“Thank you,” Trace stressed, dipping his head to meet his sister’s gaze.
She nodded, then sent Luca a grin. “Want to come help us with this puzzle?”
He pushed in closer to me, suddenly seeming shy.
As if reading the emotion, Keely sent him a megawatt smile. “Come on, Luc. It’s really hard. We need you.”
His cheeks flushed slightly, and I swore his eyes went a little unfocused.Oh, shit.This was crush city, and I wasn’t sure how Tracewould feel about that. Before I could say anything, Luca darted over to the table to join Fallon and Keely, leaving me in the dust.
“What can I get you to drink?” Thea called as she crossed to the kitchen.
I loved seeing her so at home here, so comfortable. For a woman who’d been so determined not to let anyone close, she’d ended up with a mountain of support behind her.
“I’d love some iced tea. Thank—” My words cut off as my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket asUnknown Numberflashed on the screen.
My stomach sank. I’d changed my number the day I got the flat. If this was Roman, he was getting faster at finding my new contact info. And there were only so many times I could change it before people started to notice, and I ran out of excuses.
“You okay?” The voice wasn’t one I’d expected. I hadn’t even heard Arden move, but she was by my side now, those gray-violet eyes asking a million questions. It wasn’t that she was quiet per se, she certainly spoke her mind when she had opinions about things, it was just that she didn’t feel the need to fill the quiet. She only spoke with purpose.
I forced a wide smile. “All good. Just a supplier. I need to take this. Be right back.”
With Luca happily working on the puzzle with Keely and Fallon, I headed for the back door. I didn’t stop at the deck, knowing everyone inside would watch me. I headed down the steps toward the fields of cattle and horses.
It was the horses that drew me, the way they exuded peace and power all at once. I leaned against the fence, staring down at the phone’s screen as it rang and rang. I didn’t dare answer it. I couldn’t.
After my attack, I’d hoped the silver lining would be that I could serve as Roman’s wake-up call. Instead, it drove him deeper into his dark spiral. A detective on my case told me that he’d moved on from opiates and cocaine to heroin and fentanyl.
A burn lit behind my eyes. He’d had the world at his feet once. A round-two draft pick for the Baltimore Blackbirds. One of the bestwide receivers in the league. And I’d given up every dream I’d had to go with him.
Hadn’t finished college or even gotten a job once we moved to Baltimore. I hadn’t thought it would matter. We were going to build a family. That was all I focused on, so willing to let Roman take care of me that I’d forgotten all about my dreams of opening a bakery one day.
And all it took was one bad hit to change everything. One knee surgery after another. And I hadn’t realized the pills had a hold of Roman until it was too late. Until he was being booted from the team for a positive drug test and had us in an endless amount of debt.
I’d tried to help. Attempted to support Roman however I could. I got him into Narcotics Anonymous, therapy, made sure there was no alcohol in the house, and never drank in his presence. But nothing had been enough. AndIwas the one who paid the price. Luca and me. Because after our divorce, when I filed for full legal and physical custody, Roman couldn’t even be bothered to show up for court.
My phone flashed with a new text, and only then did I realize it had stopped ringing.
Unknown Number
Listen, you little slut. I gave you EVERYTHING. All I’m asking is for you to do me a solid and pay a little of that back. Is that too much to ask? You took everything from me.
The pressure built behind my eyes as the burning intensified.
Unknown Number
You owe me. And if I don’t get it, I’m sending Petrov’s goons after you. You know what he’s capable of.
A shudder ran through me. I was ice-cold, even though it was still in the mid-eighties. Petrov. I’d learned after my attack that Roman had gotten mixed up with Russian organized crime. And those monsters didn’t play when it came to getting their money back. But there was also no way to cut off the head of the snake.
The two men who’d attacked me were sentenced to fifteen years in prison, thanks to a shop’s security camera catching them outside my apartment building, but they’d likely get out in five. They hadn’t saida single word during their interrogations or during their trials. They’d simply accepted their sentences as their boss looked on. Someone whose eyes I felt on me in the courtroom. A boss Ineverwanted to see again.
A hand landed on my shoulder, and I whirled, my knee coming up on instinct, ready to fight.
“Easy, Warrior.”
8
COPE
