Ruined

chapter 8

Lisa.

I stand on the front lawn long after Roseanne rides away, arrested by the lingering echo of her beauty, her strength, and her pain. She's always been gorgeous, but fucking hell, the woman she's become is so stunning, so fiercely potent and bewitching there isn't a man on the planet who could resist her.
That scares the ever-loving hell out of me.

How can I protect her when I can barely protect her from myself?

She was supposed to be safe in Chicago. I held onto that belief for two grueling goddamn years. But her dad didn't give her refuge. He gave her bruises. Soul-deep bruises. The kind only a father can inflict. My chest constricts, and helpless rage heats my blood. After Roseanne was taken from me, I learned a great deal about Mason Park. He didn't want to leave Montana. Didn't want to sell the ranch. Whoever's threatening his family forced his hand. Whatever's keeping him away from Sandbank is bigger and more powerful than the amateur hitmen in the ravine.
Roseanne and Felix were supposed to die that night, and if they return to the ranch, another attempt will be made on their lives.

Most of my information comes from Felix during my visits to the penitentiary. I can't refute his claims. Mason gave up his home, his job, and his happiness. He made sure his son went to prison. He moved Roseanne across the country. He did all this to keep them alive.
His enemies and their motivations are so intricately and deeply buried I've only scratched the surface. Piecing together what Felix feeds me, along with the shady shit I've uncovered in the ranch's business records, I have so many suspicions and suspects and theories. But nothing concrete. Not yet.

Felix's intel trickles from his dad, and it's erratic and heavily filtered. Mason barely talks to him. I'm certain Felix doesn't know about the drinking or the abuse. Of course, Roseanne didn't mention it in her messages. She'd rather suffer quietly than worry us.
And now she believes she's truly alone.

Gravel crunches beneath the angry tread of boots behind me. I square my shoulders, brace for what's coming, and turn to face my brother. His first strike hits hard and swift, directly across my mouth. I stumble back, welcoming the spurt of blood. Relishing the pain. I deserve it.

We read her email this morning and knew she was coming home. But we didn't know why. The past few hours were a race against the clock, orchestrating a mix-up in cattle records that detained Dad at the stockyards in Montana City until tomorrow.

Someone wants Roseanne dead, and I added my dad to the list of suspects the moment he started drilling in the south pasture. Natural gas? Oil? He's tight-lipped about it. Not to mention all his shady new business partners. He's running a side business off the books. It's sketchy as fuck, and Roseanne and Felix are tied in somehow. It's just a gut feeling. One I've yet to prove.

But that's not why Bambam's fixing to beat me into a bloody pulp. Planting a girl in my bed was my idea. He warned me if I went through with it, he would rearrange my face.

Roseanne's always been like a sister to him, and I see that protective love blazing in his eyes as he rears back an arm. I block the punch and deliver one of my own, slamming into his solar plexus with enough strength to remind him I would never fuck Miyeon Cho.

He staggers, crashes against the ground, and springs to his feet, glaring with unwarranted accusations.

I didn't sexually or intimately touch Miyeon. I didn't kiss her. Didn't remove my boxers. I didn't even get wood.
I'm still a virgin, because I love Roseanne Park.

My brother damn well knows that. But Roseanne doesn't, and that's what this is about. Bambam wanted to guard her without hurting her. He wanted her to stay far away without giving her a reason. He wanted the impossible.
There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that would've kept her from returning home. Not her father. Not the threat against her life. Not the trails of sin and corruption running beneath the ranch. I did the only thing I could to protect her. I broke her heart, because I love her.