13. Lex
LEX
“I didn’t want to believe it. I thought people were teasing.” He turns his big green eyes up to me and my heart breaks. “There’s no way that you could be in the mob.”
I am the mob in this city.
“Rory.” I reach out for him, and he flinches away.
“No. Tell me what’s going on.”
Shit.
“I might have some less-than-legal dealings,” I say awkwardly.
“Less than legal.” He scoffs. “Did Brendan pay you to hurt Tanner and Mitchell?” he asks, but he already knows the truth.
“No. He didn’t pay me.”
His jaw ticks, and I know he’s mad.
“Did Brendan ask you to hurt Tanner and Mitchell in exchange for his medical expertise?”
Fuck.
“Yes.”
“Why would he do that? Why would you do that? Who does that?” I think about answering, but then I realize that he’s not done. “So he comes to you and asks for revenge and you agreed?”
“I needed a doctor.”
“Seriously? You go fuck up some guys cause you needed a doctor.”
“To be fair, after I met you, I was going to kill them anyway.”
“That’s not helping your cause.”
“Rory, anyone who hurts you is a dead man.” I want to reach out and pull him close, but I can’t. He’s not ready right now. I’ll give him time. Maybe. “Brendan was just looking out for you.”
“Yeah, well, I would never wish that kind of pain on anyone.”
“I know, rabbit,” I whisper, hoping to calm him. “You’re too sweet, but they deserve it, and they need to be stopped.” Not that I give a fuck about stopping them, but it happens to be a pleasant side effect.
“I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t want to be attacked, and I don’t want it to continue, because it will never end.”
“Chad needs to pay. The man is a cocky asshole who’s hurt a lot of people.”
“What about you? Are you going to pay for all the people you’ve hurt?”
“I’m not a rapist.”
“Assault isn’t much better.”
“Rory, I’ve done a lot of terrible things in my life, and I know that someday I’ll need to answer for those sins, but this wasn’t like that. They hurt you, and I can’t let that go.”
“So no one cares about what I think?”
“Of course we do, we just think—”
“That you know best. Got it.” He walks off toward Mal who has just arrived in Rory’s car.
“Rory,” I call out after him.
“Can you take me home? I’m too nervous to drive.”
Tag runs over. “I’ll get you home.”
“Tag, right?”
“Yep.” Tag looks at me, and I nod even though I want to grab Rory and take him to my house where I can spoil him until he forgives me. “Let’s go.”
Tag opens the door for Rory, but I call out to him before gets in.
“I understand that you’re upset, but I’m not giving up on you.”
He nods and climbs into his car.
Mal puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Come on, bro. He likes you. He just needs a minute to accept it.”
I watch the taillights of Rory’s car as they leave the garage.
“Why is it so hard?” I ask.
“Well, when two people are attract—”
I elbow him in the gut, smiling as he wheezes, and get back in the car.
Once Mal climbs in, he has a better answer for me. “Attraction isn’t something that can always be defined as one thing. Sometimes someone triggers you.”
“Why did I pick a beautiful boy who’s half my age?”
“Because he’s broken.”
“Rory’s not broken!” I snap.
“He is. You want to help him, and he needs your help.”
“I’ve helped other broken men before, but I’ve never been attracted to them.”
“Rory has the most amazing mouth I’ve ever seen.” I growl at my brother who just grins. “And ass.”
My eyes widen, and my nostrils flare. “He’s mine.” I reach out to grab my brother but stop when he smiles. He clearly knows he’s won.
“Good. Now what are you going to do to get him back?”
Huffing I lean back. “I have a few ideas.” Most of them involve presents.
“Rory? Seriously? What the hell?” Brendan grumbles as he takes the plant I sent and slams the front door.
“What is it now?” Rory stomps into the kitchen, but the cameras pick up the smile on his face. “Foxglove! The fairies love Foxgloves.” He grabs the flowers from Brendan’s hands and turns to the door.
“Who is this guy? Seriously?” Brendan sounds pissed, and I smile. “Do we need to get a restraining order?”
“It’s all harmless little things.” Rory waves his hands.
If he knew how much the pink pixie castle cost, he might not think it was little, and if he knew about the cameras, he might not think it’s harmless.
“Rory, who is it?”
“I don’t know.” He pauses at the back door. “Not for sure.”
“But you have an idea.”
Rory’s quiet for a moment before he answers. “My socials are full of people offering to send me gifts.”
“And hurt you.”
“He’s not going to hurt me.”
“And you know that how?”
“I just do. Now leave it,” Rory snaps and slams the slider behind him.
Brendan growls in frustration, but I move the feed to watch the outside cameras.
He’s been spending a lot of time out at his garden, and I get the feeling it’s because I upset him. We were getting close at dinner, and then those stupid Hellhounds had to ruin everything.
I was already going to crush them on principle, but now there will be no mercy.
“How do you like your new neighbors?” Rory asks as he opens the tiny door to the pink castle. “I hope they were nice to you.” He pauses. “That’s good, it can be hard to trust new people.”
Ouch.
It’s been a week since the car chase, and Rory still won’t talk to me or answer my messages. He reads them, but he won’t respond. How can I get his attention back?
“Jesus, Lex!” Mal growls as I throw another guard to the ground in the ring. “Don’t fucking break anything.”
That’s not a bad idea. I could, and then we’d have to call Doc and Rory would come because—
Mal flicks my forehead, and I’m so stunned that I can’t form words.
“Don’t even think about it.” He grabs my arm and leads me out of the ring. “This has gone on long enough.”
I glare at him.
I’m the boss around here.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re the boss. Look, you need backup. Maybe try Vera?” I haven’t thought of that. “Or Brendan.”
“Brendan? You forgot Rory drove himself to avoid telling Brendan. Or that he’s warned me away from his brother?”
“No, he’s warned his brother away from you.”
I’m about to ask him what the difference is when it hits me. Brendan never told me to stay away from Rory. In fact, he doesn’t know I’m interested.
Mal grins as I pull out my phone and call Doc.
“Just tell me where?” he answers.
“What?”
“If you’re calling, it must be really bad.”
“No emergencies, I just wanted to invite you to dinner as a thank-you for all of the work you’ve been doing around here.” Mal snorts, and I glare at him.
Brendan is quiet for a moment.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m just holding up the end of my bargain. No thanks is needed.”
“I insist. Meet me for dinner tomorrow.” I put some ice into my words, and Brendan sighs audibly.
“I’d like to, but—”
Normally I would kill him for that. No one brushes me off, but killing his brother would definitely kill my chances with Rory. “You can bring your brother too.”
There, let him find a reason to tell me no now.
“I’ll ask him, but he’s still nervous around strangers. You know, from the attacks and all.”
Well played, except I’m the expert manipulator.
“You can explain how I’m helping him.”
“Actually, I’d rather he didn’t know why we’re working together.”
I don’t tell Brendan that Rory already knows and that’s why he’s mad at me.
“Besides, Rory and I have already met.”
“I know,” Brendan grumbles. “And I don’t want him to get hurt.”
That gets my blood boiling. How dare he assume that I would hurt Rory! He’s mine to protect, but instead of sending Tag to dismember him, I take a deep breath and reply calmly.
“Why would I hurt him?”
“You don’t want to hurt him, but you will with your,” Brendan wrinkles his nose, “silver fox Daddy vibes.” He practically gags, and I try not to grin.
“Silver fox Daddy?” My mind flashes back to the scene in the elevator when he first called me that.
“You’re basically his dream man, and he’s already more interested in you than I like.” There’s a pause. “Wait, are you—”
Fuck.
“I have to go. Dinner. Tomorrow,” I command and hang up.
Damn, Doc is too smart.
“You think he figured it out?” Mal asks.
“No,” I lie and storm away as Mal laughs behind me.