She huffs out an unconvincing laugh and I don't blame her. I’m not a boy scout and I’ve said some pretty shitty things about her brothers, but I’ve never done anything directly to her.
I can’t.
I look over and get caught in her eyes, at the way the dash lights illuminate how big and blue they are. She’s beautiful. I wish I could tell her. Chase, Sam, and my brother are all waiting for me at the cabin. Shit is going to hit the fan when I pull up with Jules in my truck.
Maybe I should turn around.
“Thank you, Roman,” she says softly.
My name on her lips sends a spike of longing through me so sharp I lose my breath. I’ve never heard her say it before. I want to hear it again after I’ve kissed her breathless.
It takes a second before I can tear my gaze away.
Fate has a fucking cruel sense of humor.
“You’re welcome.” Even I hear the way my voice cracks but I concentrate on getting the truck moving instead of staring at her. “It’ll be about fifteen minutes.”
“Kay.”
Silence stretches between us as I maneuver through the drifts of snow. I can’t see more than a few feet in front of us and it takes all my concentration to keep on the road, even with my jacked up truck. Twenty minutes later the cabin is visible through the trees.
Beside me, Jules is still quiet. I think she fell asleep.
My body aches from how tense I’ve been. A few times I wasn't sure if the four-wheel drive was going to get through. This is a hell of a lot more snow than they predicted. If my phone wasn’t busted I could check the weather app, but it doesn't really matter.
Nothing I can do about it.
Finally, the truck rolls to a stop next to Luc’s Hummer and I cut the engine.
“We’re here,” I say on a heavy exhale.
Not sure why I stated the obvious. Her silence is more than a hint. When she doesn’t respond I reach over and touch her shoulder. She starts awake and when her gaze settles on me she presses back against the door, putting more space between us. Her eyes are wild and her gaze darts around the truck. A whimper falls from her lips.
She looks so fucking scared that I can’t breathe.
I want to drive my fist into my father’s face for keeping this fucking feud going so long. He’s suckered Luc into believing that the Montgomery's are trash, that they deserve to be tormented and belittled.
Christ, maybe I should have just taken her home.
I see shadows moving inside the lit windows. The snow is falling harder now. Too late. There’s no way I’m going anywhere tonight.
“Jules? We’re at the cabin.” I keep my voice low and soft and I keep my hands clenched on the wheel. I’m afraid if I move she’ll panic and jump out of the truck or something. I hate that look of fear in her eyes. My family are dicks for hurting Jules like that.“It’s okay,” I say again because I don’t know else to do.
She blinks a few times and her ragged breathing slows. With each inhale, the panic fades from her eyes but the wariness remains. “I’m sorry. I must have fallen asleep. You startled me is all.”
I watch her for a few more seconds then ease my fingers free. I’ve never seen anyone react that way. She was legitimately terrified. I suck air into my lungs and unbuckle my seatbelt as my heart pounds against my ribs.
“Stay there, I’ll help you out.”
I jump out and land in a knee-deep drift of snow. The cold is brutal but I welcome the bite. It gives me a chance to pull my shit together before I open Jules’ door.
She’s already unhooked her seatbelt and is clutching her purse to her stomach. I stand there but she won't look at me. Her gaze is fixated on the cabin.
We call this place our cabin, but it’s really a pretentious as fuck vacation home that we stay in maybe a couple times a year. My mom redecorated last year because she watched some show about Swiss chalets in the Alps and dad refused to take her to Switzerland. She got back at him by spending the budget of a small country by renovating.
He’s refused to set foot in the place since, which works out good for us because we have the place to ourselves any time we want. Luc and I use it the most and in the summer, we practically live here. Luc throws parties every night because he hates to be alone. I come here to get away from dad.
I know she sees the people moving around inside and her breathing speeds up.
“Jules?”
Finally, she turns her wide eyes to me. Jesus, I don’t know what’s going on in her head but the way she trembles makes me feel sick. She doesn’t trust me and I can’t blame her. What my family does to her family is fucked up.
“Jules. It’s okay. It’s just Luc and a few of the guys. I swear nothing is going to happen to you. They’re not going to…” I swallow against the thick lump in my throat. That I even have to say it to this girl makes me ill. “I’d never let anyone hurt you.”
I’d pound anyone who did. Even my own brother.
Fuck, I should have turned around and taken her home. Now it’s too late, but I wasn’t lying. No one in this house will touch her.
“Look it’s freezing out here and the snow isn’t going to get any less deep. You can come in and go right up to a guest room. There’s a lock on the door and a bathroom attached and you won’t even have to see anyone until morning and then I’ll take you home.”
I hear her ragged inhale and then she slowly slides her legs to the edge of the seat. Her breathing is still too fast and her knuckles are white around her purse.
“Can I help you down?”
Her throat bobs when she swallows. My legs are turning into ice cubes standing there and Jules doesn’t have anything except a light jacket. Her teeth are already chattering.
“There’s a fireplace inside. And I can make you some soup?”
A gust of wind blows between us and when it’s gone, white snowflakes dust her face. Several cling to her eyelashes before they melt away. The blue in her eyes darken with vulnerability and confusion.
“Why are you helping me? You’re a Heartland, you shouldn’t have even stopped. Your brother would have driven away and left me.”
I grit my teeth. She’s not wrong. My twin is an asshole and just like our father. He was raised on hate and vitriol against the Montgomerys.
“I’m not Luc. And despite what you think Jules, I don’t hate you.”
Her eyebrows draw down. “And yet you torment my brother.”
I huff out a laugh. “He’s not exactly innocent.”
Jayson Montgomery is far from blameless. He and his friends jumped Luc and beat the shit out of him freshman year. Luc has been out for blood since. And when your father owns the town and holds a hundred-year grudge, payback’s been a wicked agenda.
“And I only said I don’t hate you. The rest of your family, they don't matter.”
Her eyes widen just a fraction and some of the tension leaves her shoulders.
“Can we go inside now? I’m about to turn into a human popsicle.” I give her what I hope is an encouraging smile, but to be honest, I can’t feel my lips.
“Okay.” She scoots to the edge of the seat and grabs the oh shit bar.
“I’ll help you down if that’s okay?”
At her nod, I reach out and grip her around the waist. Her hand flies to my shoulder when I lift her out and this close, for one perfect second, I can imagine that things are different.
That we’re at the cabin to be alone. Together. That I’ll be able to taste her skin and see if it’s as sweet as she smells.
Her feet touch the ground and she lets go, breaking the illusion.
I do too, then slam the door shut and trudge through the knee-deep snow to the steps. She follows in the furrow I’m making. By the time we get to the door, my jeans are soaked and I can hear Jules’ teeth clacking together.
Before I can open the door, it swings open and I meet Luc’s incredulous stare.
“What the fuck man?”
His narrowed gaze is aimed at
Jules who cowers behind me now.
“Back the fuck up and let us in. It‘s fucking cold out here.”
Luc crosses his arms over his chest. “Maid isn’t supposed to be here until Sunday night.” His narrowed eyes rove down over her body and a smirk lifts his lips. “Unless you brought the entertainment. I hear your mom was quite the stripper in her day. Rode that pole between her legs like a real pro. Hear she’d spread em for a buck fifty too.”
Jules makes a distressed sound behind me and I shove Luc’s shoulder, hard, shooting a glare at him. He stumbles back a step before he recenters. We’re about the same size and our fights are usually pretty fair, but I can’t feel my hands and my muscles have locked from the cold.
I’m moving sluggishly at best.
“Stop being a douche,” I growl, pushing inside. “She was stranded and I’m not a dick like you.”
His glare is ice cold, countering the warm air as it rushes over me.
“Careful baby bro, you don’t want to end up with crabs.”
I fist my hands and a smirk turns his lip up when he notices. I used to believe that there was something good inside my brother, that we were connected like twins are, and that if given the chance, he’d do the right thing.
Years of watching him turn into my father shattered that illusion.
I finally exhale when Luc takes another step back and lets me inside. I rub my hands together to get some feeling back in them. Fuck it’s cold out.
Jules hasn’t moved from the porch and she’s even paler than before. Her lips are tinged blue again and she’s so still, it makes me nervous. Given the chance, I think she’d choose to stay out there and freeze to death.
“Shut the damned door, it’s so cold my dicks crawling up my throat” Chase yells, coming around the corner. He comes to a sudden stop when he sees Jules. “Holy fuck.”
His stare moves from her to me, a knowing smile on his lips. Yeah, he might know how I feel about Jules. Thank fuck he swore he’d never tell my brother. If Luc knew, he’d come at Jules even harder just to fuck with me. Because he’s an asshole like that.
I’ve kept my distance to keep her of Luc’s radar. I’m going to have to be fucking careful with her this close to him. And with me this close to her.
God this is a fucked up situation.
“Didn’t know you were bringing company,” he says with a lifted eyebrow. There’s a serious what the fuck are you doing man? look in his eyes as he side glances at Luc. I stomp my boots to dislodge the packed snow.
“Her car broke down and her phone was dead. She was stuck so I did the good samaritan thing.”
Luc snorts.
Jules is still deer in the headlight frozen.
“Get your ass in here sweet thing, it’s fucking cold out there,” Chase drawls in the worst imitation of a cowboy ever. “Don’t know if you heard me but my dick is going into hibernation mode and that’s just not right.”
Jules blinks and pink tinges her cheeks. I really don’t want her thinking about my best friends dick, but when she takes a tentative step inside, I shoot him a look of thanks. I can finally close the door behind her and get her warmed up.
She’s still got her purse clenched against her middle like a shield and her knuckles are white, but at least she’s out of the cold.
“Am I dealing you fuckers in or what?” Sam yells, coming around the corner. He freezes when he sees Jules. “The fuck is she doing here?” he sneers.
Sam is solid in Luc’s corner when it comes to the Montgomerys. Jules older brother Jaxson fucked Sam’s sister, Sasha, when they were in school, then took off when she found out she was pregnant.
To say he hates the whole family is an understatement.
Not a single one would tell Sasha where Jax went and Sasha ended up having his kid and giving it up. The hate runs so deep that they didn't want to have a half-Montgomery anywhere near them.
Thank fuck that little baby girl ended up in a place where she wouldn’t grow up learning to hate like we do.
“She’s with me,” I grit out.
Jules is barely breathing and I can feel the tension rippling from her.
Luc and Sam share a glance and I’m immediately on the defense. I move a little in front of her and Chase shifts enough so his back isn’t to the guys.
“Are we playing or what?” Chase asks, breaking the silence. “I’m up two grand and you fuckers are gonna payout.”
I hear a soft gasp behind me but I’m not taking my eyes off Sam. He’ll have to get through me if he thinks he’s gonna get close to her.
Sam makes a production of sniffing the air then wrinkling his nose. “Someone really should take out the fucking trash. Stinking up the place.”
He spins on his heel and Luc follows behind him, clapping him on the shoulder as they share a laugh.
“Make sure you check her before she leaves, make sure she’s not stealing anything,” Luc says over his shoulder. “It’s what their kind does.”
With a growl, I yank at the zipper on my jacket with cold numb fingers and toss it onto a bench. My hat follows, then my boots which I toss in the general direction of the mat.
Jules moves to the side to toe off her chucks.
“Can’t believe you walked her into the fucking lion’s den, man. I hope you know what you’re doing,” Chase mumbles low enough that Jules can’t hear.
I meet his intense stare.
“Not a fucking clue,” I mutter back. “Didn't have a whole lotta choice.”
“Hey, I got your back, you know that.” He sticks out his fist and I bump mine against it.
I’m lucky that Chase moved to Parkersburg freshman year and didn’t go to school with Jules’ brothers. He never had to pick sides and because of it, was my friend, first and foremost.
He didn’t hate the Montgomery’s just because everyone else did.
“I’m going to get her something warm to drink and take her to my room. Be back in a bit.”
He nods and then heads into the living room to join the guys.
“Deal me in fuckers,” he yells.
I take a breath to steady my racing heartbeat and then turn to Jules. Her skin is pale and her eyes are way too big as she stands there like a deer in headlights. Or a lamb being led to slaughter.
Fuck.
I suck in a ragged breath and try to smile.
“You ready?”
Chapter Three
Jules
You ready?
Hell no I’m not ready. For any of this. I’m standing in a house with the Heartland boys and their boys. This is the most fucked up situation I’ve ever been in, including all the shit my dad and brothers pull.
Roman watches me expectedly though, so I nod. It’s not like I can run. The blizzard outside would mean death before I got...I have no idea where I even am.
Stupidly, I fell asleep on the drive here. I should have refused Roman’s help and froze to death. It would probably hurt less.
I glance over at Roman. He hasn’t done anything to make me think he’s setting me up. In fact, he stepped between Luc and I in the entry just minutes ago when it looked like Sam wanted to strangle me.
Not that I blame him. My brother Jax is a real piece of shit and if I knew where he ran off to, I’d have told Sam when he asked. I know he thinks we were all lying to protect Jax, but he has no idea how quickly I would have ratted out my oldest brother.
Every member of my family is a worthless piece of trash, and because of the shared last name, so am I.
There are clear lines that were drawn a decade before I was born.
Heartlands and Montgomery's are enemies.
It’s the unwritten rule in Parkersburg.
They are the kings, we are the peasants.
“Kitchen is this way.” Roman motions for me to follow and I do. Somehow in all this, my still half frozen brain equates him with safety and I don’t want to be out of his sight. Not with Luc and Sam so close.
I shuffle behind him in soaking wet
socks, leaving footprints on the gleaming hardwood floor. My clothes are wet now that the snow melted and I can’t fight back the shiver of dread crawling up my spine. Even in the heat, I can't get warm.
Roman stops and turns.
“Shit. You must be freezing. Come on, first a hot shower and then hot food.”
My feet freeze to the floor. There is no way I’m getting naked in a house where half the guys would toss me out into a snowbank to die. Or worse. I swallow against the sour taste of fear.
I’ve been through worse. There’s nothing these boys could do to me that hasn’t already been done.
“Jules?” Roman’s eyes are soft when I finally meet his stare. “There’s a lock on the door and another on the bathroom door in the room. I’ll even stand outside the bedroom door until you’re done if you want.”
My teeth start to chatter and exhaustion weighs me down. Still, I can’t help the burning in the back of my eyes. I’ve learned never to trust words and even though he’s saying the right ones, I have no idea if he’s really lying or not.
“Christ,” Roman says, driving his fingers through his hair. “My brother may be the worlds biggest dick, but no one is going to touch you, Jules, I swear.”
He can't promise me that. I’ve been threatened with a lot over the years, half of it from Lucas Heartland. Given the chance, I have no doubt he’d cross a line to punish me for the sins of my father and brothers.
“I’ll get you some sweats and a hoodie. They might be big on you, but they’re dry and you can at least change out of your wet clothes.” He stares at me as I shiver for a few seconds and his jaw hardens. “You really need to get into dry clothes. Come on.”
He walks past the kitchen to a second staircase tucked in the back of the house. It’s not as majestic as the one in the front entry. He leads me up and then down a wide hallway. One whole side is windows, but I can’t see much with all the snow.
“The lake’s right there, but you can’t really see it. There’s a dock and in the summer we take the boat out a lot. Waterskiing, there are a couple of jet skis in the boathouse. It’s really pretty at night with a fire in the pit.”
I slow blink at the tour he seems to be giving me and after a moment, he realizes what he’s doing. Red creeps up his neck and he reaches a hand back to rub at the color.
Tormented: A Bully Romance Anthology Page 4