Nash walked up and cuffed me upside the head. “Stop egging G on. One of these days, she’s going to murder your ass, and I won’t be able to do anything to stop it.”
I grinned at my best friend as I stood. “What can I say? I like pushing her buttons.”
Maddie studied me carefully but didn’t say anything.
“She’s tiny, but she’s vicious,” Nash muttered. “I’d watch your back.”
He was right. Grae had a fight in her, unlike anyone I’d ever met. It was something innate, burned into her bones as if the Universe had known she would need it someday. It had helped her claw her way back from the brink of death all those years ago, and it gave her the gumption to keep chasing her dreams now.
My gut twisted as an image flashed in my mind: Grae pale and clammy as I ran down the mountain, her breaths shallow. The beep of the heart monitor as I watched her chest rise and fall in the hospital bed that was three sizes too big. Panic clawed at my chest, my ribs tightening around my lungs.
“Caden? You all right?”
Nash’s voice jarred me out of my living nightmare. “What? Yeah. Sorry, just spaced.”
His eyes narrowed. “Everything okay with your parents?”
Was it ever? But that wasn’t something I wanted to delve into here. “As good as they can be.”
Which meant they were shit.
Nash opened his mouth to say something, but Maddie squeezed his arm, then turned her focus to me. “Come over for dinner this week. We’re finally settled into the new kitchen.”
I grinned, and the curve of my mouth was authentic for the first time all day. “A Maddie meal? Twist my arm.”
Nash frowned at her. “You gonna make double?”
Holt choked on a laugh as he strode up. “I’ve never met someone more possessive of food.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “You’re one to talk. Wren said you practically called off the wedding when she ate the last of the leftovers.”
Holt’s face reddened a fraction. “I was saving them for my lunch.”
“She’s pregnant,” Maddie said incredulously.
“It was Wildfire pizza,” Holt shot back as if that justified everything.
Maddie threw up her hands. “Men.”
Nash wrapped her in his arms and dipped her to kiss her soundly. It started out playful but turned heated in a way that spoke of a level of intimacy I’d never experienced. It made my skin itch as if it were too tight for my body, and I had to look away.
Someone in the crowd let out a whistle, and Maddie broke away, her cheeks pink.
“What was that about men?” Nash asked with a smirk.
She pinched his side. “That you’re barely worth the trouble, but you come in handy with the sexual favors.”
He snorted and draped an arm across her shoulders. “Want to go home and take advantage of those favors?”
Maddie’s eyes softened in a way that had a bit of that panic flaring to life in my chest again. “Always.”
Nash gave his brothers and me a chin lift and guided Maddie toward the door.
As I watched them go, I couldn’t imagine what Nash had exposed himself to. It was as if his heart were walking around outside his body, and he was completely okay with it. Nothing on this planet could get me to sign on for that. But as I watched Maddie stretch onto her tiptoes to brush her lips across his cheek, I knew it meant my life might be a damn lonely one.
I guided my G-Wagon around the last bend in the road before reaching The Peaks. The resort’s beauty struck me as it came into view. It didn’t matter that a million dark memories haunted it. This place held my best memories, too: Making cookies with my mom in our kitchen. Racing Clara down to the barn to go on a trail ride. Exploring with her and Gabe. Even softer memories of my father before he turned, but then again, maybe I’d just been blind to the ugliness that lived in him and my brother all along.
I slowed at the massive iron gates as a security guard stepped out.
“Good evening, Mr. Shaw. How was your night?”
“Loaded question, Alex. But at least I’ve got an ice-cold beer in my future.”
He grinned. “Always helps me after a long day. Have a good one.”
“You, too. Tell Suzanne I said hello.”
“Will do.”
Just as I was about to take my foot off the brake, my phone buzzed in the cupholder. I glanced down and grimaced.
Dad
Come to the house. I need to speak with both of you.
He’d sent the text to both Gabe and me. Great. The last thing I needed was an eight o’clock family board meeting. I wanted a long, cold shower and my bed. But like a good dog, I turned toward my parents’ house on the other side of the lodge.
The resort had just about everything you could want in a getaway: five-star dining, an award-winning spa, a movie theatre, and a nightclub. There were facilities for tennis, golf, horseback riding, and every outdoor activity under the sun. And guests were guaranteed a level of privacy that was difficult to find anywhere else. Titans of industry, celebrities, and even royals came to stay.
My father cared about all our properties in our billion-dollar holding company, but this was his crown jewel. Maybe because it was the place he called home for most of the year. Perhaps because it was the resort that got the most press. The reason didn’t really matter; what did was that he cared about it far more than his remaining children.
I pulled to a stop in front of the massive private lodge. It nestled into its surroundings nicely, even if it was over the top. I stared at it for a moment, trying to connect to that feeling of home. But sometime over the past decade, that feeling had slipped away.
Forcing myself to turn off the engine, I slid out of my SUV. Gabe’s sleek Maserati was already here. Why he needed to drive it when he lived next door was beyond me.
I crossed the circular drive and walked up the stone steps, pausing for a moment. I had the sudden urge to ring the doorbell as if this weren’t the home I’d spent my entire childhood in.
Instead, I pressed down on the latch and opened the door. As I stepped inside, I paused to listen. The faint sound of voices came from the living room. I walked in that direction.
I found my father and brother sitting on leather club chairs on either side of the massive stone fireplace, each with a glass of scotch in their hands. My dad looked up. “Took you long enough.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I was coming home from a SAR meeting.”
He scoffed. “What a waste of time.”
Gabe grinned as if every insult cast in my direction was a point for him in the make-believe game he had going on in his head.
“Get a scotch,” Dad commanded.
“I’m good,” I said, taking a seat on one of the sofas. They were hard as stone but had some architecturally significant style.
Dad rolled his eyes. “Such a delicate flower.”
My back teeth ground together. Better than a drunk who let alcohol fuel his temper. I’d enjoyed my share of beer but never more than one, and had a glass of wine occasionally, but I never touched the hard stuff. I’d seen it ignite the cruelty in my father and wasn’t about to let that out in myself.
Gabe swirled the scotch around in his glass and then took a long sip.