We all pause when our food comes out. Ethan makes heart eyes at the burger set in front of him while Maisy digs into a breakfast special with a side of sausage links. I don’t have the appetite for the sandwich I ordered, but I shove a chip into my mouth anyway. Maisy reaches over and steals one, making me smile reluctantly.
“So,” Maisy prompts.
It takes Ethan a minute to continue, too busy taking a huge bite of his food and sighing in delight. “Gonna miss this.”
Maisy and I glance at each other. She hitches a shoulder and presses her leg against mine, knee to hip.
“In the last couple of weeks I’ve been able to dig deeper without raising alarm now that I’ve built up my reputation and respect at the company. I came across a sealed file on employee termination. It seemed weird. I haven’t had any luck cracking it—computers aren’t really my thing.” He meets my gaze directly and my stomach drops. “What caught my interest was the date. I checked the local papers and it lined up with your parents getting into an accident.”
Everything he’s telling us lines up with what Colton has found out for me, so I know what we’re chasing is real.
“I have someone I trust who’s good with computers. I want to prove my parents were murdered,” I say. “That’s it.”
Ethan nods. “Of course. Take this.” He rummages in his satchel and pulls out a flash drive. I palm it and tuck it into my pocket. He sticks another fry in his mouth. “The trail’s leading me to the east coast. This is my last week at the company. I’ve already given notice because I’ve burned through my resources here.”
“Why can’t you stay and see it through?” Maisy asks.
“This is just one piece of the picture. I want the whole thing when I break this story. Everything I’ve got so far is on that drive.”
“Thank you,” Maisy says. “I’m glad we ran into you, or we might’ve missed out on knowing this.”
“Probably would’ve gotten yourselves caught by the patrol, too,” Ethan says with a pointed look as he drizzles ketchup over the rest of his fries. “Seriously, watch out for them. You’ll find what I’ve pieced together on this in what I gave you, but when someone from their parent company has a meeting with the Nexus Lab board, it throws off this shady vibe. My co-worker goes white as a sheet whenever they come around.”
I don’t mention what we learned from Colton earlier about who owns the shell corporation that owns Nexus Lab. “Yeah. We’ll be more careful.”
“You’ll have to be to prove what happened to your parents. Here’s my number if you need me. Good luck.”
With that, Ethan wipes his mouth with a napkin, slips me a business card, and tosses down enough cash to cover his meal before he nods to us and leaves.
Maisy sits back against the fake red leather. “Kismet.”
“Bless you?” My brows dip. “The hell is that?”
She blows out an amused breath, lips curving. “It means fate, that something was meant to be. We seriously got lucky crossing paths with an undercover journalist who’s been digging into the same thing you have.”
“I don’t believe in fate,” I mutter, glancing out the window to watch the vehicles on the interstate fly by the exit for Ridgeview. “Shit’s for fairytales.”
“I believe you and I were meant to find each other again.” Her hand finds mine and she leans her head on my shoulder. I almost laugh because I knew she’d call us fate. “You and me, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Just like we used to say.”
That I can’t argue with. It’s the only way to explain the way my heart beats harder when she’s around. How much less I’m ruled by the anger of my past because she keeps me grounded from spiraling out of control. How much better I fucking sleep without nightmares clawing at my mind because she’s in my arms with her soothing floral and coconut scent wrapped around me.
“You’re right.” I turn back and drop a kiss on top of her head, inhaling her sweetness mingled with my shampoo. “It was a lucky break. We could’ve missed him and then we wouldn’t have more information to comb through.”
“See, the power of positive thinking.” She sits up. “That’s what Thea always says.”
“The one with the bakery, right? Eloped in Paris?”
She nods with a fond smile. I’m hit by a pang of guilt. Maisy deserves to be enjoying her summer with her friends and living a normal life, but instead I’ve dragged her into my shadows and uncovered the seedy underbelly rotting this town from the ground up.
“Wait, how did you know about Paris?” She narrows her gaze. “I didn’t tell you about that.”
The corners of my mouth curl up in a smug smile. “I told you, daisy. Any move you made, I knew about it.” Grasping her chin, I angle her face up and kiss her. She grins into it. “Ready to get out of here?”
“Yes. I want to know what Ethan’s found in the time he’s spent under the radar.”
“Me too.”
We leave the diner and I press Maisy back against the side of the Charger for another kiss before I hold her door open for her. She laughs as she slides in.
On our way back to my place, I grow quiet, contemplating everything we’ve learned in the last several hours. I can tell she’s worried about me by the thousand and one looks she’s shot at me in the last ten minutes alone.
She must finally reach a limit, because she reaches across the center console and takes my hand.
“What are you thinking?” Her soft voice is a balm to my aching soul.
I lick my lips, staring ahead at the road. My hand hangs over the wheel and I twitch my fingers, thinking how to put it.
“I have a bad feeling. All of this is bigger than I thought.” I shake my head. “I only set out to prove the truth about my parents being murdered, that it was covered up. I never expected to discover this intricate web of lies and corruption. This shit runs so deep its roots burrow into Ridgeview.”
“But now we can make it right.”
Her optimism is a buoy to reach for in the churning sea I feel myself being pulled further into. I thread our fingers together, knuckles turning white from how tightly I grip her smaller hands. I just need to hold on and let her light guide me out of the darkness threatening to swallow me whole.
“I don’t know what to do, Maise,” I admit hoarsely.
Christ, I sound so goddamn broken and beat down by the hand I’ve been dealt. I wish more than anything nothing bad ever happened so she and I could’ve been two kids who grew up together and had a good life. But I know that’s not how the world works. It’s a cruel reality.
“No matter where this goes, I’m with you,” she assures me with an admirable steel in her tone.
I manage to loosen my death grip on her hand and bring it up to my mouth for a kiss. That’s when I see it in the rearview mirror. My body stiffens and time seems to slow in the seconds it takes me to suck in a sharp breath and focus on one thing: drive.
A loud bang goes off and Maisy screams. The back window blows out in a shower of broken glass. Fuck, this can’t be happening!
“Get down!” I shout, trying to shield her while I drive.
There’s no time to grab for the gun I stashed in the glove compartment. Instead of fighting back, I want to get us away to keep her safe. I slam my foot on the gas pedal, flooring it as I weave back and forth to make us a harder target to hit. The wind is loud, whipping into the car from the damage. I let my guard down and it might get us killed.
“Oh my god! What’s happening?”
The blacked out SUV tries to close the distance and I see the shotgun again in the side mirror.
“Shit!”
Another bang rings out as I yank the wheel, but I’m not fast enough. The driver’s side window shatters, sharp pieces catching me across the cheek and neck as I instinctively shy away with a grunt. Ignoring the pain, I grit my teeth and push the car harder to get us the hell out of there.
“You good?” I demand, praying no buckshot spread flew through the car.
&
nbsp; Maisy tries to lift her head as my tires screech across the road when I take a turn too fast.
“Down, Maisy!” I press down on her shoulders and she curls up in a ball. “Someone’s fucking shooting at us!”
“I figured that out,” she yelps over the wind of the two destroyed windows. Reaching up, she latches on to my arm that’s shielding her, grip desperate and scared. “They must have been watching and followed us.”
“Hold on tight. I’ll get us out of here.”
My heart thumps hard as I white knuckle the wheel. I will get us out of this or we’ll meet the same fate as my parents. I’ll never let them take anything away from me again.
Especially not my daisy.
Twenty-Nine
Maisy
Fox winces and I scrunch up my face in sympathy as I clean the cuts he got from the broken glass. He’s sitting on a low stool shirtless, hair wet from the quick shower we took when we got back. His hands grip my hips as I dab at freshly dried blood on his cheek. He hasn’t stopped touching me once, like he needs to physically know I’m safe by keeping me within reach.
“Sorry,” I murmur when he grits his teeth from the sting of the alcohol wipe.
He grunts, jaw locked. I know he’s not mad at me, but the force of his anger is a palpable thing. His body ripples with the need to tear something apart.
Someone fucking shot at us. If it wasn’t serious before, it’s clear how dangerous this is now.
I’m shaken by what happened on our way home from the diner, but staying strong. This is no time to lose my head. Neither of us got shot, thank god. I really hope Ethan wasn’t followed. We made it away safely thanks to Fox’s fast driving, managing to lose the blacked out SUV by luring them into the residential part of Ridgeview where they couldn’t shoot at us without witnesses. That’s what matters.
I peel open a small bandage and stick it over the long wound on Fox’s neck, fingertips lingering on his warm damp skin. My body shakes with a shudder and air rushes past my lips. It hasn’t stopped doing that, even after the shower. My pulse has calmed, but there is still something simmering beneath my skin. For now I ignore it, focusing on getting Fox patched up.
His dark blue eyes watch me with something like recognition reflecting back. I think he knows I’m more rattled than I’m letting on. He uses his thumbs to trace patterns on my hips and with a subtle press he guides me closer between his spread knees, near enough that I feel his breath coast down my chest and across my bare stomach.
My nipples tighten in response. A pulse of heat throbs between my legs and I swallow. I didn’t bother to throw on more than a pair of tight workout shorts and a sports bra after the shower while he only tugged on the jeans he had on this morning.
When we stumbled up the steps to the second floor of Fox’s warehouse, him half-dragging me, we stripped out of our clothes at the door. Pieces of glass clung to my hair, hitting the concrete floor with little pings as I shook it free. Fox pulled me right into the shower to wash off the danger and any lingering pieces too small to see. He took his time running his hands over my body first with a look of deep concentration and protectiveness until he was satisfied that I was glass-free. I did the same to him, carefully pushing my fingers into his thick hair while he silently watched.
Fox ended up with minor scrapes and one deeper cut on his neck. I was sore from how tensely I’d curled into a ball, crouched low and held in place by his arm as he drove us to safety, but the worst I’d end up with is some bruising from smacking into the center console from the tight turns. It’s a miracle neither of us ended up with buckshot embedded in our skin.
Actually, it’s lucky we made it away at all.
These are the people my mother and father work for. People willing to kill Fox, willing to kill me because I’m seen with him.
Do either of them know that I was shot at today?
Would they care?
They’re willing to look the other way and go as far as covering up their friends’ murder so their dirty bosses will keep paying them, so how far is too far? I don’t know if I want to find out just how much they’d sacrifice for their greed.
“Hey.” Fox grasps my wrist and cups my nape, bringing our foreheads together. The waves of anger subside a little as he focuses on me. “Stop thinking for a minute.”
“How do you know that’s what I was doing?” I whisper.
“Because you’re shaking.” He soothes his hand down my arm and rubs until the trembling passes. “It’s okay. I’ll keep you safe.”
It’s the most he’s managed to say to me since the danger descended on us, like he had to work through everything clouding his own head too.
I close my eyes and slide my nose along his in a gentle nuzzle, taking comfort in his protective nature when it comes to me.
“Are you cold?” he asks in a low voice tinged in the shadows of his anger. “You could go into shock.”
“No. I’m good.”
Fox puts his big hands on my back and smooths them up and down every inch of my exposed skin. I can’t help the way it makes me arch against him, a tiny sound catching in my throat. He keeps up the slow touches, stroking the curve of my spine with his calloused fingertips. My skin isn’t cold, it’s the opposite—I’m burning up inside and each tender touch nudges me closer to a cliff edge I feel like I need to dive off.
A strange hunger eats at me, one unlike any I’ve ever experienced. I’ve always had a healthy sexual appetite, but it’s never been like this. My mind fills with images and I scrape my teeth over my lip, pushing aside the wish for Fox to pick me up by my thighs and toss me down on his bed.
“We should see what Ethan gave us on the flash drive,” I say instead of entertaining the fantasies.
I move to go fish it out of Fox’s pants, but his hold on me tightens, keeping me in place. Leaning back, I peer at him curiously, but he doesn’t let me get far. He adjusts on the stool and pulls me onto his lap. There’s so much conflict swirling in his dark gaze when he cups my face and brushes his thumbs over my cheeks.
“I think we should stop,” he finally says.
“Stop?”
Fox sighs heavily. “This is dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.” He pauses, throat bobbing. “That’s the last thing I want now. If I have to choose between you and my revenge on this town, I choose you. My parents are dead, but you’re alive and I’m not letting you go.”
My heart cracks open and my breath hitches. I grasp his wrists as tears sting my eyes. Hearing him ready to give up on everything makes me ache, but at the same time hearing that I mean more to him than anything else makes me happy.
“Fox,” I whisper. “I…”
His gaze pierces mine. It seems like he’s holding his breath, waiting for me to confess how I feel about him. He has to know I’m in love with him, right? I think I always have been, since we were little kids.
“You said you’ve been searching for these answers for so long,” I say.
“I know.” He forces out a breath. “It’s driven so much of my life, but it doesn’t matter. I’d rather let it go if it means keeping you safe.”
He’s saying he’s giving it up, but his body is wound tight, like it hasn’t caught up with his head. He might be ready, but I’m not. He’s pulled back the veil that shrouded my life and I’m done with the complacency. What’s going on in this town is wrong and I want to see the consequences come down on them all.
“What if I say I’m not done?”
His brow wrinkles. “Maisy…”
“I’m serious. I think we should still keep going.” I sit up straighter in his lap and set my jaw. “I’m not afraid and I want to see this to the end with you.”
Fox studies me for a long stretch, cupping my shoulders like I’m something precious to be cradled and cherished.
“Are you sure?” His hands drop off my shoulders and skate down my back, stirring the heat in my center. The deep rumble of his voice is its own seductive and sensual temptation stroking my
skin. “We could just leave. Follow the road wherever it takes us.” Leaning in, he places an open-mouthed kiss on the column of my throat that makes my thighs clench. “Just you and me.”
God, I want that. It’s been my biggest dream for as long as I can remember. Damn him for dangling it in front of me.
We’re so close to uncovering the truth, though. I can feel it. Fox needs that closure to be able to truly move on with his life.
I purse my lips. “I’m sure. We can’t let them keep getting away with it all.”
He stares at me for another moment, then nods. “The minute you’re in danger again, we’re stopping. Chasing ghosts isn’t as important as you are to me.”
A flutter moves through my chest and I smile. “Deal.”
Pulled by the force of the thing still itching beneath my skin, I cover his mouth with mine. A sound sticks in his throat as he parts his lips for my tongue, holding my hips. The temperature in the room rises fast and I break off, panting and breathing him in. Zaps of the adrenaline that hasn’t fully faded skitter across my body and I shudder. It’s been building since we got away, since the shower with his hands on me under the water, since he kissed my neck and offered to give into the urge that always sits in the back of my mind to get in a car and drive.
It’s all too much to ignore anymore and I need him.
Fox’s eyes are heavy-lidded, tracking my tongue when I dart it out to wet my lower lip. My nipples harden, feeling sensitive with every tiny shift of my body in his lap.
“Is it…” I try to catch my breath. “Is it weird if I say I’m really horny right now?”
He chuckles, the sound dark and inviting, then captures my lips again, hands roaming freely. I moan into the searing kiss as pushes beneath my sports bra to squeeze my breast while teasing me with his tongue. The wild edge of his passion matches mine and seems on the verge of breaking free.
Savage Wilder: Dark New Adult High School Bully Romance (Sinners and Saints Book 4) Page 25