  Della waved at Crew, while Aspen jerked to a stop when she caught sight of her man sprawled on the floor like a felled tree. One of her midnight eyebrows shot up as she gave me a questioning look.

  “I see the conversation went well.” She made her way over to Case, bending down so she could brush her fingers across his forehead. “You all right, hero?”

  Case looked up at her, eyes still unfocused and slightly watery. “I just wanna go home with you.”

  Aspen gave him a lopsided smile and nodded. “You got it.” She looked over at Crew, who had his head bent close to Della’s and was talking in a low voice. “I assume since you’re on your feet that you can help me get him to the car?”

  Crew gave a grunt and narrowed his eyes. “We should leave him on the floor for the night. He deserves it.”

  Aspen straightened and gave Crew a knowing smile. “But you won’t.”

  Della dug her elbow into my brother’s side and told him flatly, “He won’t.”

  I watched in silent amusement as all three of them wrestled a very uncooperative Case to his feet and out the door. I was going to lock it behind them so I could enjoy a drink or two in silence but was interrupted when Aspen suddenly stuck her head back inside.

  I went still as she launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug so tight, it rivaled the ones I’d just escaped from my brothers.

  “If you need anything, let me know. If you don’t want to be alone tonight, come stay at the house. You know we have room.” Aspen and Case had recently moved into Aspen’s newly renovated Craftsman in the center of town. The house had nearly been destroyed by a fire not too long ago and was now a quirky work of art. Aspen insisted I had my own room, even if I never used it. It was a sweet thought.

  “Thanks. I’m fine. I’m going to clean up here, have a drink, then go home and sleep for a decade. You worry about my idiot brother. He’s going to feel terrible in the morning.” I squeezed her back and told her honestly, “I’ll be okay.”

  She pulled back, giving me a look I swore saw all the way down into my frozen soul. “I want you to be better than okay. But I’ll settle for okay for now.” She turned back to the door, pausing before she stepped outside. “The lawyer handling your father’s estate e-mailed me to set up a meeting. I can handle it all if you think that would be easier, or I can arrange for all of you to meet with him. You don’t have to decide right away, but give it some thought.”

  I let out a little snort. “Is it bad if I say I don’t want anything he might have left behind for us?”

  She shook her dark head and gave a sympathetic grin. “I think that’s perfectly reasonable considering that what he did give you while he was around was abuse and bad memories. We’ll talk soon.”

  Once she was gone, I locked the door, hit the lights, leaving only the ones behind the bar on, and took the same seat Case had been sitting in. Sighing heavily, I let my head drop until my forehead was resting on the polished wood.

  Even three sheets to the wind, my oldest brother saw too much, and it was exhausting. Back when we started hanging around the Gamble brothers, Hill was the one I’d noticed first. Hill was the one I’d been drawn to and fascinated by, even though I was pretty sure he viewed me as nothing more than a little kid at the time. However, when my mom got sick, Aaron was the one who seemed to understand how bad watching her wither away hurt. He not only recognized the pain, he was comfortable with it, embraced it. He never tried to tell me how I should act or how I should process my grief. He never cared when I lashed out, even if he was the target. He really was as messed up as me.

  Hill, on the other hand, remained calm, cool, and collected regardless of what was going on around him. He was the one who quietly told me my actions might end up hurting the people closest to me. He was the one who questioned my motivations and asked if I really wanted to be the kind of person who acted without thinking first. At the time I was angry at what I thought was him unfairly judging me. When I got older, I finally understood why Hill had been warning me of the consequences of my actions. He was trying to get me to think things through when all I wanted to do was rage. When I wanted to burn the world down, Aaron was right beside me with matches and a can of gasoline. Hill was the one standing behind both of us with a fire extinguisher and the reminder that we could be burned by the flames.

  They were as different as night and day, and I knew I wouldn’t be the woman I was today without the influence of both of them. But I also knew, and had known even as a kid, that there could be nothing between me and Hill. When you were born a Lawton there was no room for perfection. We didn’t know what to do with it, and we just ended up ruining it. So I purposely tried to stay away from Hill, and fell in love with the Gamble boy who made the most sense. Aaron and I were imperfect together, but at least we loved each other. I’d always been okay with that, or thought I was.

  Yet here I was once again in the
center of circumstances that were so far from perfect they felt impossible. And standing on the sideline, being his infallible, endlessly reliable self, was Hill. It was far too tempting to fall back on how we used to be. I wanted to believe he would be there for me when I needed him. But he’d let me down on that front once already. Wouldn’t it make me utterly foolish to expect him to keep showing up when things were ugly and complicated? And what would happen this time if I leaned on him and he let me fall? I wasn’t sure I had it in me to get back up from that kind of blow. I was sick and tired of pulling myself back to my feet, so I’d rather just stay standing.

  Chapter 8

  Hill

  Hold on a second.” I hollered the words as I hastily wrapped a towel around my waist after scrambling from the shower.

  Someone was pounding on the door hard enough that I was worried the wood was going to splinter under the force. I figured it had to be Hearst with a break in the case. No one else would be trying to beat down my door with such enthusiasm. Generally folks weren’t that eager for my company.

  Pushing my wet hair back from my forehead, I padded to the door, wishing the shower had been longer. I’d managed to catch a few hours of sleep here and there, but I couldn’t say they had been exactly restful. I couldn’t shake the feeling there was something really off with the newcomer claiming to be Conrad’s daughter. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t convince Hearst that Kody’s association with the Sons of Sorrow wasn’t anything more than coincidental. The young investigator was like a particularly stubborn dog with a bone, insisting there was a thread there we needed to unravel if we wanted to know what had happened to Kody’s father. It was hard to sleep knowing Kody was in deep with the bikers, and now there was a sinking feeling settling in my gut that I wasn’t going to like whatever Hearst had dug up. I already hated that Kody and Shot had been involved in a romantic relationship, and that it was pretty common knowledge in Loveless, which gave validation to my temporary partner’s suspicions.

  “What?” I barked out the word as I jerked open the door. It was a good thing I had quick reflexes, because if I hadn’t caught Kody’s swinging fist as she started to knock again, I would’ve ended up with a broken nose.

  Kody’s eyes popped wide as her gaze drifted over my mostly naked and still-damp body. I heard her inhale.

  “Are you always half-naked when you’re in your room?” She pulled her hand free and stepped back to fidget with her hair.

  I lifted my eyebrows and dryly asked, “Is there a dress code at this motel I don’t know about?”

  Kody waved a hand in front of her face and purposely averted her eyes. “Can you get dressed?”

  I chuckled. “Why are you always telling me to put clothes on lately?” Usually when I was alone with a woman she was telling me to do the opposite.

  I heard her clear her throat. “I wanted to ask you about that woman, Presley Baskin. Have you eaten yet? If you put some clothes on, I’ll feed you breakfast.”

  Absently scratching at my bare chest, I told her, “Give me a couple minutes. I wasn’t expecting company. I can’t do breakfast. I have an appointment out of town I need to leave for soon. But I can grab a cup of coffee if you want to meet me at the diner.”

  Kody nodded jerkily and turned away. “That works.” She started to walk away, but paused and tossed over her shoulder, “You look better than you did the other day. I’m glad.”

  It wasn’t the world’s best compliment, but it was an important one, because it was the first one she’d willingly given me. I shut the door and leaned forward so I could rest my forehead on the hard surface. It literally took nothing for Kody to bring me to my knees. Considering all the years I’d tried to train myself to be immune to her, one would think I would have better defenses where she was concerned, but I didn’t. Everything she did and said was like an arrow aimed directly at my heart. The damn thing was full of holes because of her.

  I took a couple of minutes to towel dry my hair, brush my teeth, and run a razor over my face. I tugged on a pair of jeans, pulled on a lightweight button-up, jammed my feet into my boots, grabbed my weapon and my badge along with my hat, and headed out the door. Hearst called while I was walking across the parking lot to the diner. He wanted to make sure we were still on schedule to meet with Presley Baskin. We’d finally managed to lock the woman into an interview. She was skittish as hell and clearly reluctant to take part in our investigation. It would be very easy to attribute her unease to the recent passing of her mother and the discovery of her new family, but my gut was screaming at me that her behavior had something more serious behind it. Like maybe she knew more about what had happened to Conrad than she was letting on. Either way it was an appointment I couldn’t miss, so I had to hear Kody out and be on my way. There was no extra time to spin fantasies around her showing up at my motel room out of the blue and dropping kind words.

  She was in the same booth we’d shared before. My coffee was already sitting on the table, and instead of onion rings, she had a plate full of French toast in front of her.

  I slid in across from her. Gave her a quick once-over, noticing she seemed anxious. Her fingers were tapping on the table and her knee was bouncing up and down. Her eyes couldn’t seem to decide where to land and her mouth kept shifting between a flat line and a deep frown. Kody always sort of seemed electric and vibrant with energy, but today the invisible vibration was buzzing with something darker and angrier than usual. I had a feeling this wasn’t the friendly chat Kody had led me to believe it would be.

  “So what do you want to ask? You know I can’t tell you anything related to the case. I don’t know how much I can tell you about Dr. Baskin.” I picked up my coffee and stared at her over the rim. “I have her contact info. You can reach out and learn about her directly from the source. Don’t you think that might be best?”

  Kody stabbed at her breakfast with her butter knife. “Have you spoken with her since the funeral?” Those neon-green eyes of hers sliced into me like lasers.

  “No, not yet. I’m supposed to meet with her today for the formal interview. Hearst ran basic background info on her over the last few days. Nothing unusual popped up other than the fact that she’s an incredibly smart individual and has been on the fast track in her career field for quite some time. She was recently offered a promotion to the lead medical examiner position in her county. She’s about to be the youngest lead ME in the state.” I didn’t mention that there had been some hiccups after Dr. Baskin was offered the position, or that her mother’s death had coincided with the sudden career advancement.

  I watched as Kody’s fingers tightened around the knife in her hand. Her grip was so tight her knuckles turned white. “So, she’s smart. Smart enough to plan and execute my father’s murder?”

  I leaned back in the booth. “Maybe. But in my experience you don’t always need to be smart to commit murder. I told you, if she’s involved in any way, I will find out and I will hold her accountable.” I arched an eyebrow at her. “Do you know something I don’t, Kody? You seem a little on edge today.”

  She dropped the knife with a clatter and purposely smoothed her frowning features out. “I’m just trying to compartmentalize. Case always says you have great instincts, so I thought maybe you had some new insight which would make dealing with all of this easier.”

  It sounded good, but Kody had never been a good liar. Her face was too expressive, her body language too easy to read. She was digging for something, but I had no clue what it might be.

  “I can let you know what my impressions are after I speak with her today. I still think it might be a good idea for you to sit down and talk to her yourself. She’s the only one who can really fill you in on how she feels about finding out Conrad is her father and that she has a bunch of half siblings she never knew about. And if she doesn’t want to talk to you, then I guess you have your answer as to how she feels about it.”

  Kody flattened her hands on the tabletop and asked in a very fake,
calm voice, “Where are you meeting her today? Here in town?”

  That tingle warning me she was up to something pricked at the back of my neck. “No. We agreed on a spot halfway between Loveless and Ivy.” I didn’t think giving her the exact location was a good idea. I was missing a huge piece of this puzzle. It was easy to see the vague reply annoyed her, but Kody didn’t say anything.

  I glanced down at my cell phone and quickly finished my coffee. “I actually need to get going if I don’t want to be late. Thanks for the coffee.”

  Kody nodded absently, but put up a protest when I tossed a few bills on the table to cover her untouched breakfast.

  “I told you I would buy.” She glared up at me, but I didn’t have time to argue with her over something so trivial. Every instinct I had told me I was looking at a bigger fight with her down the road, and I knew how to pick my battles.

  “My treat, since you seem to be having a bad day. I’ll check in if I have anything of value to pass on. Try and turn the rest of your day around, Kody.” I didn’t like how her pretty face had seemed permanently set in a scowl since I’d been back in Loveless.

  She muttered something I was sure I didn’t want to hear under her breath as I walked away. I shot a text off to let Hearst know I was on the way in case I hit traffic and ended up being a little late. I listened to the radio, ignored two calls from my mother, and wondered about Kody’s odd behavior as I drove the forty-five minutes it took to reach the busy truck stop off the highway where Presley had finally agreed to meet with us. The location seemed deliberately chosen. It was busy, nondescript, and filled with both state patrol officers and local law enforcement traveling between counties. It was a good place for a woman to feel safe. Especially if she was scared of something, or someone.

  I parked my truck in the busy lot, nodding to a couple of truckers on my way into the building. Hearst was easy to spot with his slicked-back hair in the sea of trucker and cowboy hats. The woman sitting across from him caught sight of me first, and I touched my fingers to the brim of my hat to acknowledge her slight wave. Again I was struck by how similar she looked to Kody, yet how different. It was such a weird sensation to be judged by eyes I knew as well as my own. Only Presley’s were impossible to read, where Kody’s showed every single feeling.