Prologue

 

 

Oakley

 

 

Bianca.

She’s my first thought when I open my eyes.

However, she’s not the first person I see.

That would be my dad.

And two police officers.

Shit.

A quick glance around tells me I’m in the hospital.

Fuck.

“What—” I try to move, but can’t.

When I look down, I realize why.

I’m handcuffed to a goddamn bed.

And not in a way I’d typically enjoy.

“What happened?”

My dad—who looks more scared than I’ve ever seen him before—takes a step forward. “You were in a car accident.”

Sounds about right, because the last thing I remember was driving.

And arguing.

Her tears.

But mostly? The last words she said to me before the world became one big blur.

“You had a seizure at the wheel,” Dad continues, but I can’t focus on that.

I have more important things to worry about.

“Where’s Bianca?” I sit up in bed. “Is she okay?”

Given cars are number one on her list of fears, she must be freaking the fuck out.

I need to see her.

“She’s…uh—” His expression falls. “She’s still in surgery.”

My brain must temporarily fritz out because I can’t make sense of this.

“Surgery?” The thing in my chest—the fucked-up organ she brought back to life—beats wildly. “She’s gonna be okay, right?”

She has to be.

The girl is the definition of a fighter if there ever was one.

Frowning, he pulls a seat beside my bed and sits. “We—well, the Covingtons—won’t know anything for a while.”

I need to see Jace and Cole.

Fucking hell.

They’re gonna be so pissed when they find out that not only did I have a seizure behind the wheel with their sister in the car—but that I’ve been hooking up with her all summer.

Who am I kidding? Bianca’s more than a hookup.

Either way, they’re not going to take the news well.

However, their anger is the least of my concerns right now.

There’s gotta be a doctor—someone—I can speak to about her.

“Is there a doctor or nurse around? I need to know how the surgery—”

“Oakley,” Dad snaps, cutting me off. “We can’t worry about them right now.”

I don’t like the distance he’s putting between us.

My dad’s been Mr. Covington’s personal lawyer—and friend—for years.

So much so his running joke at home was that the Covington’s bullshit was inevitably his bullshit, too.

Given Jace and Cole are my best friends—hell, my brothers—I feel the same way.

Needless to say, the line in the sand he’s suddenly drawing between our families doesn’t sit well with me.

“What do you mean we can’t worry—”

“Oak.” My dad gestures to the police officers. “Our family has its own issues to deal with right now.”

I want to laugh at his use of family.

We haven’t been one of those since the day I got mad at my dad, boned my stepmother, and caught feelings for her…

Only to find out she was using me to get pregnant.

Which she did.

Until she wasn’t anymore.

Well, with my baby.

Shortly after the miscarriage, she got knocked-up again…with my half-sister.

The way it should have been from the start.

But that’s the thing about me. I’m always fucking shit up.

Case in point? What’s happening now.

I flick my gaze to the officers. “Why are they—”

Motherfucking cocksucking shitballs.

If there was a car accident…there were officers on the scene.

Which means they found and seized a little over ten-thousand dollars’ worth of cocaine and heroin in my trunk.

Now I know why my dad is scared.

Hell, I’m scared, too.

I glance at my dad, too afraid to speak because I don’t want to further incriminate myself.

Although that’s laughable, because I’m fucked.

So fucked.

As if sensing my internal struggle, he turns to the two officers. “Can I have a minute alone with my son?”

They look at him like he’s crazy.

“That’s against the rules,” one of the officers states matter-of-factly.

“Fuck the rules,” my dad barks, but I can hear the fear in his voice seeping out under his bravado.

My chest twists.

My dad has every right not to be here given what I’ve done to him.

And yet…here he is. Standing by his piece-of-shit offspring.

Being the parent my mother never was.

Gathering his composure, he stands. “Gentlemen, there are no windows in this room.” He motions to the cuffs around my wrists. “And he’s secured to the bed.” He looks them in the eyes. “He’s not going anywhere. You have my word.”

I’m expecting them to decline, but my dad must garner a lot more respect and pull than I thought because they concede.

“Five minutes,” one of them grunts as they head for the door.

Gripping the short, sparse strands of hair from his balding head, my father blanches. “You’re in deep fucking shit, Oak.”

Oh, I’m aware.

“I know.” I wince. This is bad. Real fucking bad. “How much shit?”

He starts ticking things off with his fingers. “Well, for starters, they seized over a pound of cocaine and heroin from the trunk of your car.” He glares at me. “Your blood alcohol level came back a 0.08%. Which is over the—”

“Legal limit,” I finish for him.

Because when I fuck up…I really give it my all.

Quite frankly, I’m surprised it wasn’t higher.

“They also found trace amounts of cannabis and cocaine in your system.”

No surprise there.

“I was trying to sober u—”

“Well, that didn’t fucking work,” he screams, his eyes flashing with rage.

“I’m sorry.”

However, my apology has nothing to do with me doing drugs.

It’s because I know he finally knows the truth.

There’s so much pain etched in his face—so much disappointment lingering—it hurts to look at him.

He averts his gaze, as if he can’t bear to look at me, either. “At least now I know why you moved out so abruptly.”

Yeah, because I couldn’t face myself in the mirror anymore.

Which means I definitely couldn’t face him.

“Dad—”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he barks, gripping the back of the chair so tight his knuckles turn white. “I need to tell you something.” His expression goes from angry to forlorn. “Something very serious.”

Given the laundry list of shitty things I’ve done tonight—and the fact that the girl I love is still in surgery—I’m pretty sure whatever he has to tell me can’t be any more serious than that.

“What?”

Reaching over, he squeezes my shoulder. “During your seizure, you swerved into the opposite lane and crashed into another car.”