Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Couldn’t resist…
How did he get into my truck without breaking a window?
And it hits me.
My extra key fob. I gave it to Eagle several weeks ago when we were working on the ranch and he had to run into town for some supplies.
Fuck.
I never got it back from him.
But if Eagle saw the cocaine and wanted it, a locked door wouldn’t have stopped him anyway. He would’ve broken the window. Which would’ve set off the alarm, and that would’ve alerted me.
Damn it!
This truly is my fault.
Fuck.
This is my failure.
I wasn’t there for Eagle when he needed me.
And I didn’t get rid of the coke because I was too focused on Daniela and her problems.
And now?
My brother lies in a hospital bed with only a fifty percent chance of survival.
If he doesn’t pull through this…
If my brother dies…
His blood is on my hands.
6
DANIELA
An hour later, Vinnie and I are back home. Robin ended up coming with us.
Raven stayed at the hospital with her mom.
I’m feeling like crap.
“You okay?” Robin asks, after I’ve said hi to Belinda and sent her back to Natalie for her lessons.
“It’s just a lot to deal with,” I say.
She raises an eyebrow. “So… You and Hawk…”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Dani. It’s written all over your face whenever his name comes up.”
I sigh. “You really are Raven’s twin. She said the same thing. Said she saw it in my eyes.”
“Yes, well, as much as Raven and I don’t have in common, we do seem to be on the same footing when it comes to our intuition.” She smirks. “So spill it.”
I bite my lip. “I’m not sure what there is to spill.”
She smiles. “Well, if you had to pick a Bellamy, Hawk’s one of the best we have to offer. He’s a good man. Probably the best man I know.”
My cheeks warm. “He is. I mean, I really don’t know him that well. I didn’t know he had a middle-child thing going. I was an only child myself.”
“I suppose birth order doesn’t really make a lot of difference.” She sniffs. “Maybe it’s just more Hawk’s and my personalities that were the issue.”
“I don’t really know much about his backstory.”
She shrugs. “It’s kind of the same as mine. Falcon was the oldest, the golden child. Everyone’s hero. Until he went to prison, I guess.”
I’m not sure what to say to that, so I simply offer a weak smile.
“Then Raven and I came next, twins, but I preferred to be outside with Falcon. So Raven quickly became Mom’s favorite. That is, until Eagle came along.”
“But Hawk came first.”
“He did. And he was different from Falcon. Still big and strong, and God, you’ve never seen a more beautiful child than Hawk was. With those blue eyes and all.”
“He is dreamy…”
Robin chuckles. “I’m glad you think so. But yeah. Hawk was a little quieter. Always concerned with right and wrong. For some reason he and Dad never clicked. And he and Mom never really clicked either. I never clicked with Mom either, but Dad and I were close. Maybe because I was more interested in learning what he did on the ranch than what Mom did inside the house.”
“I see.”
“Bottom line, if you can make Hawk happy,” she says to me, “then I’m all for it.”
I give her another weak smile as Vinnie appears in the family room.
“I thought you had a meeting,” Robin says.
“I did. For about five minutes. Turns out one of the key people was a no-show, so we rescheduled.”
“Sorry about that. I guess we all could have stayed at the hospital after all,” Robin says.
“Robin,” Vinnie says, “if you want to go ahead back, feel free to use one of our cars.”
“No, it’s okay. I’d like to stay here.” She flops onto a couch. “I need a little bit of a break.”
“Understandable.” Vinnie turns to me. “I don’t want to pry, but are you doing all right?”
I nod. “Yeah. I mean…”
“Please, don’t go into any detail,” he says. “I don’t need to hear that. But I just want you to know that Raven and I are in your corner.”
“And I am too.” Robin smiles.
I swallow. “Then I probably should tell you something.”
They both raise their eyebrows.
“And what’s that?” Vinnie asks.
“I’ve been getting… I guess there’s a reason I went home with Hawk last night.”
Vinnie raises an eyebrow. “Other than you wanting to?”
“I did want to,” I say. “Please believe me. He didn’t force anything on me.”
“My brother would never do that,” Robin says. “As I’ve told you, he’s always been concerned with what’s right and just.”
“Yeah,” I say. “But he’s been helping me with something else too. Something that’s been going on.”
“Daniela,” Vinnie says. “I promised you’d be safe here. What’s going on?”
Both Vinnie and Robin listen with wide eyes as I tell them about the first two cryptic messages—the threatening Valentine’s Day card and the box of poisoned chocolates—I received.