Then my nails dug into his skin.
He teased me with the lower half of his body.
Touching. Moving side to side. Pressing forward but not enough to take me.
But it was all enough to make my body shiver.
My teeth chattered like it was cold in the room.
Believe me, it was anything but cold anywhere when it came to Xavier and I.
“We’re in serious trouble, Xavier,” I whispered. “We should be scared. We should be planning something. But instead we’re doing this…”
“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” he said.
Xavier lowered his mouth down to mine.
He pressed his body to mine.
I tried to groan but nothing was heard.
The kiss was too good to break.
Everything was too good.
I never wanted this moment to end between us.
I snuck downstairs in the morning to get coffee and to clear my head.
Xavier was still sleeping, on his back, shirtless, and his chest had been where I rested my head all night.
It was more than perfect for me.
All I wanted was this money thing to end so Xavier and I could have that all the time.
When I saw Easton standing at the kitchen sink, I stopped in place.
“Good morning,” I said.
Easton stuck his right hand out, holding up one finger.
Then he took a deep breath.
“You might want to walk away, Winter,” he said.
“Why? Are you okay?”
“Will be… in a second…”
Easton took another breath and then lowered his face down into the sink.
Before I could say another word, I heard the growling sound of him getting sick.
I covered my mouth and cringed.
It was too late to turn away so I stood there while he threw up in the sink.
When he finished, he popped back up and turned on the water.
He squirted some of the soap that Noah had wanted to drink into the sink and rinsed everything away.
Once finished there, he helped himself to a coffee cup and poured a cup.
“Want some?” he offered.
“Sure,” I said.
I looked at Easton.
He looked… good. Normal.
The same old Easton.
He brought me a cup of coffee and smiled. “I have a rule. Or two. Your best bet is to let it all out the night before. Then you wake up and feel great. But if you can’t, then get it out of the way in the morning.”
“Good to know. Where’s Noah?”
“On the couch,” Easton said. “I’m fine. I’ve been up for an hour.”
“Puking for an hour?”
“Here and there,” he said. “I’m ready to go.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know, Winter. Hey, where’s Xavier?”
“Sleeping.”
Easton grinned. “You and me. Alone. In this big beach house. Or… the backseat of Tank Two is pretty damn big.”
I put my hand to Easton’s chest. “I don’t like the smell or taste of vomit.”
“I’ll swallow a tube of toothpaste if it gets me into the backseat with you, Winter.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Thanks for that. You know Xavier and I…”
“I’m just playing around,” he said. “Or am I?”
Easton lifted an eyebrow.
That was the crazy part… I didn’t know if he was playing around or not.
“I’m sorry about what happened,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m not. Just another twist, Winter. Something we have to deal with.”
“We’re going to figure it all out,” I said. “I was going to drink coffee and think. And then I have to go back to the castle and get the money for Talon. I don’t have enough here.”
“Fuck that guy,” Easton said.
“I’m not doing that to him,” I said. “I’ve done enough.”
“Yeah, you have.”
“Thanks.”
Easton smiled. “It’s crazy stuff, Winter. My parents. Both of them. I didn’t see that happening.”
“You didn’t know anything about your mother?” I asked.
“No. I just knew my father and Noah’s father were the ones skimming the top of the cash pile. That’s what we were going to take. She must have gotten word of it. Or wind of it. I don’t know. Maybe she’s trying to figure it out and follow us to protect us.”
“Do you really think that?” I asked.
“No,” Easton said. “But it’s nice to have hope.”
I took one sip of the coffee and put it down. “I should just go now. What time is it?”
“After noon for sure,” Easton said.
“Yeah. I’ll go now. I’ll get the money, come back, and we can talk.”
“I’ll go with you if you want,” he said. “I’ll sit in the front seat. I won’t make any moves. At least not on the ride there.”
“You stay here and finish throwing up,” I said.
“I told you, I’m good to go,” he said and punched his own stomach.
A second later, he turned his head and swallowed hard.
“Hmm,” he said. “Maybe I was wrong…”
Easton ran to the sink, I grabbed my phone and the keys to Tank Two.
It was time to finish what I had apparently started.
Seeing the castle was strange to me.
I always called it the castle in my mind and not the castle or the Castle…
It was just the castle.
Just this big looking house and nothing more.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, my mother’s beach house meant more to me than this place. And I had no real desire to see my father or talk to him.
There were some truths still lingering and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for them.
First, I just wanted to know I was safe. That this plan to steal money was over and gone.
Then I could worry about whatever family issues I had to face.
I snuck into the castle and hurried right to my room.
I had a little bit of money stashed away. Enough to pay Talon, keeping him happy for helping us. I wasn’t sure what the line was here with Talon and Gia together and us paying, what it all meant… but… at least it kept the line between the Bumps and the Trocs very clear.
When I entered my room and looked around, I frowned.
It was so big.
So bright.
So clean.
It was the size of a house.
It was where I had grown up.
I took comfort in the place.
It was home.
Nothing felt the same as I walked toward the massive bed.
It amazed me that everything was so clean.
The sheets smelled like they had just been washed.
Which they probably had been.
The cleaning staff worked every day of the week to keep the house in spotless condition. Every room, bathroom, sheets, towels, curtains… it was on a schedule to be cleaned.
The money I had hidden wasn’t near the bed.
It was in the back of the closet behind a large chest. The chest looked like something out of a pirate movie. The closet was big enough to walk into with ease.
I turned on the light and walked to the left corner.
I spread open some clothes on hangers and saw the chest.
The way it was positioned, it looked perfectly placed against the wall.
But it wasn’t.
There was a gap.
Behind that gap, I had a little secret compartment.
That’s where I hid notes, a bottle of vodka, and some emergency money. Stupid teenager stuff that used to matter so much to me. When I thought it was so cool to sneak around and do that kind of stuff. Now my life felt completely different. And it was completely different.
I pulled the chest out of the way and crouched down.
There was a sma
ll piece of carpet in the corner that blended into the floor almost perfectly.
I pulled at it and lifted it up.
I moved it next to the chest and wall and stared down at my secret hiding spot.
There was money there.
In fact, there was a lot of money there.
More money than I had ever seen in my life.
So much money that I stood up and sucked in a breath.
I stepped back and started to think.
My memory…
It was trying to come back again…
And it was…
“I took it myself,” I whispered.
That’s why Caroline was following us.
That’s why the accident happened.
I was planning on running off on my own.
I used Noah, Easton, and Xavier to help me find the money and come up with a plan to take it.
But then I took it on my own.
And I hid it.
I was going to pick a night and leave.
I started to shake as the memories came back to me.
I hurried and put the carpet back in place and pushed the chest back toward the corner.
I turned around and let out a loud scream.
“Hey, Winter…”
It was Dad.
Chapter 19
Out of time
“Dad.”
“What are you doing here? I mean, come here. I haven’t seen you in… what’s going on…”
“I just came to get some more clothes,” I lied.
“Well, get over here. Give me a hug. Do you… are you okay?”
Now I was cornered.
I slowly approached Dad and hugged him.
He wrapped his arms around me tight and let out a laugh.
“I’m getting there,” I said.
“Getting there… okay… well, what do you remember?”
I looked up at him and there was something about his eyes that was different.
“I remember some friends and stuff,” I said. “I’m getting there. Slowly.”
“Did your mother tell you I was back?”
“Yeah.”
“I was trying to call you…”
“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry. There’s been a lot going on.”
“Well, come have a glass of lemonade or something with me.”
“I can’t,” I said. “I promised a friend I’d help them with something.”
“Oh,” he said. “So, are you staying at your mother’s?”
“For now,” I said. “I’m sorry, Dad. But it’s been helpful to me.”
He nodded. “I get it. That’s fine. I just want to see you healthy again. That was…”
His chin started to quiver.
He turned and hurried out of the closet.
I went after him. “Dad…”
He kept his back to me and waved his hands. “Sorry. It still gets to me. To see you in the hospital like that. To have you wake up and not remember me…”
“I remember you now,” I said.
He looked back and smiled. “That’s good. That’s really good. I just wish you were home. You know what? I wish we could get out of here. Just you and me. Take a vacation. How about it? You pick any spot in the world.”
“We can plan for that,” I said. “But right now I have to get going. I just need to pack some stuff and leave.”
“So soon,” he said. “You haven’t seen me in a while. You look nervous, Winter. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.”
“It doesn’t seem that way.”
“I don’t know what to say,” I said. “You scared me. That’s all.”
“I scared you?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Can we just get down to it, Winter?”
Dad turned to face me. All emotion left his face.
“Get down to what?” I asked.
“Let’s talk about what really happened.”
“Okay. I don’t quite understand…”
Someone knocked on the already open bedroom door.
And in walked Caroline.
Every muscle in my body tightened when I saw her.
“You caught me,” she said with a smile.
“Excuse me?”
“You caught me,” she said. She slowly moved toward my father. “I followed you. You followed me.”
Heat flooded my cheeks.
She knew about Talon following her.
The closer she got to my father, the more tense I became.
“What is going on here?” I asked.
My father then put his left hand out and Caroline took it.
I watched as he pulled her closer to him.
She laughed and put her left hand to his chest.
My jaw almost hit the floor.
“We trust you, Winter,” Dad said. “This is our secret now, okay?”
“I have a few minor details to work out,” Caroline said. “Then we’ll all know the truth. It’s not easy to do something like this. You know?”
“You two… together…”
“I don’t think we should be talking about it,” Dad said. “There are bigger issues at hand.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Oh, Winter,” Caroline said. “You and my son stole money. My money. The money I had worked hard to get…”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Yes,” she said. “We can’t play these games anymore. You lived for this moment. Think about it.”
“What happened that night?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” Caroline asked.
I watched the smirk climb across her face.
I looked to Dad.
He was frozen.
I suddenly felt like Easton.
I wanted to find a sink and puke my guts out.
“I thought it was Aldrich and Roland…,” I said. “They were the ones scamming money. Right?”
“Sort of,” Caroline said. “Tell them, Jack…”
“I want to know where the money is,” Dad said. “Someone took it.”
“I…”
“Are you going to keep lying about losing your memory?” Caroline asked.
“I did lose my memory,” I said. “I swear on my life. Parts came back. But not much. I don’t remember much before the accident. What I did remember was wrong. I thought Noah, Easton, and Xavier tried to kill me. So I faked losing my memory to get back at them…”
I sucked in a breath and stopped.
Why am I telling them all of this?
I stopped talking.
“Wow,” Caroline said. “You really dug yourself into a hole, Winter.”
“You tried to kill me,” I said. “Both of you did… my own father…”
Dad didn’t say a word. He was still frozen.
“Winter, don’t be petty,” Caroline said. “What you did was wrong. This wasn’t yours to get involved with. You should have never heard our conversation.”
“What conversation?” I asked.
Dad and Caroline looked at each other.
Then Dad looked at me. “You really don’t remember…”
“No. Some things I do. Some things I don’t.”
“You overhead me talking,” Dad said. “I’ll keep it real. I’m tired of being the guy who invents things. I had bigger plans for my life, Winter. I took care of you like I was supposed to do but it wasn’t enough for me. After meeting Aldrich and Roland, getting a glimpse of their life… I knew what I wanted.”
“It also didn’t hurt that he bumped into me in the hallway of my house,” Caroline said.
They looked at each other and smiled.
My stomach ached some more.
This was really happening.
Dad. Caroline.
What the hell…
“I thought of a plan,” Dad said. “Aldrich and Roland wanted me to get involved in some bullshit real estate scheme. I knew it was a disaster. I went along. I played stupid to appease them. They love power more than money
. I gave them a lot of money, knowing I was going to lose it. But… I knew how to get it back. Some of it anyways. Enough that I could start over without worry. And with Caroline leaving Aldrich, we would end up just fine. She’d have the legit money from him. I’d have the stolen money as our protection plan. And life would be good.”
“Not to mention we’d wait for the right moment and then take down Aldrich,” Caroline said. “And Roland. It would crush Gina, which was good. She deserved it. When she found out about my affair with Roland, she blamed me, then took him back. He left me hanging.”
“Affair…” I gasped. “Affair? So you slept with Noah’s father? And now you’re sleeping with mine?”
“Not just sleeping,” Dad said. “We’re in this for real, Winter.”
I shook my head. “No. This can’t be real at all.”
“Oh, it’s real,” Caroline said. “And everything was in place until you got involved. You decided to take the money. You, Noah, Xavier, and my son. You corrupted them.”
“I don’t remember any of that,” I said.
“You have the money, Winter,” Dad said. “And it’s not yours to have.”
“How much?” I asked.
“I don’t even know,” Caroline said. “But it’s enough to have what we want. Right, Jack?”
“Right,” Dad said. “We just want it back. Before anything bad happens again.”
“Again…” I wanted to cry but couldn’t. I was shocked and scared. “You hurt me. You both hurt me.”
“That was my fault,” Caroline said. “I was too emotional when that decision was made. It made sense to do. You’d be gone, Winter. Dead. Jack could grieve. Feel lost. It would move things along and end your plan. But… you were a tad bit smarter than us. The money was already taken.”
“I can’t believe this,” I said.
“You know it’s the truth,” Dad said. “So what are we going to do?”
“I’m your daughter.”
“And I’m trying to take care of you, Winter,” he said. “You’re still alive right now.”
I shivered.
“And you’re going to stay alive,” Caroline said. “Only if you find the money you stole. That’s all we want. It’s our money. We worked hard for it. That only seems fair, right? I mean, in what other world would someone be able to steal money then return it and nothing bad happened? In fact, when you give the money back, we should all celebrate together. Have a big dinner. Put all of this behind us.”
Devious Love (Bay Falls High NEXT Book 3) Page 18