released my hold on her and shrugged out of Hunter’s grasp as I turned and headed for my truck on the far side of the house.
With each step, my body begged me to go inside. To do whatever it took until Savannah knew the truth. To beg for forgiveness.
With each weak, pained beat of my heart, my blood seemed to call out to her.
My world, my world, my world.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
I’m so fucking sorry.
I stared at the house I’d grown up in as rain fell relentlessly around me. Wondering how long it had been since I’d stood in front of it.
Almost exactly ten years? Would’ve been longer if the people inside hadn’t destroyed my life. Taken everything I loved and ripped it away from me without a goddamn care in the world. Just to go on with their lives as if nothing had happened, if all the cars parked in front of the house were any indication.
I made my way across the rest of the drive and up the porch steps. My breaths coming a little rougher with each step. My fingers curling into fists and relaxing over and over again. My blood racing and heart pumping this unforgiving beat the closer I came to the door . . . just as it opened.
Leaving only the glass storm door between Hunter and me.
But not just Hunter.
He was holding the hand of Madison’s little girl and pushing her behind him. Hiding her. And at his other side was Madison.
Fucking Madison. The reason behind all my anguish.
Looking like a little family when they’d stolen mine.
I reached for the storm door, and Madison reacted. Staggering back and grabbing the girl from Hunter before rushing her away—in the direction of my other brothers and their girlfriends.
“Beau.”
“Fifteen days,” I said in a cold, grave tone as my attention dragged back to Hunter. “I haven’t seen my wife or my kids in fifteen days because of you.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, trying to be all placating and shit. “I’m sorry. But whatever you’re about to do isn’t gonna change that. You know that better than anyone.”
“Fix it,” I ground out.
“Beau—”
“Fucking fix it,” I snapped just as Madison returned alone. Slipping up to Hunter’s side and glaring at me like she would refuse to back down even though she was trembling. Even though Hunter was trying to push her back the same way he’d done to her daughter.
But she stood her ground and grabbed Hunter’s arm. Whether to help keep her stance or silently tell him she wasn’t leaving, I wasn’t sure.
It didn’t matter.
Just seeing them together had an all-too-familiar red haze threatening to slip over my vision as everything I’d just lost mixed with her words from so long ago.
“You don’t understand what you’ll be doing to all of us!” Madison had cried out. “Risking your relationship by not telling Savannah? Beau, all of our relationships are going to be ruined when you do.”
“Ruin everyone?” I ground out, throwing her words back at her as my head moved in rough shakes. “Just Savannah. Just me.”
“Beau, I’m sorry,” Madison whispered, trying to sound sincere when everything falling from her lips sounded like bullshit. When nothing she said now would make a difference.
My wife had kicked me out. She’d kept my kids from me.
All because of the woman in front of me. Because she liked to make demands and then go back on them when it was convenient for her.
“It wasn’t just y’all,” Hunter said quickly, seeming to sense where my thoughts were—my growing anger—but that’s when I saw it.
Madison’s hand where it was still clinging to Hunter. Her finger. The band covered in diamonds.
I clenched my teeth. Sucked in shallow breaths as my blood pumped faster and faster. My stare flashed to Hunter when I asked, “Sure about that?”
Our younger brothers, Sawyer and Cayson, came up on either side of them then. Looking like they were prepared to stand up for Hunter. Stand united against me.
The possibilities of why they would need to made my heart beat faster when I was struggling to calm it. The demons I’d battled lately of that exact scene—my brothers standing against me—tore through me. Had that fear building and shifting into barely restrained rage in an instant when I was already so weighed down by it.
My jaw ached from the pressure I was putting on it as I willed that red haze back.
As I fought against the anger and the darkness that was so quick to fill my veins.