Page 38 of Saddled in Secrets
“For what?”
“The urge to skip town.” His casual tone suggests he’s repeating the obvious.
“Do you have a restless spirit too? Or did you do this for mine?” Just asking makes me sound like a presumptuous brat.
But then he dips his chin. “It’s for us. We can come out here whenever the mood strikes.”
Hysterical laughter bubbles from the depths of my shock. “Take it easy, Cowboy. This is a temporary arrangement. Gosh, you make it sound like we’re permanently attached at the hip.”
“However long it takes.” The words are uttered under his breath, but I hear the desire in them.
“Ah, right.” My humor simmers to a breathy exhale. “You’re hiding me from your father.”
Colton glares into the distance. “Until Brody and your dad deal with him.”
“What’re they gonna do? Flex their dominance?” I snort at the visual.
“Essentially.”
“They aren’t violent people.”
“They don’t have to be,” he argues. “Dealing with a threat doesn’t have to involve pain. There are more creative ways to make a man back off. Your brother has every resource available. He’ll use them as necessary.”
The dots aren’t connecting. “So, why are we hiding?”
“My father’s crew is a speck of dirt compared to your family. He doesn’t stand a chance and he knows it. That could push him to do something really drastic. I won’t risk your safety.” That reason is beginning to sound like an excuse.
Which leads me to regurgitate an overused line of my own. “This is just a job. Why do you care so much?”
“Princess,” Colton sighs. “Do I really need to answer that?”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”
His eyes burn into mine, hot coals on a smoldering fire. “You’re not ready.”
I blink to escape the snare of his intensity. “More secrets?”
“Always.”
A sigh wheezes from me when I bump into another blockade. He’s calm and relatively chatty. Meanwhile, my emotions are running on high alert. His father is a bad man. There’s dangerous drama surrounding me. Colton is talking in riddles. I’m clueless as to what’s happening behind the scenes.
“Just for the record, I don’t appreciate being left in the dark.”
“I’ll share any updates I receive.”
“And keep me trapped here until the coast is clear.” Frustration threatens to rise again, but I swallow the urge to scream.
“You’re not a prisoner. We can leave whenever you want,” my jailer reassures.
“But we can’t go home.”
“Not until my father fucks off for good. Whoever replaces him won’t try to drag me back into the fold.”
My stomach squeezes at the finality in his tone. “You’re not planning to see him before he…?”
“Already did. Made my peace with our situation long before now. There’s nothing left to say.”
“Um, okay.” I allow a lull to slip between us while I ponder the vast differences in our family dynamics.
