“Not much,” Gage replied. “Levi is a fucking pro at digging shit up on people. Most wouldn’t have caught it. But there was a short time where their location isn’t accurate. They weren’t living in the camper but their address is unknown.”

  I wanted answers, but I was also fucking terrified of what she might tell me. He had seemed real damn sure she wouldn’t want him dead. If she loved him, then I would question everything I thought I knew about her.

  Twenty

  Gypsi

  When my eyes opened, I sat up, surprised I’d fallen asleep. I hadn’t meant to, but after my bath, the bed had looked so comfortable. Rubbing my face with both hands, I started to get up when my eyes focused, and I saw Trev sitting in a chair across the room, looking at me. The serious expression on his face was unexpected. He didn’t look like the same guy who had left me a couple of hours ago. Something was wrong.

  “Is my mom okay?” I asked, feeling a panic rise up in my chest.

  “Yes,” he replied in a flat tone I had never heard him use.

  “Then, what’s wrong?” Because something clearly was.

  “That’s a loaded question,” he replied. “Let’s start with this.”

  He tossed something onto the bed, and I looked down. I stared down at the plastic ring that haunted me. Why did he have that? Oh God, did Tyde get in this house?

  “Where did you get this?” I asked as my heart hammered against my chest.

  “Why? Does it mean something?”

  My eyes burned with tears as fear clawed at me. I shouldn’t have stayed here. The moment he had left the ring in Kentucky, I should have fled. Mom would have been safe, and I’d have called her later. She could have gotten over me leaving after a while.

  “I have to go,” I said, moving to get off the bed.

  Trev was up and across the room before my feet touched the ground. His hand gripped my shoulder, pushing me back down.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Gypsi. Not until you talk.”

  I swallowed hard. He was hurting my shoulder, but I deserved it. I’d brought danger here.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have stayed. I should have left. Did he get into the house?” I asked.

  Trev looked down at me like I was crazy. “In this house? Fuck no. Not even the FBI could get into this house unless invited.”

  He was naive if he thought that was true. He didn’t know Tyde or people like him.

  “But you had a ring. Where did he leave it?”

  “Who?” Trev asked me.

  There was no use in not telling him now. He needed to know. Tyde had been on this property. In this house. The house he thought was so secure. He deserved a name and information.

  “Tyde Hall,” I said. “He’s dangerous. If he left that ring anywhere on this property or in this house, then your security isn’t strong enough. Let me go, and he won’t come back. But give me time to get out of town before you tell my mom. She’ll leave with me, and I don’t want her to. She’s happy with Garrett.”

  “Who is Tyde Hall?”

  I closed my eyes. There was so much to tell. I went with the brief synopsis. “The biggest mistake of my life.”

  His grip on my shoulder eased, and he dropped his hand. “Explain the ring.”

  I opened my eyes, looking down at it beside me on the bed. He wanted the full story. Of course he did. A man had gotten onto his property. Because of me.

  “He got one that looked exactly like that out of a gumball machine once and jokingly asked me to marry him. I wore it to be funny. That was before …” I stopped. I had to get this out. Let him understand before I left. He deserved that much. He was my friend, and I’d put him in danger’s way. “Before things went bad. And they went bad fast. When I left, I tossed the ring in a lake. Mom and I were fine here in Ocala for three weeks. Then … then … I came back to my suite in Kentucky the night of the celebration party, and there was one on the table. I searched the suite, but there was no sign of him.”

  “He got this into your suite?” Trev’s voice sounded as if he was barely controlling his anger.

  I nodded, glancing up at him, then quickly away. I hated seeing him look at me that way. It hurt inside my chest.

  “It’s why I left that morning. I was afraid to stay any longer. Then, another ring showed up in our camper. It was the first night we came to stay here. I didn’t want Mom to see it in the trash, so I tossed it in my bag.”

  “Was that the last of the rings?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No. Work. It’s why I quit. I went on a restroom break, and when I returned, there was one on the counter.”

  I stood up, and he stepped back, letting me stand this time.

  Forcing myself to meet his gaze, I swallowed hard. “He’s not mentally stable. I think he’s a psycho. He will follow me wherever I go. It’s not safe, but it’s my problem. Mom is happy here. I want her to be happy. She’s sacrificed for me since she was seventeen. It’s time she has a life of her own. I can’t tell her about this. She’ll pack up, and we will be gone. She won’t listen to reason. I can go now. While she’s in Paris.”

  “Back to him?”

  “No! Did you miss the part where he is a psycho?”

  “Is he why you left Miami?”

  I nodded.

  “Do you love him?”

  “No. In the beginning, I thought I did, but it was a crush. If I did feel something, he destroyed it.”

  “What did he do to you?”

  I dropped my gaze to the floor. Seeing the disgusted anger in Trev’s normally friendly face was more than I could deal with. “Hurt me.”

  “How did he hurt you?”

  “It started with slapping. Then twisting my arm until it felt like it was going to break. Then hitting. Then shoving me down and kicking.”

  Trev moved, and I looked up as he planted his fist into the wall beside him.

  “Trev?”

  He swung his gaze back to me. “Continue.”

  I looked at the hole in the wall, then back at him. “I, uh, left then. I told Mom, and we left,” I whispered. “Is your hand okay?”

  “When you lived in Miami, did you live in your camper?”

  I nodded, then stopped. “No, not the entire time.”

  “Where did you live?”

  I thought back to the place and wished I had never gone there with Mom. She’d been dating another bad boy on a motorcycle. Granted, he was gorgeous, but he was younger than her. He asked her to move in, and she wanted to. It was a new experience for her. An adventure. So, I went with her. I’d met Tyde there.

  “It was a big building with a lot of rooms, kind of like apartments, but everyone knew each other. It was a club. They shared the same kitchen, and there were women who cooked for everyone. Mom was dating a guy who lived there, and we moved in for a while. I got my own room, and I met Tyde there. He pursued me hard. I missed all his red flags.”

  “Did they all ride motorcycles?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, they had, like, some motorcycle club. It was kinda dumb, but when I mentioned it, Tyde got pissed. I never brought it up again. It felt like they were pretending to be on the Sons of Anarchy. Even doing the bad things. In the end, I found drugs in Tyde’s room, and, well, some of the women who came in there to stay were porn actresses. I think maybe the club had something to do with that too. Tyde had a knife and gun he kept on him most of the time.”

  “Who did your mom date there?” he asked.

  “Micah. But he was a nice guy. Mom found out he was a man-whore though, so that ended. We moved back to the camper, but I continued seeing Tyde.”

  Trev narrowed his eyes as he looked at me. “Do you remember any of the other names of the men who lived there?”

  “Uh, yeah, but they were all nice. I promise. Tyde was the screwed-up one.”

  “Names,” he repeated.

  “Tex, Brick, and then there was the president or whatever, but he didn’t stay there much. I only saw him twice.”

  “Name.”

  “Liam … Walsh I think was his last name.”

  Trev turned and walked out of the room. I stood there, waiting to see what he was doing when I heard him open the door and close it behind him. He had left.

  I let the tears slowly roll down my face as I walked to my bag and began to pack things up. It was time I left. He knew everything now, and he would know who to watch for. Mom would be safe.

  Twenty-One

  Trev

  Blaise was standing with his arms crossed over his chest at the bottom of the stairs when I walked down them.

  “Did you get it all?” I asked him, taking the wire off me and handing it to him.

  “Yes,” he bit out.

  “What’s your next move? Call Dad or Liam?”

  Blaise ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m going to call Liam. It’s his man.”

  “Just so we are clear, I don’t give a fuck that Liam is your father-in-law and that Tyde is one of his men. I’m killing the son of a bitch. Slowly. I’m going to watch him suffer.” I was seething. The need to see the bastard’s blood on my hands was burning inside me.

  “Because you love her or because you care about her?” he asked me.

  “I don’t love her. She’s my friend. I care about her. If any of my female friends had gone through this, I’d want to kill the bastard who did it. She’s going to be our stepsister soon. She’ll be more family than fucking Liam is.”

  He nodded. “Good. Don’t fall in love with her.”

  “Not planning on it.”

  “You put your fist through the damn wall,” he said.

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s not like you.”

  “It is now,” I replied.

  Blaise smirked. “You might have more Hughes in you than I thought.”

  I shot him a scowl. They all thought I was some pampered brat. Even my own damn brother.

  “She’s gonna try to run or leave,” I told him.

  “You have to tell her. She needs to understand that leaving only gives us more to do. It doesn’t help us. Fawn will be finding out soon anyway.”

  This was going to fuck up everything. She might like The Godfather, but that was a damn movie. This was real life. One where I was about to kill the son of a bitch who had taken her virginity.

  “Fine,” I replied.

  “Do it soon. I’ve got to go call Liam. Stay away from down there until I’m with you,” Blaise told me.

  “Hurry,” I growled.

  “You fucking hurry,” he replied. “I don’t want to have to go chase her ass down.”

  He turned and headed out the front door. I couldn’t go back up there and see Gypsi right now. Not while I was this wound up. When she had said she didn’t love him, I’d almost shoved her against the wall and fucked her. It was a good thing Blaise had put a damn wire on me.

  My hands fisted at my sides as I thought about that motherfucker hurting her and stalking her. I had known she was scared of something. I’d felt it more than once and let it go. He had gotten into her suite. How the fuck had he done that? I needed a drink before I cracked. She did not need me trying to fuck her brains out while I was like this, and it was either that or drink.

  I started for the library, but my gaze caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and I looked up. Gypsi was coming down the stairs with her bag. She’d been crying. Her eyes were red. Fucking hell.

  “Where are you going?” I asked her.

  “Leaving. I’m not staying here. I should have left already,” she said to me.

  “Go put your bag back in the room. You’re not leaving,” I said, pointing upstairs. I didn’t need to deal with this right now.

  “He’s dangerous. My being here puts everyone in danger,” she argued, continuing down the stairs.

  “No one is in danger. You’re not leaving this house.”

  “YES, I am! He will come for me. He’s done it before; he got into my hotel suite—”

  “NO! He won’t! Why don’t you trust me?! JESUS!” I shouted, walking up to her and jerking the bag out of her hand.

  “Trust you? I do trust you.”

  “NO, you fucking don’t. I am telling you that no one is in danger from that son of a bitch, and you won’t listen to me.”

  She threw her hands up. “Because you don’t know him!”

  “I know that he won’t set eyes on you again.”

  She shook her head. “He will follow me. He isn’t letting this go. He has some sick fascination with owning me.”

  I knew all about that sick fascination. “I won’t let him touch you.”

  “How are you going to stop him? Trev, you don’t know that side of life. You live in a big house. Your life is a fairy tale. There are dangerous people out there.”

  I laughed. I couldn’t stop myself. I fucking laughed. “No, Lollipop, you don’t know that side of life. What I know, you can’t even begin to imagine.”

  “You think so? You play video games, have topless pool parties, and get to ride horses all day.”

  I glared at her. “That’s what you think of me? That I’m some rich, spoiled kid who hasn’t grown up?”

  She stood there, staring at me. “I thought that at first. I know there is more to you now.”

  “Like a big dick?” I asked sarcastically.

  “Yes, but I wasn’t referring to your cock size. I meant that you’re smart, funny, you work for your dad but show up when you’re told to. You’re thoughtful, and you listen when people talk. You go buy peanut butter and chocolate snacks because you found out that it’s my favorite.”

  I wanted to tell her that I’d broken the fucker’s nose. That I would be slicing him slowly to pieces later. That I wasn’t some fucking kid. I wanted her to know I was someone that other men were scared of. My name meant something. I wanted her to see me as a man.

  But I couldn’t tell her any of those things.

  “Go put your stuff up. You’re not leaving.”

  She sighed, her shoulders dropping. “I can’t stay here forever.”

  “I’m not asking for forever. I’m telling you, for now, you’re staying.”

  “Fine,” she replied and went to pick up her bag from where I’d dropped it. “Do you want me in your room, or should I go back to the white-and-gold room?”

  “My room, Lollipop.”

  She headed back up the stairs, and I watched her go. I knew there was more shit I didn’t know. She’d given me a brief recap. She’d been mistreated by the man who had taken her virginity. He’d pay for it. Until he did, I was going to be on edge.

  I went to get my drink and resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to tell her who I was, who we were. It was time she understood. Blaise was right; if I didn’t tell her, she was going to run, thinking it was keeping us safe.

  Twenty-Two

  Gypsi

  Mom: Are you okay?

  I read the text, wondering how she always knew when something was wrong. I hoped Trev hadn’t said anything to Garrett about Tyde. If Mom found out, she’d demand to come back. I wanted Paris to be good for her.

  Yes, I’m fine. Going to sit by the pool to read a book.

  That wasn’t a lie. I had downloaded a book onto my phone, and I was going out by the pool to read it. Something to get my mind off everything. Sitting up here and staring at the wall wasn’t helping me. Trev hadn’t come back, and it had been over an hour.

  Mom: I’m so glad you’re doing something relaxing. You never do that anymore.

  I didn’t respond to that. Instead, I opened the veranda door and walked outside. Trev was nowhere to be seen, and that was probably a good thing.

  Mom: We went to the Louvre today! I’ll send pics.

  I waited until I took off my cover-up and was settled on a lounger before looking at the pictures. Mom looked like she was glowing in them; she was so happy. She was on her biggest adventure yet.

  The door opened, and I lifted my gaze to see Trev walking out with a glass in his hand. It looked like he was drinking whiskey at three in the afternoon. He hadn’t meant to join me either. I could tell by his expression when he realized I was out here.

  I wasn’t sure what to say to him. I wanted to apologize again, but that wasn’t enough.

  He walked over and sat in the lounger connected to mine, then leaned back, crossing his legs at the ankles before turning his head to look at me. “It’s my turn to talk,” he said.

  “Okay.”

  “You like the Corleone family,” he said.

  A small laugh escaped me. “Yeah.” Why was he talking about The Godfather again?

  “Try to keep that in mind,” he told me, then looked straight ahead instead of at me.

  I watched him take a drink of his whiskey.

  His brow was drawn together in a frown. “We aren’t just wealthy racehorse breeders.”

  “I figured your dad owned a lot of things. I didn’t think racehorses could afford this lifestyle,” I said.

  He smirked. “No, it doesn’t. And, yes, Dad owns a hotel chain, a hospital, a casino in Vegas, banks, a lot of fucking stocks, and he’s the boss of the Southern Mafia.” He turned his head back to me.

  For a moment, I was expecting him to laugh and say he was joking. The serious expression, however, didn’t go away. He was watching me. Waiting on me to say something.

  “You’re serious,” I finally managed to say.

  “Very.”

  I stared out at the pool. My mind reeling over the fact that there was a Southern Mafia to begin with and that my mother was dating the boss. She didn’t know. She couldn’t. Or did she? Was this another of her adventures?

  “In real life, what does that mean?” I asked him.

  “Our family started it decades ago. Over the years, it’s meant just about everything you are currently thinking. Giving you details, however, isn’t something I can do.”