Triple Dare (Sterling Shore 7)

“I’ll make it up to you tonight,” I whisper when he hugs me against him.

“All night,” he adds with a sexy promise that does all the right things to me.

I shiver as I watch him leave, and he turns to wink at me as he walks through the door, shutting it behind him.

We go to sit down on the couch, and Krysta smiles weakly at me as tears waver on her lids. Something bigger is going on than she’s letting on.

“So you and Corbin? That’s so great.”

Her enthusiasm is forced, and I don’t feel like pretending I don’t notice.

“What’s going on?”

She shrugs as though it’s nothing. “So is the offer still good? Can I still live with you?”

I nod slowly. “You know that’s the main reason I came back. You want to go to Sterling University for college, and it’s a great opportunity. You need someone to help you, since you know Cassie isn’t going to.”

She grimaces, and I tilt my head.

“I don’t want you feeling like you have to pay my bills, Ruby. I just want to live with you because I’ve never really gotten to feel like we’re really sisters.”

It’s then I realize how what I said must have sounded. I suck at this sort of thing.

“If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t be doing anything.”

It doesn’t take a genius to catch on that she’s trying to distract me.

“Tell me what’s really going on. You didn’t just leave because Cassie wouldn’t dish out details about your father. She’s never once even acted like she remembered who he was. So why did you suddenly get brave enough to leave? And why did she just let you?”

She looks up at me with sad eyes, but then she tries to walk away. I grab her arm, and she cries out. My eyes immediately dart down, taking in the fact she’s wearing long sleeves.

“No,” she argues, trying to push my hands away when I start pulling her sleeve up¸ but I’m stronger.

Bruises are on her arms, and it’s easy to tell it’s from someone grabbing her.

“How bad are these? Cassie didn’t do this. Who did?”

Cassie isn’t strong enough to leave bruises.

“It’s from Sam,” she finally tells me. “Her current boy toy. You know how she is—marry a rich old guy for a while, then screw around with some young one that hasn’t got a dime. I caught him cheating on her, so he made it a point to warn me to keep my mouth shut.”

My heartbeat slams into my chest, and my mind goes to a place that has me almost retching.

“Did he… Did he…” I can’t even get the words out, but horror crosses her face as she shakes her head.

“No! No. Nothing like that. He just grabbed my arm and threw me down. He threatened violence. Not even he’s that disgusting. It’s not like Mom doesn’t know he’s cheating, so I don’t know why he flipped out. I came over here last night and stayed.”

Even though my pulse has slowed a little, it’s still pounding in my ears as I stand up and grab my keys off the table. I wasn’t here when she needed me, but I’m here now.

“What are you doing?” Krysta yells, running behind me.

“Stay here,” I growl, pointing inside. “Don’t open this door for anyone. Anyone I trust has my code. They’ll let themselves in.”

I slam the door behind me, and I don’t feel any surprise when she does exactly what she’s told. Her mind has been fucked up because we couldn’t get her out of that house no matter how hard we tried.

Having Maria put in there to watch after her was the best my father could do. Cassie never told anyone Krysta’s father’s name, because she was afraid he’d do like my father did.

My father wasn’t the type of guy anyone thought would love his daughter, but he did. Cassie wanted a monthly paycheck from him, but she wanted to keep me. She wanted someone to push around. She wanted someone to control, because she’s crazy like that.

Problem is, my father fought her harder than she ever expected. Hell froze over the day he won custody, and Cassie lost the heat that surrounded her lair. She sure as hell never wanted to risk losing Krysta the same way. She would have lost that power over someone all over again.

I should have done this so much sooner. To hell with the consequences.

My Camaro roars as I fly through traffic, weaving in and out like this is a race. It takes no time before I’m leaving tire marks on the pretty white driveway of the massive home.

I pop my trunk and grab the metal bat out from the back, slamming the trunk back down. The door opens as one of the maids look at me, but when her eyes flick to my bat, she starts to run back in and slam the door.