Chapter 13 – Drake
DRAKE
Athump, thump, thump sound woke me from a peaceful, dreamless sleep. I rolled onto my side, curling Olivia’s naked body to my chest, and ignored it.
But it started up again.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Tate, leaning over the bed, dressed in a tracksuit because we were supposed to go running.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He hovered over me, gripping the headboard that he banged against the wall once more.
“Drake, what are you doing?” Olivia whispered.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, tossing a sheet over her naked body. “It’s not me.”
“I would love to hear how my best friend ended up in bed with my little sister.” Tate put one knee on the bed, which dipped from his weight. “I’m sure it’s a great fucking story. Let’s hear it.”
Olivia let out an exaggerated groan. “Don’t be an ass, Tate. It’s too early in the morning to get into a fight.”
With nostrils flared, Tate ground his teeth. “Before I left for boot camp, you promised to take care of Liv. And until now, you have kept that promise, Battle.”
He wasn’t calling me brother now. Nope, we were back to last names.
“You’re naked and in bed with my sister. So don’t think about lying to me. How long has this been going on?”
“Just last night,” I admitted.
Olivia pulled the sheet up to her chin, knees curled into her chest. “Tate, don’t freak out. It’s not what you think. Just give us a minute to explain.”
“Explain what? I can see that you two have been sneaking around with each other behind my back. How long did you wait before I left the room last night? One minute? Ten?”
I slid my legs off the bed and faced him. “Look, brother, you know I would never hurt her.”
“Don’t brother me,” he hissed. “Of all the people I trusted who fucked me over, you’re the worst one. At least the others didn’t lie right to my fucking face.”
“The entire time you were gone, I never touched Olivia. Well… only once, but it was to help her out at school.”
He folded his arms across his chest, jaw clenched. “What the fuck?”
I rose from the bed, so we were standing inches apart. “These bitchy girls were picking on Liv the first day of school. Carmella had suggested kissing Liv in front of them to make them jealous.”
“How old are you? Seriously, dude. You sound ridiculous.”
“I didn’t want to do it. But it worked.”
Tate sneered. “That’s a bullshit excuse.”
“While Olivia has been living under my roof, she’s become number one in her class, will give the valedictorian speech next month at graduation, and was accepted at Kingston University.
So don’t look at me like I’m some creepy old man taking advantage of your sister.
She’s an adult now. Your sister is fucking brilliant and headstrong, and she knew what she was doing.
It’s time you stopped treating her like a little girl. ”
“Tate, he’s right.” With a sheet wrapped around her body, Olivia stood beside me.
“Drake has only ever helped me. The first time we kissed was the only time until last night. He turned me down the next time I tried. He said it was inappropriate because of my age and because he was my legal guardian.”
“Damn right,” Tate shot back.
“I came on to Drake last night. I asked him to kiss me for my birthday. I begged him.”
Tate’s gaze swept over our bodies, annoyed. “You did a lot more than kiss.”
Frowning, she inched forward as if approaching an animal in heat. “Please don’t be mad at Drake. I’m a big girl. I slept with him. It was my choice.”
“Are you two serious?”
“It was one night,” Olivia said.
“You fucking asshole,” Tate shouted, pointing a finger at me. “You ruined our friendship over one night? Go fuck yourself.”
There was no reasoning with Tate when he was like this, so I let him storm out of the room. He needed some space to cool off and think things through.
He was still in shock.
“Nope, not happening,” Olivia said and followed him, the bedsheet trailing behind her. She grabbed his elbow from behind and forced him to stop and turn around. “Don’t talk to me or your best friend like that. I’m sorry you’re mad that I didn’t tell you I liked Drake, but get over yourself.”
“You’re just another girl to him,” he said. “Drake doesn’t date. Do you know what kind of women he fucks? Whores. Prostitutes.”
Her eyes widened at me. “Is that true?”
“There’s this club,” I started to tell her and then stopped myself.
“No, keep going.” Olivia angles her body to look at me. “Tell me.”
Shoving down the nerves stirring in my stomach, I forced myself to tell her the truth. “It’s called The Mansion. I go there sometimes for sex.”
“Why?” Olivia bit out, horror scrolling across her face. “You don’t need to pay for sex.”
“Because he doesn’t want a relationship, Liv.” Tate clutched her arm and pulled her toward the elevator. “You’re wasting your time. Drake has never dated a woman for more than a few weeks.”
I was like my father in many ways. I went to the same exclusive club to meet willing, easy women, so I didn’t have to maintain a relationship. But Olivia was my exception to everything. For her, I wanted to be different.
“This won’t end well for you, baby sis. I won’t be around every morning to bring you breakfast or rock you back to sleep when you need someone to mend your broken heart.”
Tate was acting like a giant asshole, but I understood it came from a good place. He was protecting his sister. Olivia didn’t know the truth. Tate still hadn’t told her we were half brothers or that he shared no DNA with Olivia.
“He won’t break my heart,” Olivia said, sure of herself.
“Liv, open your fucking eyes. Do you see him fighting for you? No. He hasn’t said more than a few words. This relationship is one-sided. You offered yourself to him, and he took advantage.”
“That’s not true,” I interjected. “You’re blowing this completely out of proportion.”
Tate tipped his head back and laughed. “Yeah, okay, Battle. You know, it’s a good thing I came home on leave. Or this might have gone on for longer than it should have. We both know you can’t keep a relationship with anyone. Hell, look at what you did to Carmella.”
“I was seventeen,” I fired back, anger dripping from my tone. “One night of sex with my assistant doesn’t make a relationship.”
Eyes wide, Olivia gasped. “You had sex with Carmella?”
“Fuck,” I muttered, scrubbing a hand at my jaw. “Liv, it wasn’t like that. I was a teenager and drunk. And I wasn’t thinking.”
“All this time?” Olivia shook her head. “You lied when I asked about her. I have always felt this weird tension between the two of you, and now I know why. And if you lied about something that happened years ago, then who’s to say you won’t lie about something more important in the future?”
She inched backward toward her brother as if I were some kind of predator. Like I was endangering her.
“I’m sorry,” I said, unsure what else to say.
What would make this right?
“You warned me last night. And I was so stupid not to have listened.” She dabbed at the tears falling down her cheeks. “Drake, you will always be my friend. My family. But—”
“While I’m gone,” Tate interjected, “you’re not staying in this house with Drake.” He looked at me, teeth gritted. “You’re going to pay for Liv to stay at Kingston University. I don’t care if they don’t have any rooms left on campus. Find a fucking way to make it happen.”
My heart sank into my stomach.
No, no, no…
She can’t leave me.
For the past year, she lit up my world. This girl had become my entire life, and now, because of sex, she was leaving me.
They both were.
Once again, I would be all alone in this cold, lifeless house with nothing more than Lovelace’s computerized voice to fill the silence and my gadgets to keep me company.
I loved Olivia Maxwell.
I should have told her.
Instead, I nodded to let Tate know I would comply with his wishes and watched as they both walked away because it was the right thing to do.