Page 28 of Unmasked

She rolled her lips together as she swallowed hard. “Vantage Security.”

Her father's expression went blank, and he blinked several times as he turned the name over in his mind. She saw the minute he connected the dots because his pupils flared wide. For several seconds, neither of them spoke. “Everleigh…”

She held up one hand. “No. I did as you asked. I've always done as you asked, even if it was the exact opposite of what I wanted or needed.”

Something passed briefly over his eyes, but it was gone a second later. “I did what I had to in order to protect you.” His mouth set into a firm line, and his eyes narrowed. “That boy wasn't good enough for you then, and he's not good enough for you now.”

Disgust welled up, and she bit her tongue to keep the vile words contained. “Excuse me. I have to go.” Without waiting for a response, she spun on her heel and stormed to her room. She dropped her purse on the bed and stood there for a moment, seething. He had always been prejudiced against Knox—against anyone he considered lower than himself, really. It irked her to no end, and a hot flush of anger swept over her skin.

She grabbed her phone from her purse and tapped out a quick message to Sierra, asking her to send whatever she had found, and sent it before she could reconsider. She couldn’t stand to be in the same house with him right now. Even in a separate wing of the house, it wasn't far enough away. She needed a place of her own.

Dropping her phone to the bed, she spun on her heel and strode toward the sunroom. She quickly cut across the room and threw open the French doors, then slipped out onto the balcony and made her way down the steps to the backyard.

As she wound her way through the flowers and topiary hedges, her feet already knew where they were going before her mind could tell her it was a bad idea.

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

Knox tossed the armload of junk into the Dumpster, the very last of the debris that had cluttered the yard. As it landed on top of the stuff inside with a metal clang, a surge of triumph swept over him, and he couldn’t help but grin.

He brushed his hands on his jeans as he turned to survey the yard. All the hours of sweat and blood were finally paying off, and it looked like a completely different house than it had six months ago. Now that everything was cleaned up, he could really start to focus on the new house. They were only a few weeks from breaking ground, and he was both excited and nervous. The grass desperately needed to be mowed, but that could wait until the weekend.

The afternoon sun beat down, warming his shoulders and causing a bead of sweat to trickle down his back. Driven by the feeling of accomplishment at finally getting the land cleared, he headed to the backyard and began to gather all the sticks and branches that cluttered the ground near the tree line.

A sound from within the woods drew his attention, and his ears perked up. For a moment, he remained completely still, just listening. There was a rustle of leaves, the snap of twigs from inside the cluster of trees. He headed that way, drawn by curiosity and something far more intense.

A sense of déjà vu hit him as he stepped beneath the shadowed canopy. He had spent years of his childhood playing in these woods. Everleigh, Vivi, and he had treated it like a world of their own. Everleigh would sneak away from her house when her parents were gone and meet them in the clearing that was exactly halfway between her house and his.

His feet carried him forward, and he moved as silently as possible over the moss and leaves that littered the ground. Why was he doing this to himself? He hadn't been back here since he bought the house. Why now?

The trees thinned, revealing a wide clearing. In the very middle stood a huge oak tree. Their tree. He knew if he took several dozen steps to his right, he would be able to see the initials C & G etched inside a heart. His fingers twitched at the memory. He remembered vividly the feel of the wood chipping away beneath his fingers as he carved their initials into the trunk, committing their love to memory. But it was all a lie.

He stood there for a moment, allowing the past to wash over him. Suddenly, movement caught his eye, and Everleigh stepped out from the opposite side of the tree.

Christ. Every muscle went completely rigid as he stared at her, like an apparition come to life. She was silent so long he thought he might be imagining the whole thing.

“Hey.”

Her soft voice speared through the quiet afternoon, and his heart clenched. He lifted his chin at her, not quite able to form words just yet. Why was she here?

The smile on her face wavered when he didn’t say anything. She returned her gaze to the tree and stepped a little closer so she could run her fingers over the bark. He swallowed hard as he watched her caress the tree, wishing it was him she was touching.

The feel of her soft skin, her gentle curves, was etched on his memory. Having her this close was a serious strain on his control. He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to scream at her or push her up against the tree and kiss her until he couldn’t remember what had driven them apart.

He shook away the thought as her fingers traveled over the heart engraved in the tree. “I’ve always loved this tree,” she said dreamily. “All this time, and it’s still standing strong.”

That was exactly the way he’d felt about Everleigh and him when they were young. He thought that, just like this tree, they could withstand any storm. He was wrong.

“Why are you here?”

Pain creased her features, but she managed to blink it away. “I just… had to get out of the house.”

He barely held back a snort. “Guess some things never change.”

She’d always wanted to escape her parents, but when it had come right down to it, she’d chosen them over him. He didn’t blame her for wanting to appease her family. He’d never tried to hold her back from them because he understood all too well the demands of family. He would do anything to make sure his sister was safe. But he’d also felt the same way about Everleigh. She knew he would have cared for her, and she left him anyway.

She bit her lip. “Just… With everything going on, things have been a little… stressful.”