Page 62

He takes me down to the house, stops to say hello to his mother, and leads me to the garage. We take a large ATV and I climb on behind him. The motor rumbles as he pulls out, riding away from the main house, across the pasture, through a side gate, and toward the wild parts of the landscape.

All this is his family’s. Rolling hills, streams, and wildlife. Rocks more like boulders perched in the side of massive mounds. Trees older than the city with gnarled trunks and twisted roots. He drives for ten minutes, through a valley I don’t recognize, and slows as he picks carefully over rough terrain, until we part through a stand of weeds and scrubby bushes. He kills the engine.

“What’s this?” I frown at a pond further ahead. There’s a dock built in the side, but it looks decrepit and crumbling.

“Come on.” He climbs off, helps remove my helmet, and leads me toward the water.

He doesn’t talk, but I can read his body language. He seems strangely relaxed but also reverent. I get the feeling this place is important to him. It’s idyllic and quiet, far enough from civilization to feel like we’re out here all alone. I spot bottles in the underbrush though, old beer and whisky tucked over near what looks like a firepit that hasn’t been touched in over a decade. Bass walks to the edge of the dock but doesn’t step foot on it.

I lean against him, holding onto his arm. “Why’d you bring me here?”

“Me and my siblings used to come out here a lot.” He stares out over the water. “The dock was in better shape back then. We’d sit with our feet in the water and try to catch fish for hours.”

“What’s in there?”

“Nothing special, but it was ours. We’d swim in there sometimes too. Then at night we’d make bonfires.”

“Is that trash yours?”

He grins sheepishly. “Yeah, well, we probably should’ve cleaned it up by now.”

“Youthful indiscretion.”

“That’s a way of saying it.” His smile fades. “I haven’t been out here in a long time.”

“Why not?”

“No reason to come anymore.”

Wind rustles through trees and tall grass. I let him stay quiet. There’s a strange mourning in him. It shows up whenever he talks about his past, about his childhood. I’ve gotten glimpses of it, caught moments of sadness, and it always comes back to his older brother.

“This was Dario’s favorite spot.” His voice is laced with regret. “He was the best fisherman of all of us. He could spot a fish anywhere, knew the lures to use, could bring in the biggest and the fattest. He was the fastest, smartest, strongest, but god, he was about as pliable as a pissed-off bull. My father and Dario used to get in these fights all the time—” He stops talking and shakes his head. “You didn’t want to get in the middle of those.”

“You don’t talk about your older brother much. Can I ask what happened to him?”

“An accident. He died when we were kids.” He looks out over the water. “This is a good place though. I wanted you to see it. We had a lot of good memories here, back before it happened.”

“Before you lost him?”

He nods. “Life wasn’t the same after that. Mom held the family together the best she could, but our father—” He breathes in unsteadily. “He died a couple years after Dario. Heart attack. He was never the same. I think what happened to Dario broke our old man. And I swore to myself, after Dario and my father were gone, and I was the one in charge, that I’d step up and take care of everyone.”

“You do a good job.” I squeeze his hand. “Your siblings adore you. Lia looks up to you.”

“I’m not sure adore is the word I’d use.” His lips quirk. “But I try my best.”

“I mean it. Vince is tough to read, but Nico loves you.”

“As much as Nico can love anyone.” He turns and tugs me against him. His hands press to my hips. “I had this place when I was young. It was a good place, you know? For me, this was my freedom. But you didn’t have that, did you?”

My heart quickens. The memory of Danny, of what I tried to have, flutters through me like a scared dove. “No, I guess not, but maybe that’s not so bad. I didn’t have to lose it.”

“I can’t say which is better.” He kisses my neck and nuzzles into me. “I’ve been wondering something. About why you were at that hotel and why everyone acts like you’re a problem.”

I stiffen and let out a soft laugh. “You don’t want to hear that story.”

“It was your cousin, right? He did something to you?”

“Not to me.” I squeeze my eyes shut. How can I expect Bass to be honest with me when I can’t be honest with him? “I tried to run away once and it didn’t work out.”