“Can we please get back to why I’m here?” I say, my patience less than thin.

“Yes, yes.” Eddie pulls up a chair and sits. “Here’s the problem, Luke. If you don’t plead guilty, and this thing goes to trial, you could serve up to eight years if we lose.”

“Then we’d better not lose.” He grins nonchalantly.

Eddie’s phone rings and he glances at the caller ID before standing back up. “I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” Once again he leaves, and I turn to my father.

“This isn’t a game, Dad.” I look at him sternly.

He leans forward. “Don’t you think I know that? But I don’t want to storm into a courtroom and plead guilty to almost killing a man.”

“But you did almost kill a man!” I say. “You are guilty.”

“Which is exactly why I want to go to trial.” He sneers at me. “Why do you want me to plead guilty so bad?”

I lower my voice and lean in. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

He eyes me for a moment then shifts his gaze to Kayla and shakes his head. “Doing the right thing doesn’t always get you to the right places. I did the right thing with your mom. I was faithful to her. I was loving and honest and all that sappy shit a good man is supposed to be. And what did she do? She fucking left us.”

“Dad.” I rub a hand down my face. “This isn’t about Mom—or any other woman.”

He waves me off. “It’s always about a woman. And let me tell you something else.” He lowers his voice. “Kayla Turner isn’t going stick with you either.”

“She’s not with me, Dad. We’re just together to find the money.”

“Say whatever you want, but I know that look in a man’s eyes. The look that says I want to be worthy of this girl. The look that says I want to do the right thing for this girl. But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter.”

I roll my eyes and sigh.

“Because you aren’t good enough for her,” he continues quietly. “And I know she’s handcuffed to you now, and you’re probably thinking that you stand a chance, but she’s just using you. That’s the truth, and the truth hurts.

“Look at her, Daren. She’s young and beautiful, and she wants someone who’s stable and has money. And as soon as she gets that inheritance and you two unchain yourselves, that’s just what she’s going to go find. You don’t stand a chance, son. All the good looks in the world won’t keep a girl like Kayla Turner waiting around for you while you get your shit together.” He purses his lips and shakes his head. “She’s going to leave you. Women always leave. Hell, your own mother left you.” He inhales. “So if you know what’s best for you, you’ll drop this high-flying fantasy of yours where you and Kayla live happily ever after and get back to reality.”

I don’t like my father. I despise him, mostly. But I can’t argue with his words. He’s right. Kayla deserves something more than me. This world we’ve created, with scavenger hunts and handcuffs and sleeping in the dark, has always been temporary. I’ve always been temporary.

Eddie bustles back into the room and puts his cell phone away. “Sorry about that.” He sits back down. “Have we made any progress yet?”

Dad leans back in his seat. “I still don’t want to plead guilty, Eddie. I’d rather take my chances in the courtroom…”

They start discussing their odds in court while I sit back, pretending to listen. My eyes drift to Kayla, who’s scrolling through the music on her phone, oblivious to the conversation that just happened. I run my eyes over her soft face and slender arms and my chest tightens as I think about last night.

I had that soft face in my hands and her sweet body tucked beneath mine. She was kissing me back with passion—I couldn’t have imagined that. The way she moaned and exhaled; the way she moved against me and melted around me… those aren’t things I imagined. But could she really just be swept up in this hunt and last night was just a part of the game?

I study her for a moment. Is she faking it for the sake of the inheritance? For the fun of it? It doesn’t seem likely, especially since she was willing to forfeit the inheritance in the car this morning. But maybe that’s all fake too.

I rub a hand over my mouth, totally confused. This is why I don’t get attached to girls. They get in my head and make me second-guess everything. Then they get in my heart and scare the shit out of me with the prospect of being left behind.

What happens when we find the inheritance? Will Kayla leave? My heart drops as the answer seeps in. She will. She’ll leave me.

She shifts in her chair and gives me a small smile. I smile back, but it’s forced and feels wrong on my lips.

“… at least consider what we’re asking, Luke,” Eddie says to my father.

I tune back in to the conversation.

My dad sighs. “Fine. I’ll think about pleading guilty. Think about it.”

“Excellent.” Eddie looks at me. “Isn’t that good news?”

I nod. “Yes. Good news.” I stare at the table with a heavy feeling in my gut.

That might be good news, but the fact that Kayla Turner is probably going to leave me is not.

Dad was right. The truth hurts.

29 Kayla

The drive out to the old lavender ranch is tense and uncomfortably silent. Daren hasn’t said a word since we left the courthouse and I’m not sure if I should speak.

I carefully say, “So that seemed to go… okay.”

“Don’t,” he says.

I blink, slightly hurt, but say nothing else.

I wonder if maybe he’s being cold because of what happened last night. I know he’s a womanizer, and I know he’s not big on commitment, so maybe he’s upset because he woke up this morning and realized he, literally, can’t escape me. Then everything with his dad this morning just angered him even more.

“Listen,” I begin, hoping to alleviate some of the stress radiating from his side of the car. “What happened last night… it wasn’t a big deal.”

He nods at the road, working a muscle in his jaw without looking at me, then slowly swings his head to me and sneers. “Oh, I know.” He scoffs and glares back out the window. “I know.”

I stare at him in confusion.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? He knows? Like he had no intention of caring about me or us beyond sex? God. I was just trying to let him off the hook, but wow.

I bite back a curse. Maybe I was wrong about Daren. Maybe he’s just like every other piggish guy I know.

A few miles later we pull into the old lavender ranch, and I park just inside the gate. We get out of the car and are immediately assaulted by a miniature tornado of dust, sweeping over the deserted ranchland and funneling dirt into the sky. It blows over us quickly but my skin and clothes are already coated in a thick film of dust. Fantastic.

I wipe my hands over my face and rub out my eyes. Daren does the same. When we open them, we instantly spy a note pinned to a post of the ranch sign.

I look at Daren, waiting. “What, no ‘Eureka!’ or ‘Tallyho!’ for this one?”

“Aha!” he says with false exuberance and a lame expression.

“Whatever.” Restraining the scowl I want to throw his way, I hastily unpin the note from the post and scan the message inside.

Congratulations, this is your last clue! Your money is in a safe place through the trenches. Good luck!

“Through the trenches…?” I say. “What does that mean?”

Daren turns around a few times. “Maybe there are some trenches dug out around the ranch somewhere?” His attitude seems lighter now that we’ve read the note, and I breathe a little easier.

We search the grounds, sweating under the hot afternoon sun, but find nothing even remotely close to a trench.

I bite my lip. “Maybe he has some trenches around his garden back at his house?”

Daren shakes his head. “I practically built that garden. No trenches.”