“Mr. Cottins, here, was just leaving,” she stated with a bite in her voice.

Ah, Cottins. That was the guy’s name. Langford Cottins.

“Actually,” the man rebutted unctuously, “I’m waiting for my investor to show up, if it’s any of your business, officer.” He spit out the last like it was a dirty word.

“Since I’m not here in an official capacity,” Cisco told him with a warning in his voice, slowly removing his helmet and placing it on the back of his bike, “but as Hilly’s friend, I’d say whatever’s upsetting her is my business.”

The man actually sneered. “Fine. You want to know how stupid she’s being? She’s not sure if she’s ready to sell this piece of crap place yet, but no worries. In the end I’ll convince her it’s in her best interest.”

Hilly’s face grew even redder as she snapped at the blustering prick. “You’re not convincing me of anything,” she snarled. “This beautiful property was left to me by my grandmother, and her wishes were⁠—”

“Oh, I know what her wishes were,” the man interrupted, nastily. “But she didn’t follow through on what she knew was right. She was old, and she made the mistake of leaving this land to you because she was clearly in the throes of dementia.”

Hilly spit nails. “Seriously? That’s your line now? If you think that, you’re fucking delusional. For your information, my Gran was sharp right up until the end, and knew exactly who’d continue her legacy and who wouldn’t. She…”

Hilly trailed off as she turned at the sound of another vehicle pulling up.

The crimson color that had blazed like a beacon, immediately drained from her face, leaving her ghostly white.

Cisco stepped closer, not understanding the new threat, but more than ready to defend her from whatever it was.

Nel, who’d been by her side for the entire confrontation, growled low in her throat, her scruff coming up.

What the hell?

Hilly turned to Cisco, looking almost frantic. “You should go set up for your class. You don’t want to be late.”

Cisco had another half hour before kids would convene at the pavilion. Why was Hilly trying to get rid of him all of a sudden?

“I’d rather stay,” he answered evenly, attempting not to clench his fists. “I have a few minutes.”

Hilly made a choking noise, but spun away from him to face whoever was parking their old-ass, piece-of-shit truck next to the developer’s shiny BMW.

Her shoulders squared as a worn, scuffed boot came down onto the running board, and a graying, unkempt and shaggy-haired individual eventually stepped down.

Cisco knew that face.

Marty Smittfield.

An ass of the highest degree.

The man was always in trouble with local law enforcement, and often spent the night in jail for drunken and disorderly conduct, or for starting a brawl. The short incarcerations never did anything to smarten the man up, however. He’d get out within a day or two, pay his fine, then go back to making trouble.

The question was, what the hell was he doing here?

“Well, well, well,” Marty sneered, walking their way. His beer belly hung down over the worn belt that held up his dirty blue-jeans. He had eyes only for Hilly. “If it isn’t saccharine-sweet Chunk-Kay, looking as fat-assed as ever.”

Say what? Cisco’s back went up, and he couldn’t be sure it didn’t match Nel’s. What had this prick just said to Hilly?

“What do you want?” Hilly bit out sharply, but Cisco could see the tremble in her lips.

“Now is that any kind of attitude?” Marty’s oily voice wheedled. “A man can’t come say hi to his only pudgy-faced daughter?”

Cisco’s brain went into overdrive, and all the puzzle pieces he’d been missing finally dropped into place.

Well, shit.

Hilly Duncan was—or had been—Kayhill Smittfield, or Kay as she’d been called then.

Things started to make sense to Cisco now; Hilly not wanting to disclose anything about her background. Fuck. With this insulting prick as a father, she clearly hadn’t had the easiest time of it, as a kid.

And in school…

She’d been in junior high at the same time as Cisco. He remembered her as a shy, awkward redhead, who’d been constantly picked on by her peers. She’d carried a little extra weight, but it hadn’t been so bad. It was the defeated posture she’d carried that had really made her a target for all the bullies.

He could even remember coming to her aid a time or two…

Cisco swallowed back the memories, realizing, in retrospect, that he hadn’t done it nearly enough.

“Hilly?” Cisco posed, tentatively. What did she want him to do, now?

She looked ready to cry.

“So, now you know,” she told him with a break in her voice. “If you want to leave, I’ll understand.”

Leave? What the hell was she talking about?

If anything, her beaten down demeanor—and the arrival of her asshole father—had every protective cell in his body standing at alert.

Cisco was right where he wanted to be.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Hilly couldn’t believe Cisco had found out about her true identity in the ugliest possible way. She’d been ready to tell him everything later today, letting him make up his mind at his leisure, after she’d spilled. She’d just hoped he’d at least stick with his camp job if she approached things nicely. But now that gentle introduction to the person she really was, had been wrenched out of her control.

Hilly glanced over at Cisco, where he stood stiffly, his jaw clenched tight, his hands in fists. He was angry, alright, but was it at her, or at the two assholes who were still lingering? Both were, of course, soaking up the uncertainty now coming off her.

Her sperm donor broke the silence, grinning evilly at Cisco.

“So you didn’t know Kay was a pathetic little fatty?” he laughed. “Are you kidding? You were actually…what? Thinking of dating her?”

Cisco looked like he was winding up to say something, but Hilly had heard enough. “That’s it,” she bit out. “You’re out of here. Both of you.”

“Not so fast.” Her father’s eyes narrowed nastily. “Don’t you want to know why I’m here?”

“No one cares,” Cisco ground from between clenched teeth. “The lady said, leave.”

As much as she dreaded that he was sticking around to undoubtedly question her later, at the moment, she appreciated his presence.