“You don’t have to be. This stuff is in a class all its own. Trust me.”
“Okay, man. Nothing like a Bud with a bourbon chaser, right?”
“Don’t chase it. Sip it.”
“Whatever you say.” I took a sip of the amber liquid Johnny set in front of me.
Smokiness and spiciness. Nutmeg. And man, it glided down my throat. No harshness at all. “Wow.”
Fox nodded. “Am I right?”
“Just for kicks, how much is this?”
“It’s a single.”
“I mean the price.”
“Ha! You don’t want to know.”
“Actually, I really do. And before you tell me, thank you. I appreciate the thought.”
“It’s sixty-five a shot here. Some places charge more.”
My mouth dropped open. “Sixty-five? Dollars?”
“No. Sixty-five potatoes. Of course dollars.”
“Fuck.” I took another sip. “It might actually be worth it.”
“No shit. I’ve tried to find it at local liquor stores and online. Even the distillery, but it’s impossible. It gets sold out as soon as it’s released, and most of it goes to high-end bars like this one.”
“Damn.” Another sip, and I was nearly done. No way could I afford another. “I guess you made a bourbon drinker out of me.”
“Nah. I made a Pappy’s drinker out of you. There’s a definite difference.” He signaled to Johnny again. “Another for my friend here.”
I shook my head. “No, thank you. It’s way too much.”
“Dude, I just got the contract of a lifetime. I’m happy to treat you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
He cocked his head. “You’re right, at that. Tell me about yourself, then. Specifically, why are you looking for Riley Wolfe?”29RileyDid Dad ever take you hunting?
No wonder they were all staring. I’d been gone five minutes, and during that time, I’d become the subject of their conversation.
I sat down and tried to hold back my irritation. “No, he didn’t. And I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk behind my back.”
Five sighs of relief met my ears.
“Don’t you think I would have told you?” I asked.
“We didn’t know,” Roy said. “You never told us anything.”
“We could have helped you,” Reid said. “We were adults before you were. We could have gotten you out of his house. We could have petitioned the courts for custody. Or we could have—”
“Stop,” I said. “Just stop. We’ve been through this. You couldn’t have. Don’t you get it?”
“We can never truly get what you’ve been through, Riley,” Roy said.
“You’re right. Be thankful.”
He didn’t reply right away. I couldn’t blame him. Any of them. Sure, they could be thankful they hadn’t gone through the horror I had, but they’d all gone through shit at our father’s hands, and I wouldn’t deny them their right to hate him on their own terms.
“He just meant,” Reid said, “that we would have gotten you out of there. Come hell or high water—”
I shook my head vehemently. “I’ve thought about that. A lot. And I’ve concluded that you couldn’t have. Don’t you see? He wouldn’t have let you!”
They all gaped at me, as if the words I’d uttered were incomprehensible.
“Actually,” Roy said, “she’s right.”
“Wait.” Reid shook his head. “You just said—”
“I said we can never truly know what she went through, and I stand by that. You said we would have helped, and I agree. We would have. We would have moved mountains. But our father—he would have moved planets to get his own way.”
“Planets?” Rock scoffed. “You’ve gone off the deep end, Roy.”
Charlie patted Roy’s hand.
“I’m not being literal, Rock,” Roy said. “I’m only saying whatever we did to help Riley wouldn’t have been enough. Dad had all the power, control of all the assets, probably control of the authorities. If he wanted to keep abusing our sister, we couldn’t have stopped him. Look where your attempt got you.”
“Wait a minute—”
“Rock, please.” Lacey stopped him.
“Look where your attempt to stop him got you,” Roy said again.
“I was fourteen, for fuck’s sake. A kid. I had no control over anything, including my own hormones.”
“No, you didn’t.” Roy paused a moment. “That’s my point, entirely. Sure, you were a young hothead, but our father never changed. In fact, he became more powerful and more egotistical, if that was possible. He was a megalomaniac. Derek Wolfe got what he wanted no matter the cost. No one stopped him.”
“Roy is right,” I said quietly. “Only he said it better than I could. Trust me. You couldn’t have stopped him. Any attempt would have had you wishing you’d never tried.”
“Hey, I don’t wish—” Rock began.
“I know,” I said. “I know you don’t wish anything different. I know you’d do it all over again, and I know you two”—I nodded to Reid and Roy—“would have tried if you’d known. I get it. I’d do the same for any of you. But you wouldn’t have been successful, and he’d have made your lives miserable, just like he did to Rock.”
“We weren’t teenagers,” Reid said. “Roy and I could have—”