Chapter Fifteen Decker
Chapter Fifteen
Decker
Doubt Mom and Dad will think their precious little Decker is so perfect after this stunt,” Jackson muttered as he shoved his suit into a bag.
Booker leaned on the doorframe. “Precious? Definitely. Little? Doubtful.”
Jackson glared at my best friend.
“B-man, you’re not helping,” I whispered.
He simply shrugged. “He needs to get hit with the truth. Maybe that will finally wake his ass up.”
“I’ll wake up when people stop thinking Deck is so perfect,” Jackson muttered.
“I’m not perfect,” I said. “You’re right about that. But I don’t put myself first in every single situation—you do, which is why it makes it impossible for anyone to get close to you.”
Jackson stiffened. “I have plenty of people close to me.”
“Name them.”
He stared at me for a moment. And I knew why. He couldn’t think of a soul. Our parents would always love him, but I got the sense they didn’t like him very much. He’d destroyed his relationship with Maia. And I wasn’t sure he and I would ever have the sort of bond brothers should.
“Brock at work,” Jackson finally said.
I looked back at him for a good count of five. “You mean the guy who stole your last deal out from under you and sabotaged your quarterly review? That Brock?”
Jackson let out a huff. “He’s competitive. That’s all.”
“Keep telling yourself that. Or better yet, wake up before your life passes you by without anyone ever knowing you.” And with that parting shot, I turned and stalked out of the room.
Booker fell into step beside me. “You’re a good brother.”
My gaze flicked over to him. “Not sure falling for his girlfriend qualifies me for that category.”
Booker made a pssh sound. “You loved her first.”
I had.
“And you stayed away for an entire decade,” he added. “Gave him a chance to make her happy. Even after he failed spectacularly, you still tried to real-talk him. You still care, even after he’s tried to hurt you repeatedly. That makes you a good brother.”
Hell.
“Booker,” I croaked. “You’re my brother. The best I could ever hope to have. Sometimes family is who you choose.”
“Damn, man. Are you trying to make me cry?”
I barked out a laugh. “Come on. I want to go find my girl.”
“Your girl, huh? You ask her that?”
I scowled at him. “It was understood.”
Booker let out a low, rumbling laugh. “You’d better get on that.”
We took the stairs down from the third floor to the second and ran into Erik.
“You seen Maia?” I asked.
Erik shook his head. “I’m waiting for her and Vi, but they’re taking forever.”
Unease slithered over me. I couldn’t even say why. Maybe it was the fact that someone had been killed last night and it had me overreacting, but I started toward the room we’d shared at a fast clip. The back hallway was empty, but I caught snatches of words.
Someone yelled “Liar” and I picked up my pace, hearing Booker and Erik behind me.
“Shut up, bitch! I’ve had enough of your bullshit. It’s time you did something for me. Think about all the attention I’ll get, all the sympathy, when I tell them I found a masked man attacking you. Probably the same one they think killed that poor girl.”
All three of us halted in the hallway as we recognized Violet’s voice, twisted with rage.
“Think?” Maia croaked.
Violet scoffed. “I thought it was you. I was just so mad. Henry could only see you, and I snapped. I grabbed the bird statue before I even realized it and smashed it into her skull. It’s your fault she’s dead. But don’t worry. You’ll be joining her soon.”
Icy dread ripped through my system. What in the actual hell was happening? Violet had killed the woman last night, thinking she was Maia?
This wasn’t happening. I wouldn’t let it.
“I’ll pull focus,” I whispered to Booker. “You take her down when there’s an opening.”
I knew Booker would have my back. He always did.
He jerked his head in a nod. “Be careful, man. I saw a knife.”
A sick feeling swept through me, but I didn’t allow myself to think about it. To consider what it would feel like to lose Maia after having only the first glimmers of her back in my life in the way I’d always wanted her.
Steeling myself, I slipped into the room. Maia’s face had gone white, Violet gripping her hair and holding a goddamned knife to her throat. It took everything in me not to lunge. “Violet, put down the knife. This is over.”
I did everything I could to keep my voice calm and even, but she still whirled, taking Maia with her. “No, you’re not allowed to be here. Not yet. It’s not time.”
She was fracturing, her tenuous grip on whatever reality she’d built up in her mind failing, no longer holding her.
Panic and fear swept over Maia’s expression as a tiny drop of blood gathered at a spot where Violet had pricked her with the knife. She was bleeding, hurting, scared, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.
“Violet, everything is going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not! Not until she’s gone!”
Over my dead body. I would trade my life for Maia’s.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, yet it still seemed to unfold as if in slow motion.
“Vi, baby,” Erik singsonged from the hallway. “Maia. Where are you?”
Someone needed to give that man an Oscar because he sounded completely carefree.
It was just enough to have Violet’s focus slipping. The knife lowered a fraction of an inch. I surged forward to pull Maia from her grasp just as Booker dove into the room and took Violet to the floor.
Violet screamed as the blade tumbled from her grip, but Booker and Erik were on her in a flash, tying her hands with a cord from the drapes.
My hands were on Maia, skimming over her body, searching. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did she cut you?”
Maia’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I love you.”
I stilled. “What?”
“I love you. I know it’s reckless. That maybe I shouldn’t say it. But I realized it earlier. I think I’ve always loved you.”
I dropped my forehead to hers. “I love you, Birdie. It’s always been you.”