Page 33 of Savage Truth

“Whatever you’re thinking about my mom, it’s wrong. My father is a terrible person. Dangerous. And her leaving him was the only way to save us both.”

“That’s what the nightmare was about that one night? Finding your mom like that?” A shiver tore through her, and I went back to running my hand up and down her back.

“Yeah.” Her voice was unusually small. “It was horrifying. And I know that she would have been much worse off if he hadn’t left for whatever had called him away.”

My PI hadn’t uncovered who her father was, not yet. But the pieces of her life fell into place. “The cons? What’s that about? And is my father one of them?” Part of me didn’t care if he was, but I had to know. The real question I wanted to ask was whether I was too.

“It was how we survived. A job is traceable. Even with…”

“A different name?”

She sighed. “Yeah. Taking a job at the Coffee Cabana over the summer wasn’t smart, but I was angry at Mom because she said she had a boyfriend here, and I needed something to do.”

It was as close to a confession as I’d gotten. “Wasn’t that what she did for cons, get a guy on the hook?” I knew they did other scams. Wes told me about one. And if she’d worked for Dad back then, he must have been a mark.

“No, not really. We would do personal assistant jobs and hit up petty cash for the most part, which was why we never had a ton of money. Scamming a guy by pretending to be engaged was a huge risk, and Mom and I agreed it wasn’t worth our safety or sanity.” She gripped my bicep in a tight squeeze. “Don’t think you can use that against us by going to the cops. I’ve got way too much on you too.”

Underground fighting. Yeah, she does. “I wasn’t.” I meant it. That wasn’t what I did. My brother and cousins solved things our way. There was no need for legal intervention.

“Our parents knew each other when we were little. My mom loves your dad. She told me he’s the only man she’s ever felt that way about, but she had to run the first time they met. She ghosted him. There was no other way. I guess he never stopped searching for her. He found us last year, so we moved back.”

“Do you believe her?” Anger speared me. “Because I sure as shit don’t think he’s capable of loving Raelyn the way you describe.”

“I do. She’s never stayed before. We should have left already. It’s not smart. But she has this unwavering trust that your dad can do something to help us. And then there’s the way she looks at him. I’ve never seen her let her guard down with anyone before. There are rules.”

I chuckled. She sounded so outraged. “What rules?”

She leaned back slightly and then ticked them off her fingers. “No social media. Don’t stand out. Blend in. Never get emotionally involved. And never tell anyone where we came from. Or worse, who we’re running from.”

“And she told my dad.”

“Yep.” She popped the “p.”

I didn’t point out that she’d broken those rules too. The meet where she did that dive that brought the crowd to their feet… news traveled fast. Even though I wasn’t there, I’d heard about it. The article Skylar did in the school paper had listed her by her last name only—Matthews.

But she’d confided in me about her dad, the cons, the running. And it softened me more toward her.

We fell silent for several minutes. Wind howled outside the window, throwing rain harder at the glass panes. As I lay in bed with Riley in my arms, I realized I’d never felt so close to another person. I found myself wanting to confide in her too. “That book you were reading was my mom’s. She used to love romance novels. Damon and I would pick them up for her. Completely embarrassing.” I laughed at the memory, and it felt good.

“Oh.” She covered her face with her hands. “No wonder reading that page didn’t make you hot. Who wouldn’t be weirded out by that?”

My body shook with laughter. “Yeah, there’s that.” Then I sobered because there was more that she had to know. “Last year, my mom asked Damon and me to go to the legal conference Dad was at. She had strict instructions for us to hand deliver a note and not to leave until he read it. Your mom was there.”

“I figured out that it was your dad who brought us here when we came back. I’m sorry. Mom told me he was married but that he was leaving her.”

I snorted. Everything he’d done came back in a tidal wave of hatred. “After Dad read the letter, he ran out of the conference. Damon and I did the same. We never saw what the note said, but for him to react that way… we knew she’d told him something terrifying.

“She knew he was cheating on her, and she’d put up with him humiliating her for too long. It affected her deeply and caused bouts of depression. When we got home, he tried to stop us from entering their room. I shoved him, and Damon got in first. Then I did. I’ll never forget that moment. Mom was lying on her bed, surrounded by empty pill bottles. Her eyes were open but sightless. We couldn’t save her.” A shudder shook me, and I swallowed the howl of pain that wanted to come out. I could still see her lifeless body. All the old emotions from that day converged in an overwhelming rush.

Riley cupped the side of my face. “I’m so sorry, Cole.” Her words were soft and heartfelt.

I jerked back. If she kept touching me, I would fall apart, and there was no way I would let myself go there. I rolled to the edge of the bed and stood. I found my shorts, put them on, and then rushed out of her room. I needed a minute to get it together, to push the painful memories away.

It wasn’t her fault and maybe not even Raelyn’s—it was my dad’s.Fuck.I scrubbed my hands over my face before going downstairs. When I got to the first floor, the sound of rain was overly loud. Wind whipped through with a chilling burst. That’s when I noticed the door was wide open. I stepped on a palm frond and frowned.Did I forget to lock it after the pizza delivery?

That has to be it. Either that or the battery backup didn’t kick in when the wind blew the door open. Perfect.I shut and locked the door then turned to go into the kitchen to get some paper towels and a mop.

I didn’t get far. A dark figure appeared, and I tensed, ready to fight as lightning flashed, illuminating the person and showing me that it wasn’t anyone I knew.

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