Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“Until I did something really stupid,” Ryleigh said.
“It wasn’t stupid,” Lilac insisted. “Not when it brought us Kye.”
“No, you’re right, I could never regret him.” Ryleigh gazed at Kye with love. “I decided I needed to lose my virginity. It was something Stefan prized. The fact that I was untouched. So, I went out one night and I found a guy to fuck. I know that sounds terrible. But I was just . . . I was so angry. Then, six weeks later I took a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant with Kye.”
“The dad?” Linc asked.
Ryleigh winced. “I wouldn’t even know how to find him if I wanted to.”
Linc just nodded, not showing any emotion either way.
“We knew that we couldn’t run forever,” Lilac said. “Not with Ryleigh pregnant. And that’s when she told us about her brothers. We weren’t even entirely sure that her dad had been telling the truth about you guys or whether he made everything up just to make her feel better when she was younger. We had to do some research first. Luckily, he told Ryleigh their names and it wasn’t hard to find out that Tanner and Raid would be in a rodeo in about six weeks’ time. We drove to Hopesville, and debated what to do.”
“I knew it should’ve been me that came to see you,” Ryleigh said, looking over at Tanner. “I shouldn’t have let Lilac do that. But I just . . . I didn’t know what to say. What if you weren’t great guys? What if my dad had made it all up? I didn’t think he had. I knew he wouldn’t lie to me, but I was still too scared. What if you were like Stefan? So, instead, Lilac said she would go and try to figure out what sort of men you were.”
“And what happened then?” Alec asked. “Instead of telling Tanner the truth, why did you run off like that?”
Lilac tensed and Tanner shot Alec a look, not liking the accusatory tone to his voice. None of this was Lilac’s fault.
“Stefan’s men found us again,” Lilac said. “I already told Tanner this part. But I was on the way to the bar to meet him when I saw Stefan’s guys. I ditched my phone, and we ran. We couldn’t risk them finding us. They would’ve killed both of you.” She turned to Tanner as she said that.
“I would have protected you all.”
“No. No, that just wasn’t an option. He would have sliced you up into pieces and made me watch as punishment. And he would have enjoyed it.” Lilac felt ill at the thought. The memory of her nightmare was still fresh in her mind.
Nothing could happen to Tanner.
“Stefan isn’t going to harm me. And he’s definitely not going to harm you,” Tanner told her firmly.
Lord. She wished she could have that sort of faith.
“And then you decided to come here?” Alec asked. “Why wait six months?”
“Because we were worried that his guys might find our trail again. So, we knew we had to go to ground. We couldn’t pop up in any town. Certainly not one close to Hopesville,” Lilac told them.
“And I was scared,” Ryleigh said. “I couldn’t take my baby into another bad situation. We traveled north to Montana. We kept out of the big towns. It was only as I became more pregnant that we knew we had to get close to a hospital. Kye was born a bit early, and he needed some help. We were so terrified that Stefan would find us, even though Lilac got us some new identities.”
“I knew we needed money quick,” Lilac explained. “Luckily, I still had two of my mom’s rings. I pawned them to pay for our new identities and the medical bills. And as soon as we were able to, we ran again. We decided that we had to come here. You guys were kind of our last chance. We were out of money and options. Plus, with Kye, well . . . we needed someone to help us protect him. Stefan wouldn’t be above using a baby to keep us in line.”
She took a deep breath. “So, we came here to find you guys. Well, we did some asking around first about Haven. The things we heard seemed crazy. But we were out of options. I knew . . . I knew that Tanner would likely hate me. I was just hoping that his brothers were good men like him. And that you would all be able to look after Kye, and Ryleigh and Opal.”
Tanner turned her to face him. Grabbing her chin, he tilted her head back. “And what about you, baby? Sounds like you need the most protection from this asshole.”
She shook her head, smiling sadly. “That’s just it. I can’t stay here.”