Fourteen
A s long as Stitch couldn’t trust me, he’d never let me be with his fucking sister, would he? My heart seemed to freeze in my chest as I realised he’d never allow it either way. He thought we were all deviants, and no good for his sister, and I knew deep down that he was right. Hell… one glance at the internet proved that, didn’t it?
Even though I knew it couldn’t happen, I couldn’t keep failing to fight for her, could I?
I shoved him again, and he shot me a warning glare.
“Don’t forget your place, Has. I have every right to protect my sister.”
I shot her a helpless glance, and some of the anger drained out of me, replaced with despondency. I was making it worse every second.
“You don’t need to protect her from me, brother. I’m not a threat to any woman, you know that. How can you still think I did those things?”
“What things?” Elise’s voice was almost a whisper, and my heart sank even further, because if he even voiced his bullshit concerns in her presence, I’d lose her forever.
“Jesus… I don’t know what else I can do to prove to you that I’m still the same guy you’ve known for years. Here, take my phone. Get Ice to do whatever the fuck it is he does when he invades every aspect of a person’s fucking life. I have no secrets, brother.” Shit, that wasn’t strictly true, was it?
I shot another guilty glance in Elise’s direction, and then I headed for the door.
“Gonna go sort out that replacement door, and locks and stuff.” I almost begged him to keep her safe for me, but I was in enough shit already, and I didn’t want to leave her to answer for my words either.
By the time I was downstairs, I was practically seething with rage, and needed to punch something. Anything. So picking a fight with me, which was usually a bad idea, was really stupid right now.
“Hey asshole, I literally saw your asshole online a few minutes ago.” I turned and punched Micro before he could even finish what he was saying, and it was only because someone grabbed my arm that I didn’t follow that with a few more blows.
“GET THE FUCK OFF ME!”
Micro was cursing, and trying to staunch the sudden flow of blood from his nose.
“The fuck, man?”
Torch was muttering in my ear, and desperately trying to hold on, but all I saw was red, and I wanted to see more of it. I wanted to beat the living fuck out of Micro, purely because he said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Someone grabbed my other arm, and then a voice silenced us all with three simple words.
“My. Office. Now.”
Fuck. The anger drained out of me, as Reacher appeared in the hallway with us.
“You lot, fuck off. Has, now.”
I followed him to his office, wondering if I’d just lost the one thing I’d been fighting so fucking hard for. Had it all been for nothing after all?
“Sit.” Reacher slammed the door as he shoved me past him, so I did as I was told.
“Sorry.”
He dropped heavily into his chair, and leaned on the desk to stare at me.
“Don’t we have enough shit to worry about right now, Has-Been?”
He was looking kinda old, and I could see that I was just adding to the heavy weight on his shoulders. This guy who’d saved me from oblivion, and this was how I’d chosen to repay him.
“Honestly, I’m sorry, Pres. I just… that dickhead caught me at a bad moment.”
“You’re not usually the one going around decking people, Has, well, except for Ice way back when. What’s going on?”
Was he really going to make me say it?
Elise
I had no idea what was happening, but there was some real animosity between Seth and Has-Been, and I was almost afraid to know more. What if Has-Been wasn’t who I thought he was? Who exactly did I think he was anyway? An artist, a biker, a current porn star, star of my biggest and wildest fantasies, and maybe, just maybe, the first man to make love to me?
“What things, Seth?”
My brother cursed, and joined me behind the kitchen counter.
“Make me one of those, sweets. I’ll tell you, but you won’t like it.”
Oh god. My hand trembled, and I dropped the mug I picked up, shattering it on the floor. Was he about to shatter me, just like I did to that damn mug?
“Tell me.”
Seth was already picking up the pieces of broken ceramic from the floor, and sighed as he looked up at me, staying crouched, with hands full of jagged shards.
“I might have uh… suspected him of what happened to Chrissy.”
WHAT? “Oh my god, why?” He couldn’t… he wouldn’t… would he?
Seth cursed and tossed the ceramic pieces in the bin as he stood up.
“Because I’m a fucking asshole, that’s why. Of course he didn’t do it. He couldn’t. I’m sure he was just distracted or something. He was being so fucking sketchy that day, and it made me suspicious, that’s all.”
Sketchy… when was he sketchy?
“What day? He always seems the same to me.”
Seth finished making the drinks and passed me one.
“The day we found out about Chrissy. I went to his room, because we’d been messaging him and he wasn’t replying. He… well, normally he’s not shy about us seeing him in the buff, or whatever, but he was cagey, hiding behind his door. Wouldn’t let me in. It just wasn’t normal, and it was the absolute wrong time to be acting out of character.”
Oh god. Wasn’t that the morning that I woke up in Has-Been’s room? The morning after that night when I drunkenly went to his room, fuelled by Dutch courage, and fell asleep as soon as he gave me his bed? That meant that my brother suspected him of rape and murder simply because he was trying to protect me. How the hell could I tell him, and clear Has-Been’s name, without dropping him in the shit even more?
“He’s not a killer, Seth.”
My brother fixed that steely gaze on me.
“Oh yeah? And what makes you so sure, huh? That’s the second time I’ve caught him in your room with you. Anything you want to tell me?”
Yikes! “He was in here because Reacher sent him with me. He’s fixing my door, for god’s sake. I can’t spend another night cowering in my bed, Seth! You heard him, he’s going to get the replacement door and locks. Will you please stop accusing him or me of things?”
Seth rested a hand on my shoulder.
“Sweets, I’m not accusing you of anything, but you have to watch the guys around here. They’re predatory, and deviant. I mean, fuck… half the guys here think rough sex is the only way to fuck. No man in this club is right for you.”
Oh my god. I turned away from him, because I felt horrified just at the sound of the words ‘rough sex’ from my big brother. Especially when I was pretty sure that was how Has-Been liked it, and I really wanted to experience it with him.
“Elise, as soon as we can make it safe for you, you can get out of here and get on with your life. Law school, remember?”
Wow… law school. A future outside of the club. Why did that suddenly sound like the last thing I wanted?