Something comes over her, and the fear fades into something sinister and crude. “Our son, Tanner. Congratulations, Daddy. It’s a boy.”

  I shake my head, not believing her one bit. I saw her at the courthouse, saw the way she looked at me. It’s as though I could see the pieces of her fucked-up little game falling together. “You’re full of shit,” I tell her. “That kid ain’t mine and you know it.”

  “Deny it all you want, Tanner Morgan, but I know the truth, and after what you’ve put my family through, it’s time we finally get what we deserve.”

  I scoff. “Money? Is that what you want? You’re going to throw your kid to the wolves for a fucking payday?”

  “Don’t act like you know me,” she seethes. “I’m not asking you to care for him. I’m not asking you to be his father, just pay the child support you owe, and you won’t have to hear from me ever again.”

  I laugh. “You’re fucked in the head. No wonder your family sent you away.”

  This time she steps into me, trying to appear menacing, but she really can’t pull it off. “You saw him at the courthouse. Don’t be stupid about this, Tanner. I know you saw the resemblance. He looks just like you. He’s got your eyes and everything, and what scares you most is that you know I’m right. I saw the way you were looking at him, saw the fear in your eyes. You know it just as well as I do. He’s your son, so do the right thing and—”

  “Get your little manipulative hoe-bag ass away from my son,” Mom seethes, storming into the foyer, clearly having overheard every last word of our conversation. I gape at her, feeling as though some kind of alien life form has taken over my mother. She never speaks like that. Hell, maybe Bri is starting to rub off on her.

  Mom barges past me, shoulder charging me on her path to push Rachael away from me. Seeing the anger in Mom’s eyes, Rachael hastily backs up, going awfully quiet for someone who had so much to say. “Don’t you for one second think you can extort money out of my son. I will bring the law down on your entire family so hard, you won’t even see it coming.”

  “But it’s true. Tanner is my son’s father.”

  “Forgive me for not believing a single word that comes out of your mouth,” Mom tells her. “We will be doing our own private paternity test through reputable lawyers, not the dirty ones your family uses. If the test comes back as a match, then Tanner will happily pay what he owes in child support, but you better be prepared to give up your son fifty percent of the time. We will be fighting for equal custody.”

  “Absolutely not,” Rachael says as the reality of all of this begins to sink in. Could she be telling the truth? Could her child really be mine? Is my life about to change in the biggest way, and fuck, if it is, have I really missed the first year of my son’s life? Fuck. “Tanner is a murderer. He’ll never get custody of our child.”

  “Well, fortunately for us, that decision is not yours to make. It will be decided upon by a judge, and taking into acount your hostile home environment, and the fact that your brother will be charged with three counts of attempted murder, it doesn’t look good for you.” Mom walks to the door, grabs the handle, and yanks it open, her intentions crystal clear. “Now, you have disturbed my night quite enough. See yourself out of my home and expect to hear from our lawyers.”

  Rachael fixes me with one last look as my head begins to spin, panic tearing through my chest at the minuscule possibility that she’s telling the truth. Looking back at my mother, Rachael strides out of the house, and the second she can, Mom slams the door behind her before turning her ferocious stare on me.

  “Wow, Mom. Manipulative hoe-bag ass. Who knew you had it in ya?”

  She storms toward me, her finger poking hard into my chest. “Is it true?” she demands. “Is there any small possibility that the words from that girl’s mouth were truthful? And I swear to God, Tanner Morgan, if you even think about lying to me right now—”

  “I don’t know,” I tell her, cutting her off before whatever ridiculous threat she’s cooked up can spew out of her mouth. “I mean, yeah, I slept with her two years ago, but I was safe. I swear, I used a condom.”

  “Oh, Tanner,” she groans, putting her fingers to her temples and rubbing. “When was he born?”

  I shake my head and shrug. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?” she demands, her face turning red. “You didn’t think to ask?”

  “Excuse me for being too freaked out to think straight.”

  Mom lets out a heavy breath, trying to calm herself. “Okay, okay. It’s fine,” she says, her tone getting higher and becoming desperate. “We can back-date it. It’s nothing a little math can’t handle. When did you sleep with her? Was it only once?”

  “I don’t know, Mom. It was two years ago, maybe a little less,” I tell her, matching her level of wild panic and desperation. “It was a party and I was drunk. I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Think Tanner. When was the party? Surely you have to remember something. I can’t tell if this is all fabricated until I can confirm the dates don’t line up. Do you know anybody who knows her or could tell us when he was born? Brielle is from Hope Falls, maybe she knows someone.”

  “Mom,” I say, stepping into her and taking her shoulders. “I’m not about to go and wake Bri over this. There’s nothing we can do about it tonight. We’re not going to get any answers unless you’d like to go back out there and interrogate Rachael. I’ll hold her down while you beat it out of her.”

  “Oh, stop,” Mom says, shoving me away, trying not to grin. “That’s not a very good joke.”

  “You’re right,” I say, trying to take my own advice and calm down. “It wasn’t, but you needed it.”

  Mom lets out a heavy breath, trying to find peace. She’s usually so good at control. Although, at least I know where I get my ability to fly off the rails from now. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen,” she finally says. “Sleep on it tonight, and in the morning I’ll make an appointment for us to go and speak with our lawyer and find out everything we need to know to get this paternity test done. Until then, keep your mouth shut about it. The last thing we need to deal with are misinformed rumors. Can you imagine what those hoity-toity women at the club would say?”

  “Just ten minutes ago you were boasting about how cool you were to have a social life with those same hoity-toity bitches.”

  Mom rolls her eyes and starts to walk to the stairs before stopping and turning back, fixing me with a hard stare. “I am more than aware of the manwhore you’ve been over the last few years, which is why I’m so thrilled to see you settling down with Brielle. But I swear to you, that better be the only random woman I find on my front doorstep insisting you’re the father of her child.”

  “Promise,” I tell her. “I’ll make the others use the back door.”

  The glare I get from her is like none other I’ve ever received, and damn, this woman is not happy, but she can’t help but love me anyway. She turns without another word, her glare enough to silence my bullshit.

  I turn to head back to the living room to get Bri off the couch when I find her standing in the hallway, leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed and a look of death in her eyes. “How much did you hear?” I ask, walking toward her, hoping to God this isn’t what breaks us.

  “Enough,” she tells me, not giving anything away.

  “And?”

  “And nothing,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “We’ll get a paternity test and if the kid is yours, then we’ll deal with it.”

  “You’re not freaking out?”

  She presses her lips into a tight line and shakes her head. “Nope,” she says, lying right through her teeth. She’s definitely freaking out.

  I step into her, taking her waist and pulling her in close, feeling the way her body vibrates with unease. “And if the kid’s not mine?”

  She scoffs, her tone expressing exactly how she feels. “Then I’m going back to my Hope Falls roots and jumping her bitch-ass in a back alley.”

  I laugh and curl my arm over her shoulder, pulling her into me before leading her back to the stairs, more than ready to take her to bed. “There’s my girl,” I tell her. “But do me a favor and take Addie with you. She could use a scrappy girl fight.”

  “It’ll be my pleasure.”

  Chapter 15

  BRIELLE

  Tanner’s hand lingers on my thigh as we drive home from the Friday night home game.

  It sucked. Like really fucking sucked.

  With everything going on, and the bomb Rachael dropped on him last night, Tanner’s head really wasn’t in the game. Shit, it wasn’t even halfway there. He fumbled and fucked around which only served to frustrate him and his teammates, and with Jax already out for the count, it wasn’t good.

  They still managed to scrape through by the skin of their teeth and hold the lead, keeping them at the top of the leaderboard and ensuring they remain in the prime position for the season, but it wasn’t pretty. The way Tanner plays is usually ruthless yet poetic, but today it was scrappy and desperate. I can’t blame him. He’s had a lot going on and I haven’t helped. I’m just glad we’ve come out the other end and we can work on making things right.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go to that party?” I ask, closing my hand over his and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Maybe it’ll be good to chill with your friends and get your mind off all the bullshit.”

  Tanner glances at me as we drive down the street, turning onto our road. “The last time I thought I’d go out for a drink, you, Jax, and Addie nearly died,” he says. “Besides, I’m not feeling it tonight. I just wanna chill with you.”

  “Oh, thank God,” I breathe, relief pounding through my veins. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Tanner laughs and glances at me quickly, just long enough to shake his head. “Then why’d you ask if you didn’t want to go? If I said yes, you would have felt inclined to go.”

  I shrug my shoulders and give him a stupid grin. “The things I do for you,” I say as we approach his house, only to find Orlando’s black Aston Martin parked in the driveway next door with both him and Mom only just getting out of the car, looking as though they’ve spent the first half of the evening at some fancy, over-privileged event. “Uggggghhhhh,” I groan. “If they’re staying home tonight, maybe we should go out.”

  Tanner scoffs. “What does it matter? We’ll chill at my place. You won’t even notice them.”

  “Oh please,” I scoff. “You can’t tell me that you don’t hear them arguing every other day.”

  Tanner grins as he pulls into his driveway. “I wouldn’t call it arguing,” he says thoughtfully. “I mean, it takes two to argue, right? It’s usually more of a one-way ranting at your mom while she just silently takes it.”

  “Pathetic, right?” I mutter as I watch Mom struggle to heave herself out of the Aston Martin in her tight gown, Tanner’s comments mimicking the same ones that had gone through my head just yesterday.

  Tanner glances at my mother, his lips pressing into a hard line. “How are things going with her? You haven’t said much about it.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “Honestly, I don’t know. It took her two days to realize I’d been sleeping in their house this week, but apart from that, she hasn’t done anything in particular to offend me.”

  “Oh, so no red marks across your face?” he says with a nasty sneer, taking a stab at her. “That’s good.”

  An unladylike grunt tears from the back of my throat as I turn my attention back to my mother, watching as she finally manages to pull herself out of the car. She quickly glances my way, but the window tint on the Mustang is far too dark. Hell, it’s so dark I’m sure it’s probably illegal.

  If Mom senses me watching, she doesn’t let it show, and turns her back to make her way around the Aston Martin. I follow her every step, the resentment eating me alive when I catch sight of her bare arms and back covered in finger-shaped bruises. My eyes widen and anger like I’ve never felt bursts through my chest. “Seems I’m not the one wearing red marks,” I spit, shoving the door open hard and throwing myself out of the Mustang.

  “Oh, fuck,” I hear Tanner grunt, knowing damn well if he doesn’t move his ass, he’s about to miss the excitement.

  I fly over the small hedge between the two properties, and by the time Mom and Orlando notice me coming, I’m already right in front of them, a bull ready to charge. I grip Mom’s arm and shove her away, forcing her behind me as I slam my hands against Orlando’s chest with such force that he fumbles back, quickly trying to catch himself to avoid falling into the grass. “You absolute piece of shit. How dare you put your hands on my mom!” I roar, not giving a shit if every last bastard on the street can hear.

  “BRIELLE!” my mother shrieks.

  Orlando comes back at me, anger and humiliation taking over. His hand whips out toward my arm but Tanner is right there, pulling me out of the way. “Put one fucking hand on her and I’ll fuck you up so fast not even you could get yourself out of that shit,” he says, his tone so calm and controlled, it’s eerie and sends a shiver sailing down my spine.

  Orlando stops, knowing he’s no match for Tanner. Hell, he’s already experienced his wrath once before, and that was barely scratching the surface. So instead, he gets right in Tanner’s face, his whole body shaking with rage. “You watch yourself, boy,” he mutters. “You’re in no position to be making demands. It would be a shame if certain photographs found themselves in someone else’s hands.”

  “Fuck off with your bullshit threats,” I spit, pushing my way back in front of Tanner, not ready to let him be the star of this particular showdown. “My mother might be a fucking pushover and willing to accept your shit, but I’m not.”

  “Brielle,” my mother warns again, her tone suggesting I should shut the fuck up before I take things too far. “You need to stop.”

  I scoff, barely glancing over my shoulder at her. “Look at yourself,” I seethe. “I’m not fucking blind. I can see the bruises all over your back and arms. Are you so fucking desperate for a social standing that you’ll put up with that? Pack your bags and leave. Why do you stay here? He’s treated you like shit since the day we moved in.” Turning my attention back to Orlando, I step forward, getting stupidly close. “Does it make you feel like a man? Hitting her? Grabbing her arm and knocking her around like a fucking ragdoll? Or do you just get off seeing the marks you leave on her skin?”

  Orlando clenches his jaw, barely holding himself back from beating me to a fucking pulp. “You stupid girl,” he spits. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  “I know you’re a piece of shit who likes to exercise his power over other people, and soon enough, the whole fucking world will know it too. You’re a dirty lawyer and an even dirtier husband. You’re nothing but a cancer, infecting everyone with your bullshit,” I tell him, letting him hear the repulsion and venom in my tone. “You put your hands on her ever again, and Tanner won’t be the one you’ll need to watch out for. It’ll be me.”

  “Bri,” Mom snaps, gripping my arm and spinning me to face her. “That’s enough.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Where do you get off thinking you can speak to my husband in this way?” she demands, her face turning red. “You don’t know anything about the inner workings of our relationship.”

  “I know you decided to humiliate yourself and push me away to protect this new, fucked-up lifestyle of yours.”

  “Is that what you truly think of me?” she questions, hurt in her eyes.

  I stare at her in horror, unable to understand how she can’t see the effect of her own actions. “Are you kidding me?” I question. “Can you honestly not see how far you’ve pushed me away? How things have changed since you allowed yourself to be manipulated and controlled by this asshole? Come on, Mom. You used to be so strong. Where’s the mother I had in Hope Falls? She was incredible and my best friend, but you … You’re nothing but a stranger to me now.”

  Mom gives me a hard stare before stepping toward me, venom in her eyes. “You can’t be here. You need to leave,” she warns, her words lingering in the air between us. Her voice trembles and before she continues, the venom in her eyes morphs into fear, her hands shaking at her side, and it puts me on edge. There’s something more going on here, I just wish I knew what. “Get your things and never come back here.”

  I’m taken aback, her words slamming right into my chest and spreading the vilest of poison through my heart. Guilt lingers in her eyes and she can barely look at me, and if it weren’t for Tanner at my back and his hand on my hip, I’d probably have crumbled into a million pieces by now.

  I shake my head, staring back at her in the worst internal agony I’ve ever felt. “You don’t really mean that.”

  “Don’t I?” she argues before indicating the grand home behind her. “Look at this lifestyle Orlando has so generously offered us. Your schooling, this home, your clothes, the goddamn brand-new Maserati that you’ve left wasting away in the garage. He has given us the world, and you repay him with these hurtful allegations and nasty behavior. I tried to turn a blind eye, hoping you were just adjusting to the changes, but this has gone on long enough, and now I see that you are simply being ungrateful. Is it really that hard for you to be happy for me?”

  I inch forward, trying to get closer. “He hurts you, Mom. What did you expect? I can’t sit back and watch as you allow this to happen. Is he … is he holding something over you? Are you too afraid to leave? Too ashamed to admit you made a mistake? Because if that’s it, I don’t care. Screw your pride, that’s what you always told me, right?”

  Mom steps closer, and I flinch as she raises her hand to press it against my cheek. Her expression overflows with such love that for a moment, I could have sworn I saw the woman she used to be. “I love you, Brielle. I love you so, so much,” she whispers, giving me a sad smile, “but if you don’t vacate this property, I will have no choice but to file trespassing charges against both you and your boyfriend.”