Page 75 of Surrender
I shook my head, stepping back from Nate. “He couldn’t, right?”
Nate didn’t answer, not with his teeth clenched so tight.
But we both knew.
We all knew.
Parker Carrington.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
BLUE
The sun was almost set by the time we pulled up outside Darcy’s family home—well, what was left of it.
She held on tight as I flicked my stand out and leaned my ride onto it.
For a few moments, we both sat there, staring at the six-foot fencing they had built around the property, protecting what was now a concrete path that led up to a pile of broken boards, shattered windows, and upturned earth.
I killed the engine just as Callan and Lucy pulled up in his truck behind us.
“Well,” Darcy muttered, her voice tight. “That’s one way to make a point, I guess.”
I didn’t say anything, just held out my hand.
She took it, using it to balance as she swung her leg over the bike and stepped up onto the sidewalk. I followed closely, not sure whether it was because I wanted to stop her from doing anything crazy, or because I wanted to be the one who handed her the bat before she swung.
“Tell me this doesn’t have Parker written all over it.” She laughed, but it was a bitter, hollow, and exhausted sound. “Of course he would fucking do this. That’s just who he is. A vindictive little toddler who throws tantrums when he can’t get his way.”
I stepped up beside her, slipping my hand into hers with my jaw clenched tight.
“This is my fault,” I admitted, eying the pile of destruction through the chain link fence. “I should have fucking gone after him when he drugged you. That should have been the pointwhere he was taken care of before he could do any more damage.”
“Like hell. I would rather deal with this petty bullshit than see him go after y-you.” She looked up at me, and her voice cracked, but there was steel within it. “Having you with me at least makes his stupid games worth it.”
I wrapped my arms around her, and she leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. There were no tears yet, but I knew that was due to her pure determination. She didn’t want to let the sadness win. Because if it won, so did he. And there was no way in fucking hell either of us was about to let him be the one who came out on top.
“I’ll fix this,” I murmured, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head.
“Nate—”
“I will. There’s no argument about that.”
She let out a sigh. She wanted to argue, I could feel it. But it didn’t matter. That was my promise, and there was nothing left to say about it. Carrington came for Darcy with anger, jealousy, and a taste for revenge. To make me pay. To make her pay. But one day soon, I was going to show Carrington whatrealvengeance looked like.
“You didn’t tell him about this place,” Lucy said, speaking up as she peered through the fence. “How did he know?”
“My bet is that he had someone following her,” I answered, feeling like a fucking idiot for not noticing before. “Maybe before you broke up, just to keep an eye out, or after you left him, so he could figure out how to win you back or how to make you change your mind.”
Callan stepped up beside Lucy, scanning the worksite and letting out a low whistle.
“There’s absolutely no way in hell he managed to get all the legal paperwork needed to pull this off in less than a week,” hemuttered, shaking his head. “This place is a fucking mess. Like he’s hired a bulldozer and did it himself.”
Darcy scoffed. “I wouldn’t put it past him,” she fumed, holding her head high. But standing here, in front of the ruins of her family home—of what was meant to be her new home, where she raised her own family—even she couldn’t keep the cracks from showing. “My bet is that he saw it as easier to pay people off later when they came asking for papers and permits, than trying to figure out who he needed to bribe up front to get it done quickly.”
Callan stepped up in front of the gate pieces, giving them a hard shake. The piece of metal, meant to resemble a lock, swung from the wire, broken and disconnected.
He looked back at me, eyebrow raised, and I nodded my head.
