22. Griffin
Chapter 22
Griffin
Confessions
I tried to control the way my tires dipped into the ruts in the road to my place.
Lennon stiffened on each bump, but there wasn’t much I could do. Thank God, it wasn’t a rainy night.
My hands tightened on the steering wheel as the anger crept in again. I was trying to keep it in check since I could tell Lennon was in pain and trying not to show it.
I saw the way the woman went at her.
The icy blond hair and the viciousness of the swing reminded me far too much of Irene. It couldn’t be her, but the rage was such a flashback to the last night of Reversal of Fortune’s life.
When Irene had finally fractured the band beyond saving.
I shoved that away as I parked and hopped out to get around to the passenger side before she tried to get out. Too late, she was already sliding down.
She shoved a finger into my chest. “You’re not carrying me again.”
I sighed and slid a hand around her hip. “Fine.”
“I’m fine.”
“Just humor me. I saw that swing and it probably took three years off my life.”
“You saw that bitch?”
I laughed because it was better than yelling. That wouldn’t help anything. “Okay, killer. Let’s get you iced up.”
“You saw her?”
“I saw her swing, but I didn’t see her face. And I couldn’t get to you, dammit.”
She leaned against me. “I can take care of myself, usually. At least when it’s not a sneaky elbow or whatever it was.”
“It was an elbow.” I led her up the stairs and unlocked the door. When we got through the door, I swung her up in my arms again. When she stiffened, I brushed a kiss against her forehead. “Just let it happen, darlin’. I’m taking care of you tonight.”
My bookcase was still open for my bedroom. I slipped inside and went right for the bathroom. I set her down and started the bath. “Get in. I’ll get the peas.”
“You don’t really have a bag of peas, do you?”
“It’s the best for black eyes and swollen cheeks like yours.”
She touched the top of her cheek near her eye. “I’m still pissed.”
“Well, be pissed in the bath. I’ll bring you ice cream too.”
“Okay.” She pouted adorably and held onto the sink as she tugged off her boots.
I left her to it and grabbed a pint of Cherry Garcia, the peas, and two spoons. When I got back to the bathroom, she was already submerged under steamy water with her hair pinned up on top of her head.
I dropped down beside the tub and handed her a spoon and the peas.
She laughed but took them both and set the peas on her face. “Oh, man.”
“See, told you.”
She relaxed back and held out her spoon. “Fill ‘er up.”
I pried off the top and dug out a cherry-filled chunk with her spoon and handed it back. “You take a punch better than most men I know.”
“Elbow,” she corrected around a mouthful.
“Elbow,” I said, with a laugh. “Same deal. The forearm can be used for a whole lot of pain.”
“You’ll have to teach me.”
“Don’t think you stood a chance with that swipe.”
“No kidding.” She held out her spoon.
I refilled it. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
“I did enjoy watching you watch me tonight.”
“Because you were stupid hot. I had no idea just how intense you got with the guitar.”
“More like I haven’t practiced enough to show off to people.”
“Couldn’t tell by me.” She turned to look at me, the peas rapidly melting with the heat off the water and her skin. “You look good up there. Don’t forget it.”
I stared down at the pint. “I haven’t felt that good with a guitar in a damn long time.”
“Why did you stop?” She flipped the peas over with a relieved sigh.
“Wasn’t the same after things...happened.”
“Yeah, but it had to be really bad to steal your music.”
“I’m sure you’re not up for that story.”
“I’m sure that I am.” She held out her spoon.
I scraped out a healthy chunk and handed it to her. “I told you there was some relationship drama, right?”
She nodded. “Fleetwood Mac-style swapping partners.”
“Yeah, well, Baron and Marc were used to her creating drama between them. If you ask me, they got off on it.”
“Toxic,” she said, around a cherry.
“Beyond, but it was also the status quo if that makes sense. Baron was getting tired of the games. He’d been in love with her since the start, but even he had a breaking point.”
And I was it.
“It was the last week of the Vegas thing. I could have killed Trident for putting that together. They dangled a carrot so big that Marc couldn’t say no and that meant all of us couldn’t say no.”
It had been enough money that none of us would ever worry about it again. Even Marc, who didn’t know how to handle his impulses, couldn’t blow through it. At least, not for a while.
“Money is a motivator.” She put the peas on the lip of the tub. “But that doesn’t kill a band, does it?”
“No. I mean, money had gotten us all in trouble over the years. Baron with drugs for a bit, but he got clean when we did Morning Pages. Irene barely spent her money, she always got other men to spend it on her.”
“You too?”
I shrugged and set the pint aside, then took her spoon and put it with mine. “When you’re on the road all the time, the accounts are managed by our team. We wanted something, it turned up. We got away with a lot of shit.” I dipped my hand into the warm water and dragged my fingers along her arm.
“I bet you did.” She turned to watch me with far too intelligent eyes. “Heartbreaker, I bet.”
“Not as much as you’d think. Bringing people into the shitstorm of our band never worked out well. I’d been able to escape some of the worst of it by offering up my writing services to anyone who wanted to work with me. But that left Baron and Marc to spiral, depending on the whims of Irene.”
“Why the hell did you put up with her? Why the hell did they?”
“Addicted. I stayed for Baron. I knew Irene was going to push him over the edge eventually, and she did. Using me.”
“Ahh. I was wondering how you escaped the succubus.”
I laughed. “Pretty good assessment of her, to be honest. It drove her crazy that she couldn’t suck me into their drama. Then she finally did.”
She lifted her pruny fingers out of the water and trailed one along my jaw, then to my mouth. “She hurt you.”
It was one word for it. I nipped at the tip of her finger. “She hurt all of us.”
“The only one that matters to me is you. What did she do?”
“It’s late.” I rolled onto my knees.
She grabbed my arm. “What did she do, Griffin?” Her eyes were pure angry fire.
I stood and grabbed a towel. “Let’s get you out of there.”
She got up, water sluicing off of her drying my mouth. I could see the pain lingering in her eyes, and it was enough to kill the lust that came on me so damn fast. I wrapped her up and lifted her out of the tub and carried her out into my bedroom. I tried to set her down, but she held on.
“You think I’m going to be put off, you would be wrong.”
I sighed. “It’s a shitshow that you shouldn’t have to live with.”
“Now I really want to know.” She wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “I care about you, Griffin. A lot.”
I tipped my forehead against hers. “I care about you too.”
I knew it was more.
I tried to box it up and hold it down when it came to her, but I knew it was dangerously close to exploding out of me.
“Irene gets off on manipulating people to do what she wants. Marc and Baron always gave in. Even if it destroyed them to share her in every way.”
She drew in a breath. “What kind of sociopath was this chick?”
“She wasn’t happy until she owned me too. Even if I wasn’t a willing participant.”
She scrambled onto her knees on the bed and gripped both my shoulders. “What?”
“Easy, killer.”
“She assaulted you?”
“I...”
She cupped my face. “Griffin.”
“Not exactly. But she set me up pretty thoroughly by putting something in my drink.”
“Jesus.” She wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight.
I’d been holding onto that night for so long, that talking about it tore it open. I crushed her against me. “She made it look like we slept together. I can’t be sure we didn’t since I don’t remember most of that night. Just waking up with her sitting beside me in my bed—naked.”
She wound around me, legs and arms—her small body so much stronger than she looked.
“And she must have called or texted Baron. He pounded on my door, and it was like a switch flipped. She started shaking and sobbing as she stumbled out of bed, wrapped in the sheet.”
I could see it like it just happened.
“I was so foggy and then Baron was on me, punching me. She made it sound like I had been the one to push myself on her. And we were all on the same floor so once the screaming started, Marc came to see what was going on and it got...”
Ugly wasn’t even close to the word.
“She’s a monster.” She eased back to look me in the eyes. “You know that, right?”
“No doubt about it. But instead of the drama she was hoping for, we imploded. There was nothing left to us after that. I busted Marc’s ribs, and he ended up in the hospital. He left the hospital without telling anyone, stole a freaking motorcycle, and took off into the desert.”
“Selfish ass.”
I leaned in and kissed her gently. “Yeah. He’s always been selfish, but Irene really fucked him up. It took some creative PR for Trident to keep that one under wraps. And Irene couldn’t handle it. She destroyed her hotel room and blamed me for ruining everything.”
“She’s delusional.”
“And then some. It took a damn long time for me to figure out what really happened and to mend things with Baron. He just wants to be left alone. I can’t blame him. I was the same for a damn long time. But then I went to find Leilani. And spending time with her—getting to know her—finally helped me get my head on right.”
“How did you survive ten years with that?”
“It wasn’t always so bad. Irene mostly spent time between Baron and Marc and by the end, she had them both. They were so messed up, in the end it was just easier to share her.”
“Until it wasn’t enough for her.”
I nodded. “And I’ll never forgive her for what she did.”
“Good.” She wrapped herself around me. “And I’m sorry you went through that.”
“Me too. But if I hadn’t, I may have never gotten here. I would never have looked for my sister and finally tracked down Kain to the orchard. Never found you.” I brushed my lips against hers. “Never felt this.”
Her dark eyes were wary, but she melted in my arms.
And for now, that was enough.