Page 117 of Wildest Dreams

Blood thrashes in my ears and suddenly, that's all I can focus on.

“I'm not afraid of you,” Riggs steps towards Lucian and bile rises in my throat.

“You should be,” he slips his hand onto the handle of his gun.

“Probably,” Riggs shrugs a shoulder up, “but I'm not.”

Relief swarms me when I see Conrad, Marty and Hudson quietly walking into the house and before Lucian can even swipe his gun, Marty has the barrel of his own pressed to Lucian's temple, Hudson's pressed into Wallen’s.

“If you do not get off my property, I will tell these two to put a bullet in both of your skulls.”

Lucian laughs softly and I can see the panic in Wallen's eyes. He is a coward. Just like his brother was.

“Okay, fine,” his hands are back up in front of him as if surrendering, and after a heartbeat, Marty and Hudson drop their guns, but don't put them away. “Dixie,” the way my name falls from his tongue makes my blood run cold, “don't forget what I said.” And with that, he turns on his heel along with Wallen and walks out of the house and once he is gone, I finally exhale.

Marty and Hudson exchange looks before all eyes are on me.

“Dixie...” Tripp turns me around to face him, “what is going on?”

“I promise I will tell you all, but not now,” I shake my head from side to side, tears filling my eyes, “please.”

His eyes are burning into mine and after what feels like hours, he drops my gaze.

“Okay,” he whispers but I can see the disappointment etched onto his face. Riggs passes him his spare crutch just as Pacey passes me Lainey.

They all walk out of the house in an united bond and I instantly miss Tripp and I hate that I have disappointed him.

Hate it.

TRIPP

We walk into the courthouse united. I didn't go and see Austin again after our last visit, I couldn't do it to him or to myself. Blue and Buck are sitting in the front pew along with Riggs and Aspen. Me and my family all sit the row behind.

Marty, Hudson and Conrad sit next to me and Kelcie sits in the other front pew, his eyes bouncing between me and Riggs.

My heart aches when I see Austin being led in and seated behind the desk with his lawyer, and there sitting across from him is their lawyer who looks like he is worth five hundred dollars an hour, and beside him is Lucian and Wallen.

Nerves cripple me and my hands lock in front of me.

Austin turns to look at us all, and I am waiting for him to look at me, but he doesn't.

Letting my head fall for a moment, I lift my eyes and that's when his gaze locks with mine. A slight, gentle nod towards me makes my nerves ripple out into nothing but calmness.

Everyone stands apart from me as the judge walks in, and once she takes her seat, they all take theirs again.

Blue is clinging onto Buck like he is her lifeline, Aspen's arm is locked through her mom's and Riggs places his hand on Aspen's thigh as she bounces it up and down.

The proceedings start, and the whole time my heart is in my mouth. They argue the toss back and forth, both lawyers going for each other, sniping a little deeper with each fact or lie that spills from them.

My eyes glue to the back of Austin's head, zoning out as the noise all fades into nothing.

They have no evidence on Austin. Nothing at all.

But still, the way this conversation is unfolding, he is going down.

Commotion stirs in the courtroom and my eyes widen when I see my dad stand up.

“If you're going to charge Austin with the murder of Clay Attaway, then you need to charge me too,” and my fucking heart drops inside my chest. Riggs' head spins around, brows furrowed and lips rolled into a tight line.

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