Page 86 of The Last Dance You Saved
I’d gone to Rafe’s room last night and waited for him to come up, not only to give him comfort but in hopes of evading the memories that were trying to drag me back into the abyss from that day with Chainsaw. I’d fallen asleep trying to keep the good memories, the sweet ones of hands and mouths gliding on skin, at the forefront, but they’d still turned into terrifying ones of Rafe guiding me along a field as shots rang out, and we zigzagged to the house. His firm grip on my elbow had faded into pained memories of McKenna’s fingers pushing into my wounds, trying to stop me from bleeding out.
When I woke with a start, heart hammering with fear and trepidation and loss, the bed had still been empty, even though the sky was turning gray outside the windows. And I might have hated that more than I’d hated anything else that had happened since I’d arrived.
Kissing him now, I tried to convey all of that—not only the love we’d declared but what he’d denied himself, and me, by not coming upstairs.
A throat clearing behind us had me pulling my lips from his. It hurt more than I’d ever thought it would to separate myself from another human being. I wanted to spend the day tucked up next to him, doing just this—kissing and touching and caressing. Soothing. Loving. But we couldn’t have that. Not yet.
We turned to see Lauren hovering in the doorway of the office. I slipped off the desk, putting distance between Rafe and me. I wasn’t embarrassed that she’d caught us kissing, but the entire situation felt awkward and confusing.
Rafe caught my fingers, as if sensing my sudden uncertainty, keeping me at his side.
“Have you been here all night?” Lauren asked, eyeing the papers Rafe had scattered all over the desk and some even on the floor.
“Yes,” he said, picking up a small, antique journal. “Adam was going through these boxes, and I was trying to figure out what he was looking for.”
Lauren’s gaze darted down and away before they came back, her gaze hardening. “He texted me this morning.”
Every fiber of my being went still and saw Rafe’s spine stiffen. He practically vibrated with animosity as he spit out, “And?”
“He said I needed to trust him. That he’d explain it all soon, but that he was going away for a few days so he could right everything that had gone wrong.” She rubbed her forehead, and I almost felt sorry for her because I could see she still wanted to believe her brother. Wouldn’t I if the roles were switched? But then again, I couldn’t imagine either of my brothers ever stealing from their home or shooting at people we loved.
“Did you tell him about the shooting? The theft?” Rafe demanded.
“I wasn’t sure if I should, so I kept it vague. I told him I didn’t understand everything that was happening, but that he needed to come home. Otherwise, people would assume he was guilty of stealing from the ranch and more.”
“And how did he respond?”
“He didn’t, and when I tried to call, it went straight to voicemail.”
The front door slammed open, and we all jumped, turning toward the hall as feet pounded on the marble floors. Steele came storming into the office. His eyes narrowed at Lauren. “Did you tell them Adam texted you?”
She inhaled sharply. “You were tracing his calls?”
Steele ignored the question, turning back to Rafe. “He’s in LA, near the airport. I left a message with Sheriff Wylee in hopes that he can coordinate with LAPD and have them send a SWAT unit to the hotel to bring him in for questioning.”
“A SWAT team?! Is that necessary?” Lauren wrung her hands, looking from Steele’s grim face to Rafe’s equally dark one. “Please, I don’t want to see him get hurt. We don’t know what he has or hasn’t done. If Spence’s death wasn’t an accident…” She shook her head, grief rippling over pale cheeks. “Until we have hard proof, I can’t—I won’t—believe it. Even if he’s stolen money…it doesn’t mean he did anything to Spencer. And he’s still my brother. He’s all I have left of my family.”
“Well, I mean, you do have me,” Fallon said dryly, coming into the office behind Steele.
Lauren twitched as if she’d been slapped. It was so heartbreaking. Every single moment with Fallon and her parents had torn at me.
“You know that’s not what I meant, Fallon. You’re the most important person in the world to me. Adam is all I have left of my roots.”
Fallon didn’t look like she believed her, but as she passed her mother, I saw the love and anguish in Lauren’s expression. She had a lot of work to do before she could earn back her daughter’s trust, just as much as Rafe did. Fallon felt abandoned, and even as much as I loved Rafe, I couldn’t blame her for those feelings.
Lauren swallowed hard and looked at Rafe. “Last night, I tried to understand why he would do this to me, to us. He idolized Grandpa, and they spent a lot of time together. Grandpa Joe was bitter about everything that had happened between our families. He’d been the one to find his father after he committed suicide, and he’d watched the Harringtons flourish while his family lost more and more. He grumbled a lot about it, even with me, but maybe it affected Adam more than I realized. If he did all of this… He just needs help. He needs deprogramming or whatever they call it when people are brainwashed.”
Rafe’s eyes were dark, and I was pretty damn sure he didn’t agree. If Adam killed his brother, he wouldn’t give Adam absolution. He’d be looking to send him away for life. But I also saw, just as I had last night, he felt somehow responsible for all of this, as if Adam’s decisions had been his fault.
He looked at Steele. “I’ll have the jet fueled. I can be in LA in just over an hour.”
Lauren looked relieved. Her phone vibrated in her hand, and she looked down and then up. “Marielle is asking about breakfast.” She rubbed her forehead. “Fallon, normally I’d have you go help out at the bunkhouse and old homestead, but I’d like you to stay inside as much as possible until the wedding. You’ll help with the bride and bridesmaids, and I’ll go down and deal with the groom and the families.”
“Fine,” Fallon said and turned on her heel and left.
Lauren watched her daughter leave, regret pouring from her. Then she turned back to Rafe, saying quietly, “Thank you. I know… I know if he’s really done any of this, he doesn’t deserve any of our grace, but I appreciate you doing this as a favor for me after all we’ve been through.”
Then, she left, and I despised how she’d used the guilt Rafe felt against him. That she’d gotten him to do one more thing for them when, in my opinion, none of them had done anything for him. They’d watched him walk away and never demanded he come home. It made me want to do what I’d just told him I wouldn’t do—break my promise to Lauren to help her today in order to go with him to LA. To make sure he didn’t face one more thing alone, but also because the thought of him confronting Adam at the hotel made acid boil in my stomach.
