Page 74 of Since Day One

“What’s this? The fourth one in two months?” Ruger said derisively, and Jesse nodded.

“She, of course, insisted on bringing him along,” she continued, and Gunnar rolled his eyes.

“So, we have to play nice and excited and pretend like they’re going to have a happily ever after,” he muttered, and I looked between the three.

“I don’t get it,” I said, and Jesse giggled while the two boys grumbled a few curse words under their breath.

“Okay, so they have this nineteen-year-old cousin who is absolutely boy-crazy. She has a new man every couple of weeks but always gushes about how this one is forever and if anyone acts differently, she goes ballistic,” Jesse explained, and I chuckled, turning toward Gunnar who nodded in confirmation.

“See? Everyone has at least one family member who’s crazy,” Gunnar muttered under his breath.

“So, she’s your family’s Marissa?” I asked.

“Yep. Pretty much.” He chuckled.

“I thought that was your uncle?”

“He’s the asshole, and my family makes sure he knows how much they don’t like what he did. They’re petty like that, and I love it.”

I giggled and squeezed his hand tighter. He smiled and kissed the top of my head as Jesse interrupted us. “Did you three seriously not take your spurs off?” She pointed at the back of my boots, Gunnar’s, and even Ruger’s.

The two brothers chuckled as I grimaced, and we walked around the side of the building. As we passed part of the line of people, dirty looks were thrown our way by a few couples, and then suddenly a red-headed man in joggers and a black, fitted long-sleeved T-shirt jumped out from beside a few people and tackled Gunnar.

“Yo! My man!” he said, exchanging a man-hug before turning and doing the same to Ruger.

“What’s up, Jett?” Gunnar asked with a grin.

“So glad you guys are here. It’s party time now!” Jett replied.

“Where’s the man of the hour?” Ruger asked, briefly scanning the group that was standing around us. My eyes followed along slowly as well, taking in the people that Gunnar called family.

“Not here yet, but we checked in and are waiting for them to call our reservation.” Jett replied. There were some small children, a couple of infants, a few teenagers, and several adults. “Who’s this?” He added, nodding toward me.

Gunnar squeezed my hand and grinned. “This is my girl, Willow,” he proudly said, and I smiled as Jett’s jaw dropped open.

“You’ve got a girl? I bet she won that buckle she’s wearing, too, because there’s no way Gunnar Johnson would pick just any girl,” Jett said in surprise and disbelief.

Gunnar pointed at my buckle. “You’re damn right. See? It says Champion.”

“Where’s she from?” Jett asked as my eyes scanned the crowd again, coming to rest on a young girl who looked to be oddly frozen with a smile. She was young, barely an adult, and wore a rather too-revealing outfit—a tiny plaid miniskirt with a black shirt that had a deep plunging neckline, a pair of thigh-high boots, and makeup applied with precision. For some reason, my hackles rose abruptly, filling my body with a wariness I’d long since pushed out. She gave me soft flashbacks of the girl I’d once been forced to be. Her smile was large and bright with full lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes, whose expression seemed frightened and numb.

“Texas. She trains reining horses there,” I heard Gunnar reply as my eyes slid to her companion, who she quietly huddled against, his arm firm around her waist, and my heart immediately dropped. This wasn’t possible. I wasn’t seeing what I was seeing.

The voices around me faded away, all my entire senses tunneling toward the man standing in sickening triumph against the wall holding the hand of the young woman possessively.

His blond hair was slicked back with not a strand out of place, and the pale blue business suit and matching collared shirt he wore hugged his lanky frame. Those dark eyes were set deeply upon his face of deceiving attractiveness. There were more age lines present than I remembered, but it was him, of that I had no doubt.

Every fiber of my being became stiff with terror as my gaze locked onto a man I hadn’t seen in ten years. A man I hoped and thought I’d never see again.

Chapter 27

My head swam.

My heart was rising into my throat.

Panic was welling through my body.

He was here. And he had another victim.

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