“I don’t care about that photo album. You made me immune after you showed it to the first seven girls.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really.”
“So you wouldn’t care if Rayne Sampson saw a picture of you measuring your dick when you were thirteen?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Little brother, you don’t know anything. I have pictures I’ve never shown anyone. I happen to have a picture of you and Mark measuring your penises when you were both thirteen. Do you care if Rayne sees that one?”
“Not at all.” My voice did not have the same conviction it did a moment ago. “And what the hell are you doing with a pic of me and my best friend with our dicks hanging out?”
“I’m not the one who took it, but Mark’s cousin thought it would be great blackmail material for when both of you got older. I think Eileen’s hunch might be about to pay off.” Her smugness made me grind my teeth.
“Whatever,” I stated, my voice cracking much like it had when I was a teen and it began changing.
There was a moment of silence and then she snarled through what sounded like clenched teeth, “What did you do?”
“Do you really want to know?” Okay, that part was me just being a dick to antagonize my sister.
“So help me God…CHAD!”
“Fine! Nothing much. I’ve just decided she needs an attitude adjustment,” I admitted as if it was a normal everyday occurrence.
“What do you mean by that?”
I found myself chuckling when I thought about what I had planned for Rayne. If Bryan knew, he would definitely kick my ass, so it was probably a good thing he remained in the dark.
“Chad, I don’t know what you’re up to, but pull your head out of your ass for five minutes and finish this conversation before you choke on your own shit.”
I had just taken a drink and spit it out on the sidewalk earning glares of discontent from passersby. “Thanks, Megan,” I grumbled.
“What happened?”
“You made me waste some perfectly good coffee.”
“If it’s that Starbucks crap, then you’re better off.”
“It is not crap. I like it better than that shit you drink.”
“Dunkin’ Donuts is better.”
“Per you.”
“Per a lot of people.” I heard her snort. She was getting worked up. I enjoyed throwing her off her game too. This was different than with Rayne. With my sister, I was having fun doing what siblings did best. I wanted Rayne to suffer, to writhe in pain…and pleasure.
“Wipe the smirk off your face.”
Searching my surroundings, I tried to find her, and couldn’t see her anywhere. “How do you know I’m smirking?”
“I know you. When you plot or get your way, you smirk. You have since you were a toddler.”
“Like you remember that far back.”
“I do. Now tell me what’s going on with Rayne and you, and why I have to come to dinner tomorrow night to suffer beside you.”
Throwing my half-drunk coffee in the trashcan on the sidewalk next to my car, I got in and switched my phone call to Bluetooth. “I’ve decided she needs to learn that she’s not the queen of the universe.”
“And you’re the one whose duty it is to mete out justice?” I heard the skepticism in her voice, and I didn’t blame her.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
“Chad…” She paused for a moment. “I know how you feel about Emma, but she can fight her own battles, and she’s going to have to with Rayne as her sister-in-law now.”
“This isn’t about Emma.”
“Chad.”
I huffed. “It’s not completely about her. This is about more than that, and if I don’t do something, no one else will. Bryan is sick of her attitude and is about to write her off completely, which will only make her act worse toward Emma, because she’ll think it’s all Emma’s fault.”
“Which it wouldn’t be.”
“Exactly.”
“Bryan can’t say anything to her?”
“He’s tried and Rayne is polite while he’s there, but when he isn’t, it’s a free for all. And Emma won’t say anything to him. She’s too damn polite for her own good unless she’s pushed into exploding.” I had seen Emma lose her cool twice before. Once with me when I showed up at her house and tried to act like the player all the girls wanted me to be. It was before Bryan realized how much he loved her, and I wound up with her handprint on my face for acting like a fool. And the second time was at our friend Mel’s wedding rehearsal. Bryan had admitted how he felt about her, and when he and I got in a fist fight Rayne acted like a bitch, and then BAM—Emma lost it. She yelled at everyone before the rehearsal even began, and then stormed out of the church with my assistance. I knew after that Bryan would show up at her apartment and beg her to give him a chance; I’d been right.
I heard her sigh, which sounded like she finally conceded. “What makes you think she’ll listen to you?”
“I’m not going to use words. I’m going to knock her off her fucking pedestal straight into the mud. The only way to get through to her is going to be with action.”
“Chad, you need to watch yourself. You know what dad used to say, ‘He who is without sin can cast the first stone.’”
“Yeah, I remember, but that doesn’t change anything.”
“Look, I’m not saying I like her, but sometimes things happen to us that somehow changes us, and it isn’t always for the good.”
As I drove down the road, I rubbed my forehead and groaned. Suddenly, it felt as if the weight of the world rested on my shoulders. “So? Sometimes we need help seeing the error of our ways.”
“Chad…”
“What?”
I heard another small sigh before she said, “Never mind. I just want you to be careful.”
“I’ll be fine,” I mumbled as I rolled my eyes. “Besides, it’s not like she’s going to stab me or anything. She is a little pint-sized nothing.” The top of her head barely reached the top of my shoulder.
“I’m not talking about physical. Sometimes when a person gets involved in something, there are irreversible consequences. Are you prepared to live with them?”
“This is for the betterment of society. If Emma finds out, I’m sure she’ll forgive me eventually. Bryan will kick my ass, but then we’ll be good again.”
“What about your heart?”
I laughed wholeheartedly, and had to pull over on the side of the road because I almost hit someone. When I calmed down enough to talk, I told her, “There is no way in hell my heart is going to get involved. This is Rayne we’re talking about. Satan’s wife.”
“I know.”
“So there is no fucking way my heart is ever going to be involved.”
“There are so many ways it can. I just want you to be careful.”
“I will be, but you don’t have to worry about me.”
“We’ll see.”
“Have some confidence in your little brother, Megan.”
“I am. I do. I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ll pick you up at your place. When does Spence come back?”
“Day after tomorrow and I can’t wait to see him.”
I waited for a second and asked, “How is everything going?”
“With Spencer and I? Great.”
I chuckled at her answer. If any two people were made for each other, it was my sister and Spencer Cooper. He doted on her and made sure she wanted for nothing, and when he could get away from work, he did, because he wanted to spend all of his free time with her. While I may usually deny it, deep inside, I hoped to have something like them or like Bryan and Emma. But first, I needed to take care of a little pesky problem. “What about with the MS?”
“Good. I have to get my MRI of my brain done next week and then I have a doctor appointment the week after that.”
“Need a ride?”<
br />
“Nah. Spence said that he would take me.”
“Okay. Well, I’m here if you need me.”
“I know you are. Thanks, Chad.”
“Any time.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Her goodbye spoken, she hung up, and I sat on the side of the road for a moment thinking about how life was funny sometimes. If I had been the one to get sick instead of her, I didn’t believe for one second I could handle it as well as she did. I would’ve been be pissed off at the world. I’d have taken my anger out on everything and everyone around. And I placed Emma on the same podium with Megan. I didn’t know how either of them didn’t lose their shit when they thought about what had been taken from them, but I guessed no one really knew how they would react until faced with the crisis. They were my heroes.
Chapter 16
Rayne
S itting in the restaurant waiting on Chad, I fiddled with everything. My napkin had been twisted and tied so many times, it looked more like amateur hour at origami.
I checked my watch for the tenth time since I arrived. Only five minutes had passed and I still had fifteen minutes before our scheduled meeting. Why had I shown up early? And why the fuck was I letting him of all people dictate the terms of our…would arrangement be the right word? He meant nothing to me, and yet, I sat here in a half empty restaurant in the middle of the week waiting for his imminent arrival.
Maybe someone had slipped me something, or he implanted subliminal messages into my brain. That would explain why I gave in instead of demanding he spill his guts over the phone. According to my brother, Chad was an evil genius when it came to computers. Maybe hacking was one of his many skills. He could have hacked my system and planted the subliminal messages. I wouldn’t put it past him.
My eyes dipped down to my watch again, and I inwardly groaned. To anyone else, I probably appeared as if I excitedly anticipated the arrival of my date. They would be wrong. I wasn’t anxious. If anything, I wanted him to arrive so I could get my information and leave. What was the big secret he seemed privy to?
It occurred to me he might not have any information and that he had baited me, tricking me into meeting him, but with everything else going on at work, I didn’t want to take the chance. If he had information, I wanted it. Plus, who could turn down a free dinner with a hot guy? Maybe there was a part of me that desired him more than it should, who was secretly thrilled at the prospect of seeing Chad again; and as much as I tried to ignore that side of me, it was slowly becoming harder to do.
I needed something to take my mind off the blond god-like man. No, not god-like. But he did sort of resemble the statues from ancient Greece that depicted Hercules.
“I see you couldn’t wait to meet me,” a deep masculine voice rumbled in an almost snide tone.
“Chad,” another voice spoke above me, chastising him, and my head whipped over. Chad’s sister…whatever the fuck her name was. I never bothered learning it because I never saw a benefit to doing so. Besides, here was another person who wanted sympathy for being sick. Another broken person that should lock herself away if she was actually seriously ill.
They resembled each other. The same blue eyes, same blonde hair, and the same slight British accent. However, that was where the similarities stopped. She was several inches taller than me, but not as tall as her brother. And where Chad was muscular and built, she was slight and slim. Her lips were also a little thinner than his fuller ones, her teeth slightly yellowed from normal staining compared to her brothers bleached white teeth that practically glowed when he smiled. And while her hair had been pulled back into a French braid, I knew from the last time I saw her that it reached just past her shoulders and was extremely curly. So I could imagine how long it truly was.
“So good of you to finally join me,” I said in a sickly sweet tone that had me almost gagging. Once I got the information, I could leave, I reminded myself.
He narrowed his eyes on my face with a playful grin pulling at his lips. It wasn’t the first time I noticed it, but his top lip seemed a little fuller than his bottom. Odd, since for most, it was the opposite. “From what I understand, you arrived almost thirty minutes ago and have been waiting for me ever since. I think that means you couldn’t wait to see me.”
“Please. As if I would ever do that for you. Truth be told, I finished my work early and instead of going home, I came here to enjoy some peace and quiet before I had to see you. Besides, if I had gone home, I wouldn’t have bothered showing up.” I attempted to sound bored with the conversation, as my eyes drifted to our third wheel. “I didn’t realize you were bringing a date. So hard up for action that you would call your own sister?” I over exaggerated a gasp, placing my right hand against my chest an act of horror.
“Funny,” his sister grumbled, practically falling into the chair Chad pulled out for her.
“Nice to know you remember my sister.” His snort of laughter grated on my nerves. I had the distinct feeling that he was testing me.
Narrowing my eyes on him, I snapped, “What’s your game?”
“Game? I didn’t think I had one.”
Before I could open my mouth to retort, the waiter came by and ran through tonight’s specials. I rattled off my usual order of a pasta dish with shrimp and a Cosmo martini. I wanted him gone quickly so I could continue my conversation/argument with Chad.
Tapping my foot in annoyance, I firmly believed Chad was taking his time ordering his food, making the waiter repeat the specials three times before finally deciding on something from the menu. The rat bastard. My irritation grew when his sister gave the waiter her order after taking forever to decide what she wanted. The sound of her voice grated on my nerves for one reason only. I didn’t like her.
Chuckling, Chad quirked his eyebrow and asked, “Issues?”
I narrowed my eyes on him and shook my head. “Not at all.” In my head I counted to five and then asked, “What do you know about Preston and Santo?”
His cocky ass smile grew, making me want to slap it off of his face. I couldn’t stand him. His arrogance, the way he annoyed the hell out of me, all made me want to pull my hair out or go swimming with sharks without a cage.
But seeing him in front of me, smelling that faint scent of his cologne when he sat down next to me, the heat coming off of his well-toned body…my core clenched and I started to drip wanting his dick inside of me. I couldn’t remember what it felt like to have him thrusting against me, but somehow my body remembered and craved his hardness.
“Rayne?” He pulled me from my thoughts and the laughter I heard, added to the confident smile on his face, made me want to slap him all over again. I needed to get a grip, and that did not include my sex strangling his.
Clearing my throat, I repeated, “What do you know about Preston and Santo? And why didn’t Justin tell me that he hired you to replace them?”
He tisked me and my hand curled into a fist ready to deck him. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do anything. His sister did. While I appreciated it and applauded her efforts, I still refused to give her the time of day. “Chad, stop it.” Her glare turned on me when she spoke to him again, “We may not fully appreciate our company, but just because you have a dick doesn’t mean you need to act like one.” Her eyes never left me when she said that.
Did she insult me? Me? She didn’t appreciate being in my presence? It’s almost laughable that she of all people didn’t want me around. “Yeah, Chad. Don’t be a dick.”
“It would do well for you to remember we are in public as well, and to stop acting like a spoiled princess who gets everything she wants. Just like him, just because you have an asshole, doesn’t mean you need to act like one in public. Mommy and daddy may feed your ego, but they aren’t here to baby you. And from what I understand, you are on the verge of losing some very important people. It might serve you best to drop the attitude and start acting like a human being with a heart. I know it might be a stretch since it is blackened and unused, much like the Grinch, b
ut let’s pretend, shall we?” Chad’s sister dared to chastise me? Me? She had no right.
“Megan.” Chad’s tone held a hint of warning.
Megan? What a boring name. “Oh, I have a heart. I just don’t have time for people like you.”
She sucked in a breath and looked as if she was going to retaliate, but Chad jumped in before she could. “Rayne, I would watch it if I were you. Megan’s right. You’re on thin ice at home and at work. You need to keep that in mind when you talk to my sister or me. Play nice, or you won’t have a leg to stand on.” His furious expression both terrified and turned me on. What the fuck was wrong with me?
“What is it you think you know?” I seethed, speaking through clenched teeth, ready to get my information and walk out the door. I could feel my skin begin to prickle and become hotter. I watched as he clenched his jaw, his cheeks puffing out slightly from the pressure. The longer I remained around these two, the longer I had to breathe their air.
His eyes studied me for a moment before he leaned back in his chair and resumed his holier than thou attitude. “Think? I don’t think. I know a lot of things including what’s happening with Preston and Santo, and why Justin didn’t tell you shit. You learn a lot of things when you’re working with someone in the gym.”
Was he bluffing? I couldn’t tell. “And what have you learned?”
“I’ve learned…” He paused when the waiter dropped off our drinks. When he had left, Chad continued. “I’ve learned that Preston and Santo lost one of their top designers and they have a big project for someone in New York. Your company is small fries to them right now, which is why they tried to put you on the backburner. I don’t blame Justin for being pissed off about that. They did say they would get to your project since there was a signed contract, but it still pissed him off.”
“And why wasn’t I told anything?”
He shook his head and snorted. “You really don’t have a clue, do you?”
“What?”
“Justin likes you, which is one of the reasons he gave you the job in the first place.” He paused again to wait for our server to drop off our food and leave. I noticed that Megan had begun to appear markedly uncomfortable. Maybe what Chad had to say was worse than I thought.
Redeemed: Book Two of the Love Seekers Series Page 8
