25. Amorette #2
I could handle anything when I was wronged. Unfortunately, I found out that I could barely function when I felt like I deserved their censure, even if only on a small level.
“How was I supposed to know Grey would react that way?” I tried to keep my voice to a reasonable volume, but each word was shriller than the last.
“Because I fucking told you!” he screamed so hard veins popped out in his neck. “That day Andre found you, I yelled it through the door. I told you he was a psycho!”
I stilled.
Then I was saved from answering when the alarm panel beeped. It took a minute for the lock on the door to disengage, and when it did, my heart plummeted through my stomach.
Andre strolled in, his hands casually stuffed in the pocket of his jeans. He looked the same as the last time I’d seen him. Maybe a little tired, but mostly the same. Of all the brothers, he was the most striking in looks. Angular face, dark brows, wide set mouth with a fuller bottom lip.
He was also the most dangerous.
After the greeting he first gave me, even catching the struggle in his eyes, he’d have already gotten rid of me if he could.
As he stepped further into the living room, he didn’t immediately try to scare me. Then his gaze traveled over a clearly agitated Lafe, and me sitting less than four feet away from his brother. His body went as taut as a bowstring. At any moment, he could attack.
My heart started beating a rapid tattoo and the sound dimmed as I waited to see what he would do.
Instead of racing to capture me, he questioned Lafe in Spanish, who answered back with terse responses. Back and forth they went until Andre shook his head and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number on speaker, and when someone answered, Andre shot off what might have been instructions.
I jumped when I heard Grey’s name.
Was he coming here? Would he speak with me if he did?
When Andre hung up, he held his hand out to me.
“Come on. Lafe needs some time alone before he can be your keeper again.” His words rolled together smoothly, colored by his accent.
Of all the brothers, his was the strongest. Parker didn’t have one.
If I hadn’t met him here, knowing the little I did of his family, I would never have guessed he wasn’t born in the US.
Lafe’s was different. Sharper. And Grey’s was barely more than a hint.
“No. You said I fucked up. I did. Okay. You can tell Vicente this is all my fault, yes?” Lafe tugged at his hair as he bent at the waist.
Shaking his head again, Andre curled his fingers in a twitchy motion. He was getting impatient, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
I glanced at Lafe, not sure what to do. He didn’t want me to go with Andre, and I didn’t want to go with this brother either.
What if he was trying to save me from the one brother who would hurt me? I hated that I was second-guessing all my decisions. On top of that, it felt a little like betrayal.
“Where are you going to take me?” My words were slow, hesitant as I closed my fingers around the edge of the table.
He raised one eyebrow. “Not to your death, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Hardee har har . Not the answer to make me trust him. But he didn’t need my trust, did he? And he was the last damn person who would have mine.
Then I glanced at Lafe. He was strung out, and he needed help. Right? I hoped that was what Andre was trying to do.
“I need specifics. Why are you taking me, and where?” I persisted.
He sighed, closing the last few steps between us and taking my arm. This time, he was…not gentle, but not abrasive either.
“Come. My dear brother needs to crash, and he won’t do that with you here. I should have thought of that before letting him take you,” he muttered, twisting his lips into a self-deprecating smile.
“I’m fine. Just…Give me a few hours to level out. Then you can come back and check on us. Send Anton to guard her if you need to.”
The alarm beeped again, and Grey stepped in.
As much as I hated it, I drank in the sight of the one friendly face I’d found here.
Grey looked exactly like he had when I last saw him.
His muscles might have been a little bigger, but he definitely wasn’t losing any sleep with me gone.
He didn’t even look at me as he crossed to Lafe, focusing on him instead.
His brows crinkled together. “Come on, pendejo . You can’t function like this. Let’s get the good stuff into you, and then I’ll sit with you while you crash. ‘Kay?”
“I already told Andre I was fine.” He jerked out of Grey’s grip.
“You’re not fine, hermano . From the looks of it, you’ve slept less than a whole night since I came back from the fights.
You can fight with me later, after you’ve slept.
I owe you an ass-kicking anyway for pulling this shit.
I could have told you she wouldn’t try to run again.
Not so soon.” He dropped his head a few inches to be at eye level with Lafe.
Grey still didn’t look at me, and I was torn between a strange despair and quickly building anger.
Nothing made me more furious than when people talked about and around me like I wasn’t there.
I hated it in the law firm, and I hated it here.
Maybe worse from someone who’d finger fucked me so recently.
They locked gazes until, finally, Lafe nodded. Grey started to lead him away, but I jumped up.
Who knew when I’d see Lafe again or what they’d do with me now that the person who’d tried to save me was going to drop soon? Andre tried to slide his arm around my stomach to stop me from approaching Lafe, but I sidestepped him.
I wasn’t sure how I was quicker than him, his reach alone was close to the length of my body. “Lafe.” I caught his hand, and he instantly tried to yank it away.
Raising my hands in surrender, I softened my voice.
“I just wanted you to know…” I took a deep breath.
When the thought struck me, and the quickness of his retreat pressured me, I hadn’t realized how hard this would be.
Uttering these words felt symbolic, like I was letting go of something vital inside me.
In a few short minutes, his eyes had glazed over again. I hoped he’d remember this tomorrow because he’d never know how pivotal the words were to me.
“Thank you for saving me.”