Page 43 of Broken Rules
“Did I do too much?” he asks, crouching to get a look at the side of the trunk. “Fuck, sorry, Lex.”
“No, it’s my fault. I should’ve been paying attention.”
Kevin lowers his head, then picks up the saw, handing it to me, and I raise a brow. “Finish your cut.”
“Are you sure?”
“You learn by making mistakes, now go on and fix yours.”
He nods, a smirk on his face as he inserts the bar again, cutting the right side to match the left, then starts pounding the wedges with the ax, watching for movement until the tree tips on its own. We walk into our escape route, and I sling my arm around his shoulder as the tree fells beautifully.
“Good job. Start trimming. Then you can head home early tonight.”
“Alright, thanks, Lex.”
With our job done, I drive back to the mill, checking Dad’s office, but he’s not there. Letting Gwyneth know I’m heading out early, I get on the road. Since Sadie doesn’t get out for another hour and a half, it’s too early to pick her up, so I go to the cabin instead, though if it weren’t for Kylo needing to talk, I would’ve stayed for a beer, see Evie. I’ve been trying to give her space, make her less nervous, and use Leanna as an excuse to stay away. To keep focus, but fuck was it hard.
During her Christmas performance, I felt something was off, just in her movement alone, pouring herself into the song, and I made my way to the stage as I saw the pain in her eyes, wanting to strip it away. She’s so talented, so beautiful. I could watch her for hours and never tire. Now I have a chance to get to know her more, two days alone in Vegas, and I plan to get deep, to use up every second to make sure she knows how special she is to me.
Once I park in the driveway, I head inside, stop in my tracks to see Sadie here relaxing on the couch with Jinx, and I recheck my watch.
“Did you get out early?” I ask, and Sadie looks up from her phone as I stroll inside.
“Not exactly. I got fired today.”
“No way. What happened?”
She sighs and shrugs. “People are assholes. Kylo’s in the office.”
I nod, walking straight there. Kylo’s focused on the computer, and Adam’s, by the window. Both look at me as I knock on the frame before entering.
“Hey.”
“Hey. Can you close the door?”
Making sure it’s closed, I walk toward the chair and sit. “Sadie said she was fired today…does Leanna have anything to do with that?”
“Good chance. Yeah.”
“There wasn’t much activity to report while I was there. With Sadie working upstairs, Leanna did her job, then went home. I wish I were able to be there tonight, but with Kev being new, I had to train—”
He holds up his hand. “Thank you, Lex, truly. You’ve done more than enough to help me, so please don’t point the blame on you. What happened is all me, and I should’ve listened to your warnings a long time ago, and now this issue has spiraled into something much worse.”
“There’s no point in dwelling on what you could’ve done. What are we gonna do now to defuse the situation?”
Adam strolls over with his arms crossed, and we talk about his and Kylo’s plan with Sadie’s contract ending, both of which have negative results. Still, I agree that Adam’s would be the quickest route, and ready to buy Sadie a ticket right now to get her out of Oregon. Kylo rests his head in his palms, threads his fingers through his hair, and lets out a deep sigh.
“Alright, let’s do it,” he says, and I can already hear the anguish in his voice.
“Are you sure this is the direction you want to go?”
He stands, sniffing while using his shirt to wipe his face. “Yeah, I want Leanna gone as fast as possible and out of our lives.”
Adam nods, already getting his phone out to call his officer buddy, and I search for my flight to purchase another ticket while walking out of the office. Waving at Sadie, I continue to the back door, and Jinx is a step behind me as we head for the guest house, hoping this plan won’t backfire.
* * *
4:00 a.m., and I’m awake as usual, sipping coffee on the deck, watching the lake with Jinx to pass the time, only I won’t be going to work today. Sadie’s belongings are by the front door, ready to load into my car, and in a few hours, Evie and I will be leaving for Vegas—hopefully, she can convince Sadie to come along. She thinks Kylo lying to her will backfire, and I don’t agree or disagree.
