Page 64 of Reins

If all it takes is money, I’ll give her every penny to keep her looking at me with that blissful glaze as she moans around her spoon.

Chapter 31 - Rosalyn

Loud banging wakes me up in a cold sweat.

Is it my brothers?

Panic has me sliding quickly out of bed and racing to the closet.

Please no. Don’t be them.

They’ll kill Cade…and me.

My heart beats so loudly in my ears I can’t hear him answer the door.

But a strange voice drifts through, a man I’m not familiar with.

Slowly, I step out, wincing with every footfall after my rush to get away.

My fingers reach for the handle when I hear Cade yell.

No, more like a painful cry.

It makes me freeze.

“I’m sorry,” the strange man says, his voice carrying into the bedroom over Cade’s groans. “I’ll check back in a few hours when I know more.”

Another noise shakes the walls.

He must have left.

Cade’s muffled sounds drift in, tugging me in his direction.

He’s sprawled on the couch in only a pair of jeans. His scarred heaving chest is bare with one arm slung over his eyes as another sob wracks his body.

I feel as if I’m invading on something intimate.

“Cade? Who was here?” I keep my tone hushed, not even sure if I should be bothering him.

“That was Pete.” His elbow doesn’t move, but his voice cracks. “There was a fire.”

“I don’t understand.” I shuffle closer, ignoring the pain in my knee and side.

“At the ranch,” he exhales, then takes a shuddering breath. “My parents—” His arm raises to rub his palm across his face, then glances up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “—they died.”

A knot of grief seizes my stomach. I didn’t mourn the loss of my own, but I can appreciate that he loved them.

Seeing him in agony…hurts much more than I expected it to.

I’ve seen glimpses of the soft heart he carries. He doesn’t deserve this.

Before I realize what I’m doing, I’m perched on the edge of the cushion and flattening my palm over his puckered skin.

He’s so much like me being covered with scars inside and out. It brings my own sting of tears. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper.

His arm crosses my thighs to wrap around my hip while he rubs his eyes. “This is all so fucked,” he groans. “Pete said it was arson.”

An icy chill runs up my spine making me pull away my hand to thread my fingers together. “It’s my fault.”