Lying Hearts Read online

  “You don’t touch her. She’s spoken for. You get me, Travis?” Yeah, I remembered him. The little sleazeball. He was a few years younger than us and had a bad gambling problem. He had greasy brown hair and beady eyes. Eyes that reminded me of a rat.

  I fucking hated rats.

  “Yeah, Easton. Sorry, I didn’t know—”

  “Everyone knows Luna is mine. Everyone. It has always been that way. Tell everyone because I won’t be so kind next time. You’re fired. Send Charlie in. Someone who isn’t a creep,” I glowered. I was so angry. He tugged her curl.

  He ran out the door like a dog with his tail between his legs, and Luna’s annoyed sigh sounded in my left ear. I spun her around and pinned her against the wall, my hand caging in her head as I leaned in, invading her space.

  “I could have handled myself,” she said, her breath tickling the tip of my nose. The way her breasts pushed against her shirt, I knew she was turned on.

  “He tugged your curl,” I huffed and reached for the perfect spiral, giving it a gentle yank. “Only I get to tug your curls.”

  She pinched her lips together to keep from smiling and laid her hands on my chest. “You are insane, but only you, sweetheart.”

  “Damn straight,” I grunted, just about to lay my lips over hers. She was wearing pink lip gloss that smelled like cotton candy, and I wanted to taste it so bad.

  A loud shatter rang through the boutique, ruining the moment. I was going to kill whoever broke something.

  “Oh no,” she said and slithered out from under me. Her eyes landed on the ceiling, and when I looked up, I cursed.

  A piece of the ceiling had fallen in the middle of the room, and by the way the ceiling kept splintering, I knew it was only a matter of time before the entirety of the ceiling fell.

  “No, no, no,” Luna stressed. “What am I going to do? This wasn’t supposed to happen! Everything was inspected and approved.” She was on the verge of tears. “This is going to set the grand opening back. Easton,” the way she said my name broke my heart because she sounded so defeated. “This ruins everything.”

  ‘No,” Oliver said. “It just sets us back. We will get it fixed.” Oliver glanced up when the ceiling creaked, and I lunged at Oliver and Luna, wrapping my good arm around them and tackled them out of the way when another chunk of the ceiling fell right where they were standing. Dust and drywall clouded the space, and everyone coughed and tried to keep their eyes shut until the dust settled.

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked.

  “No,” Luna said. “I have so much to do now. I don’t even know how to fix this.”

  “I’ll fix it. Me and my brothers. You will have to wait a little longer for reopening, but you’ll save some money.” I wanted to give her options. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel like she sank all her money into this place just for something to go wrong with it.

  The people in this town were nice folks, but when it came to things like this, they passed inspections for anyone. I should have inspected this place myself, and maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.

  I stood and helped her and Oliver up. London was in the corner, drinking her iced coffee and listening to music. She had no clue what had just happened. She was painting a mural by the window and was in her own little world, dancing.

  Oliver brushed off his pants, and Luna had her hands on her hips, standing in a superhero position, ready to take on the world, but her face told a different story. She was angry. Her brown curls fell down her back as she tilted her head up and looked into the apartment upstairs.

  “How about we call it a day? We will leave this alone and go see Ethan, remember?”

  “Can I meet you there?” she asked. “I just need some time alone, and I want to call Marely and see why this place got a thumbs up.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t like the idea of you being by yourself.”

  “I’ll be here, so will London,” Oliver said.

  Yeah, that didn’t make me feel any better. Not even a little bit.

  “What?” London shouted over the music, deafening her ears. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing,” I said.

  “What?” she yelled again.

  “No—” oh, for fuck's sake. I made a spinning motion with my finger and told her to turn around and get back to work.

  She nodded and danced her way to the mural she was painting on the wall. I wasn’t too sure what it was supposed to be yet, but I was sure it would be great.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Luna said. “Five minutes, okay? That’s it. Nothing is going to happen.” She kissed my cheek and pushed me out the door. “You’re going to have to leave me on my own at some point. Might as well start now.” She sounded like she found this funny.

  It wasn’t. I was scared something was going to happen to her.

  And I wasn’t going to leave her.

  “Make your call in the car. You aren’t staying here,” I said, not budging. I wasn’t going to leave her here. Fuck that. I had a bad feeling something was going to happen and whether it was my paranoia or my gut telling me to get her out of here. I was going to listen to myself. “I’m serious. I will not leave until you are by my side, Moon.”

  Her face softened, and the hard lines surrounding her mouth vanished with the pet name. I knew I had her. “Fine. You win this round, Mr. Moore.”

  “I’ll win every round, you just wait and see,” I said.

  She just shook her head, grabbed her things, and pushed Oliver and London out the door, who was still listening to music, but got the drift of what was happening because she danced her way to her car.

  “Bye babe. She’s weird today. I’m going to ride with her.” Oliver leaned in and kissed Luna’s cheek. “Text me about Ethan.”

  “You aren’t coming?” she asked.

  “No, it’s a family thing, babe.”

  “Thanks, Oliver.” It meant a lot to me that he’d respect my family’s privacy.

  “Anything for you Moore brothers.” Oliver winked and skipped down the sidewalk until he looped his arm through London’s.

  I opened up the passenger side door for Luna as she locked the doors to her boutique. As she walked toward the truck, she stopped and checked her surroundings like she could feel someone watching her. Just a half a block away was the remains of Kathy’s and Rocky’s; then she looked across the street toward the corner candy shop, then the one-screen movie theater that had been there since the early 1900s, and then her eyes fell on me.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “Let’s go Luna.”

  She hurried toward me and jumped in the truck, almost slipping on the ice that had formed on the ground. I ran around the front of the truck, slipping on the same sheet of ice, but caught myself with my good hand, and slung myself toward the driver’s side door. The tires skidded over the ice for a few seconds without traction before they finally got us out of the parking spot and on the road.

  I could breathe easier when we were away from the heart of town. There was nothing there, but we both felt off…

  “Easton, I’m scared,” she said.

  “I know, baby. I got you, though. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” I swore. I didn’t care if protecting her killed me. Luna was worth every breath in my lungs, and if she needed life, I’d give her my own.

  I turned on the radio to ease the tension in the cab, but the damn emergency broadcast system still played the same message. I flipped the Bluetooth on and switched to the playlist on my phone. The country song didn’t drown out the chatter of Luna’s teeth. She was terrified.

  Five minutes later, we drove over the one-way bridge. If a car was coming from the other direction, whoever got there first had to pull over. It was a wooden bridge that had been there for fifty years, and it crossed a small river. Usually, I didn’t think twice about it, but right now, I hated driving over it. It swayed, and the tires bumped over every piece of wood.

  I released a breath
when we got to the other side and waved at Kim, who waited in the other car. She was a local bank teller in Camden. I cut my eyes back to the road, the pavement shiny with ice and melted snow. I drove carefully to the hospital, slowing down around the turns, so we didn’t slide into a ditch.

  We took a right into the hospital parking lot, and I found a spot in the back, which meant we had to walk. Luna was quiet, too quiet for my liking, but I knew she had a lot on her mind. Her dad, the boutique, this crazy fire loving maniac in town, and Ethan.

  Luna had her arms crossed, and the fluffy white jacket she wore made her look like a cute little marshmallow. I laid my hand on the curve of her lower back as we entered the hospital. A burst of heat from above us made us sigh in relief in unison.

  “I hope he is awake,” I said, nearly jumping out of my skin to get to my brother.

  “Me too, Easton.” We entered the elevator, and Luna reached for the button that took us to the burn unit. As the elevator lifted, Luna laid her head against my chest and sighed.

  I took her face in my hand and laid a gentle kiss against her lips, telling her that I’d take care of her in the simple touch. She made me the happiest man alive. “I love you, Luna. More than you will ever know,” I said, just as the elevator dinged. Both of us were smiling like loons as we hurried down the hall, but it quickly faded when the smell of burnt skin hit us like a truck.

  “Oh god,” Luna covered her mouth and gagged. The smell was terrible, and the cries and pleas for the pain to stop tore at my soul. One of those people was my brother. He was in room 745, and the closer we got, the more the world caved in around me.

  When we got to the door, I stared at it. I was so afraid to open it. My hand was on the handle, but I couldn’t turn it. Luna’s hand fell on mine and applied enough pressure for the handle to turn; then, she pushed the door open. It still smelt like burnt skin, and when I stepped inside the room, my mom and dad were sitting around his bed along with my brothers.

  “Ethan,” I whispered when I noticed he was awake.

  “Bout time you came,” he said through pinched breaths, his body shivered. “It’s good to see you.” He turned his head to me, and his eyes widened when he saw Luna. “Luna.”

  “Oh, Ethan.” She ran to him, careful not to touch him from the neck down and placed a kiss on his cheek. “You scared me.”

  “Mmm, I feel better already,” he said.

  “Get your own,” I mumbled, pressing a kiss on the top of my brother’s forehead. It was a lot of love to show, but I needed to. I came too close to losing him. His arms weren’t bandaged. They had no burns or marks on them at all, but his torso and legs? They were wrapped heavily, and it scared me. What if he wouldn’t be the same? What then?

  “Luna?” Ethan rasped. “Can you be a doll and get me a nice cold water out of the vending machine?”

  Luna grinned and kissed his cheek again. “I’d do anything for you, Ethan. I’ll be right back.” She bounced out of the room happily, her curls swaying along with her hips.

  Ethan lifted his right arm and placed it on my shoulder. “You saved my life,” he said. “You crazy fuck. I can’t believe you went into that house.”

  “I’d never let you go in a fire alone, Ethan.” I glanced down his body and felt emotion choke my throat. My mom gripped my hand and squeezed. “I don’t feel like I saved you.”

  “Skin is just skin, Easton. It might not be the same, but I’ll be fine. It hurts, but I’m alive. That’s more than I thought possible.”

  It wasn’t long after that until Easton closed his eyes and fell asleep. I noticed then that Luna wasn’t back. “Where’s Luna?” It had been ten minutes. She should have been back by now. “Luna?” I shouted down the hall and gained a few mean looks from nurses. Like I cared. Fuck them. Only Luna mattered.

  I ran down the hallway, my dad behind me, because he knew something was wrong. I took a left inside the snack area, which had no people in it. There were a few cheap tables, small and square, big enough for one person comfortably, a tv, and the snack machines which lined the wall in the back. My heart thumped when I saw a bottle of water lying on the ground. My boots felt heavy as I walked toward it, my mind blanked, and when I bent down to pick it up, my fingers wrapped around an ice-cold water bottle, the last thing Luna touched.

  She wasn’t here.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Luna

  My head swam when I came back to. I couldn’t remember what happened. One moment I was at the vending machines getting Ethan a bottle of water and then… black. For the life of me, I couldn’t conjure up a memory. Everything was blank and dark. I moaned when I tried to lift my head.

  “Wake up,” a voice hissed. “I’m tired of waiting for you, Nora. Wake up.”

  Nora? Who the hell was Nora?

  A hand slapped across my face, and my eyes snapped open, blurry, and unfocused. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again to clear the fuzz. I inhaled, and goosebumps popped up along my skin when the wind blew. It was freezing. Wherever I was, it had no heat, and it smelled old like mildew and charcoal. As the gusts of wind sent snow catapulting through the area, it landed on my cheeks, and I woke up like I just took a shot of pure caffeine.

  And that was when I saw him.

  Willard Hopkins.

  He smiled when my eyes landed on him. One side of his face pulled tight, and the other half showed half of his teeth. He would be a handsome man if he wasn’t so… gut-wrenching. One look at his eyes had me trembling. I tried to stand, but that’s when I felt my hands tied to an iron bed frame alone with my ankles. I looked around, and panic set in when I realized where I was.

  The Hampton Mansion.

  Old dolls stared down at me from the bookshelves, and the iron frame creaked every time I pulled on the restraints as if it were laughing at me. The old floral wallpaper had started to peel, and a jack−in−the−box sat in the corner.

  Jack had been out of the box for a while. The spring that connected him to the box was rusted, and the paint on his face had chipped. He had one eye, and his hands were up in surprise, but a few of his fingers were gone.

  It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen in my life, and Easton had bought the place. He wanted to live here! If I made it out of here alive, I was going to tell him this room needed to not be rebuilt and completely forgotten.

  “Sweet Nora,” Willard ran his burnt finger down my face, and I flinched. “You don’t recognize me,” he said, turning away from me. “I understand. I…I don’t look the same. You were much younger the last time you saw me. I came back for you.”

  “Listen, I don’t know who you are,” my voice wobbled as he stared at me through the eye on the burnt side of his face. It looked melted off, dripping like paint or wax. “But I don’t know you. My name isn’t Nora. It’s Luna. I’ve never seen you before. I swear. Just let me go. I promise I won’t tell anyone about this.”

  His brows pinched, and he tilted my chin back, bringing his face closer to mine as he inspected me. “They haven’t told you.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “Please, I don’t know you. I don’t know. Leave me alone.”

  “I can’t do that, Nora.”

  “My name isn’t Nora!” I screamed. “What do you want! Huh? What the fuck do you want?” I pulled on the ties against my wrists, and the rope burned my skin every time my skin rubbed against it.

  “I had to get you away from those people. They weren’t safe.”

  I decided to keep my lips shut. Whatever I said, it wouldn’t have mattered. This guy was a lunatic, and he thought I was this Nora chick, whoever that was. I was going to die in an abandoned house, freezing to death, and be attacked by an evil ghost. I knew I shouldn’t have listened to all those ghost stories. I knew it.

  He looked out the window, pushing the old, discolored lace curtains to the side. They were ragged and torn from age.

  “I escaped for you,” he said. “I carried your picture with me and came for you. I told you I would,
Nora. I told you.”

  “I don’t know you,” I said between tears, fighting the urge to wail with fear. I didn’t want to give the man the satisfaction of seeing me scared. He’d probably get off on it.

  “You know me,” he said. “You just don’t remember. I do. Ms. Williams, that fucking old lady was the reason you were taken. Rocky and Kathy, they helped keep you from me.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, shaking my head left and right. This man was mental.

  He sat on the edge of the bed, the dirty mattress dipping from his weight. “Your mother had just given birth to you. You were beautiful. A little pink bundle of joy that fit in the palm of my hand, but I had done a lot of bad things, Nora, including killing your mother. She set me on fire though, so the bitch deserved it.”

  I had no idea what this man was talking about. He was clearly delusional, but at least I knew where his scars came from.

  Not that it mattered, but I had been curious.

  “The police arrested me for my… passionate flare for setting fires, and they took you away from me. I’ll never forget Ms. Williams carrying you away. Your mother’s sister took you in. Tessa, I believed her name was. I didn’t want to hurt them, since they cared for you so much, but don’t you understand, Nora? You’re mine. You’re my baby. It’s my turn to have you now.”

  I turned my head and puked, emptying my stomach of this morning’s breakfast all over the bed and floor. It smelled rancid. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be. My parents would have never lied to me like this. I look just like my mom. This man was lying; I shouldn’t believe him. He kidnapped me from the hospital.

  He was wearing scrubs and had his hair combed back.

  “I always said I’d come back for you, and I meant it, Nora.”

  “I’m not your daughter,” but he knew my mom’s name.

  “You know, you have a large inheritance. You’re the last of the Hamptons.”