They all grin, pleased with their efforts.

  In actuality, I’ve missed them. And I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t really need their help. Fucking with Blaze and his friends will keep the beast wanting to kill at bay.

  For a little while.

  *** *** ***

  “I’m telling ya, it will work,” Aiden says as I watch him sceptically. His plan has merit, but the chance of it going smoothly with us acting it out doesn’t have good odds.

  “Aren’t you meant to be a dad setting a good example?” Hayden asks him dryly.

  Aiden wraps his arm around Bailey and grins. “Yeah, I’m teaching her a valuable lesson: no one fucks with the Carter’s.”

  Hayden shrugs one shoulder. “Can’t argue with that.”

  “We just need to decide who’s going with who,” Aiden states.

  “I’ll go with Landon, Maddox and you, Mark and Hayden go together,” Liam says, briefly looking at me with a flicker of guilt. “Dad, Myles and Mason are hitting one, and then Maverick and Malik are doing the last.”

  “You told them?” I snarl, tightening my fists. If Dad knows, Mum will know. My family can’t be hurt. I won’t let this happen. I want to punch him across the jaw for blabbing his mouth.

  More to the point, how long have my parents known?

  “Don’t worry, they haven’t told our mums. They’re too scared they’ll try to talk them out of it,” Liam adds, looking away.

  “Dad’s more worried Mum will want to come,” Hayden tells me, grinning.

  I gulp down the rest of my pint, inwardly groaning. I should never have agreed to let them go ahead with this. It’s going to go to shit. One of our dads will lose his mind and beat the fuck out them.

  “And before you panic, Dad said he can understand you wanting to deal with them by yourself. They can all respect that, so they will have your back when needed but leave you to do the rest,” Aiden explains. “They promised to be sly around the mums so they don’t get involved.”

  “Well, thank God for small favours,” I reply sourly.

  I can’t fucking believe they told them, or that they knew more than they let on.

  A cold breeze blows through the doorway of The Ginn Inn. Something compels me to lift my head, and when I do, Jaxon, Wyatt, Reid and Paisley walk inside.

  My heart stills at the sight of her. She looks tired, her skin pale and sunken. I sit forward in my chair, spreading my legs wide open, waiting for her to see me. Over the past few months, I’ve been wanting to go to her, to thank her or something. She’s been on my mind a lot—also in my nightmares.

  I didn’t save her—in my nightmares, they hurt her in the worst possible way whilst I’m powerless to do anything.

  She’s also starred in my dreams, her luscious, delectable body enticing me.

  Reid is the first one to notice us, and a grin spreads across his face. “Ah, what’s it like to be saved by a girl?” He snickers, scanning me over, like he’s looking to see if any of my injuries are still there. They’re not. They have long healed.

  Jaxon and Wyatt turn around, but my gaze is on Paisley’s back. She tenses before slowly turning to face us. We make eye contact for a split second, but then she avoids looking at me, watching everyone else around us.

  “What’s it like to fight like a girl?” I bite back at Reid, but my gaze keeps flicking back to Paisley, wondering why she won’t look at me.

  “Fuck you, dickhead,” he snaps.

  Ignoring him, I watch as Paisley keeps her attention on anyone but me, acting aloof, like we never happened. It bothers me more than I care to admit.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” I ask, speaking to Paisley.

  She turns, but before she can say no—and I can see her refusal on the tip of her tongue by her expression—Jaxon steps forward.

  “Yeah, not gonna fucking happen, Landon,” he bites out, an accusing look in his eye.

  “Why?” I drawl, feigning boredom.

  He raises his eyebrows, watching me like I’ve grown two heads. “Do you seriously have a death wish? You ‘ent getting near my sister. I think you’ve done enough by nearly getting her hurt by those thugs who attacked you. If you want to thank her, consider it done,” Jaxon states heatedly.

  “I want to talk to her alone. It has fuck all to do with you,” I snap, willing her to look at me. But her gaze is on her feet, her entire body tense.

  “Landon,” Liam warns.

  “Paisley?” I call out, and finally, those hazel eyes with dark lashes meet mine. I’m taken aback by the pain shining in them.

  What the fuck is going on?

  She looks away, tears brimming her eyes, before turning back to me. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she says, trying to sound unaffected, but I can hear the emotion in her voice, see it in her expression. Her aloofness pisses me off, though, especially when she grabs Jaxon’s arm. “Come on, Jaxon.”

  Fucked off at her reaction, I sit forward, watching her closely. “What, I’m not good enough to even talk to now?”

  Her eyes widen in horror, her gaze flicking to her brother briefly. Oh, I hit a nerve; she’s actually showing a reaction.

  “When have you two talked?” Wyatt asks, more interested in the conversation now.

  I smirk. “We’re old friends.”

  “Like my sister would be alone with you. She has a brain, unlike the sluts you sleep with,” Reid sneers.

  Even in fight or flight mode she ignores me. Scanning her body, I lick my lips, pissed at how cold she’s acting. I don’t even know why I’m letting it bother me.

  Because you like her, a voice in the back of my head whispers.

  “Didn’t seem like that when I fucked her in the front of my car,” I snap out, fed up of being treated like I’m a fucking serial killer or some shit.

  Pure hatred rolls off her, and I try not to be affected.

  Stunned silent for a split second, everyone stares at me in shock. Wyatt turns to his sister, his disgust clear. “You slept with a fucking Carter?”

  “Hey, we’re fucking awesome in bed,” Maddox butts in, earning murderous glares from the three brothers.

  “You spread them for him?”

  “Like butter,” I drawl before I can stop myself, wanting to take it back the second it slips free.

  Hurt and betrayal is written all over her expression, and I hate myself for making her look that distraught, that vulnerable.

  Jaxon audibly swallows, turning slowly to face his sister, his lip curled, a knowing look on his face. “Please tell me this isn’t true.”

  “Please don’t,” she begs, her eyes filled with fear as she clings to him. “Let’s go home.”

  “Don’t?” he spits in her face, before turning his murderous gaze on me. Without warning, he leaps over the table, making a grab for me. I stand, ready to fight back, but Aiden and Maddox step in front. “I’m going to rip you to fucking shreds, Landon.”

  Mark and the others step in to make sure Wyatt and Reid don’t get involved. By the looks on their faces, it won’t be long until they kick off either.

  “All this time, I’ve been wondering who it was—who would be so fucking cruel as to do that to her. I should have fucking guessed,” Jaxon sneers, before facing Paisley. “You’ve disappointed me, Paisley. I thought you had more fucking sense than to sleep with a Carter. Dad would have been so disappointed in you.”

  Hold the fucking door. He did not just say that to her.

  Glasses smash and drinks spill as I try to barge through Aiden and Maddox. “Don’t fucking speak to her like that. Ever!” I say in a low, menacing tone. I was a dick. I shouldn’t have said anything. But the way she was acting… it made me lash out. But this… She doesn’t deserve this.

  When she turns to leave, a strangled cry leaving her throat, Jaxon grabs her bicep, pulling her towards him. He turns his head slightly to meet my eyes, before straightening to face me fully.

  “Let me through,” I growl when they keep blocking my path.

  Liam turns with a look of disgust. “You’ve just suffered a fucking head injury and you want to get into another fight? Sit the fuck down.”

  “Oh, he’s looking for more than that. When I’m done with you, you’re gonna wish whoever fucked you up finished the job.”

  “Jaxon,” Paisley cries, struggling to get her arm free, tears coursing down her cheeks.

  “What is your fucking problem?” I snap, no longer able to look at Paisley, who crumples in on herself.

  “My problem is that my sister lost a baby four months ago and has been fucking sick ever since. And to find out the dad was right under our noses the entire time… I should just kick your fucking teeth in for sleeping with my sister, but when I get my hands on you, I’ll fucking murder you, and it will be because you left her to mourn the loss by herself,” he snarls, taking a step towards me. “I had some respect for you, but this…” He shakes his head. “You’re fucking dead.”

  “What?” I whisper, looking at Paisley now. I feel my blood rushing from my face as I take a step towards her, moving around Aiden, Maddox and the table. I need her to tell me this isn’t true. “Paisley?”

  Jaxon growls, warning me off. “Don’t act all fucking concerned now. You might have been in hospital when it happened, Carter, but you’ve been out for a while now, and I’d know if you’d been to see her on our property. You just left her.”

  “Paisley, is this true?” I ask, feeling hollow. And for the first time in years, that anger simmers down, and I feel defeated.

  A baby.

  She lost our baby.

  I treated her like some slut, even though she didn’t mean that to me. Not really. I was too afraid of feeling something other than anger, and I hurt someone who didn’t deserve it.

  I look at Jaxon, swallowing past the lump at the back of my throat. “I didn’t know!” I choke out.

  Jaxon, looking worn out and tired, drops Paisley’s arm. A hiccup, followed by a sob rises from her throat, before she runs out of the pub, the door slamming against the wall behind her.

  Jaxon looks away from the door, his expression unreadable. “This isn’t over.”

  “Well, fuck a duck,” Maddox blurts out once they’ve left.

  “I have to go,” I tell them.

  “Wait!” Aiden yells. “You can’t go after her just yet. You need to calm down.”

  “No,” I say, frustrated. “I need to know.”

  “You just embarrassed her in front of everyone, including her overprotective brothers. Going by the look on her face, she didn’t want them to know,” Hayden snaps, standing in front of me. “For someone who doesn’t speak a full sentence, you just said a whole fucking lot, and now she’s hurting. Even I’m pissed at you. You’ve never intentionally been mean to a girl before.”

  I rub the back of my neck, feeling antsy. “I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t even mean it,” I say, feel hopeless.

  Hayden’s eyes soften. “Calm down before you go seek her out. And make sure her brothers don’t see you.”

  “Like they’d catch me,” I scoff.

  “Are you going to calm down?”

  Feeling my breathing slow, I nod. I don’t like it. I saw how torn up she was; how hurt she was. And it’s entirely my fault.

  Realisation hits me in the face. The night of my attack… She was coming to tell me—she had to have been.

  Oh fuck!

  What have I done?

  CHAPTER SIX

  PAISLEY

  I suck in a sharp breath, tears still coursing down my cheeks as I slap the front door of our three-story home.

  “Boys, is that you?” Mum calls, walking down the hallway from the kitchen, her apron covered in flour. She takes one look at my face and wipes her hands on the dish cloth she’s carrying. “Paisley, what is it?”

  I shake my head, unable to speak over the lump in my throat. My brothers humiliated me in front of everyone. They told all within hearing range that I had slept with Landon, but worse, they spoke of my baby.

  Ever since the day I was told I had lost our baby—who the doctors estimated to be around nine-weeks—I’ve just felt empty, numb.

  My pregnancy was high risk due to my diabetes, but I’d held out hope that everything would be okay. I’ve been dealing with it one day at a time, but my brothers tore through any progress I’d made when they looked at me with disgust after finding out the baby was Landon’s.

  Did they mean they wouldn’t have loved them because of it?

  I wipe at my eyes, angry and mad over how they treated me. I’ve never missed a day of school unless absolutely necessary, always had good grades, and never got into trouble. But they looked at me like I was a stranger. It was a look I’d never had from them before.

  Jaxon has always been protective of me. As his only sister, it was bound to happen, but after Dad died, it became more. He was the man of the house, so to speak. But he's never, not once, shouted at me or scolded me like a juvenile thirteen-year-old.

  I’m angry, hurt. They might think it was me who disappointed them, but it was them who disappointed me when they treated me that way.

  “Paisley?” Mum asks, hands on my shoulders. She’s been my rock since everything happened, helping me come up with the perfect lie as to why I found Landon down that alley.

  It wasn’t in the best part of town, so Mum had told them I was picking up some spices for her cooking that only the shop on that street sold. Whether they believed the story was their business, but they never questioned why I was there, only why I went to check out the noises I heard coming from down the alley when I was alone.

  “Ask your sons,” I bite out, furious with them.

  Just then, a car door slams shut, followed by two more. Before I can make it two steps up the stairs, Jaxon barges inside.

  “Stop right fucking there. You don’t get to run to your room, Paisley.”

  I pause mid-step at the anger in his voice, inhaling through my mouth, then exhaling out my nose, trying to control my breathing as I face their wrath. Their gazes are unforgiving, making me flinch.

  “Jaxon, don’t speak to your sister like that,” Mum scolds.

  Jaxon faces her with narrowed eyes. “Did you know who the dad was?”

  Mum looks to me before warily watching Jaxon. Her face says it all. “Now, Jaxon, you need to calm down.”

  He looks at her disbelievingly. “Are you fucking kidding me? You knew and didn’t say anything?”

  That’s enough.

  “It’s none of your business,” I scream, and they all turn to me in shock. I never get angry, ever. “Do I question everyone you sleep with? Do I?”

  “Paisley,” Jaxon says gently, stepping forward, but I move up a step.

  I wipe at my eyes. “No! I don’t. I don’t get in any of your business,” I tell them, making sure to look at each of them. “I don’t force girls to stay away from you, I don’t treat any of them like shit, and I most certainly don’t look at you like something I trod in.”

  Wyatt, with an impish expression, steps forward. “Paisley, this is Landon.”

  “And it was Selma last night for you—who, by the way, is a fucking bitch,” I snap, and he steps back, surprised by my harsh language. “Did I demand you kick her out when she cornered me in the kitchen and made fun of my outfit? No! Why? Because it’s none of my fucking business.”

  Reid can’t even look at me, which makes my stomach turn. I eye Jaxon, waiting for him to say something.

  “Why would you be another notch on his bedpost?”

  “Who’s to say he wasn’t mine?” I growl, clenching my clammy hands together.

  He rears back, his lip curling. “You were a virgin. You just let him use you.”

  I throw my hands up in the air. “No, I wasn’t!”

  “What?” Jaxon bites out.

  “Who?” Reid says, piping up now and sounding deadly. “I’ll kill him.”

  I roll my eyes before turning to Jaxon, hurt by his betrayal. “Them, I expected it from, but you… From you I expected better. I didn’t think you’d go that length to hurt me. You humiliated me and shared something that was private in front of everyone.”

  He looks hurt for a second, before he masks it. “If your expectations of me were so high, then why didn’t you tell me?”

  I shrug. “Because I knew you’d never understand.” The disappointment still lingers, and I scoff, shaking my head at him. “I’ll never forgive you for what you did tonight. Never. I’ve never done anything to warrant that kind of behaviour, and quite frankly, I don’t deserve your judgement either.”

  I turn, taking a few steps up the stairs. “Paisley, he’s Landon Carter. You’ve seen how those guys go through girls. You have to understand where I’m coming from.”

  With my hand on the banister, I look back over my shoulder. “No, I don’t. This isn’t about the girls that flock to them, this is about your egos. You’d never have spoken to me the way you did, or looked at me like I disgusted you, if it were any other guy. You would have just scared them to death.”

  “Paisley,” he calls out.

  When I reach the stop of the first flight of stairs, I look back down, finding them all huddled at the bottom. “Oh, and I quit. Find someone else to run bookings because I no longer want to see you or speak to you.”

  His lips pinch together, his eyes cast downward. “You don’t mean that.”

  When he looks up, I straighten, remaining calm. “Yes—yes, I do.”

  With that, I walk to the next lot of stairs, heading for my room, which is located in the attic of the house. It gives me privacy in a house full of guys, but sometimes I wonder if they put me here to keep me locked away, to make it easier to keep an eye on me.

  Stepping in my room, I lay down on my bed, sniffling. Midnight, my black cat with coarse fur, jumps up onto my chest, licking my face. I smile, running my fingers through her fur.

  “Hey,” Mum greets, and I jump, not having heard her come up the stairs. “How you doing?”

  “Did they tell you what happened?” I ask, not answering her question.

  She sighs, sitting at the edge of my bed. “They said they were rude and outspoken but left out what was said. I think they did it for their safety, not wanting to admit they were in the wrong.”