He’d already said way too much.
He respected Summer’s father and he was loathe to lie to him, but neither would he give the other man the fuel he needed to poke at Raeg. Which, Falcon suspected, was the older man’s aim. Her father and Raeg were playing a very subtle, very dangerous game behind Summer’s back. If she learned of it, she’d end up poking them both back. Straight into a gator nest.
If gator nests really existed.
Summer could become rather vengeful.
And a vengeful Summer was a very dangerous Summer.
“I gather we are returning early?” Falcon observed.
“Well now, aren’t you the smart one this morning?” Cal sneered. “I guess—”
“I took my smart pill this morning?” Falcon asked curiously. “Now I know where Summer gets that wicked humor of hers, sir.”
The other man simply grunted.
Hell.
Summer wouldn’t be pleased.
* * *
Big mistake.
Probably the biggest mistake of her life.
Summer rushed from the house while Falcon and Raeg were still showering. The sun was barely up, the fog still lying heavy in the air, filling the marsh that led into the swamp below the house.
They would know where she had run, no big secret there. She’d been running every morning for the past week. And they’d been letting her do it.
There were quite intelligent when they wanted to be—they’d known she was running, and they’d followed. The overwhelming need to escape the consequences of the night before, had ensured the need to put as much time as possible between her and facing them.
She shivered as she passed the line of weeping willows, rubbing at her arms and wishing she’d taken a few seconds to grab a sweater. The thin cotton white-and-red print summer dress wasn’t much defense against the moist, early morning air.
“Mornin’, Daddy.” Stepping on the porch, she paused to bend and place a kiss on his cheek before straightening to move into the house and help her momma with breakfast.
“Summer.” His stern voice stopped her before she disappeared into the house. “Have a seat, girl.”
Oh, this wasn’t good. When Daddy ordered her to have a seat, that meant she really wasn’t going to like the conversation at all, she thought morosely.
“Raeg and Falcon will be here in a minute, Daddy.” Stepping back, she stared down at him in resignation. “If you’re angry with me, could you please tell me in private?”
An argument with her daddy in front of the men she’d taken as lovers wasn’t going to be a pleasant start to her morning. Especially when she suspected the argument was going to concern them.
“Did I ask to speak to you privately?” he questioned her, his tone harder now. “Now sit down there and stop tryin’ to find an excuse to escape.”
But she so needed to escape, she thought desperately.
“Yes, sir.” She stepped up to the chair he indicated and sat herself down.
Back straight, her hands in her lap, she kept her expression calm despite the brooding look he was giving her.
The silence stretched between them until the front door opened and her momma stepped out with two mugs of coffee. She placed them on the table next to her husband.
“Remember what I told you,” her momma said softly.
Her daddy rolled his eyes at the reminder.