Tangled Up In You (Rogue #1)

Chapter 67

67

SOPHIE

B reakfast was incongruously jovial. Gavin had, temporarily at least, gained a happy disposition, and he and Conor talked and joked and laughed as if nothing had happened the day before. It made Sophie wonder if the sex they’d had that morning had really been that good.

Waking early, she had found Gavin in the garden, gathering empty beer bottles from the previous day. Her simple kiss in greeting had ignited a passionate response from him. When she let her surprise show at the aggressive way he reached inside her robe, he told her he needed her, desperation in his voice. She knew he needed a release more than anything and suggested they go their room, but he was too eager. Despite her warning that Conor was upstairs, he backed her against the garden wall, pulled at her panties until they tore away, and fucked her. When he was done, he moved to his knees and pulled her leg over his shoulder to make sure she was satisfied as well.

It had apparently been exactly what he needed to push past the emotions of the previous day, as he was now enjoying Conor’s story of how frazzled he’d found Shay in New York, and that he’d taken it upon himself to connect him with their pretty waitress at the sushi bar.

“Did he get the ride?” Gavin asked, suitably amused.

“He better have. We’ll ask him when he gets here—embarrass the hell out of him,” Conor said.

“Why don’t you two leave him alone?” Sophie asked, smiling. “Just because he’s not your typical lecherous Irishman doesn’t mean you should harass him.”

The men laughed.

“It’s such a shame to see him miss out on all the advantages he has,” Conor said. “I mean, not only is he a good-looking kid, but he’s the fucking drummer in the best band in the world. Why wouldn’t he be out every night with a girl or two?”

“Maybe because you do enough of that for the whole band!” Sophie said, and they laughed again.

“Nothing wrong with liking sex,” Conor said.

“I’m with you on that one,” Gavin added. “But I hear from my friends at the tabloids that you’re committed to one girl in particular now.”

Conor grinned. “Don’t think I’d go that far with it, mate. But she has potential.”

“Well, when I talked to her yesterday, she sounded positively in love,” Sophie said.

“In that moment she may have been. She’s a bit of a mind-fuck. Would you agree, Sophie?”

“She likes attention, that’s for sure,” she conceded.

“As long as you’re getting fucked the other way, does it matter?” Gavin asked with a laugh.

“There is something to be said for knowing who you’re dealing with and what they want. But it’s fun enough for now.”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Sophie said. “Did you ever call her last night?”

“Fuck. I forgot. I’ll bet I’m in for it!” Conor said, smiling as he got up to go make the call.

Once alone, Sophie turned to Gavin and took his hand into hers.

“What do you want to do today, baby?” she asked.

“This. This is all I want—to be with my best friends. Okay, darlin’?”

She nodded before leaning over to kiss him.

They kept the television and phones off and spent most of the day in the back garden, soaking up the rare, warm sunshine. The boys stripped down to their shorts and Sophie put on a bikini. They lounged while drinking margaritas and chatting aimlessly.

It was mid-afternoon when a commotion came from the street, the shouts of the paparazzi signaling the arrival of someone at their door.

“I’ll get it, guys,” Sophie said, pulling on a sundress.

“More margaritas while you’re at it, please,” Conor said with a grin.

Expecting to find Shay, she swung the door open and was surprised to see Ian instead. He was shielding himself with a newspaper from the dozen or so photographers and camera crews still lingering in the nearby street. Ian was an older, heavier, and less attractive version of Gavin. Clothes were always ill-fitting on him and he attempted to tame his unruly hair with too much gel, leaving him looking greasy. Sophie had never bonded with him, in large part because he rarely accepted her invitations to dinner parties or other events. And when she did see him, she instinctively recoiled from the negative energy radiating from him. He was someone who could suck the life out of a room and was, therefore, the exact opposite of his brother.

Before she could say a word, he let himself in and shut the door.

“Jesus, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said, exasperated.

“What are you doing here, Ian?” she asked.

“I’ve come to see my brother, of course,” he replied with a degree of casualness she found galling.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said. “Look, he’s in no shape to see you now. You have to understand that he’s hurting and you being here will only make it worse.”

“Nonsense, my dear. Just lead me to him.”

Sophie appraised him for a moment. He had gained weight since she had seen him last and it had added to his usual disheveled appearance. At the same time, he returned her stare with a look of stubborn determination that told her it was no use in trying to dissuade him from seeing Gavin.

“Fine. I warned you though,” she said, and started toward the back garden.

He followed closely behind her. As they stepped out into the sun, he held his hand to his brow in an effort to adjust to the light.

And in that moment, Gavin saw who his visitor was and jumped to his feet, his entire body tense with hostility. Sophie knew that this wouldn’t end well.

“Look now, calm yourself,” Ian said, holding up both hands.

“I’ll tell you once,” Gavin said. “Get out of my house.”

“I knew it, I bloody well knew it,” Ian said in disgust. “You’re putting this whole thing on me, aren’t you? As if you’re not the very one who set this whole disaster up!”

“Fuck off, Ian. There’s no way you’re going to turn this around on me just so you can get by. You know damn well what you did was wrong.”

“And what was it I did, anyway? I told the truth—something you should have tried from the beginning. You wouldn’t have been in this mess if you had.”

Sophie watched as Gavin’s posture relaxed and his shoulders sagged beneath the weight of his brother’s words.

“What’d you come here for?” he asked quietly.

“To tell you to get this thing under control, if only for Da’s sake. He’s being humiliated by this.”

“Funny, that. Since the focus seems to, in fact, be on me. And because of you, my band has to suffer even worse for it.”

“What, the lyrics shite?” Ian asked with a smirk. “Give us a break. Like it was an original concept, or something to figure not every word was about Sophie. Yeah, like you’re so bleedin’ deep they needed me to clue them in!”

“Why don’t you go fuck yourself, Ian,” Conor said.

“Stay out of it,” Ian replied.

“Why don’t you stay out of it?” Gavin returned. “You’ve done nothing to help the situation. Tell me how you justify saying one word to that reporter?”

“At least the world knows you’re fucking human now, don’t they?” Ian said, spitting his words. “Everyone knows now this fairy tale you’ve concocted for yourself is bullshit, that you’re just some kid whose own mother couldn’t even be bothered.”

In a flash, Gavin raised his fist and punched his brother hard in the face, drawing blood instantly. Sophie cried out for him to stop but he kept swinging at his brother again and again.

“Conor, stop this!” Sophie said.

Conor hesitated before finally pulling his friend away. Gavin had left Ian’s nose bloody and most likely broken, his lip split, and his left cheek quickly bruising.

“You fucking arsehole,” Ian moaned as he cradled his head in his hands.

Gavin was still seething as Conor finally forcibly moved him to the far side of the back garden and held him there by the shoulders.

“Come with me,” Sophie told Ian, taking his arm.

“Show him the fucking door, Sophie!” Gavin shouted.

Sophie ignored him as she took Ian inside and sat him down at the kitchen bar. She quickly wet a towel and put ice into a plastic bag.

“You’re a mess,” she said softly as she gently wiped at the blood around his mouth.

“That’s your fucking husband. A real prince, aye?” Ian said, shaking his head.

“You asked for this, Ian.”

He was quiet for a long spell as she worked on cleaning him up. “Do you know,” he finally said more calmly, “they made me redundant at work a month back? Do you know what that feels like? And to have your own brother have everything you don’t? Don’t you think that makes it worse?”

Sophie pulled the towel away from him and met his eyes. “I’m sorry you lost your job,” she said. “I really am. But that’s not Gavin’s fault.”

“Never said it was. But here he is living the life of luxury and it’s all due to this false pretense—that he’s some sort of long-suffering artist. I mean, it drives me to the edge to see the way he’s created this persona of the tragically orphaned boy whose heart is still bleeding from it all.”

“Wait a minute,” she said. “Are you saying you don’t think his feelings are genuine?”

“They were, sure. But you get the fuck over these things and grow up. Now he’s just using it to make a spectacle of himself.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong, Ian. God, I wish you two would actually try to know each other instead of constantly tearing each other down. You’re missing out on something so special.”

“I think I’m fit enough to leave now,” he said and stood up.

“Do you need help—with money?” she asked.

“I’d sooner live in the streets than take his money,” he replied and moved toward the front door.

“The offer’s always there,” she said, though he ignored her.

When Sophie went back out to the yard, she found Gavin in need of aid as well. He had a cut above his left eyebrow and blood was smeared across his temple from having tried to wipe it away. Ian must have caught him with his ring.

He was obviously still irate, pacing back and forth even as Conor tried talking him down.

She went straight to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, and for the first time in years, he rejected her attempt to soothe him.

“Darlin’, I’m in no mood,” he said curtly, and walked inside without another word.

There was no hiding the disappointment she felt. Conor gave her a quick one-arm hug. “Give him some space, Soph. It’s a lot to deal with right now.”

She nodded and blinked back her tears, telling herself that in the end she and Gavin would find a way through this together.