by Wasp, A. E.
“Much as I would be totally into you and Angel-Face going at it on the kitchen floor right now,” the giant told me, “it wasn’t his fault.”
“Pardon?”
“It wasn’t Ridge who did the prying, it was my friend Wes. Computer whiz.” He mimed someone typing on a keyboard.
I frowned, completely lost, and looked to Ridge for an explanation, but he wasn’t looking at me. “What?”
“Wes looked you up,” Alvarez said patiently, like I was the idiot here. “To be honest, when Ridge said he had a brother, none of us believed him.” He shrugged again, sheepish this time. “Especially when he told us your name was Breck. Breck-and-Ridge? And you’re from Colorado? Who does that to a kid?”
Our mother, that was who.
But apparently his question was rhetorical, because he continued. “I mean, dude, in that situation, I woulda invented an identical twin.” He made air quotes with his fingers, then tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. “Or maybe not.” He grinned. “Maybe I would’ve owned it, especially if I had an ass like yours.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I demanded, but my blood ran cold and I was pretty sure I knew, especially when Ridge glared at Alvarez and yelled, “Jesus Christ. That’s my little brother you’re perving over, asshole.”
“Yeah, I know.” He leered. “Imagine how happy I was to find out there were two of you.”
“Little? I’m younger by thirteen minutes, Ridge.” I walked forward and grabbed him by both sides of his face, forcing him to meet my eyes. “And I want an explanation. What the fuck are you doing here? What’s going on?”
Ridge’s eyes met mine for half a second before his gaze skittered away. He shook his head once. “If you needed money, you could have come to me. Christ, Breck. You should have come to me. Dropping out of school, losing all that money. Doing… the shit you’ve done. It’s like I don’t even know you.”
I dropped my hands and took a step back, then another.
He knew.
And while I’d never intended for him to find out, I hadn’t really known how badly I needed him to never find out until I saw his face just then.
I took a deep breath, made myself stand straighter and act defiant. “I didn’t need your help. I had the situation under control.”
“By whoring?”
“Wow,” I whispered. I was all about owning slurs and taking the power out of them. I’d heard them all over the years, and especially in the last six months. But I hadn’t been prepared to hear that one. Not from my brother.
“Deny it,” Ridge challenged, and I couldn’t.
But I shouldn’t have had to.
“Pfeiffer,” Alvarez said, glaring at Ridge. “Fucking chill.”
“Chill? I’ll chill when he tells me what he did with the money I gave him. Over fifty thousand dollars. And now that account is empty.”
“You’ve been checking my bank account, too,” I whispered. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did.
Alvarez had the grace to wince and lifted one enormous hand to scratch his head. “It’s SOP,” he said placatingly. “When you run a profile on someone.”
I lifted my chin and blinked, first at him and then back at my brother who still wouldn’t look at me. “Standard operating procedure when you run a profile on someone? There are only two kinds of someones who get profiles run on them without their consent: suspects and marks. Which one am I, Ridge?”
Ridge stiffened. “This isn’t about me, Breck. Don’t try to turn this around.”
“It is one hundred percent about you,” I told him. “You being a control freak, as usual. I took that money because you begged me to. But that doesn’t mean you get to control my life. My choices are mine. Mine.”
“And they’re shitty! What did you do with that money, huh? Snort it? Gamble it away?” Ridge looked at me finally, and I almost wished he hadn’t, because his eyes were bleak and devastated. He shook his head. “Mom would be so proud, Brekkie.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, and I gasped for a second. “I...I can’t believe you’d say that to me.”
He swallowed. “So provide me with another explanation, then. Tell me how you donated it all, or whatever.”
I squinted at him like I’d never seen him before because, I swear to God, at that moment my brother, the man who wore my face, was a stranger to me. I knew the shit he was involved in and the people he associated with had made him hard over the years, but he’d never been that way with me. He’d always been on my side. Always. And I hadn’t realized how much I’d relied on that until it was gone.
I shook my head. “I have nothing to say to you right now.”
“Oh, you’ll talk to me alright. You’ll explain what the fuck these are about.” He grabbed his phone and unlocked it, then thrust it into my hand.
Pictures. Dozens of them. Of me laying on Snow White’s bed with my hands on his chest, while Danny sucked him off. Of me on my back with Danny on top, kissing while Snow White looked on avidly. Of me, laying on the floor in what no doubt looked like some drugged-out stupor while Snow White smacked Danny’s face.
I put a hand over my mouth as the disgusting lemon tea threatened to make a reappearance and threw the phone on the counter.
“Where did you get these?”
“I got them,” Alvarez said. He walked forward and stuck out his hand. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Steele Alvarez.”
He gave me a flirtatious smile that succeeded in distracting me for half a minute.
“Steele?” I raised one eyebrow. “Is that… one of those things where you try to pick your own nickname and hope it sticks? Like, when your name is Percy, and you tell people to call you Punisher or Predator?”
Ridge snorted and twisted away, running a hand over his face.
Steele’s lips twitched, and he pressed them together. “No, it’s one of those things where your mom names you Castille because of some story she read while she was pregnant and then nicknames you Steele because the only alternative is Cassie.” He paused. “And she said I didn’t look like a Cassie.”
Well, that was the damn truth, anyway.
“I got those pictures as part of a… let’s call it an assignment,” Steele said, exchanging an eye roll with Ridge. “Or maybe more like a crusade that I was voluntold to join. The only instructions are to set things right. And I guess we’ll know the job is done when we get… uh. Paid.”
“This picture is your crusade?” I clarified.
“Yeah.” He paused and laid a tentative hand on my shoulder. “We can get you out of here, you know. If money is the issue, you don’t have to do that work anymore. You have people who care about you.” He gave Ridge a hard look, daring him to contradict. “And we have access to resources. Financial resources.”
I snickered.
They both looked at me like I’d lost my mind, and despite the seriousness of the situation, despite the gaping maw of shiteousness my life had somehow become, I couldn’t help but laugh until I was doubled over and tears ran from my eyes.
“Let me understand,” I gasped once I’d finally caught my breath. “You white knights took a look at this picture and automatically decided that the worst thing that could possibly be happening here is me having sex for money?” I looked at Ridge and snorted. “Because I should be saving my virginity for marriage?” I looked at Steele. “Because you’ve never had sex except with people you love?”
Ridge shuffled his feet but said nothing. Stubborn fucking control freak.
I sighed. “Step into the living room, dumbass. I’ll clue you in.”
5 Steele
Graciously, I refrained from saying I told you so to Ridge as we followed the kid into the McMickle living room. Eyeing his cute little butt helped. But really, I’d told him ten times that I doubted Charlie would go to all this trouble just to keep his brother from hustling. People did it all the time. I’d seen kids way younger than them se
lling it in truck stops up and down I-95.
I figured the kid did it for some extra spending money, for the thrill, for no-strings sex, whatever. I gotta admit, part of me was wondering how much he charged.
Let me tell you, if those two decided to sell themselves as a twin-act, they would be two of the most exclusive escorts in the country in a matter of weeks. Hell, give me a camera and some massage oil, and I could have sheiks tapping their oil wells for a couple of hours with the twins by the end of the day.
I spent a few seconds imagining the photos while scoping out the apartment. It was a spanking new condo that screamed daddy’s paying the rent. Whether it was daddy or a daddy was an open question. But there was no way Chad McMickles, twenty-year-old international relations student, was paying his own rent on this. I’d almost shit when I saw the rents in D.C. Holy hell.
Tension radiated from Ridge’s back. He was trying to hold on to his anger, I could tell. But I also knew he was worried about the kid. He’d been pissed when he saw the photos, but he hadn’t lost his mind until Wes had let him know the money was gone from the bank account.
“Hey, Sweetcheeks.” I pinched the kid’s ass. Firm. I caught his hand as he whirled around, fire in his eyes. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch the foot Ridge slammed into the back of my knees. Damn, I hadn’t expected that. I staggered, and it was all they needed. The two of them had me down on the ground before I could say sorry.
Breck ended up kneeling on my chest. I laughed, my hands going to his hips of their own will. Smart hands. “Damn, Colorado. I was right. I could get big bucks for the two of you together. The biggest.”
“Yeah?” Breck asked. He didn’t seem in too much of a hurry to get up. I rubbed my thumbs against his hip bones.
“Fuck you, Alvarez. And don’t touch my brother.” Ridge yanked Breck off me. I liked to think Breck was as unhappy about that as I was.
I stayed lying on the expensive hardwood floors. “Sweetcheeks, if you move just a tiny bit to the right, I’ll have a much better view.” The leg openings of those shorts were nice and wide.
“You’re disgusting.” Ridge tugged Breck away from me.
“I know.” I pushed myself up to my elbows. “What I was asking, before I was so rudely interrupted, is what happened to the fifty K?”
Breck dropped into a stylish but uncomfortable looking chair with a sigh. He swung his legs over the arm. “Look. I did pay my tuition, I swear. You must have seen that.”
“We did,” Ridge admitted, sitting down on the surface of a glass coffee table directly in front of Breck. “But there were thousands –thousands – of dollars of cash withdrawals! There’s only one thing you could need that much cash for.” Ridge jumped up, pacing in the tight space between the chair and the table. “God damn it, Breck. We promised! We said we wouldn’t touch any of that shit!”
Breck watched his brother, his eyes tracking him as he paced. “Wow. That’s some first class detective work right there. Are you done?” he asked when Ridge paused for breath. “Did you actually want to hear what I have to say or just stand there and glare at me?”
Leaning against the stainless steel mantel over the free-standing gas fireplace, Ridge waved at him to go on.
“Thank you, that’s so kind of you.” Breck put his legs down and leaned forward. “And fuck you for going right to the worst possible assumption about why I’d need money. Christ. And you wonder why I didn’t come to you for help?”
Ridge opened his mouth to argue again.
As much as it turned me on to hear the sass rolling off Breck Pfeiffer’s tongue, I was in no mood to play family therapist. If I wanted to get out from Charlie’s hold, I needed to find out what the hell I was supposed to set right. Since Breck obviously didn’t need rescuing from hooking, our mission had to do with whoever that old guy in the photos was, I was sure of it.
“Enough!” I used my in-the-field voice, the one that made battle-hardened men jump-to. “Breck, what the hell did you do with the money?”
Breck turned and looked at me. He sighed. “I gave it to Mom.” He flinched preemptively from Ridge’s yell.
And yell he did. “Mom? Goddamn it, Breck! What the fuck were you thinking?”
Aw man, the kid looked guilty. Like a dog that knew he’d done something wrong and wouldn’t look his owner in the face.
“I was thinking she was our mother and she needed it.” His cheeks were red, and I wondered if he was telling the whole story.
“Brekkie…” Ridge looked like he’d been punched in the gut. “Come on. You know better. I know you know better. How many times over the years did she tell us she needed money to get clean or pay rent or get a new apartment, and every time she scraped anything together, she drank it or smoked it or shot it in her arm?”
“Yeah, well,” Breck said, looking defiant and maybe a little embarrassed. “Clearly I’m an idiot, okay? Drop it, Ridge. The money’s gone. Everything you gave me and more besides. Move on.”
Aw, fuck. Talk about a tale as old as time. (Yeah, I like Disney films, don’t judge.) Goddammit. I wanted to hate the woman, and I did hate what she’d done to these kids. But addiction, man. There but for the grace of God, and a very scary mother, went I.
I levered myself up from the floor to the sofa and reached for Breck, wrapping him in my arms.
“Aw, Sweetcheeks, you’re not an idiot. But you do know better. It’s never different with addicts.”
He stiffened in surprise, but I didn’t let go. This kid needed a hug bad. Wes’s research had painted a picture of a man all alone in the world. He had no family outside of Ridge and no real friends. We’d only found him because Ridge had put a tracking chip in his brother’s cell phone months ago as an emergency precaution, and Wes activated it as soon as we figured out Breck was no longer living in Georgetown.
Breck relaxed in my arms, even going so far as to rest his cheek against my chest. I barely resisted the urge to kiss the top of his head. I’d bet his blond curls were soft.
It was hard to remember that this was a job, but for everyone’s sake, I had to.
“Breck. What was your grand plan, here? Were you ever going to go back to school? How were you going to pay for it?” Ridge eyebrows drew together, and he frowned. “Hooking?”
I could’ve told the guy that speaking the word like it was a disease wasn’t going to help him get any information out of his brother, and predictably, Breck stiffened.
“Maybe. You can make insane money doing it.” Breck paused. He raised his chin stubbornly. “But anyway, I wasn’t gonna go back. Maybe it’s time for me to start over somewhere new. Say goodbye to Breck Pfeiffer for good.”
“And were you planning to tell me?” Ridge demanded, pain in his voice.
Breck looked momentarily guilty, but he recovered. “Right. 'Cause you make it so easy to tell you things, Ridge,” he fired back.
God, these boys really were alone, weren’t they? I’d gotten the feeling things were worse than Ridge wanted to admit to himself.
Ridge looked like he was going to argue, but I held up a hand to cut him off. With a final hug, I let Breck go. “First things first. I think we need to talk about these photos.”
I could see Ridge wanted to bitch me out. I could see who do you think you are? and you’re not my dad! hovering in his expression.
Breck’s phone rang, belting out Britney Spears. He jumped and ran to the kitchen to grab it off the counter. “It’s Danny!”
I followed him to the kitchen and snagged the phone from his hand. “Tell Danny you’ll call him back after we chat.”
His blue eyes nearly incinerated me. “Uh, how about fuck you?”
I held the phone up out of his reach, but he leaped up and grabbed onto it, dragging my arm down with his weight. Fucker was strong. More muscular than his brother, and mad enough that his knee was aiming at my balls.
“Breck, this is important. We need to know…”
“No, this is important,” Breck gritted out. “Danny
’s my friend and the other guy in the pictures.” He glared at Ridge. “The other whore.”
I let Breck yank the phone from me again, and he answered it, but I stood close enough to hear both sides of the conversation.
“Danny?”
“Rocky! Are you okay?”
“Me? Jesus Christ, dude. I thought you were dead!”
“Dead?” I demanded. I shot Ridge a glance and found him frowning at Breck like he was trying to see inside his brother’s mind. “What the fuck?”
Breck waved a hand, trying to shush me, but his friend had heard me.
“Rocky?” he whined. “Are you alone?”
I’m no expert, but the kid sounded younger than the twins and terrified. Considering Breck had been seriously concerned the kid was dead, I was afraid he was going to bolt. “Talk to him. Tell him everything’s okay.”
“That’s what I was trying to do, asshole,” he whispered furiously.
Okay, he had a point. He glared at me and turned his attention back to the phone.
“Danny. Where are you? Are you safe?”
“For now. I guess. Who are those people with you? Did Snow White find you? Did he… hurt you?”
Snow White? What the hell had these kids gotten involved in? I remembered the picture of the old guy slapping that one kid in the face while Breck lay on the floor. Ridge had assumed his brother had been passed out from drugs. We all had.
I was beginning to think we had been very, very wrong.
“Nobody found me, except my brother. Well, Emilio called me, too. Fucker.”
“Why did you answer the phone?” Danny’s voice was panicked.
“Habit! He woke me up. Look, don’t give me shit, Danny. Just...come here. I’m at-”
“No!” I snapped, putting my hand on his wrist. “Don’t say where you are. Someone could be following him.”
“Shit,” Breck said, rubbing a hand over his forehead. “You’re right. I know better than that.”
Oh great. If one of the Pfeiffer brothers was agreeing with me, the situation must be dire. I’d only known Ridge for a couple of days and Breck for a couple of hours, but I could tell they didn’t do anything they didn’t want to.
