Chapter Fifteen

Summer

The room is filled with people, more people than I’ve seen in days, and I’ve never felt so fucking alone. It’s been three or so days since I saw Eva and Rob. When they’re both ushered into the suite, Eva’s beaming smile finds me, and she pulls me into a tight hug.

“Are you OK?”

she whispers.

I give her a half smile and nod, unsure of what else I can say to her. It’s hardly a normal situation to find ourselves in, but for some reason neither her nor Rob seem overly bothered. Both Bhodi and Rob share a somewhat uninterested glance in each other’s directions, but I know Bhodi is sizing Rob up. He’s an unknown to him and we both know Bhodi needs control and when he doesn’t have it, he gets easily irritated. He doesn’t like surprises and his jealous streak shines bright.

I take a seat on the sofa, the tension in the room is suffocatingly tight before Jimmy finally speaks. Eva takes a seat next to me, Bhodi on the other side of the room, Rob takes his seat on the arm of the sofa next to Eva and James, Axe and Pamela sit opposite us. I look to James, waiting for him to speak, he’s barely been able to hold eye contact with me since coming in, so I know he has something he needs to tell us.

“We think Michael’s apartment was being watched for some time.”

He finally speaks.

I feel my stomach plummet at the idea of someone watching me, watching my dad but for some reason, my response is far more bitter than I could have expected.

“Someone was.”

I shoot a look to Bhodi, my words like acid.

James visibly stiffens along with both Axe and Pamela, their gazes drop for a moment before they look between each other.

“No, we mean someone else, someone we don’t know,”

James states.

“Fucking great,”

I reply sarcastically. “Double whammy.”

Bhodi’s hot gaze lands on me instantly, but I refuse to look his way. James holds my stare, a flicker of confusion crosses his face for a moment before he straightens up. I don’t know why all of a sudden, the anger and resentment towards everything that’s happened is pushing its way to the surface. I can’t seem to help myself, I despise everyone in this room right now and I want to get as far away from it all as I possibly can.

“I need you to tell us what happened when you saw the photos,”

James says calmly, refusing to look away from me.

I feel myself shrink under his authoritative tone, but I soon feel my confidence poking through.

“You saw for yourself; the cameras probably showed you enough.”

I roll my eyes.

His brow raises, and I see Bhodi’s fists clench from the corner of my eye. The tension in the room grows, the group looking between each other but the four people in front of me know exactly what I’m referring to. I feel Eva shoot me a questioning look, but I don’t answer.

“Summer, this is important.”

Bhodi finally speaks, but I drown his words out.

Sitting back slightly, I cross my legs and pull my hoodie over my knees, a small protection blanket keeping me from completely losing my shit in front of everyone. I feel all eyes on me, some concerned looks, some irritated, one in particular wants to punish me, I know that much…maybe I’ll let him. I feel so fucking numb and angry all at once it’ll feel nice to experience something else other than the misery that’s been inflicted on me recently.

“I found photos in Dad’s walk-in wardrobe, he’d hidden them in an old suit jacket.”

I let out a sigh, pushing the hair away from my face, closing my eyes for a moment, allowing myself to remember the memory. “I stood in the bedroom and looked through them. I saw Mom… and Luca, then other men…with Luca, they’d been taken at a distance but one of them was Eva’s boyfriend.”

“Ex,”

She mutters.

I look to my left, shooting a quick apology with a half-smile and shrug.

“Who’s your ex?”

Eva shudders for a moment, she rubs her palms together, almost unable to hold her head up high. She finally lets out a low breath and looks to James. His face visibly softens whilst he studies her.

Well well…

“Daniel Daly, my ex-boyfriend,”

she begins. “We broke up after…he hurt me again.”

She rings her palms out, almost trying to rid her body of the memory. I reach out, pulling her hand into mine, giving her a reassuring nod. “He’s a detective.”

Bhodi pushes away from the wall, and heads from the room. Both Eva and I jump as the main door slams shut, leaving us all in silence. I look to Jimmy who merely stands and leaves the suite along with Axe and Pamela hot on his heels.

“What was that?”

Eva leans in and whispers.

“He knows Daly.”

We briefly spoke, but I know Bhodi hasn’t told me everything yet. He’s been secretive and closed off. Pushing myself from the sofa, I inspect the splintered wood and drops of blood, shaking my head but I know my shitty attitude is partly responsible for this behaviour.

“I can take you back to your room.”

My neck snaps towards Pamela’s voice, shooting her a look before turning away and heading for my bedroom and closing the door. I listen to the retreating footsteps, sinking myself back onto the small seat by the window and allowing my head to rest against the glass. Pulling my knees to my chest, I watch the still busy city, the traffic, the people weaving through the streets, feeling like I’m trapped in a tower, some morbid fairytale taking over me.

“You know we all just want to help you and find out who killed Michael.”

I turn to Pamela, who’s now standing idly in the doorway. I must have zoned out because I didn’t hear her come back in. My jaw tics for a moment and I grind my teeth.

“You let Two/Face into my room, you knew what was going on and let it happen,” I say.

“Bhodi wanted to find out who killed Michael.”

“Oh, because of course, the daughter who just flew in from Vegas and hadn’t seen her own dad for six months would definitely know,”

I scoff, “Don’t fucking play dumb, Pam, it doesn’t suit you and personally I find it insulting.”

I shake my head.

“Fine….you’re right. Maybe I had a feeling there was something else there and yeah, maybe I didn’t stop it from happening. It would have happened eventually, Summer, whether it was Detective Grey or Two/Face…you cared for them both and they cared for you.”

“You knew the entire time, I was being toyed with and played like some fucking puppet. One minute he wanted me here and the next gone, I was fucked around in some cruel little game.”

“And now you’re angry,”

she states.

“You’re damn fucking right I’m angry.”

My voice bounces off the walls. Waves of adrenaline begin to pump through me, my hands trembling and my body beginning to feel light. “Bhodi comes and goes, leaves me here without a fucking word, no one will tell me shit but you were more than happy to tell him about …”

I feel my voice break. “About….what he did.”

I can’t even say his name.

Pamela looks down, gently linking her fingers together, her body visibly sags before she lets out a huff and looks at me. This time her eyes are softer, she wears a softer, almost sad look.

“I had to.”

Her voice is barely audible.

I shake my head. “No..you…”

“I had to, Summer.”

She takes a seat next to me, her back pressed against the window. I look to her as she chews her bottom lip slightly. “If I hadn’t told him, it would tear you both apart.”

I scoff, rolling my eyes. My eyes land back on the glittering skyline.

“Hardly,” I mumble.

“It would, Summer, trust me. Whenever you felt a moment of happiness, stress, sadness, a joy you can’t explain. Those memories would flood your mind and take over you like a disease, constantly eating away at you, until there was nothing left in you. You’ll pull away, keep it to yourself, you’ll hope it’ll go away …and for sometime it will. But it’ll always be there, waiting to pull you into the darkness before it leaves you alone, with no one around you.”

I feel the goosebumps rise on my skin, the dread slithering over me as the tears begin to prick the back of my eyes.

“It wouldn’t..”

“It would. It’ll push you and Bhodi apart and break everything you have. He loves you, I have no doubt about that, but he’ll push you, he’ll want to know everything. You’re strong, Summer, I know that, but with him you’ll be unbreakable. I meant no cruelty to you by telling him, I told him because he wouldn’t understand, he’s broken and damaged and I think only you can fix those broken parts.”

Her words slice through my soul, exposing the raw and vulnerable parts. I feel the tear slide down my cheek, the shudders run through my body and the love I have for him shining brightly through the darkness.

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know.”

She shrugs, letting out a low breath and finally looking to me. “He’ll be back, but you both need to talk to each other…about everything.”

As she begins to leave the room, I call out.

“Are you speaking from experience…about…you know?” I ask.

She nods. “Yeah…It’s heartbreaking, almost feeling like you’re punishing yourself again and again but if you don’t….”

She looks away for a moment. “It’ll rip your fucking heart out in the end.”

Pamela leaves me with that statement hanging heavy in the air. I let out a heavy sigh, pulling my body closer into the window. The thoughts flooding my mind like an aggressive cancer, but I know deep down she meant well. I guess I never truly understood how broken both Bhodi and I are, but if I open up, I need him to do the same, else I’ll never understand him and that will drag us apart.

I feel the bed dip and move slightly beneath me, I force my heavy swollen eyes open and look towards the large window. The blue-velvet night sky still lingers over the city, barely any time has passed since I crawled into bed, pulling the duvet over my head and blocking everything out.

Sitting up, I see Bhodi sitting on the edge of the bed. The moonlight bounces off his bare skin, his elbows rested on his bare thighs, his head balanced on his knuckles, his eyes focused on the view around us. I study him for a moment, but he doesn’t look my way. The need to feel close to him burns through me.

Sliding the duvet from my body, my feet press into the soft plush carpet. I force my legs to move towards him, standing in front of the window and blocking his view. I reach for the hem of my hoodie, pulling the fabric off my body, standing naked and bare in front of him. I feel the shudder run up my spine, as the warmth leaves my skin and my tender nipples ache.

Bhodi’s spine straightens and I take a couple steps closer, dropping to my knees in front of him. His eyes glitter with an unknown light. My nails skim over his thighs and I halt slightly, feeling the small dented scars beneath my finger tips. His breath hitches and I go to pull my hand away immediately, but his heavy palm closes over mine and Bhodi gently shakes his head.

“It’s OK,”

he whispers. “They can’t hurt me anymore.”

My fingertips stay pressed over the dented and pitted skin. I look up and my eyes search his before he pulls me back to my feet, his arms snaking around my waist and his forehead falling to my stomach. His palms skim gently up the back of my thighs and my nails graze gently over his shoulders. Bhodi finally stands, his broad body dwarfing mine in an instant. I crane my neck to meet his gaze once again, but the unreadable expression on his face is back. The silence in the room continuing to consume us both. His thick cock presses into my thigh, and I feel that feral want continue to consume me, the heat building between us.

His palm slides up my chest and his fingers lace round my neck, holding me in place. The heat floods my core in an instant, my entire body is his to have. He wets his lips for a moment. Those deep emerald eyes move across my face. A small smirk pulls at his full lips as the hand around my neck tightens ever so slightly.

“What do you want, Summer?”

he asks quietly.

My breath catches in my throat, my eyes unable to pull away from the dark beauty before me. My thigh rubs gently against his cock. I see the wicked flash in his gaze, as the words finally leave my mouth.

“I want to understand you,”

I whisper, gently biting down on my bottom lip. “Show me the real man behind the mask.”

A deep wicked smile cracks across his face. My heart begins to thunder in my chest at the demon I may have just unleashed. Pulling me close, his lips lower to my ear.

“Get dressed.”

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