Chapter 3
Robin opens her front door without a sound and disappears into the house, leaving me gaping after her.
What the hell?
WHAT THE HELL?
“Daren, you fucking piece of shit,” I mutter to myself, pacing in the front yard. “What were you thinking?”
If I hadn’t called him, heard the evidence and the lie myself, I never would’ve believed the guy could do something like this. And to Robin?
She’s family to me, but she was supposed to be endgame for him.
And now, she’s in the house while he’s actively messing around on her.
I refuse to leave her on her own.
With a growled curse, I follow her, ready to provide whatever backup she needs. Maybe some people would think blood comes before anything. That I should seek Daren out and warn him.
But the guy made his own bed. He’s lying to Robin, betraying a person I care about. Plus, he just lied to me.
If Daren wants loyalty, then he’d better figure his life out and stop fucking over the people who care about him.
When I step into the front hall, I find Robin standing frozen. There’s music playing toward the back of the house, but not loud enough to cover up the laughter and...other things. Maybe Robin’s hearing loss is keeping the worst of it away, but from the tension radiating off her shoulders, I know she hears enough.
I can’t do this. Stand here, listening to my cousin cheat on her. This is the most fucked-up position I’ve ever been in. I’ve got to do something.
But when I step toward the sound of voices, a hand grips my arm. I stare down into Robin’s eyes.
The blue irises are hard, like gemstones. She’s tough. Made of stronger stuff than I am.
“Pack first.” She keeps her voice hushed. “When I talk to him, it’s not going to be for long. I’ll want to leave.”
Robin lets me go and turns left toward the staircase. I follow her, stepping softly, my mind reeling over how wrong this all is.
In the bedroom, she pulls out two duffel bags, dropping them open on the floor before piling clothes and belongings into them.
“What can I do?” I ask quietly, wishing she’d give me permission to kick the shit out of Daren. Now that the surprise is dwindling, my anger is creeping upward, hotter by the second.
Robin doesn’t respond, and I realize I spoke too softly on her left side. With her hair tucked behind her ear, I can see she’s wearing her hearing aid, but I wonder if she might have turned the volume down after what we listened to downstairs. Moving in closer, I snag her eye as she’s slipping shirts off hangers.
“Give me something to do.”
Her face shows no expression, which has my worry spiking.
Stepping outside the closet, she points at a dresser. “Top three drawers are mine.”
I guess if packing is all there is, then that’s what she needs. I pull each drawer open, first scooping out shorts, then tank tops, then...
Oh. Shit.I glance over my shoulder and wonder if Robin is too stressed to realize she directed me to pack her underwear drawer. She stalks through the bedroom and disappears into the bathroom.
Stop acting like a teenager and just grab the panties, I berate myself. Okay. Here we go.
My hands dive in the drawer, and I come up with fistfuls of cotton, lace, and silk. Hurriedly, I toss them in the closest duffel and try not to think about Robin wearing any of the scrappy pieces of fabric.
Or wearing only them.
Stop it.
Maybe all of us Krauts are shits. Her life is falling apart, and I’m thinking about her in her underwear.
When I throw the last handful into her luggage, she returns with a bag of toiletries.
Just in time to hear a feminine moan vibrate through the floorboards, probably loud enough for a neighbor to hear. Robin’s eyes close, her stony mask cracking long enough for me to glimpse the pain.
“That’s enough,” I growl. Red seeps into my vision, and I charge for the door, needing to end this.
“Arthur, stop!” Robin hisses, grabbing my arm and keeping her voice low. “Leave it. I’ve got everything I need. We’re going to the car.”
Robin lets me go and moves as if to heave both duffel bags onto her own shoulders. She’s strong enough to manage the feat, but I’m officially her sidekick in this horror-show adventure we’re on, and as her sidekick, there’s no way I’m letting her carry all her possessions herself.
I grab the larger of the two duffels and slip the strap over my shoulder. Robin doesn’t fight me over who carries what. She only gathers up the rest of her life and leads the way out of the bedroom. I follow her and again do my best to keep my massive feet from sounding on the stairs. If she wants to leave without seeing him, I won’t force the issue. Luckily, the carpeted steps make moving quietly easier.
Also, Daren still has music playing in the other room, and from the sounds he’s making, the guy is thoroughly occupied.
Anger is a toxic sludge in my gut. I need to get away from this house too.
The summer night air is humid, but still easier to breathe in than the stifling weight inside that house. I suck in a deep lungful, cooling my temper as I follow Robin to the trunk of her car. We load her bags, and I circle to the passenger seat, trying to remember if my guest bed has sheets on it.
If not, there are clean ones in the closet.
Robin can crash at my place for as long as she needs to. I don’t have a roommate, and she’s the kind of company I don’t mind keeping.
Only when I’m reaching for my seat belt do I realize Robin isn’t getting in the car beside me. She’s halfway back to the house.
“Shit,” I hiss, shoving out of the car to jog after her. “Robin?—”
“Just gonna pop in to say a quick, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’” Her tight voice vibrates with fake cheerfulness when I catch up to her at the front door, where she’s paused. “Let Daren know I swung by. Should be quick. I’ll be out in a jiffy.” Robin says all of this in a sickly sweet voice. Meanwhile, she grasps the garden hose that sits off to the side of the front door and begins to unwind the green length.
Not sure how I feel about that gleam in her gaze.
“What’s that for?” I nod toward her hands.
“Things sounded a bit dirty in there.” She gives me a toothy smile, her eyes full of vengeance. “Thought I’d clean up before I head out. It’s the responsible thing to do.”
And with that, Robin marches through the front door yet again. Like an evil snake minion, the twining length of the hose follows her.
For half a second, I debate on staying outside. Not because I’m scared of Daren finding out I’m here and not because I can’t stand the idea of seeing my cousin cheating—although that second one disgusts me to my core.
No, I hesitate as I wonder if this is something Robin might want to do on her own. If she’d prefer as few witnesses as possible to the dissolution of her yearslong relationship.
She picked me up. She brought me with her.
Maybe Robin pounded on my door because she wanted to yell and scream and accuse me of being a terrible friend if I knew about the betrayal.
But I think there might also be a part of her that doesn’t want to face this by herself.
Robin is the strongest, most independent woman I know.
But I refuse to let her go through this alone.
I step through the front door.