Hidden River Deception (Hidden River Academy Book 4) Read online

  She knew I was trailer trash.

  And she was making it very clear that she knew. I smiled anyway, try to go along with it, because what did I have to lose by being nice? If I could do anything to make this evening better for Buck, I would.

  I could leave when it was all over. They were still his family. He was stuck with them no matter what. That thought sickened me. At home I had my uncle waiting for me, someone who actually cared, someone to listen to me and hold me if I needed to cry out all my feelings.

  Buck had nobody. Empty walls, sterile decorations, and crystal chandeliers.

  An eight hundred dollar sparkly candle-stick holder wasn’t exactly going to pass you a tissue and offer you ice-cream to make the pain go away.

  I followed her into the cavernous, I guess, sitting room? That’s what I’d call it, or something, but I supposed that fancy expensive people called it a drawing room or whatever. The room you received guests in before you showed them to the dinner table. It was a place for perching on the edge of velvet-upholstered couches, and sipped a pre-dinner drink delicately. Not my idea of comfortable.

  Buck stood by a grand fireplace, the logs crackling with flames, his father standing next to him. They turned to us as one, and Buck smiled, although I could see the pain in his eyes.

  He was hating himself for asking me to be there. I wished I could tell him that I’d go anywhere for him. It was obvious that he needed my support right then, and if gritting my teeth and clenching my vag through an uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinner was what he needed, then I’d do it.

  We were slowly coming back together, the two of us, falling into each other again, and even though I wasn’t sure we’d ever fully work things out, the past was fading into the darkness.

  I just wanted to look forward. That’s all that really mattered.

  “Mia Quinn, the spitting image of your mother,” Buck’s father said as he walked to me and embraced me closely. I felt the hot brush of his breath across my temple and froze in his hug, his thumb lingering on the back of my arm for a moment.

  “Darling, let her go, can’t you see Buck is anxious to hold her?” His mother said, and I felt myself prised from the older man’s grip. He smiled down at me, and it was up close I could see the silver at his hairline, peppered through the dark strands. He was a handsome man, his eyes a deep hazel, with faint freckles peppered across his cheeks and over the brow of his nose. It reminded me of something.

  “Here,” Buck said as he stepped into place at my side, leaning down to kiss me on the cheek and hand me a glass of… something boozy. There were three cherries floating down at the bottom, and I could tell it was sweet, probably a little lighter on the alcohol than normal. I shot him a grateful look. He’d watered down my drink so I could look mature, but not get drunk. I appreciated that more than I could tell him right then. I didn’t want to like, get tanked and lose my belly contents all over the expensive rug under my feet that was probably handwoven or something.

  I walked over to one of the long, low velvet couches and perched, trying to balance myself on the edge. It was one of those things where if you sat too far up the seat, you’d just end up slipping down due to the nap of the velvet, but if you sat too far on the edge, you’d fall right off.

  Tricky shit, entertaining with the rich and Botoxed.

  “So how is living with Mr. Quinn? He’s such an affable man,” Mrs. Barron said, as she watched me sip at my drink. Was she expecting me to spill it? I wasn’t a barbarian. And I had opposable thumbs, so that was working in my favor.

  Reasons why you should want Mia to date your daughter:

  1.She is really good at baking cookies.

  2.She isn’t sure which fork to use first, but she’ll give it her best shot.

  3.She has thumbs.

  Not to shade people that didn’t have thumbs, or something, but-

  “Living with him was great when I was there,” Buck said with a shrug. “He treats Mia like she’s his own kid.” The way he said it sat heavy at the back of my mind. Like they would know anything about how to treat their own child. It was obvious they didn’t have the first fucking clue. I smiled at Buck and reached over to pat his leg where he sat just far enough from me to be respectful of his parents, but close enough that I knew he wanted to enfold me into his arms.

  “I’m lucky,” I said, “to have someone who cares so much that they took me in.” I sipped my drink and tried not to notice the way Mrs. Barron’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

  She knew what I meant.

  Look after your fucking spawn, you hellbeast, I thought.

  “I knew him well growing up,” Mr. Barron said, not seeing the tension that was starting to bubble in the room. “Your mother, too-”

  “Really,” Mrs. Barron said, the single word a rebuke that had Buck stiffening. “Let’s not bring her up, the poor child must be so embarrassed.” She turned her head and smiled at me, poison dripping from all of the fangs in her mouth.

  “Not really,” I said, “my mom has made a lot of mistakes in her life, but having me isn’t one of them. She did the best she knew how.” I sipped my drink and refused to take on any of the rage that Mrs. Barron was throwing at me.

  That was all her problem, not mine.

  Beside me, Buck was barely breathing. I reached for his hand and laced my fingers with his. It would be fine. If this was the worst that they could throw at me, an over-eager Mr. Barron and a bitter shrew in Mrs. Barron, I could deal.

  Paige was way worse. I wrinkled my nose at the thought. If she had been Mrs. Barron, I’d be dead on the ground with a knife sticking out of my throat by then. I edged closer to Buck, and looped my hand through his arm, resting there against him.

  I felt him shiver where our bodies touched, and glanced up at him. Why was he so stressed out? His parents were dicks, but everything was fine.

  I moved to sip my drink, and the traitorous velvet coach thing struck it’s revenge. My ass slipped, and I yelped, my drink going all down my front as Buck grabbed me.

  “Oh, oh, oh dear,” Mrs. Barron said, immediately falling to her knees and slamming a handful of cocktail napkins on the carpet. “Oh the rug!”

  Mr. Barron gave an exaggerated swoop of his eyes skyward.

  “It’s just a rug, my dear, are you alright?” He crossed from the fireplace, bending down to help me back into my seat. My dress was thick, and wasn’t soaked through yet. I needed to get to the-

  “Bathroom,” I said, “where is it?”

  “Help me,” Mrs. Barron ordered Buck, pointing at the carpet. “Don’t just sit there like a bibbling idiot!”

  He jerked up and got on his knees, soaking up the bright red drink from the carpet with his napkin.

  “I’ll show you,” Mr. Barron said, stepping over his wife’s legs like she wasn’t even there. He offered me his hand and I tried not to stare at it before taking it. Was he for real? I rested my fingertips on his upturned palm and he walked me down a long hallway, this one darker-lit. We turned a corner and he dropped my hand, pressing it into my lower back instead. The movement made me tense and when I glanced up at him, his eyes glittered in the low light.

  “Mia Quinn,” he said, breathing my name out in a way that made my whole body ice from the inside-out.

  “The bathroom,” the words dried and turned to dust in my mouth as he shoved me up against the wall, looming over me. My lips stayed parted in shock, because I hadn’t seen it coming, I hadn’t-

  It felt like something was siting on my chest, keeping me from moving or making a single sound as his thigh ground between mine, hiking my dress up my legs.

  “Just like your slut mother,” he said, and that broke me out of it, the ice in my veins melting. I reached up and scratched him across the face with a low cry, jerking out from between him and the wall. He grunted, and I ran, back down the hall toward the sitting room, feeling like at any moment he would reach out and grab me by the throat from behind-

  “If you hadn’t learned an
ything from your sister, perhaps you should take a hard look at your choices,” Mrs. Barron’s voice was shrill and unpleasant, grating along my frayed nerves as I stumbled into the room, standing at the edge of a scene that I really didn’t need to walk in on right about then. Mrs. Barron was right in Buck’s face, standing on her tip-toes so she could reach. His back was arched, like he wanted to get away from her, but she had him by the tie, half-choking him.

  “Mother,” he gasped, reaching up, trying to pry her fingers off of his clothes so he could breathe.

  “Don’t you mother me, getting involved with some little bit of river trash like that, thinking that was an acceptable way to expend your youth, are you insane?”

  Mr. Barron cleared his throat beside me and I jumped, jerking to the side, my heartbeat throbbing so hard that my head hurt.

  I needed to get the hell out of there, but I needed Buck to go with me. Before either of them could say anything, he saw me and moved. He was by me in a heartbeat, shedding his mother’s claw-like fingers.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked at the same time as I shook my head, turning away. He pushed me behind him and glared at his father. “The fuck did you do to her?” His voice thundered in the room, and I swear the chandelier above us trembled.

  Mrs. Barron gasped, and then collapsed on the couch.

  “Oh, of all things. You think your father put a hand on that-” She lifted her upper lip, her eyes trailing up and down my body. I found my tongue, somehow.

  "Yes, I’m aware you think I’m garbage,” I spat out. “Maybe look in your own house before you start calling out other people first.”

  Mr. Barron stared at me, his expression inscrutable.

  “Get out,” he said, pointing to the long hallway I’d first come through, on Mrs. Barron’s arm. His face twisted, turning into a snarl, and he roared, “GET OUT!!!” I jerked backward, Buck moving with me, and he grabbed me by the hand, dragging me down the hall. Mrs. Barron let out a piercing wail that seemed to dance right up my spine, echoing inside my head, a noice that melted into a hysterical set of sobs that chased us right out the front door and onto the lawn.

  Shaking, Buck turned around once we were in the middle of the front lawn, his whole body silhouetted by the light of the mansion behind us.

  I kept expecting the two of them to pour out of the house after us, but they never did. We stood there, breathing hard, bile creeping up my throat, just waiting.

  A few minutes passed and Buck turned to me.

  “Are you okay?” I asked him at the same time as he asked me. He smiled, although his eyes were wet. He looked wrecked.

  “What did he do to you?” He asked. I swallowed.

  “Let’s go home,” I said, tugging on his hand. “C’mon.”

  “Home?” He asked, but his voice was hopeful. He knew exactly what I meant.

  17

  Mia

  Colt and Shawn were waiting for us both when we got there, the long walk through the woods enough time to text them and let them know that it had all gone pear-shaped. Or old-man-grabby-hands-shaped. Colt got to his feet as soon as we walked in, pulling me into his arms.

  “Fuck, I’m glad I wasn’t there, I’d have murdered him.”

  “Yeah I think we’ve had enough of cops and legal problems for a little while, at least,” Shawn said, embracing me as well before pulling Buck in tight. Buck sighed and melted into the embrace, almost staggering into it. I was so grateful I had the three of them. I wasn’t sure what I’d have done without them. I didn’t know how to connect with Buck over what his father had done, because I knew he was devastated by it… it was just hard to find the words.

  “I’m fine,” I said, “a bit mad, and… like, so gross, but it’s not the end of my world.” I frowned and sat down on the couch with a sigh. I needed to get out of my ridiculous dress and into jeans and a t-shirt. I just wasn’t comfortable. Nylons were a bitch.

  Buck’s gaze swung to me.

  “I know I’ve said it,” he started.

  “Stop, you don’t need to apologize. You had no idea your dad was… just a freaking creep.” I sighed and closed my eyes. “I don’t even know what his end game was? Like, did he think he could just cop a feel and it’s be fine? That I wouldn’t fight back?” It didn’t make any sense.

  “My dad’s never been good at impulse control,” Buck said with a sigh. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that too.”

  Colt clapped Buck on the shoulder.

  “Hey man, none of us think that you’d lure Mia into some sorta weird sex trap for your dad,” he said, his tone gentler then normal. Buck gave him a brief smile.

  “Thanks,” he murmured. I settled deeper into the couch. The walk home and burned off some of the frantic energy. I was actually surprised that Buck’s parents hand’t called him, or come looking for him. I said as much and Shawn snorted.

  “Let’s just say that while my dad actively was disappointed in me, his didn’t give a shit if he was breathing or not.”

  “They used to,” Buck said, and then sighed slowly.

  “Yeah but you’re not a kid anymore,” Shawn said with a tilt of his head. I winced as headlights cut through the living room. My uncle must’ve come back, he was out when we’d gotten in.

  Two doors slammed and I sat up in my seat.

  “Who-”

  The door banged open and Cael and Reid poured into the room, Reid’s face a mask of fury. Colt punched Shawn in the shoulder.

  “I told you not to text anyone. This clown? Seriously?” Colt gestured to Reid. Reid flipped him the bird.

  “Only peasants text each other. Real men get the good gossip from their housekeepers,” Reid said, turning to me, that anger right under the surface. “So old man Barron finally did it huh? I never thought he’d try that again.”

  “Try what- Reid?” Buck’s frown was audible in his voice. Reid growled.

  “He did it with Paige. I didn’t give a fuck because she was fucking my dad too, so why should I care if she got wet to old man dick-”

  “Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa,” Colt’s eyes were wide as his voice stopped Reid’s monologue. “Paige. Paige-Paige. Paige? Paige is fucking everybody’s dads?”

  Buck looked like he’d been punched in the dick. I just sat there. It was… more than shocking.

  “Well she doesn’t have a lot of hobbies,” Reid said with a shrug. Cael shifted his weight and I looked at him.

  “Did you know?”

  “None of my business,” he said, his gaze fluttering away. I swallowed. That was… big.

  “But she’s underage,” I blurted out, “she can’t even consent-”

  All five guys looked at me at once, the gravity of what was happening washing over us. Paige might’ve been a bitch, a complete and utter psycho, and it was one thing for us to have sex. We weren’t… we weren’t taking advantage of each other.

  I swallowed down the pit in my throat.

  “That’s horrible,” I said.

  “You’ve got a lot of empathy for someone who basically wanted you dead, or really actually still does want you dead,” Reid said, like he was surprised by my reaction.

  I glared at him.

  “I’m not a monster, unlike some people,” I snipped. He smirked and nodded.

  “Touché,” he said, that smirk turning into a warm smile that made me look away. “Some of us are beasts.”

  “I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do with all this information,” Shawn said, sitting down beside me. His arm slipped around my waist and he held me close. I leaned into him.

  “Laugh about it?” Reid offered.

  “Or,” Cael said with a significant pause, “if you wanted to fuck with your father, Buck, we’ve just handed you a pretty big stick.” He was right. That was a massive weapon in Buck’s back pocket if he wanted to get back at his dad. Something was blaring in the back of my mind though, warning me that was the exact wrong choice of action though.

  Before Buck could speak, I opened my mouth.
/>   “I think we need to not do anything until we know for sure, and also… what if Paige doesn’t want it reported?” I asked, thinking of my own private shame. Would I have wanted everyone to know if Buck’s dad had… hurt me? I didn’t think so. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle that, being exposed so much in front of everyone I’d ever known and grown up with. Even with me, I could walk out of this town. Paige had lived here since she was a kid.

  I hated her, but I didn’t think I could stand by and let the guys expose what had happened to her, just to get back at Buck’s dad for being a horrible human. He deserved it, Paige didn’t. Not without her being given the chance to say no. Old men had been taking away that ability from her, and I wasn’t going to sit by and let anyone else do that to her too.

  “There’s our girl, keeping us on the straight and narrow morality path,” Reid said. Three sets of heated eyes swiveled to him.

  “Who the fuck says she’s your girl?” Colt asked with a tilt of his head. “I still don’t think I made you pay for the time you asked her to strip for you,” his teeth were gritted as he spoke, his shoulders squaring up for a fight. I shot a panicked glance at Shawn. I really couldn’t handle anything else that night.

  “Stand down, cowboy,” Shawn said, “we’re not fighting tonight. Mia doesn’t need that. And-” He glanced out the window. “From the looks of things, Coach is back.”

  I stood up, a swooping feeling in my stomach. I was so relieved. My uncle always made things better. He’d know exactly what to do so I wouldn’t have to make any wrong decisions.

  I walked to the door and frowned when I heard one car door shut, then a second- Had he brought someone with him. I stood on my tip-toes to look outside and froze.

  Walking up the path beside my uncle, looking exhausted and disheveled, her thin hair pulled back in a rough pony-tail, was my mother.

  A cry ripped from my throat and I shot out the front door, barreling down the porch toward her.