The Truest Thing (Hart's Boardwalk 4)

“Relax. There’s nothing we can do to little sister now that hasn’t already been done.”

Rage, frustration, disappointment, all of it moved through him at the sound of his brother Kerr’s voice.

Jack turned to face him.

Kerr leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes on his face. His fury was palpable.

Jack didn’t care. Kerr was the eldest, the one who should have protected them from their father. But he was too like the old man. Selfish to the core. Probably why he’d never married. Thank God for that. Jack almost flinched at the sight of him. Of all of them, Kerr was almost the spitting image of Stu. And the memory of Stu filled Jack with guilt, regret, and confusion.

“No, despite her fucking everything up, I feel like little Rebecca has been through enough. And to be fair, she will probably see some jail time for this, and anything that happens to her in prison will be worse than what we could ever do to her.” Kerr chuckled, pushing off the jamb. “Dad agreed.”

Jack stared blankly at his brother, knowing his ability to not react pissed him off. “So? I’m supposed to be scared that you’ve come for me? The star witness in your case. Are you that fucking dumb?”

“You know you’ve royally screwed us, right?” Kerr glared. “We got the call that they froze everything. Mick Rooney, that fucking slimy bastard, is leaving us to swing in the wind.”

Mick Rooney was their high-powered defense attorney. Jack smirked. “If you don’t have the money to pay him, that’s kind of the deal.”

“You smug cocksucker.” Malice flashed in Kerr’s eyes. “That means we have nothing left to lose. We’re going away for this. Probably for a long time … so we might as well take you down before we go.”

“I’m not afraid of you, Kerr.”

“No, I know that. Why do you think Dad hates you so much? He can’t stand that you’re not afraid of him, that you don’t respect him. I think you’ve finally pushed him over the edge, though, little bro. And since he knows you’re not afraid of anything that might happen to you … we decided to hit you where it’ll actually fucking hurt.”

Fear flooded him. “Mom? Jamie?”

Kerr grimaced. “Why would Dad hurt Mom or Jamie? He still loves them.”

“He’s got a funny way of showing it.” Jack’s mind raced as he tried to figure out who Ian would go after. If he went after Cooper, Coop could take care of himself … but that wasn’t the point.

“Look at you, scrambling to figure it out.” Kerr snorted. “Let me help you. You thought your feelings for her were a secret, but Dad’s PI caught you with her a few times over the years … and anybody with fucking eyes can see you mooning at her any chance you get. You big pussy.”

Jack’s stomach roiled. No. They couldn’t possibly know about her.

“Tall, legs forever, ass a man would pay a lot of money to ride. Blond hair. Owns a bookstore … ringing any bells?”

He gave his brother no warning.

Jack jumped and used the force of the lunge to bring his fist down across Kerr’s face. Blood sprayed out of his brother’s nose, his head juddering on his neck.

Kerr fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

Knocked out.

Reaching for his cell, hands trembling, Jack dialed Cooper. He was nearer to Emery. It rang four times before his old buddy’s voice filled his ears. “Hello?”

“Cooper, it’s Jack.” He huffed breathlessly as he ran out of the house to his car. “You need to get to Emery now. You’re closer than I am. Ian’s going after her to get back at me.”

“Fuck!” Cooper growled. “On my way.” He hung up.

Jack sped out of his driveway, fear unlike anything he’d ever felt before threatening to cripple him.

20

Emery

After lunch, when the girls returned to work and Ivy followed Dahlia to her store (she’d started helping at the store when Dahlia was in her workshop), I closed the shop early. It wasn’t something I typically did, but my mind was reeling after telling my friends the truth about my relationship with Jack. I’d even told them about last summer.

I could tell Bailey was dying to ask me a million questions, but she’d learned enough about me to know that an interrogation would only cause me to clam up. I told them what I was ready to share, and that was a surprising amount. Bailey, however, hinted at her curiosity about my experience with men.