Anchor of Secrets by Tessa Hale

18

The pissed-off rageswirling around the guys didn’t abate for the rest of the day. Colt had done what he’d promised. At least one of them was in each of my classes. Whispers of Alister being on campus had spread far and wide, and no one tried messing with us after that, not even Chloe. As if they could all sense that one wrong move would result in the snapping of necks.

Everyone was quiet, stewing in their own thoughts, as we climbed into the Escalade after classes let out. I sighed as I settled into the back seat. Maybe going back to school had been a bad idea. It had certainly been a selfish one.

Declan’s fingers wove through mine, and he squeezed, a silent reassurance. That comforting warmth spread through me at his touch.

But Declan’s gaze pulled back to his brother, sitting in the row in front of us. Concern swept through his expression, and I knew he was feeling the same thing I was. Worry for Ronan.

Ronan was broody on a good day, but something in the course of the past twelve hours had set him on edge. Even now, he was staring out the window, jaw hard as granite and shadows swirling in his eyes.

I squeezed Declan’s fingers, and his gaze came to me. I mouthed the question I wanted to ask. What’s wrong with him?

Declan shook his head and shrugged, communicating that he didn’t have the faintest idea either.

So, I watched Ronan the entire ride home. As if my gaze on him could keep him safe from whatever demons he was battling.

No one spoke a word, and Colt didn’t even bother with the radio.

I exhaled a relieved breath when Colt finally pulled to a stop in front of The Nest. The testosterone swirling in the SUV was more than I could take.

The moment Colt put the Escalade into park, Ronan was out the door and rounding the house.

My brows pulled together as I climbed out of the vehicle. I started to follow him, but Colt caught my arm.

He shook his head. “Don’t.”

“Something’s wrong,” I argued.

“I know, but he needs time to get his head straight.”

“He needs to know he’s not alone,” I shot back.

These guys had been there for each other through thick and thin, but they made it a habit to leave one another in their heads to stew.

“He knows that,” Colt said softly. “He’ll come back when he’s ready.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. “What tweaked him?”

Colt’s mouth thinned into a hard line.

More secrets.

I pulled my arm from his hold.

Colt’s expression turned pleading. “I’m not trying to hide things from you, but it isn’t my story to tell.”

A little of the tension went out of my shoulders. He had me there. I had my own tender spots that I hadn’t taken kindly to others sharing. I had to afford Ronan the same respect. But I also wouldn’t leave him alone when I didn’t know what he was battling.

I started around the house.

“Little Bird…” Trace warned.

I turned. “Don’t.”

His expression softened the barest amount. “He’s more likely to take your head off than welcome you with a kiss and a cuddle.”

“Then I’ll just have to sit with him headless.”

Dash’s lips twitched. “If anyone can reach him, it’d be her.”

I caught sight of Declan and didn’t miss the hurt in his eyes. He was the only one besides me who didn’t know what was going on, and it was his brother who was hurting.

I squeezed his hand. “I’ll find him.”

Declan jerked his head in a nod and headed inside.

“This is such a fucking bad idea,” Trace muttered.

I ignored him and rounded the house. I scanned the massive backyard and didn’t see Ronan anywhere. Worrying the corner of my lip, I surveyed my options. Pool house? I didn’t think he’d go somewhere that obvious. Gardens on the hillside? Maybe, but there wasn’t a ton of cover.

Then my gaze caught on the rocks that led down to the ocean. I remembered how Ronan had found me there my first night in Emerald Bay. Maybe it was a spot he liked, too.

My feet were moving before I made the conscious decision about my destination. But as my brain caught up, my pace quickened. I reached the rocky slope, and there he was, just out of sight.

As massive as Ronan was, he looked so small in that moment. The endless ocean as his backdrop, the huge boulder beneath him. But it was the torture I could just make out in his expression that sliced me open.

The crash of the waves disguised my footfalls as I navigated the rocks. When I was just a few feet away, Ronan spoke without turning around.

“Not now, Firecracker.”

My nickname on his lips lessened the bite of his words, but there was no denying Ronan didn’t want me anywhere near him right now.

I didn’t listen. I crested the final rock and lowered myself to a spot next to him.

“Leighton,” he growled. “I don’t have a lot of control right now.”

“You won’t hurt me. You never would.”

Ronan’s jaw ticked. “You don’t know what lives inside me.”

For the first time, real fear dug its claws in, not for me but for Ronan. “What lives inside you?”

He stared out at the ocean. “He does.”

“Who?”

“My father.”

A wave of nausea swept through me. I didn’t know much about Ronan and Declan’s father, but I knew he wasn’t the warm and fuzzy type. I swallowed hard and asked the question I didn’t think anyone else had been brave enough to broach.

“What did he do?”

Ronan’s gaze didn’t falter from its position locked on the water. “He sold me.”