Page 11 of Buried Betrayal
“I might just fall over from shock,” River muttered, running a hand through his hair. “The game is everything to you.”
“I played like you wanted. I’m going home.” I began backing away, and West lunged at me, catching my arm. My bottled-up panic exploded when Eli rushed behind me and pulled my arms behind my back.
“You’re not leaving yet,” West murmured, stepping closer until he was inches from me.
The blood drained from my face as I looked at River, who just shook his head and walked to the side of the court.Asshole.Eli had an iron grip on my wrists as West ran his knuckles down my cheek. I knew they’d figure it out. I was just hoping to be long gone by the time that happened. But I wasn’t that lucky.
“How did we not catch it earlier?” West muttered, like he was talking to himself more than to me.
“Nine years is a long time,” Eli replied in a calm voice. “Add that to the fact that her mother told everyone she was going to college in Europe. She was the last person we expected to see here.”
Neither of them seemed shocked like I expected. But once realization hit his eyes, West’s face went from blank to dangerous in a split second. Fear paralyzed me, and I took a deep breath to keep a rational head. They couldn’t do anything to me.
“Why all the mystery?” West asked. “The contacts. The hair. You had to have known we would figure it out.”
Even as dread claimed me, I forced out a grin. “You thought I’d do all that for you? You really are self-absorbed dicks.”
West’s hazel eyes darkened. “Did you really think you could just come home without us knowing?”
“You can’t touch me,” I spat out. “If you had permission to track me down, you would have done it already.”
I went rigid as Eli transferred both my wrists into one of his hands. I swallowed a cry as he fisted my hair with his free hand, and my spine arched when he tilted my head back. West took the last small step that separated us and then grabbed my hips. My breath hitched as his fingers slipped under the waistband of my sweatpants.
“I don’t seem to have a problem with touching you.” West’s voice was soft but full of venom. “Do you, Eli?”
“Nope. No problem at all.” Eli pressed my captured wrists against my ass when I tried pulling away. West backed me into Eli even more as his chest hit mine. My heart rate was out of control, and the words I wanted to scream at them were caught in my throat. My confidence of leaving unscathed shrank with every second they kept their grip on me.
“You can’t hurt her, just like you can’t touch me,” River said as he walked up behind West. “Her last name protects her. Even from you two.”
“You knew?” Eli hissed. “Did you two come together?”
“No,” I bit out. “I want nothing to do with any of you.”
“Don’t hurt my feelings, Kit-Kat,” River pretended to pout as I glared at him over West’s shoulder.
West’s hands stayed on my hips as he searched my eyes for answers. “It’s not a coincidence that you came here with my cousin. What the fuck are you planning?”
“Nothing.” Feeling the flush creep up my cheeks, I cursed silently at the bright lights illuminating my lie. “I go to school with her. I didn’t make the connection that she was your cousin until she invited me to come to Braidwood with her.”
“And you came here, even after the shit you’ve pulled for the last two years. Why?” Eli’s hold in my hair was unrelenting as he spoke.
“Because River is right,” I snapped. “You can’t hurt me. Even if you wanted to.”
“No, but we can make your life a living hell.” A menacing grin broke out on West’s face. “Like you did to us.”
“Well, you’ll have to wait a year for that.” I raised an eyebrow. “All our parents voted on it. I don’t have to come back to Braidwood until after I graduate.”
“How’d you manage that?” Eli breathed in my ear, making me flinch. “What makes you so special that you got a free pass to leave?”
“You’ll have to ask my asshole of a stepfather if you want that answer.”
“Let her go. You two are starting to make a scene,” River warned, nodding to the small group that was edging closer, trying to get details of our conversation.
“None of them know who she is,” West answered, unfazed by the attention. “Katalina Whitman disappeared when she was thirteen, and no one knows what happened to her.”
“I’m still a Whitman.” I kept my eyes on West as I spoke. “Word gets back to your parents that you’re disobeying and showing there’s friction between the families of this city in front of everyone, I’m guessing they won’t take that very well.”
West looked past me at Eli before both of them relaxed their hold on me. Relief smothered me as I tore away from them. I caught sight of Everly standing in front of the bleachers with her eyes full of worry for me. I shot her a small grin before facing the guys.