Sophie fiddled with the end of the blanket. The tears had finally stopped flowing. She couldn’t even understand why she cried. It wasn’t sadness that poured out. Relief, maybe.
Definitely, relief. Kevin could never hurt her again. He was a dangerous, devious man. He may have displayed nonchalance with everything involved with the case, but she saw the evil in his eyes every time she saw him at the courthouse. He would’ve eventually done something to her, or to someone she loved. She knew it.
Good riddance. The world is a better place without you. God, what a terrible thing to think. What kind of person did that make her? Nobody should have to die the way he did. Or did he? He hurt her so badly.
“Hey, whatever you’re thinking, stop. I hate it when you look sad.” Austin wrapped his arms around her, pushing her head to rest against his chest. “He’s not worth your thoughts.”
“It’s over. It’s surreal. Are you sure he’s dead?”
Austin rubbed a hand up and down her arm. “He is. You don’t have to worry about him again.”
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it.”
Austin stood up before she could argue. Not that she wanted to argue. She had no energy to get the door. She didn’t have the energy for anything. Even in death, Kevin controlled her. She didn’t want to waste any more time thinking about him, and yet, she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“Dare. Hey, man.”
Sophie turned her head to see Dare staring at her behind Austin’s shoulder. He looked stoic. She stood up and walked to the door.
“I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
She couldn’t stop the confusion from showing. “With what?”
Dare glanced from her to Austin, his lips thinning as he stared at Austin a little too hard. A little too scary for her tastes. She didn’t know Dare well, obviously, since they all just met him a few weeks ago. But he was Deja’s brother. That’s all she needed to know. She trusted him like she trusted everyone in the McCord family. She just wasn’t sure she trusted this new look on him right now.
“Austin didn’t tell you?”
Sophie turned to Austin, who stiffened beside her. “I guess karma’s come to bite me in the ass.”
She cleared her throat in warning at Austin’s foul language. “What did you do? We don’t keep secrets, Austin. You know how I feel about lying.”
Austin grabbed her hands, squeezing tightly with reassurance. “Pixie angel, I did not lie about anything.” He grimaced with guilt. “Maybe I took my time to tell you something, though.”
“Sounds like lying to me.”
“I would never lie to you. You know that. I love you.”
“Then what’s Dare talking about?” She trembled, suddenly afraid to hear what he had to say.
Austin didn’t let go of her hands as he looked at Dare, then back at her. “A few weeks ago, Dare offered to teach Kevin a lesson. I declined the offer and that ended the conversation.”
Her eyes flew to Dare. “You wouldn’t hurt anybody…on purpose.”
Dare cracked a smile. “Thanks for believing that. No one else does.” He sighed. “I thought about still having my friends doing it after Austin declined, but I didn’t.”
She slowly brought her eyes back to Austin. He shrugged as he smiled in his sweet, endearing way. “It seemed kinda believable that he had two of his friends do something when he offered it two weeks ago. Two people killed Kevin. It just seemed like a strange coincidence.” His eyes rolled to Dare. “I’m sorry. If you say you had nothing to do with it, then I believe you.”
“Would’ve been nice to have that belief without siccing Emmett on me.” Dare’s frown softened as he looked at Sophie. “I just wanted to say I didn’t do anything. Thank you for welcoming me into your home. You’re a sweet woman.”
Sophie extracted her hands from Austin, ignoring the way his features fell as she did. “Of course. I hope you’ll come over still, but I get this feeling you’re not going to.”
Dare nodded. “I’m hitting the road. Thanks again, Sophie.” He turned around.
“Wait.” She grabbed his arm, surprising him, and herself. Men made her nervous. She’d gotten used to the McCord men, but strangers, it didn’t take much for her to break out in a sweat when they got near. Dare was still a stranger, regardless of the fact he was Deja’s brother. She only shook his hand when she first met him so she didn’t appear rude. “You can’t leave Deja. It’ll break her heart.”
Dare covered her hand with his. “You can’t break something that’s already broken. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t hurt my sister any more than she’s hurting right now.”
“Her heart…it’s not broken,” Sophie whispered. She knew that was a lie, though, as she stared into Dare’s eyes.
“Yeah, it is. Emmett did exactly what she feared he’d do. It’s a good thing she kept her distance. It’s a good thing I’m leaving peacefully, because once I see her heartache for myself, I’m gonna want to hurt him within an inch of his life.” Dare let her hand go and started down the steps, turning slightly when he got to the bottom step. “He failed to realize something. You all did. Love isn’t saying it all the time. It’s showing it. It’s believing in it. Nobody’s ever believed in us.”
Dare rubbed his jaw, almost as if he was debating his next words. Then he spoke. “A dog ran into the middle of the road the night I was driving. I was high. There’s no denying that. But they all swore that dog wasn’t real. Everyone. Nobody believed me. Except my sister. Not once did she hesitate about it. She even got into a fistfight at school when someone said I was a damn liar. That’s love. An innate ability to believe in that other person without thought. Emmett will never have her love because he doesn’t know how to do that.”
Dare walked away. Sophie closed the door, unable to watch what way he was planning to go. She sincerely hoped he at least said goodbye to Deja before he disappeared. She’d check on Deja later. Right now, she was so full of different emotions, she wouldn’t be useful in any sort of conversation with her.
“Sophie…”
Her head snapped to Austin. She brushed a hand across his cheek. “Stop protecting my feelings. You should’ve told me right away about that conversation. I don’t want to be mad at you, but I can’t help it.”
He grabbed her hand before she could pull away. “I’ll always protect you. No matter what. I didn’t tell you because…because thinking about it made me want to find Dare and tell him, “Yeah, man, teach him a lesson.” That’s horrible to even think about.”
“No, it’s human. Dare has a point. I can see why he’s so upset nobody even gave him a chance.”
“You don’t see our point as well. It’s a little strange that happened to Kevin after what he said.”
“Maybe. You said karma bit you in the butt. Perhaps karma finally caught up with Kevin. Simple as that.”
Austin squeezed her hand tighter when she tried to pull away. “Did karma bite me? It’s my fault that Deja’s mad at Emmett. I blurted it out in front of her when I should’ve talked to him alone. How mad are you at me?”
A tear slid down. “I don’t want to be mad. I just want this…this weight holding me down to go away.”
Austin didn’t hesitate. He scooped her into his arms and headed for the stairs. “Let me help with that, my pixie angel. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Austin.” And she did. With all of her heart. She couldn’t be mad at him for keeping what Dare said a secret. She might’ve been tempted herself to have Dare teach him a lesson. What would Austin say about that? What did that say about her?
Of course, none of that mattered. Kevin was dead. Good riddance.
The bedroom door swung closed.
♡
“I thought you were supposed to keep the door locked.”
Deja turned away from the sink and smiled at her brother. “That bastard is dead. No worries anymore. What are you doing here?”
“How pissed are you at Emmett?”
“He confronted you, huh? Well, that just upped my piss-o-meter to dangerous levels.”
Dare chuckled as he walked closer to her and leaned against the counter in a nonchalant way. Yet, the tension slowly built within the room.
“Thanks for always believing in me.”
Deja dried her hands on a towel and then threw it at him with a smile. “You’re my brother. I’ll always believe in you.”
“I’m leaving.”
“Dare…”
He put a hand up to stop her from begging him not to leave. And she would beg. She couldn’t lose her brother so soon after kicking Emmett out. They both knew what that meant. At least, Emmett should know. She wasn’t about to let him back in her house, in her heart, anytime soon after what he insinuated about her brother. Unacceptable. Nobody treated her brother that way.
“I didn’t just up and run. I’m saying goodbye. Do I need to pound in Emmett’s face for you?”
“What did they say to you?”
He ran a hand threw his hair as his brows dipped. “It’s what they didn’t say. Why is it you’re always the only one to believe me? Just once, I’d like other people to give me that chance.”
“Well, I guess with your record, paired with what you said, they just figured it to be true. They don’t know you like I do. You’re just a big teddy bear. So big and lovable.”
“A teddy bear? You’re comparing me to a fluffy stuffed animal.” He rolled his eyes as he laughed. “That’s one for the books.”
“I want to come with you.”
He glared at her with a stern I’m-not-your-father-but-I’m-acting-like-one look. “You have a good life here. A home. A job. Friends. I don’t even know where I’m going. Where I’m going to work. I’ll probably bunk down in St. Cloud somewhere. I can’t go too far from my parole officer. It’s not like I’m leaving for good. I’m just leaving this rinky dink ass town.”
“This is a house I rent. It’s not a home. I have no job because I refuse to work with Emmett anymore. The only real friend I have is Sophie. We’re a team. We always have been. Where are we going, partner?”
He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe everything she just said. “Where do you wanna go, D?”
She shrugged as a smile crossed her face. “Wherever the adventure takes us, I guess.”
“About Emmett—”
“We’re not talking about him. Ever. I should’ve figured he would think the worst about you. You guys never got along when you first met. I can’t be with someone who’s going to treat you that way. You’re my family, and family always comes first. No exceptions. How could a guy like that love someone like me anyway?”
Dare took two steps and pulled her into a hug. A big bear hug. “That’s simple. You’re amazing. You’re beautiful. Any guy would love you. It’s his loss. I’m sorry it got screwed up between you two because of me. I’m sorry I act like a jackass half the time.”
“Me, too.”
Dare let her go with a laugh. “Hey, you’re supposed to say there’s nothing to be sorry about.”
She poked him in the chest. “You do act like a jackass sometimes. But I love you. You did nothing wrong. Emmett and I were never going to work out. We were doomed to fail from the beginning.”
He snaked an arm around her shoulder and ruffled her hair. “Love you, too, sis.”
“Don’t.” She shoved him off. “Let me go pack.”
“You’re okay leaving right away?”
“No time like the present. I do have to say goodbye to Sophie. Other than that, there’s nothing left for me here.”
And what was left, she didn’t want. The memories of Emmett consumed each room. She couldn’t walk anywhere in the house without picturing his face. Now, with how it ended, picturing his face would hurt like a knife to the heart each time. She couldn’t live like that. Didn’t even want to try. Moving on from him was already going to be difficult. Why make it harder on herself?
Part of her wanted to forget what happened today. Rewind the entire night to the moment they were laughing and eating pizza and he made her feel like he honestly cared. She couldn’t do that. If Emmett couldn’t understand how much Dare meant to her, or believe that he was a good guy, then she couldn’t be with him. Because in her mind, believing Dare would do something horrible like that, meant he believed she was just as horrible. That didn’t say he loved her at all.
Here she thought all this time she didn’t deserve someone great like Emmett. Truth was he didn’t deserve someone like her. She was loyal. She knew true love. She would never turn her back on her brother. Emmett’s doubt in him told her he wouldn’t hesitate to turn his back on her.
That left her with only one choice. Leaving with Dare. She couldn’t look Emmett in the eyes again. She was afraid of what she’d see.
Because she didn’t think she’d see the love he always talked about.
Well, she could be glad about one thing. She never caved in to the impulse to ask for the ring back. Or said I love you. Even though she did. She loved Emmett with her whole heart. Too bad he didn’t love her the same way.