An older man with a white beard raised his hand in greeting when he saw Huck. “Just the man I wanted to see. Garrett doesn’t share you, and I need help with a problem thoroughbred that has excellent bloodlines.”

  Huck led us over to the older man, who was standing with a younger woman. The woman was currently ogling Huck. She was gorgeous and sophisticated. Her blonde hair was styled in an upswept hairdo, leaving her neck and shoulders bare. Her lean body allowed her to wear the kind of dress I could never get away with. It was so low-cut in the front that it almost went to her navel. She had no worries about her boobs breaking free. They were small and perky. Must be nice.

  “Judas,” Huck replied with a nod of his head. “I’d be happy to help, but you know Garrett must agree.”

  Judas chuckled as if that were funny. “Of course,” he agreed, and then his eyes went to me. “Who is this stunning beauty?”

  “Trinity Bennett,” he said. “Trinity, this is Judas Aiken and his wife, Iris. They’re old family friends of the Hugheses’.”

  Oh, wow, this man could be her father, and they were married.

  “I’m shocked to see you with a date,” Iris piped in with a smirk on her red lips. “You normally leave with a couple on your arms.”

  Neither Huck nor Judas responded to that comment.

  Judas looked back to Huck. “I hear you’re breaking a mustang for Blaise.”

  I tried to stay focused on the conversation. I knew very little about horses, so it was hard to follow. Another lady walked up, and Iris began talking to her. I could feel their gazes on me and hear their hushed tones. Even with the dress, shoes, and jewelry Maddy had sent me, it was clear I didn’t fit into this world. I should have tried harder to do something with my hair.

  “Let’s go get a drink,” Huck said to me, and I realized he was done talking to Judas.

  Relieved that was over, I went with him to the bar that was set up under a tree with pink blooms.

  Huck ordered for us, and I was thankful I hadn’t had to tell him something I wanted. When he handed me a glass of champagne, I quickly took a drink, hoping to calm my nerves. I felt him watching me, and I met his gaze.

  “Liquid courage,” I said with a smile.

  The corner of his lips curled up as he took the glass with dark amber liquid in it from the bartender. “This isn’t my thing either. Part of the business though,” he said, then took a drink.

  “Is Garrett married to a woman half his age?” I asked, wondering if that was a thing among these men. I didn’t see one older lady in attendance, but there were plenty of older men.

  Huck chuckled. “Currently, Garrett isn’t married. He’s had a few wives over the years. Trev and Blaise don’t have the same mother. But Garrett doesn’t exactly look old. He might be forty-eight years old, but he could pass for late thirties. Even if he wasn’t wealthy and powerful, women would be attracted to him. The Hugheses have good genes.”

  I wondered how many ex-wives Garrett Hughes had. I couldn’t imagine being married to a man like him was easy. My thoughts went to Maddy and Cree. I hoped that her future wasn’t going to be similar.

  “The boys stayed with their dad then? They didn’t go with their mothers?”

  Huck took a drink. “Males born into the family don’t leave their fathers. They’re the next generation. Females often go with their moms, but even when divorce happens, they are still guarded.”

  Guarded? What did that mean exactly? I started to ask, but I stopped myself. I hadn’t witnessed Blaise with Maddy, but she seemed secure in her marriage. I couldn’t imagine a man not wanting her. Did she fear losing Cree if that day came?

  “What about Hayes?” I asked. He’d left the family.

  Huck tensed at the mention of his brother, and I instantly wished I hadn’t brought it up.

  “Our parents were dead. Different situation,” he said. Huck nodded his head toward two men. “Garrett needs me. Walk around, explore. I’ll find you later.”

  He was leaving me alone? I opened my mouth, but Huck was already striding away.

  It was clear which one was Garrett Hughes. It wasn’t the fact that he was very handsome. As in movie-star attractive. That aside, power seemed to radiate from him. It was as if his mere presence demanded respect. Was Blaise like that? Trev definitely was not. He was easy to be around. He made me laugh. Nothing about Trev Hughes was like the man Huck was now speaking to.

  Garrett turned to walk back toward the house, and Huck followed him, along with the other man. I felt lost. Glancing around, looking for a familiar face, I took several more sips of my drink.

  “We’ve not been introduced,” a male voice said to my right.

  I spun around, startled to see a very clean-cut, tattoo-free, shaven blond man smiling at me. He had no rough edges, much like Trev. He could have been a former frat boy. Privilege and money oozed from him.

  “Uh, no, we haven’t,” I replied, forcing a smile.

  He held out his hand. “Jasper Dillard,” he said. “Hughes Farm boards our thoroughbred horses.”

  I slipped my hand into his. “Trinity Bennett,” I replied.

  “Are you just here as a date? Or do you have a connection to the Hughes family?” he asked.

  We shook hands, and I pulled mine free, although he’d tried to hold it a moment longer than was necessary.

  “A date,” I replied, not sure how to explain how I was connected to the family. Did I say my fiancé had been a Kingston or that I cooked and cleaned for three of Garrett’s men or that I was fucking Huck Kingston? Yeah, I wasn’t going to get into any of that.

  “Huck, correct? I saw you with him when you arrived. You’re hard to miss.” Jasper was flirting.

  “Yes,” I replied and took another sip of my champagne.

  “Since it seems he’s occupied, would you do me the honor of a dance?”

  Oh crap. What did I do here? Was I supposed to accept this or turn him down?

  A hand touched my waist, and I turned my head, expecting to see Huck, but instead, Trev stood there with his charming smile aimed at Jasper.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” he said to me. “I see you’ve met Jasper.”

  Jasper’s gaze was now on Trev, and I could see the confusion in his expression. I’d arrived with Huck, but now, Trev was acting as if I belonged with him.

  “Yes, she was alone, and I hated to see a beautiful woman standing all by herself,” Jasper replied.

  Trev looked at me and winked. “She’s not alone, I promise. It was good to see you, Jasper. Have some of the punch. It’s got an extra kick,” Trev said. Then, with his hand on my back, he led me away from Jasper.

  “Punch? Is there really punch here?” I asked. This did not seem like the type of event that would have punch.

  “Fuck no,” Trev replied with a smirk. “Jasper thinks he’s more important than he is. His father is new money. Bought into an internet business that ended up exploding about six years ago. They purchased some thoroughbreds from us and pretend to know what the fuck they are doing on the track. They’re also not in the realm of the know when it comes to the family. To them, we are a successful racehorse farm. Nothing more.”

  Interesting. I would have thought everyone here knew.

  “Where are you taking me?” I asked Trev as we walked away from the main party.

  The veranda wrapped around the massive home, and soon, we were out of the twinkling lights.

  “To the better party,” he said, leaning down near my ear.

  “Better party?” I asked, curious.

  A waterfall was the first thing I noticed, but as we got closer, I realized the waterfall was the focal point of a pool. Not just any pool, but one that belonged on some tropical island resort. There was music playing back here, too, but it was over a speaker system, and it was current hits. I looked around and noticed this was a younger crowd. They were dressed just as elegantly, and there was a bar set up back here too. Along with servers walking around with fancy finger foods on their trays.

  “That shit back there is torture. I show face throughout the party to keep my father happy, but he allows me to hold my own party back here. Many of them have parents at the stuffy shit that you were being forced to endure, but some are just my friends.”

  Huck wouldn’t know where to find me back here. I didn’t want to go back to the other party alone, but I was torn. What if he returned and I wasn’t there?

  “As much fun as this seems, I should probably go back to the other party. Huck went inside with your father, but when he returns and can’t find me …” I shrugged.

  Trev smirked. “Teach his ass right to leave you to the likes of Jasper fucking Dillard.”

  “Maybe, but your dad is his boss,” I pointed out.

  He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine. I’ll go back with you if you want me to. Protect you from the Jaspers until Huck returns.”

  He had at least fifty guests back here. It would be selfish of me to ask that of him, although it would make it so much easier on me.

  I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I’ll be fine. Thank you though. I wish I could stay.”

  Trev leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll check on you later,” he assured me.

  I turned and headed back toward the path we’d taken. For a moment, I was alone and could prepare myself to walk back into the intimidating crowd. Hopefully, Huck was back, and I wouldn’t be expected to mingle alone. Maybe Maddy had arrived by now. That would make this enjoyable.

  Turning the corner back into the world of twinkling lights and live music, I scanned the crowd for a familiar face. My champagne glass was empty, and I started for the bar when a server walked by with a tray of filled flutes. I exchanged my empty one for a new one, then took a sip while watching the intimidating strangers.

  “It is you. When I saw you earlier, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Now, tell me how the fuck you managed to get invited to a party like this one?”

  There were moments in life that surprised you. Some were good. Some were painful. Then, there were others that reached inside you and twisted until you couldn’t breathe. It was a level of horror that was hard to put into words.

  The latter was one of those moments. Bile rose in my throat, and I had to grip the flute in my hands to keep from dropping it. I was unable to move. If I turned my head even slightly, I’d see him. I was afraid of my reaction if I had to look at that face. For six months, I’d lived in that house, and he’d never come around. My father’s death and Hayes’s death, I’d escaped his return. Tabitha loved to tell people he was unable to be there because he was currently in Guatemala or Honduras with a medical mission’s team. When, in truth, Roy Hayley had never once done anything for someone else out of the goodness of his heart. Vile people didn’t go on mission trips.

  “What? No hello for your brother?” he asked.

  “Why are you here?” I asked through clenched teeth, refusing to look at the monster in my nightmares.

  The evil in his laugh made me cringe. “Because I know the right people. Make the connections. With a face like mine, you can work your way into anywhere.”

  I wanted to throw up all the champagne in my stomach. Preferably on his feet.

  “The real question is, how did you get into an event such as this? I can’t imagine after the death of your minister fiancé that you stepped up in the world.”

  I looked around, needing to find someone. Anyone to get me out of here. I should have stayed with Trev. Why was he here? Roy wasn’t wealthy. He had barely finished college.

  His fingers wrapped around my arm, and panic began to claw at me with talons I knew would eventually pull me under. I had to escape. I had to get away. I felt my throat closing, as if he were literally choking me as I stood here.

  I moved quickly, jerking my arm from his hold, and then turned and ran for the entrance into the house. I didn’t care if anyone saw me. Nothing mattered but finding somewhere safe to hide. The glass in my hand slipped, and I heard it shatter, but I didn’t stop. I ran inside the Hugheses’ mansion, and without knowing where I was going, I turned down a hallway, hoping a bathroom appeared—or any room I could lock myself in.

  I turned into the first room on my left and closed the door, locking it behind me. Books surrounded me. Ceiling to floor on all four walls. A library. I tried to find a focal point and focus on it. I couldn’t let the panic take me. I had to stay alert. I heard myself gasping and felt the burning in my lungs as I fought the phantom hands around my throat.

  Breathe, Trinity. Breathe, I told myself.

  I began to pace. The grip on my throat dug in deeper. It wasn’t going to stop.

  My legs buckled under me, and I kicked off the heels and pulled my knees to my chin, wrapping my arms around my legs. This was the only way I could find comfort. Closing my eyes, I began to rock.

  Block it out. Block it all out.

  It would end soon. Soon. It would end soon.

  Twenty-Six

  Huck

  “It’s Trinity. You need to come with me.” The look on Gage’s face was a mixture most didn’t see and live to tell about it. Something was very fucking bad.

  “What happened?” I asked as I walked out of Garrett’s office.

  “I don’t fucking know, but there’s a son of a bitch who might have seen his last sunrise.”

  Frustration over not getting more information and seeing the rage in Gage’s eyes was quickly turning to fear. Where the fuck was Trinity?

  “She ran in the house. I can’t find her,” Gage said, turning and looking down the hallway as if the answer would appear.

  I pulled my phone from my coat pocket and clicked the app that tracked her. I’d put it on her phone before I gave it back to her the day we took her.

  “This way,” I said, stalking past Gage.

  My heart was fucking slamming against my chest. I’d left her out there for maybe forty minutes. What the fuck could have happened?

  “Who was she with?” I asked as I continued toward the library.

  “I don’t know him. I haven’t asked yet. I’ve been looking for her. But his fucking face is memorized.”

  My entire body tensed up. Someone had fucked with what belonged to me. Gage wasn’t killing anyone. That was my fucking job.

  I grabbed the doorknob to the library and turned. It was locked. Fuck! I pounded my fist on the door.

  “Trinity!” I called out.

  No answer.

  I tried again.

  Nothing.

  “Don’t rip the door off. Where’s Garrett? Or Ms. Jimmie?” Gage asked.

  I didn’t fucking know. Garrett had left me in his office to look over some footage from a security camera. I had no clue where he’d gone after. I pounded on the door again, calling her name.

  “Lord, what a racket,” Ms. Jimmie, the Hugheses’ cook and house manager, was walking toward us with a key ring in her hand. “Step aside, boy. I’ll open it up. Don’t know why it’s locked.”

  She rattled the keys while she found the correct one, then slid it inside. When the door swung open, she stepped back. “Leave it unlocked when you leave, boys,” she said. I pushed by her, and my eyes scanned the dark room until they landed on Trinity.

  FUCK!

  I rushed over to the corner where she was rocking on the floor. Her knees tucked under her chin and her eyes closed tightly. She was muttering something, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying.

  “Jesus Christ,” Gage said behind me.

  “Trinity, look at me, baby,” I said as gently as I could.

  She kept rocking. I battled with what to do. What was happening? She clearly hadn’t heard me. This was what Maddy had seen. This shit was not okay. What horrific trauma would cause this?

  I cupped her face with my hand. “Trinity, please, baby. Open your eyes and look at me.”

  She paused her rocking a moment, and the muttering stopped, but her eyes stayed tightly closed.

  I brushed my thumb over her cheek. “It’s me. Open your eyes. You’re okay. I’m here.”

  She sucked in air as if she was struggling to breathe. What the fuck was happening now? I’d never felt so helpless in my life.

  “She’s choking.” Gage sounded panicked. “Why the fuck is she choking?”

  I didn’t know!

  “Trinity, you’re okay. You can breathe, baby. Please take a deep breath.” It was all I could do to keep my voice calm.

  She gasped loudly and let out a cry. That was it. I couldn’t handle any more of this. I pulled her into my arms and carried her to the leather sofa. I sat down, cradling her, and she started breathing normally again. Her hands had released her knees, and I watched as her eyelashes fluttered open. When her eyes met mine, she froze for a moment, then threw her arms around my neck, clinging to me as if her life depended on it. A loud, heart-wrenching sob shook her body. It was followed by another. I’d never heard anyone cry like this. Knowing something had hurt her so badly that it caused this kind of reaction was fucking unbearable.

  Someone was going to die a very brutal death. I didn’t know who yet, but I would. I held her tightly, whispering in her ear. Promising her that she was okay. I had her. No one could get to her. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She continued to sob, ripping me to fucking shreds with each pitiful wail.

  I ran my hand down her hair and pressed kisses to the side of her head. I wasn’t just consoling her, I realized. I was consoling me too. This shit wasn’t happening again. Whatever the fuck I had to do to fix this, I would do it.

  Gage was standing in front of the door, which he’d closed behind us, with his arms crossed over his chest, looking ready to murder the entire guest list. His jaw ticced as he stood there. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. If he felt even half of what I did right now, I understood.