Chapter 40 Evie
“Hey, Rook. Where have you two been?” I asked, grabbing a drink. It hadn’t even been a full day since Aiden and I had decided to officially say fuck the rules and be together, which meant we were on borrowed time before everyone would know.
And as bad as I wanted to tell everyone, the thought of it made me sick now.
I couldn’t lose Aiden, and I was pretty sure I would have to fight to keep him now.
“Had some errands. Where were you?” he asked.
“At the cafe. I needed a ride home, so Aiden came to get me,” I said, not mentioning the eerie feeling I’d had all day, which was the main reason I wanted to be picked up from the cafe. It’s been like a thousand eyes on me even when no one is around. I couldn’t shake it.
He nodded. “Have you tried using your own bike so then you don’t need a ride?”
“Yes,” I said. “But the bike and I do not have a good relationship. It’s the literal definition of rough ride.”
Zack eyed me from across the room, a small smile on his face.
He always smiled at me, but this one was different—almost sinister.
“Get couple’s therapy, then, and in the meantime, ride it at least once a week. There’s no reason to let a good bike rot in the corner,” Rook said.
Zack pushed off the island, not having said a word, but walked to Rook’s side. Aiden must have noticed the shift in Zack, because he stepped a little closer to my side.
“That’s not what she meant,” he said, pulling out his phone.
Rook’s eyebrows jumped, apparently forgetting Zack was there. “What do you mean?”
Zack sneered at Aiden. “Here, I’ll show you why she needed a . . . ride.”
He raised the phone, hit play, and my stomach plummeted. My voice—breathless, moaning—Aiden’s groan.
The unmistakable sound of us.
Rook froze. The color drained from his face, his fingers curled until his knuckles turned white.
It took three seconds before he swung. A single brutal swing. Zack’s nose crunched under the impact, blood splattering the tile.
Aiden yanked me behind him as Rook grabbed Zack’s shirt and swung again. Another swing. Then a third.
“You did not just show me a fucking video of my sister having sex.” Rook’s voice was ragged, each word bitten off, shoving Zack into the counter so hard it rattled. “And not only that—you took a video of her? You disgusting, perverted piece of shit!”
He slammed Zack’s head back into the counter, fists clenched. “You’re lucky I don’t fucking kill you right now.”
He swung again and his fist slammed into Zack’s face—a wet crack filling the room followed by a choked shout.
Mason, Hero, and Harper ran into the room, eyes wide as they looked over the scene in front of them.
“Oh wow, plot twist,” Hero said. Harper looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed. “I thought Aiden was going to be the one getting the shit beat out of him.”
Rook pulled Zack up again. “You have one second to give some explanation!” When Zack didn’t answer, he waved Mason over. “Can you take him outside? Keep him there until I come out.”
Zack shook, trying to pull away, but Rook kept him in place.
“He’s . . . lying to you. You said we can’t have Evie! He’s going against what you said!” Zack yelled.
Rook snarled, pushing Zack onto the floor as Hero grinned.
“I knew you were a little rat. Didn’t realize you were a pervert, but the rat part was right.”
Zack choked on blood, stumbling in Rook’s grip. Mason and the others closed in, then pulled Zack toward the door, blood streaking the tile.
Hero and Harper followed Mason out, both laughing at something as they went, but I was frozen in place.
I already knew all the guys were violent to certain degrees, watching Rook hit someone wasn’t new, but no part of me had expected that he would hit Zack.
I also hadn’t expected that Zack would betray me and actually record us. A gross shiver ran down my spine, and I leaned into Aiden more.
The second Zack was dragged out, Rook turned to us.
His rage didn’t dim, but his eyes weren’t locked on me.
They were on Aiden.
“Get your fucking hands off her after what I had to see,” he snapped, pressing his fingers into his eyes like he could scrub the mental image away.
Aiden didn’t move, but I did, trying to let Rook have a second to breathe.
“That wasn’t how we wanted you to find out,” I said, my voice catching.
He laughed, a harsh humorless sound. “No shit.” Rook looked at the ceiling, shaking his head. “No offense, Evie, but I currently want to bleach what I saw out of my brain.”
“I don’t blame you because if the tables were turned I might already be pouring the bleach on my face.”
He looked past me to Aiden, angry again. “At what point were you confused about the not touching my sister rule?”
“There was no confusion. I understood it completely,” Aiden said confidently.
“But yet I saw proof you broke that rule.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“How long have you been doing this?”
“It’s been a few months of back and forth and a few months of . . . well, that,” I said, waving at Zack’s phone still on the counter.
“What about before that?”
“Aiden refused to touch me and never crossed the line. I pushed him into this.”
Rook shook his head. “That’s not actually how this works, Evie. At least not that I’ve experienced. When did you start liking her?” he asked Aiden.
I tried to respond, but Aiden cut me off.
“When I met her.”
My jaw dropped as I turned to look up at him. “That was years ago.”
He kept his eyes on Rook, and I could feel the tension around me. I knew there had been some feelings there for a while, but I didn’t realize he had always liked me.
“Yeah,” Rook said, blowing out a hard breath. “That’s more accurate.”
He grabbed the counter, leaning over and taking another deep breath. “Fuck,” he said.
“You kind of want to punch me in the face, don’t you?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah.” Rook’s chest grew as he took a deep breath. “I do.”
“You can. I understand and deserve it.”
“Please don’t,” I said. “I literally blackmailed him into even starting this.”
Rook’s mouth dropped open, his eyes wide as he looked from me to Aiden, and back to me.
“You blackmailed him into a relationship with you?”
“Technically.”
“How?” Rook said. “And if it has anything to do with a sex tape, then keep the details very minimal.”
“I made him kiss me and took a picture. I told him I would show it to you if he didn’t . . . continue and do what I wanted.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it was a hard fucking choice for you, Aiden.”
Aiden gave a small laugh, but I smacked him.
“Choosing her will never be a hard choice, regardless of the consequences.”
“That’s my problem,” Rook replied.
“Aiden has been your best friend for years,” I said. “You can’t honestly think he’s such a terrible person he can’t be with me.”
“I know Aiden can be a terrible person because I’ve been friends with him for years.
I also know you can be a terrible person, but I wasn’t expecting you to blackmail him into a relationship.
Which means he didn’t want to cross the line with you, but because you forced his hand by creating proof he crossed the line.
Honestly, now I’m wondering if I should be mad at him for getting with my sister, or mad at my sister for forcing my best friend into this.
If the tables were turned, I would kill him.
Hell, I’m about to kill Zack for the video he took.
Aiden didn’t want to piss me off, but I’m damn sure he didn’t hate what happened.
You’re a damn mind fuck, Evie. I feel sorry for you, Aiden. ”
“Does that mean you’re okay with this?” I asked.
“Fuck no. You’re my sister, the only fucking blood relative I have and care about.
I want an even better life for you than we have, and I hate that you would be sucked into this life more.
But then again, you are apparently made for it.
Then I have you, Aiden, who runs this entire thing with me, and now I know your loyalty is not going to be with the group anymore.
If I tell you to get the fuck out, she will follow, and if she decides to get mad and leave, you will follow.
Either way, I lose you both. The only other option is if I tell you to not be together, and I’ll have to deal with two mopey dumbasses walking around here bothering me constantly. ”
“You would leave for Regan,” I said. “She would leave for you.”
“Which is exactly why I understand the lengths you both would go.”
“That only leaves one option, then,” I said, stepping back against Aiden. “You’re going to have to be okay with this if you want either one of us to stay.”
“I already knew you liked her,” Rook said quietly, dragging a hand down his face.
“I honestly didn’t know it before. I had no fucking clue you liked her at all.
Then Regan came around and pointed it out and suddenly I saw it all.
I didn’t want to see it, but you’ve been chasing after her for a while now. ”
“And you didn’t want to tell him it was fine to do something about it?” I yelled, taking one large step toward him.
“No. This is your house as much as ours. If I told Aiden he could even attempt to get your attention, it would have been a damn free-for-all for any of these guys trying to do the same thing. I guess I assumed if he wanted it bad enough, he would talk to me one day.”
“He wasn’t going to!” I yelled. “He was going to sit back and not say a word because he respected you too much.” I stomped forward, but Aiden pulled me back.
“Calm down, little psycho, don’t get me into more shit with this than I am already.”
Rook exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face before leveling Aiden with a look that made my stomach twist.
“You know I can’t just let this go.” His voice was eerily calm, and I didn’t love the sudden change.
Aiden didn’t flinch. “No. But I think you’ll do what’s right.”
Rook let out a low, bitter laugh. This wasn’t good. I knew it would take a turn at some point, but I didn’t know how.
“The right thing?” He scoffed, shaking his head. “What the fuck is the right thing? Aiden, I don’t even know if I can trust you anymore.”
The words landed like a gut punch.
“What the hell does that mean?” I snapped. “Aiden is the most trustworthy person here, and you know it.”
“No, actually, he’s the one who betrayed me on the one thing I really needed him not to.
Blackmail or not, he did.” Rook’s jaw clenched.
“Everything he’s done has been behind my back.
And now, because of your choices, I have to deal with the fallout of all this if it doesn’t go well for you two.
” His eyes flicked to me, frustration sharp in his features. “And you—”
I tensed.
“You’re reckless,” he said, voice tight.
“You don’t think things through. You do whatever the hell you want, no matter the consequences.
You blackmailed Aiden, someone we all need in our lives, and risked that safety for all of us.
You never think through your actions. You forced his hand into this relationship and you think that was a good thing?
You think that’s going to be a healthy long-term relationship? ”
That hit a nerve. A deep painful wound that I could never shake because I knew it was true. And it was even true with Aiden. It’s not like he had started this relationship naturally.
I made him.
I sucked in a sharp breath, my vision narrowing. This was about me and how much of a problem I was, how careless I could be . . . but I wasn’t that person anymore. Or at least, I didn’t want to be.
But I knew what Rook meant. This is why I never tell you anything. This is why I don’t trust you to make your own decisions. This is why I have to protect you, even from yourself. This is why Aiden has been forced to be at your side all these years. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to.
Like how he had to be in a relationship with me.
“I do think things through,” I shot back, stepping toward him. “I think through everything I do, but you’re only mad I don’t make the same decisions you do, and that I’m a little more confident in my decisions than you.”
Rook let out a slow, measured breath, like he was keeping himself from saying something worse.
“I’m careful with my decisions because they don’t affect just me. They affect you, Regan, everyone. This fucking decision you so carelessly made affects everyone, and you don’t seem to care.”
I could feel Aiden at my side, his presence steady, but it didn’t help. Somehow the blowup was between Rook and me now, the blame all on me.
“It’s not her fault, Rook. We both did this and, if anything, I’m the one who crossed the line first,” Aiden said, positioning himself between Rook and me a little more.
But Rook’s glare was still trained on me.
Because no matter what, I was a problem. I was out of control, and they would always think I’m a problem they had to fix.
The realization cut deeper than I wanted to admit.
“You know what? You two have fun deciding how to clean up this mess I made. Only another one of my fucking antics that’s threatening to ruin all our lives.
” My voice was sharp, shaking with the weight of too many bottled-up emotions.
“I’m sure you’ll come up with something real fucking reasonable on deciding how to punish me, right?
Because I’m the problem, I’m the instigator, and I’m only here to destroy lives. ”
“Evie,” Aiden started, his voice softer now. “You aren’t the problem.”
“Maybe tell him that.”
But it was too late.
I turned before either of them could say another word, pushing through the door, my pulse hammering.
I needed space.
I needed out.
The garage door slammed open as I grabbed my helmet off the hook before throwing a leg over my bike. My fingers tightened around the throttle, knuckles white.
“Evie,” Rook warned from the doorway.
“What? You told me to take the bike out more, right? Just listening to your orders.”
“Evie, please, the last thing you need is to go out on that thing when you’re upset.”
I ignored him—ignored both of them.
Even when it wasn’t all my fault, it was somehow still all my fault.
Fine. Let them think that. Let them talk about how to deal with me like I was some wild animal that needed taming.
I yanked my helmet on and revved the engine, the sound cutting through the tense silence.
Rook stood there, arms crossed, jaw locked, looking like he wanted to yell at me more.
“Evie we can handle this together,” Aiden said.
“I know we can, but just . . . give me a few minutes. The siblings fight—it’s only going to escalate now.”
He nodded, already knowing exactly what I meant. Aiden had been there for plenty of knock-down, drag-out fights between Rook and me.
“I’ll get him calmed down. Don’t be long.”
So I twisted the throttle and pulled out of the garage, the wind hitting me and the freedom of being alone more freeing than destroying their lives.
Maybe I was reckless. Maybe I did make bad decisions.
But I knew choosing Aiden was never going to be a mistake.