by Linda Kage
And she wasn’t going to succeed. She was never going to hurt me again. I was done being her target of destruction.
Gracen leaned down, putting his face directly in front of mine. “I’m begging you; do not do this.”
I hissed at him, unable to believe that he couldn’t understand the agony inside me right now, and I immediately let go of the driver’s side door handle to dive across the interior of the car to the passenger side.
“Bella!” he shouted, racing around the front hood. “No! Wait. Just—”
But he was too late. I flung the car door open, right into him.
“Motherfucker,” he groaned, crumbling to the ground and clutching his arm to his stomach.
I paused, worried I’d really hurt him. But when he looked up, I saw he was going to be fine, and I took off again, leaving him there to take care of himself. I leaped onto the curb and dashed toward Fox and the cheating slut. They hadn’t gotten that far from the entrance yet.
“Hey!” I yelled, storming forward.
Glancing over, both Fox and Yellow slowed to a stop when they saw me.
“Bella?” Fox said in surprise, stepping toward me, then. “What’re you—”
“You,” I hissed, ignoring him and focusing solely on her.
I’d deal with apologizing to Fox later for my spying. For now, the intrusive, boyfriend-stealing bitch must die.
Eyes widening in fear, she dropped her athletic bag off her shoulder and lurched a fearful step in reverse. “Isabella?”
Oh yeah. She better be afraid. She better be very afraid.
“You’re not getting away with it this time,” I promised, shaking my head slowly before I struck, rushing at her, prepared to attack with every ounce of rage I had inside me.
But an arm snagged me around the waist, yanking me up short, a mere foot from shredding Yellow’s skin off her perfect face.
I screamed in fury and struggled against Fox’s hold so much so that he had to secure both arms around me to keep me in place.
“Jesus Christ,” he rasped in my hair. “What the hell, Bells?”
“How dare you?” I roared, glaring at Yellow. “How dare you? I don’t know why you hate me so much that you keep doing this, but it ends now. You can’t have him; do you hear me? It was bad enough when you stole Ethan. But, no. Not him too. You can’t take him.”
“Ethan?” Fox repeated in surprise, the arm around me jerking tighter. “What does Ethan have to do with any of this?”
Meanwhile, Yellow had turned toward Gracen who was still doubled over slightly as he breathlessly limped toward us, cradling his forearm against his abdomen as he did.
Tears glinted in her eyes as she blinked at him as if he’d betrayed her. “I thought you were going to warn me before you told her about us,” she said, her voice hoarse with pain.
“I…” Gray faltered as I whirled to frown at him, and he met my gaze. His worried eyes were stark with apology. Then he returned his attention to Yellow and shook his head slowly. “I didn’t tell her.”
What in the hell?
Tell me what?
Why was nothing making any sense right now?
I zipped a glare toward Yellow because if anything rang true, it was that she was the bad guy here.
“Why the fuck are you looking at Gracen?” I demanded, even though a place deep inside of me already knew the answer and was just denying it because I couldn’t accept that possibility right now. Not after seeing her leave a building with my boyfriend.
“I was talking about Fox,” I spat.
“Fox?” she said in confusion, head shaking slowly as if she had no idea who that was. But then her eyes lifted to the man behind me, who was still holding me back, away from her. And she pointed at him. “You mean Parker?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “Parker. Fox Parker. My boyfriend. You could steal Ethan from me a million times over, but you are not taking Fox.”
“But, I—Oh my God!” Gaping in dread, she lifted her gaze to just over my shoulder once more and shook her head adamantly. “Isabella Lowe is your Bea?” she asked him.
“Yes,” he told her, only to add, “So wait. Then Gracen is your…Twelve?”
Twelve? What the fuck was that supposed to stand for? It did nasty, jealous things to my insides to hear these two talk in their own special language to each other. Just how close were they? Pain twisted in my gut and choked the breath from my lungs. A sob tore from my throat.
Gray had been right; she definitely seemed to be just his client, but what if—what if—
I mean, they seemed so close and friendly. He wouldn’t have to be a cheater to like her more than he liked me and enjoy her company enough to wish she was his.
Ethan obviously had. Why wouldn’t Fox too?
What if Fox really wanted to be with Yellow but he couldn’t figure out how to break things off with me first without hurting me because that would seriously hurt me. And he could never hurt anyone.
Oh God. What if I had become the clingy, unable-to-let-go Angie he’d dated before me, and I was just putting him through the same misery she had?
I turned toward my twin, needing his support, but he merely furrowed his brow at Fox and Yellow, seeming confused as he clutched his injured wrist to his chest. So I returned my attention to them as well.
Yellow’s brown eyes were wide with worry as she watched Fox.
“But that would mean…” Not finishing the thought, he let his arms fall slack around me as he slowly backed away from all of us.
I turned to find horror filling his features.
“No,” he rasped, meeting my gaze and gripping his hat. Then, most perplexing of all, tears clogged his eyes. He shook his head, gasping for breath, and adamantly snarled, “No.”
“Parker,” Yellow whispered sympathetically as she stepped toward him.
But I held up a hand, warding her away. “Don’t you fucking go near him.”
She jerked herself up short, even as she cast me a begging glance. “But he needs help.”
“Help with what?” I cried. “What did you do to him?”
“I—I didn’t—” Shaking her head, she declined to answer and merely darted past me so she could grasp Fox’s arm. “Parker. Look at me. Breathe. Okay? Just breathe.”
“I can’t…” His face was a bright tomato red, and his tears were beginning to spill over and run down his cheeks.
I stepped toward him, wanting to help, too. But when he looked up, it was Yellow he sought for comfort, and I stopped, swallowing hard.
“I can’t—” He repeated, shaking his head and staring her straight in the eyes. “I can’t believe this. No. Not my Bells. She—she doesn’t even know. She has no idea.”
Know? Know what?
I whirled toward my brother. “What is happening right now?”
Gracen looked as alarmed and confused as I felt. “I don’t—” He shook his head and approached us slowly, reaching out to grip my arm in comfort as he watched Fox with the other woman. “Yellow?” he asked softly.
She glanced at him, appearing panicked.
Fox took that moment to tear himself away from her and storm toward the parking lot.
“No!” she cried, leaping after him. “Gracen, help me.”
My twin startled the hell out of me when he obeyed without question, hurrying after both of them just as Yellow caught up with Fox and dodged in front of him so she could place both hands on his chest and ask, “What’re you doing? Where are you going?”
He didn’t answer, just tried to move around her. “Get out of my way.”
“No.” She dodged into his path again, grabbing hold of his shirt. He growled and tried to march the other way around her. A brief struggle ensued until she yelled, “Stop!”
He did, glaring and snarling, “No. He’s not getting away with this. I’m going to kill the motherfucker.”
“Whoa, hey!” This time, it was Gracen who stepped into his path and stopped him with a hand to Fox’s chest. “Just wh
o are we killing and why?”
Fox blinked at him before hissing, “Yes!” Reaching out, he gripped Gray by the front of the shirt. “We can take him down together. It’ll be so worth it. Come on, man. Come with me.”
“Er…” Gracen could only blink as Yellow shook her head madly.
“That is an awful idea,” she swore. “You’re not thinking clearly. You just need to calm down and—”
“I’m doing this for you too,” Fox snapped at her with an irritated scowl.
But she only rolled her eyes. “Bullshit. Because I don’t want it. You’re just going to get yourself in trouble and probably thrown in jail, and that would upset me more than anything. So, no, don’t you dare claim you’d be doing anything for me. Or Isabella.”
Fox flinched at that and finally glanced my way. He was so tormented and upset, I stepped toward him, unable to stay away.
“Fox?” I lifted my hand uncertainly. “You’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
He choked out a sob and caught my hand, holding my fingers tight as tears flooded his cheeks. “I’m sorry.” His voice broke as he stepped toward me, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face in my hair. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea it was you. All this time, I—Christ. This can’t be happening.”
When he couldn’t go on, I stroked his back gently. “It’s okay,” I assured him. I might not have a clue what was happening, but I was positive he’d never been unfaithful to me. Not with Yellow. Not with anyone. Whatever was afflicting him now had nothing to do with any of that. “But what is happening?” I asked softly. “I don’t understand.”
He shuddered and sniffed, then pulled back so he could wipe the back of his hand across his nose as he met my gaze. But instead of answering me, he shifted his attention to Yellow.
“I can’t keep this from her. Not from either of them. Bella and Gray are my—they’re—I’m sorry. I just can’t.”
Yellow’s face paled and her features went gaunt with fear, but then she nodded and whispered, “Okay. Okay, I’ll tell them, then.”
Fox released a relieved breath, and then he pretty much just wilted against me. “Thank you,” he said. “Because I don’t think keeping it from her helped her like you hoped it would, anyway.”
Yellow nodded sadly, and then looked up at Gray. My eyes narrowed over the look that passed between them. Then he took her hand, and the bottom dropped out of my stomach.
“Is there anywhere we could all go to talk?” she asked him.
Gracen nodded immediately. “We can go to Bella’s. We all know where she lives.”
“Okay, alright.” Yellow drew in a deep, bolstering breath as if gaining confidence and courage from my brother’s stare alone. “Yeah, I remember where she lives. That will be fine.”
“We’ll all meet there, then,” Gracen decided. “In ten minutes.” And he finally glanced my way as if asking for my permission now after he’d already spoken for me to host some kind of big reveal party.
Well, screw him.
“No.” I backed away and shook my head with savage force. “I’m not interested in hearing whatever lies that woman wants to feed us.”
“Bella,” Gracen scolded in disappointment.
But I wasn’t very happy with him right now, either. “Don’t even talk to me, you asshole.” Then, because I just couldn’t help myself, I growled, “You slept with her, didn’t you? You had sex with Yellow Nicksen?”
Fox’s grip on me tightened. “Bells,” he said softly, trying to get me to calm down.
But tearing pain splintered through me as I realized my own twin had deceived me. Not in a million years would I have expected that kind of bombshell. It made my entire system shudder in horror and this screaming howl of agony to resound between my ears. I sobbed out a dry heave.
Gracen sighed and shook his head sadly. “That is a whole different conversation for another time. So how about we just deal with whatever this is that’s happening right here, and handle the me-and-her topic later? Alright?”
“It’s a simple yes-or-no answer, brother,” I told him. “Did you or did you not sleep with the woman who cheated with my—”
“I like her, okay,” he ground out, stepping toward me with a hard stare, and not even bothering to look the slightest bit guilty about how horribly he was crushing my soul right now. The asshole. “And I don’t think she cheated with Ethan. So I want to hear what she has to—”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I cried, choking out an incredulous sound. “You yourself saw her with your own eyes coming out of his apartment with her fucking bra in her hand. I saw her naked in bed with him.”
“Which is why I really want to hear what she has to say about it,” he insisted.
“No,” I countered with a degrading sniff. “You just want to buy into whatever lies she feeds us so you can keep screwing her with some kind of clear conscience.”
“Bells,” Fox said again, touching my elbow gently and making me flinch.
It hurt to look at him right now. He was so wrecked and upset. I just wanted to carry him away to somewhere private and lick his wounds better while I forgot about the fact that my brother—my best friend since birth—had betrayed me.
But I looked at him, anyway, and I didn’t mean to, but I totally hiccupped out another sob. Great. Tears couldn’t be very far behind now.
He touched my face, looking as pained as I felt. “Do you trust me?” he asked.
I swallowed with a wince and nodded.
“Good.” His smile trembled as he added, “Then trust me now, and forget about Gracen for a minute, okay? Because I need you to listen to what she has to say. I absolutely cannot have this between us, and I can’t be the one to tell you, either. It’s her confidential story. And if you still don’t believe her afterward, fine. All three of us—you, me, and Gracen—will drop her from our lives completely.”
“Hey now,” Gracen started uneasily, not a fan of being included in that statement, but Fox shot him a hard glance.
Gracen scowled back but shut his mouth after glancing at my face.
Fox turned back to me and pressed his brow to mine, adding, “I think you’re going to believe her, though.”
I shook my head, and a single tear trailed my cheek as my entire body went cold. A strange fear of the unknown seized me. “I’m not sure I want to hear this,” I admitted, my voice trembling.
“I’m even more certain you don’t,” Yellow confirmed sympathetically. “But the past seems to have caught up with the present, and it’s not going to go away. Not this time.”
Fox touched my cheek and made me look back at him. “You’re strong,” he assured me with a steady, believing nod. “You’ll weather it.”
Oh, Jesus. I felt suddenly sick to my stomach.
“Okay,” I said, anyway, glancing toward all three of them, my eyes narrowing when they glided over the adulteress and my betraying brother. “Let’s do this, then.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Fox
“Can I ride over with you?” I asked Bella as Gracen escorted Yellow away to walk her to her car.
I didn’t want to be apart from her, not for even a minute right now. I felt too raw and shredded by what I’d just learned. And besides, I was worried I might go on a violent killing spree of the one-man kind if I left her side.
“What?” she asked, staring after her brother walking away with El.
I shook my head, still trying to adjust to the fact that Gray was El’s Twelve. I’d been right to describe him as a pretty boy. And she’d been right to think he reminded her of me. We’d been raised together; we probably had a lot of similar core values and ideas. Hell, we both even sang in the car to songs on the radio.
Damn, I really should’ve gotten a clue when she told me she’d met him at the movies. He was the biggest movie nerd I knew. There’d been so many clues, and I had never caught on.
I felt like an idiot for never putting it together.
“I can’t believe he
fucking kept this from me,” Bella rasped from a hoarse voice, her chin trembling as she watched Gracen hug El before stepping back to let her climb into her car.
I shrugged, not feeling the same betrayal. Because I knew more than she did. Touching her elbow to get her to tear her attention away from them, I regretfully murmured, “You haven’t exactly been forthright with him lately either.”
She jerked as if I’d just slapped her, so I released a pained breath and more brightly but cringingly added, “But, hey, it looks like he knows about us now.”
“I told him,” she admitted with a nod. “When I tried to get him to come down here and spy on you and your…” She swallowed with a painful wince before adding, “Client. But he sided with you and refused, so...”
“So you came down here to spy on me yourself,” I concluded, trying to ignore the nip in the center of my chest over her failure to trust me. She had trusted me enough to agree to meet with El, though, so I was going to focus on that.
Eyes watering, she reached for my arm. “It wasn’t that I didn’t believe you,” she tried to explain.
I covered her hand with my own, understanding. “It was that you couldn’t believe anyone in that situation. I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, unable to be mad at her. “No, don’t. It’s fine. It’s okay. Let’s just go.”
She nodded, looking crushed, and I followed her to her car.
Once I was in the passenger seat and she was behind the wheel, we pulled onto the road before she asked, “She’s really your client?”
I inclined my head. “For a little over a year now.”
Bella blew out a harsh breath. “So she couldn’t have hired you just to get at me,” she realized as if disappointed to hear that. “You were her life coach before we ever got together.”
“Yep,” I answered. “And she told me her story before then too, so you’re not going to be able to say she made it up to try to sway Gray’s affections. I heard it before she and he hooked up too. I just—Jesus. I never realized it was you she was talking about. We always named people in code. I thought doing that would be respecting the privacy of complete strangers, but if I’d just known from the beginning…”
