Chapter 33
Haileystraight up refuses to come to the party, but when I tell her I’m taking Derek with me, she glares and pushes herself off my lap to take a shower. When I follow, she makes a point to shut the door in my face, making me pout as the lock clicks into place.
I don’t need or even want Derek to be there—knowing him, he’ll find a way to fuck us over the second we let him out—but I’m a manipulative bastard, and I knew this was the only way I’d be able to convince Hailey to come with us. Besides, it’s either force her to come or leave her here with Derek, and there’s not a fucking chance I’m doing that. I don’t care that he’s her brother, I don’t trust the guy as far as I can throw him. He’d probably try to run off with her as soon as I turn my back.
After she showers, Hailey sits down in front of the mirror in her room and allows me to blow dry and straighten her hair. She watches me skeptically the entire time, but she doesn’t tell me to fuck off.
“What’s gonna happen with Freya?”
“We’re gonna talk to her,” I say, my eyebrows dipped in concentration as I run the straightener over her soft hair. “Find out what she knows.”
“And when she doesn’t tell you shit?”
“We’ll force her.”
“In front of a beach full of people?” She sounds doubtful. “I know you’re untouchable but you can’t get away with that.”
I smirk, knowing we damn well could if we wanted to. “We’ll take her somewhere else.”
“You’re gonna drag her kicking and screaming?”
“We won’t need to put hands on her. Callie’ll make her walk all on her own.”
“How?”
“She’ll use her gun.”
Hailey’s brows jump at that, and she looks up at Callie, who’s lying on Hailey’s bed with her kindle in her hand, silent as she reads her book.
“You do not have a g?—”
Without looking at her, Callie pulls her gun out of her jeans, waving it for Hailey to see.
“Fucking hell.”
After I get done with her hair, I watch her do her makeup in the mirror, crowding her, touching her, kissing the back of her head, my heart fucking somersaulting when it makes her smile.
When she finishes, she disappears into her closet, grabs her duffel, and searches for something to wear. She walks out a few moments later wearing a sexy pair of ripped denim shorts and a white crop top, the shape of her tanned, flawless body on full display. I groan as she bends over to pull her sneakers on. Callie smirks as she eyes Hailey’s form, climbing off the bed to slip her hoodie on. “Ready?”
Hailey nods and picks her phone up off the nightstand, stopping when I block her path, take her waist, and trail my finger over her exposed belly button. She shivers when I move my hand a little higher, my knuckles grazing her ribs. I pull her against me, nipping her pale pink lips. “You’re fucking beautiful,” I whisper. “Fuck.”
Her lips lift into that smile again, the one that’s both a little shy and sexy as fuck, and it makes me tighten my grip on her, makes me want to push her down on the bed, climb on top of her, and hide her beneath me, keep her all to myself.
Shaking her head at the intent in my eyes, she pulls me out of the room, following the others downstairs. Damon glances at her twice, and Wren says, “Damn,” which earns him a smack upside the head from his husband.
When we walk into the living room, Derek lifts his head off the couch and glares at Hailey.
“Get up,” Damon says, turning the TV off before tossing the remote on the coffee table.
“No,” he says, but he’s not looking at Damon. “Absolutely fucking not.”
Hailey tilts her head at him but says nothing.
“You’re not wearing that.”
“What’s wrong with what she’s wearing?” I hook my finger into the back pocket of her shorts, fucking daring him with my eyes to say it.
He glares at me this time, as if it’s my fault she decided to wear this. “She looks like a slut.”
I manage to take a single step toward him before Hailey’s wrapping her hand around my forearm, stopping me without a single word or even a look in my direction. Nostrils flaring, I stay where I stand.
“Get off your ass,” she says to her brother, “before I drag you out of here myself.”
He laughs. “You?—”
Letting go of me, she closes the distance between them and grabs the little shit by the scruff of his neck, dragging him off the couch. Surprised and impressed at how strong she is, I follow behind them toward the elevator, the others falling in line beside me. Derek smiles at Hailey over his shoulder, and she shoves him in the back, making him stumble.
“Keep pushing me away, Der,” she mutters, allowing me to wrap my arms around her from behind. “It’ll hurt less when I leave you, right?”
The smile falls right off his face.
She’s tryingto kill me.
For someone who doesn’t like parties, she sure as shit looks like she’s enjoying herself. “Pro” by NEFFEX is playing from one of the cars parked on the beach, and she’s dancing with Callie and Rachel by the bonfire, the orange glow of the flames licking at her skin as she rolls her hips back and forth.
The guys from school know they’re not to touch her, but I still catch a few of them stealing glances at her as if they can’t help but look. It makes me want to throw them into the fire, but I can’t really blame them. Hailey’s ridiculously beautiful, sweet, and sexy as fuck all at once. She’s fucking perfect. They’d have to be crazy not to want her.
As I’m watching her little body sway to the slow beat, she glances at me over her shoulder, her arms bent above her head, her top riding up to expose more of her body. One of the boys from our class almost falls over himself as he passes her. My eyes darken at the sight of her, and Hailey’s lips curl up into a smirk. There’s a defiant little gleam in her eyes that says, You made me come here, now you have to watch me and deal with it.
I must be a masochist because I fucking love it.
While Damon’s watching the girls with eyes like a hawk beside me and Wren and Levi are tongue fucking each other behind us, I check Derek’s phone. Still nothing from Freya. Maybe we were wrong and she’s back in New York with her parents. Maybe she’s not showing up for Derek because she’s onto us. Or maybe she just doesn’t give a shit about the guy unless she wants something from him. It wouldn’t surprise me.
I text her again to ask where she is, then walk over to Derek. He’s sitting alone on the other side of the fire, glaring at me as I snatch the solo cup he’s drinking from. I pour the vodka on the sand and toss him a soda.
“That was water, you little dick,” he lies, tossing the soda right back up to me.
“I’m not little, and neither is my dick,” I say, amused by the way he thinks he can bully me like he did when we were kids. Just as I open my mouth to tell him he can ask his little sister how big my dick is, I stop myself and say, “You’re still a shitty liar.”
“Fuck you.”
“Yeah. Fuck you too.” I sit on the sand next to him and place the soda in front of him, propping my elbows on my knees as I keep one eye on Hailey and scan the crowd for Freya. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you warn her?”
“You stole my phone,” he says slowly, swaying slightly. “How would I have done that?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I told you we’re not drinking tonight. How many did you have?”
“I lost count.” He leans back on his hands and smiles as if he’s proud of himself for being such a sneaky fucker, but his face falls when he catches Hailey’s eyes on him. “You were too busy pissing all over my little sister to babysit me.”
Hailey glances between the two of us with a nervous look on her face, and I lift my hands in mock surrender. She squints at me but makes no move to walk over here.
“Why do you even care if I drink?” Derek asks, tipping his head back to look at the dark sky. “We stopped giving a fuck about each other a long time ago.”
“She gives a fuck about you,” I tell him. “And I give a fuck about her.”
He scoffs out a bitter laugh, shaking his head.
“You got somethin’ to say to me?” I ask, raising a brow when he looks like he’s got several.
“How are you doing it?”
“Doing what?”
“Making her fall for your shit.”
“I use my tongue a lot,” I joke, sliding it between my teeth.
He sits up straight, wrapping his sandy hand around my shirt to pull my face into his. “Say that again.”
I don’t. “Don’t make me hit you in front of her.” With my hands at my sides, I don’t touch him, waiting for him to release me on his own.
I see Damon take a step closer in my peripheral, but I stop him with a subtle wave of my fingers.
Derek stares at me for a second too long before he pushes me away with a shove, hanging his head as he plays with the top of the soda can.
I don’t know why I feel guilty all of a sudden. After everything he’s done, he deserves everything I throw at him, but still…
“She’s not falling for my shit because it’s not shit,” I say after a minute, shrugging when his eyes hit mine. “I…” Not wanting to tell him I’m in love with her before I say it to her, I say, “She means something to me. She meant something before I even knew who she was. And who she is changes nothing, Derek. I’m keeping her whether you like it or not.”
He scrunches his nose. “The fuck is wrong with you? She’s my little sister, Kai.”
I cock my head, saying nothing, which only makes him angrier.
“It’s weird, okay? I don’t like it. And I don’t care what you say, you’re the biggest player I’ve ever met. You’re playing her to fuck with me and she’s too wrapped up in you to see it.”
“Are you done?”
“Are you?”
“I’ll never be done with her.” Holding his eyes, I let him look deep into mine, allowing him to see how much I mean it. “Have I ever lied to you, D?”
His brows pinch. Just as he starts to say something else, he cuts his gaze to Hailey again, and I turn my head to look that way. When her eyes latch onto mine, I launch to my feet and run toward her as some random guy with a death wish reaches out to grab her wrist.
Despite the burning anger coursing through me, I almost laugh as I grab Hailey and pull her into me. I’m gonna rip that fucking hand off his arm.
Callie shoves his ass, but he’s not backing up like he’s supposed to. I’ve seen him around before. He’s a college boy, obviously too wasted to realize what he’s gotten himself into. He laughs at Callie as if he finds her cute before he moves toward Hailey again. Hailey flinches against me. I don’t think the guy even fucking sees me standing here. Callie swings for him, and Damon grabs her, hauling her back as she kicks the guy in the ribs.
“Fucking touch her again, motherfucker.”
“Chill, you crazy bitch!” He laughs, clutching his side.
“Levi, grab her,” Damon says, passing Callie over to him before he moves to choke the guy with one hand, digging his fingers in to shut him up.
He grabs Damon’s wrist in a panic, his eyes widening when he finds me and Wren standing on either side of our brother. I glance down at Hailey and take her face in my hand, gently brushing my thumb over her cheek. “You okay?”
She nods, but I can tell she’s not. She’s shaking. A huge crowd has gathered around us, and they’re all looking at her. Derek’s standing on the sidelines, frowning between his sister and the guy Damon’s choking.
“Jay, what the fuck were you doing?” Derek asks.
He doesn’t answer that because he can’t, his face reddening as he claws at Damon’s fingers around his neck. I look at the girls for answers, but Hailey and Callie are keeping their mouths shut tight, so I look to Rachel instead. Twisting her lips to the side, she hits Hailey with an apologetic look before she mutters, “He came over and said he saw her looking at him or some shit. He offered her a drink and she said no. Then he grabbed her and tried to pull her away from us.”
I clench my teeth. When I look at Hailey again, she looks as pale and as terrified as he is, her fingers flexing in my shirt, her anxious gaze bouncing between me, Jay, and her brother.
He’s in college.
He was one of Derek’s friends.
He was sweet to me…
As it hits me, my anger burns even hotter.
“Baby, is that him?”
“Baby?” Jay echoes, horrified. “Whoa. Wait a fucking second. Hailey, are you with him?”
“Hails?”
“Kai,” she warns, and I have my answer.
Forget ripping his hand off his arm. I’m gonna rip his fucking head off his shoulders.
Before Hailey or Damon or anyone else can stop me, I push my older brother out of the way and swing my fist into Jay’s face. He hits the sand on his ass, and then I’m on top of him, getting as many hits in as I can before Damon hauls me off him. “Enough.”
I laugh at the blood dripping from Jay’s mouth as my brothers hold me back. “You just made an enemy out of me, college boy. Don’t let me catch you by myself.”
The fear in his eyes as he scrambles away from me makes me grin like a maniac.
“Kai.” Wren shakes me. “Dude, are you good?”
I nod, and he loosens his grip on me.
The crowd splits for Hailey to walk through, and I chase after her, grabbing her arm and turning her to face me. “Baby?—”
She looks from my bloody hand to me, and I swallow as I release her. When I look into her pretty blue eyes, all I see is rage and betrayal, and I know I fucked up.
“Oh, shit.”
“Hailey, wait.”
“Get away from me.”
“Baby.”
“No.”
“Hails.”
“Stop it, Kai,” she grits out, pushing her way into the closet in her bedroom.
“You’re mad at me.”
She huffs out a humorless laugh and searches through the duffel on the floor, tossing it away when she doesn’t find what she’s looking for. I jump out of her way when she barrels back into the main part of the bedroom, raising a brow when she drops her shorts and grabs a pair of my sweats I left on the floor last night. She made my dad tell the housekeepers not to step foot in here, not to pick up after her or do any of her laundry, and even though he didn’t seem pleased about it, he agreed because I think even he might be a little scared of her. Or maybe he just knows it’s better to pick his battles with her. She’s here, after all. And that’s all he really wants from her. To keep her under this roof and protect her from his psycho brother.
She doesn’t seem to care that those are the sweats I wore last night, or that they’re way too big for her, glaring in my direction while she stubbornly shoves her legs into them. She’s so fucking adorable, I have to hide my laugh behind my knuckles.
“Don”t look so smug, asshole,” she grumbles, pulling the drawstring as tight as it’ll go. “You know I don’t have any of my own clothes left.”
“Hailey—”
“Just get the hell out, Kai.” She gives me her back, taking the hoodie from the chair in the corner and throwing it on over her head. That’s Wren’s, not mine, but I don’t dare mention it.
“You really want me to go?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” I ask stupidly, cringing when she turns around to glare at me again.
I know why. I saw the way Derek looked at her after I beat the shit out of his friend. I might as well have come right out and told him that’s the guy who took his little sister’s virginity.
“I’m sorry, Hailey. I’m an idiot.”
When she bounces her searching gaze between mine, a small fraction of her anger seems to fall away, and I breathe a little easier as she stuffs her hands into the pockets of my sweats. “You mean that?”
I nod. I really do.
“Why did you do it?”
“I was jealous,” I say honestly. “I saw him grab you and I wanted to break the hand he touched you with. And when I figured out who he was, I…I wasn’t thinking.”
She squints at me, assessing me for a long moment before her shoulders drop. Just when I think she’s calmed down enough for me to touch her, she takes a small step back. “I don’t like this,” she says quietly.
“Like what?”
“This.” She gestures between us. “You. What you just did. I…” She shakes her head, looking flabbergasted. “You just broke someone’s nose because he touched me.”
“What’s your point?”
“You’re not sorry for that part, are you?”
“No. I’m only sorry I did it in front of your brother and betrayed your trust.”
She blinks. “What are you doing, Kai?”
“What do you mean?”
“The game.” She clenches her jaw. “You’re not playing fair. You’re confusing me.”
I cock my head as it hits me. “You need me to spell it out for you?”
She stares at me, saying nothing.
I spell it out for her anyway. “I’m not playing at all,” I say, slowly stepping toward her. “Me and you? It’s not a game. It’s never really been a game to me. It’s the real fucking thing. I?—”
“Stop.”
Pressing my lips together, I pause a foot away from her. “Chickenshit.”
She grits her teeth. “Get out.”
Nodding, I back up toward the door. “Keep pushing me away, Hails,” I murmur, and she freezes. “It’ll hurt less when I leave you, right?”
Her mouth parts in outrage. Just as she starts to say something, Callie appears behind me, pausing just inside the room. “The police are on their way up here.”