Placing my feet on the floor next to me, I notice that I’m no longer in the white dress I wore last night. I’m in an oversized t-shirt. It smells like Brecken. Clean and manly. My heart speeds up, and my hands get sweaty. Come on, think, Skye. What happened last night? I had been at the bar with Oscar. But I don’t remember anything after that. I don’t remember leaving the club. Or coming back here.
I fist my hands trying to figure out why I am not where I should be. But where did I expect to wake up? Not Brecken’s, that’s for sure. I should have gotten into a limo last night. I should have met a guy named James. Or at least gotten close enough to Oscar to ask about a James.
I get up and walk on shaky legs to the bedroom door. I open it up and hear male voices down the hall. I follow them. My legs drag slowly against the hardwood floor, and I have to place my hands on the wall for support. I have a migraine from hell. I didn’t drink that much, did I? I vaguely remember Oscar saying something about going to a party.
I pass the living room and turn a corner at the end of the hallway, and the voices silence as the men sitting at the kitchen table look up at me. Well, Jet and Miller do. Brecken sits at the head looking down at the table. Refusing to look at me. I try to push the shirt down over my thighs, but the guys don’t seem to care that most of my legs are showing. They are looking me in the eye, which makes it worse. I swallow nervously. This is worse than any walk of shame I can think of. I pray that I didn’t sleep with Brecken last night.
“Good morning,” Miller says. I give him a head nod, afraid my voice will give away how bad I truly feel. It’s sore and feels like I’ve been sucking on sandpaper all night.
“Would you like some water?” Jet asks. He reaches up to the pitcher in the middle of the table and fills an empty glass. He lifts it to gesture to me, but Brecken reaches up, grabs it from his hands, and throws it across the room. It hits the wall and shatters into a million little pieces on the tile. I pull back with a gasp. My already shaking legs tremble a little more.
No one says anything as he slowly looks up at me through his dark lashes. Eyes so dark I can see the rage behind them. I take a deep breath; what the hell did I do last night? “Brecken …” I whisper. It’s all I have at the moment.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” His deep voice is even, but his words hard as he interrupts me.
“I can explain,” I say quickly. My voice is rough. Is it from sleep? From the two shots I had? Maybe it was the bar, I’m not sure. Does it really matter? I just told him I could explain what happened. Can I? How do I explain what I don’t even know?
Brecken pushes his chair back and stands. His six-foot body is tight, and his shoulders pulled back. “Then explain,” he demands
I lick my dry lips and run a hand through my hair. It feels matted. Did I sleep outside or something? I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to him. “I don’t know …”
“Don’t fucking lie to me,” he shouts.
Tears start to come to my eyes. How bad did it get? “I’m not,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around myself.
He’s in front of me within seconds. He looks down at me, and I shrink back from his gaze. I take a step back quickly on my shaky legs, and I trip. Thankfully, the wall behind me stops me from falling on my ass. But it also keeps me from going anywhere when Brecken steps into me and blocks me in. “Brecken …” I say his name softly as I look up at him horrified of what he is thinking. Is he gonna choke me like last time? The look on his face tells me he’s thinking about it, and I’m afraid he may not stop this time until I’m dead.
I swallow and try again. “Brecken …” My voice shakes this time, and the tears that have filled my eyes start to fall. “I don’t remember …”
Jet stands and speaks. “You’re scaring her. Back off, Brecken!” He doesn’t sound concerned for my safety but more on the verge of annoyance.
“You back off, Jet. This doesn’t concern you,” he growls, not taking his eyes off me.
“I was there just like you were,” Jet spits back. “She went through hell last night.” I feel like hell.
“Hell that she brought on herself,” Brecken growls, his eyes still on mine. They drill down into mine, and I can feel myself physically shrinking into the wall as he closes in on me, as he’s slowly trying to decide what to do to me.
“Both of you stop it,” Miller says softly. “Let’s just talk it out with her.”
Talk it out with me? Talk what out? “Oscar?” I ask. He’s all I care about. That’s all that matters. “Did you follow Oscar?” I ask needing to know. I have to know that it worked. That they followed him and found James. Jet knew who I was looking for, after all.
“Follow Oscar?” Brecken asks with an evil laugh. “That’s cute,” he says still looking down at me, and my heart beats so loudly I wouldn’t be surprised if he could hear it. “How the fuck do you know Oscar anyway?” he demands.
“Brecken …” Jet starts, but I interrupt him.
“I met him at Throb,” I answer his question.
He lifts his hands as if he wants to wrap them around my neck, and I flinch as he stops himself. He tightens them into fists and lowers them to his side. “What the fuck were you doing there?” His question is asked through gritted teeth.
I swallow nervously. “I had found out that Tiffany owed a man named James money. James was at Throb. I wanted to go there, so Jet took me …”
He spins around to face Jet. “You took her to Throb?” he shouts. “When did you do that?”
“The other day,” he says puffing his chest out.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BRECKEN
“What other day?” I ask trying to calm myself. I haven’t felt this much rage in a long time. I’m so pissed that I can’t see straight.
“Does it matter?” he asks with a careless shrug.
I’ve had enough of this guy. I walk over to Jet and punch him in the face. I
go to punch him again, but Miller pulls me from him. “You’re supposed to be my partner; I thought I could trust you,” I shout furiously.
He reaches up and wipes the blood off his lip. He seems cool, relaxed even. He couldn’t care less what happens to her. “Can’t you see I was doing you both a favor? She was gonna do it regardless. While you were out doing your thing, I was watching her back.”
“Watching her back?” I demand. “She almost got herself killed.”
“How was I supposed to know that she was gonna drug herself?” He points at her and sighs. Yeah, neither one of us could have seen that coming.
“All I took was a bar,” I hear her whisper behind me, but I ignore her. I’ll have plenty of time to talk to her about what she took. Right now, my focus is on Jet.
“You should have told me!” I yell at him.
“Brecken, I—” She tries to talk, but I don’t wanna hear it.
“Just stop,” I snap, interrupting her.
I’ve spent all night with these three men while she slept off whatever the fuck he gave her. “You had all night to tell me that you took her to Throb,” I say to Jet. “Why didn’t you tell me that?” I demand.
“I didn’t know that was where he was from. I had never seen that guy before,” he admits. “We went to Throb together, but I went to the bathroom as soon as we got there. When I came out, she said she was ready to leave and that she didn’t get what she was looking for.”
I turn around to face her. “What were you looking for?”
Tears fall down her face smearing what little makeup she still has on from last night. I want to wipe them off, but I also wanna choke her. God, this woman is driving me fucking insane. “James.” She lowers her head in shame.
I run a hand through my hair. “You guys need to leave,” I order, knowing that we’re all exhausted. It’s gotta be almost ten in the morning, and we haven’t been to bed yet.
Miller stands and taps me on the shoulder. “You need anything, call me.” Jet stands there for a long second as if he’s debating leavi
ng me alone with her. I’m not gonna hurt her. I want to. I want to make her pay for the night she put me through, but I won’t. He finally looks at Skye, and I can see the desperation in her eyes. She’s silently pleading for him to stay. Her tears show her fear, and her shaking body shows her weakness. She doesn’t wanna be left alone with me. Too bad, baby. You’re all mine!
The moment he walks out, she takes a step to her left to try to get away from the wall and me. “I’m gonna ask you one question. And I want an honest answer,” I say, trying to keep my voice down. I wanna yell. I wanna throw another fucking glass of water at the wall. But if I want her to tell me the truth, I need her to think I won’t hurt her. “Why?”
She lowers her head to the floor and shakes it. I hear her sniff. I raise my hand to her cheek, and she jumps back as if I just slapped her. “You think I’m gonna hurt you?” I ask.
She reaches up and places her hand gently on her neck. “You have put your hands on me before.” She speaks softly.
“Yes,” I snap, knowing that she is right. And I’d bet her sweet ass that I’ll do it again. “To show you how easily someone could kill you.”
She sighs, letting her hand fall down to her thigh. I can’t help but notice how good she looks in my t-shirt. How it hangs off her, showing just how small she truly is. “Look—”
“No, you look,” I say interrupting her. Enough with this game. “I had no idea what he had given you last night.”
“He didn’t give me anything,” she whispers. “I took …”
I throw my head back laughing. I feel as if I’m losing my mind. This bitch has me laughing over a very serious matter. “Shows how much you know,” I say when I finally stop. I look down at her, and she stares at me with concern. “Yes. You took a bar. I watched it on the cameras. But when you were too busy keeping an eye on Jet, making sure he didn’t see you at the bar, Oscar slipped some liquid into your shot.” Her dull green eyes widen. “You think a bar would really put you on your knees? Knock you out?” I ask, and she shakes her head. I take a step toward her.
“I just wanted to find out what happened to Tiffany.” Tears fill her eyes again.
I reach up and place my hand on her cheek. This time, she doesn’t pull away. The coolness of her cheek up against my hot hand feels good. “I’m trying to protect you,” I say as last night flashes in my mind.
“Come on,” I shout yanking the bottle out of Jet’s hand. I sit on the floor in the private bathroom at Seven Deadly Sins with a passed out Skye in my lap. “Come on,” I growl trying to get her to look up at me. Her head falls back, and her arms flop weightlessly at her sides. “Open your mouth, baby,” I say, lifting the bottle to her lips. “You need to drink this,” I say pressing it to her parted lips. I let it pour down her lips, over her chest, and onto her dress and myself. “Drink it,” I snap. She chokes but then swallows. I give her some more.
“You’re going to choke her to death,” Jet says.
I look up at him. “You have a better idea?” I snap.
The door swings open and in steps Miller. “Is it working?”
“No!” Jet growls. “He’s killing her.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I place the bottle to her lips again. This time, she chokes a little harder. Her eyes spring open, and she sits up in my lap. She’s disoriented and doesn’t have much control over her body. Her hands flap around aimlessly as she tries to push the bottle away, but I push them down easily.
“Come here.” I pull her back down into my lap. “Open up,” I order and place it back to her lips. She swallows quite a bit as she looks up at me through watery eyes. Black streaks roll down her face, and it breaks my heart. What would be happening to her right now if Miller hadn’t stopped them? What would they be doing to her? Where would she be?
“It’s gonna be okay,” I tell her. “You’re okay.” Just as the words leave my lips, her body jerks and I lift her quickly over the toilet where she proceeds to vomit. The ipecac is working.
I look at her, and she rubs her neck. “You okay?” I haven’t asked her that yet. I’ve been too busy fighting my urge to kill than worrying how she feels.
“My throat hurts.” She swallows and then flinches from the action. “Burns.”
I walk over to the table and pour her another glass of water. I bring it back to her, and she looks up at me as if confused by my kindness. “I gave you ipecac last night.”
She frowns but takes a small drink of water. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a solution that makes you vomit.” Her eyes widen. “I didn’t know what you took at the time, and I needed it out of your system. It was either have you drink it or shove my finger down your throat.” I leave out the part that I was all for shoving my fingers down her throat, but Jet talked me out of it. He said her pulse was strong and that we should take her to the hospital. Miller and I both knew we couldn’t do that. Jet had dropped Oscar’s body thirty minutes away from the club. If we went to the hospital, cops would put two and two together. Hospitals leave trails. So Miller picked up something even better than my fingers.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“Are you?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.
“Yes.” Her bottom lip starts to shake and her eyes close.
“I don’t think you are,” I say truthfully. “I think you’re sorry that you didn’t accomplish whatever you had planned last night.”
She pulls away from me and opens her eyes. “It would have worked.”
“You would be dead!” I say matter-of-factly.
Her eyes harden, and she sucks in a deep breath. “I had my gun in my purse,” she says as if that was gonna help her.
“Ah, yes.” I clap my hands together as if I’m praising her, but I'm just sarcastic. “The purse that you left on the bar.” She shakes her head in denial. “Yes, baby.”
“Don’t call me that,” she snaps.
I ignore it. “You walked right out of Seven Deadly Sins with him. Left your cell phone and your purse sitting on the bar. And look at you.” I gesture to her body. “You can’t remember anything that happened to you last night.” Although I’m thankful for that. “So one more time. Why in the fuck would you be so stupid to take a bar and then drink two shots with a man you didn’t know while having your gun on you?”
“I told you …”
“No, you haven’t told me shit!” I snap. “But I’m tired of giving you time to get it out. Tell me why the fuck you went to Throb. And why you were taking a bar in my club last night,” I shout.
“My friend is dead!” she yells back, fisting her hands down by her side. “And you’re mad at me because I took some drug that your bartender sold me? You sell drugs to people all the time. Don’t you think that’s the pot calling the kettle black?” she demands,
I could keep up the charade. I could let her continue to think I’m a bad guy. But why not make her feel worse than she already does? Why not give her a dose of reality? Who the hell is she gonna tell anyway? She has no one. And her knowing I’m a cop may make her fear me more. I’ll use anything I have to get the upper hand. “I’m a cop,” I say.
She snorts. “Don’t play with me.” She reaches up and runs a hand through her dark hair. It’s tangled in places and smells like smoke from the club. I wouldn’t be surprised if vomit is in there somewhere. I’ve never played the role of caring boyfriend before while the girlfriend pukes her brain out. I had a little trouble with how to do it, but the fear was there. It was as real as anything I’ve ever felt before.
“I’m not playing,” I say telling her the truth. “I’m a cop. Yes, I sell people drugs, but I sell it to them to set them up. I’m a narcotics undercover officer, Skye.”
She stands there staring at me with her big green eyes and pouty lips. She looks beautiful. Even for a woman who spent most of her night in my arms.
“We need to get her out of here,” Jet says, standing over us.
I remain seated on the cold bathroom floor as I rock her so
ftly back and forth in my arms. I think she’s vomited all her body can take. She’s shaking uncontrollably, and I try to calm her by running my hand over the back of her hair. “She’s not ready,” I say looking down at her legs. Her dress has ridden up exposing her nude colored underwear. I reach down and yank the dress down to shield her.
“He’s right, boss,” Miller says softly. “Have Jet drive you guys to your house. I’ll close down the club and then come over.”
They are right. She’s probably freezing on this floor. I dig into my pockets and retrieve my keys. I toss them up to Jet. “Pull it around the back entrance.” He spins around and runs out the bathroom.
“She’s gonna be okay,” Miller says. “She just needs some rest now.”
I stand with her in my arms, and he opens the door for me. I carry her out the back way, hoping that no one sees her as I hunch over trying to shield her body with mine.
I sit in the back of my Range Rover with her as Jet drives like a crazy person down the freeway and then the neighborhood. I carry her into my house and straight to my bedroom. I lay her on the bed as Jet walks in. “Do you need anything?” he asks.
I see sweat bead on her forehead and chest. “Get her a wet washcloth out of the bathroom.” I place my hand on her forehead. “Make it a cool one, she’s burning up,” I say. He takes off into the bathroom, and I go to my closet. I yank the first t-shirt I see off the hanger, sending it flying across the closet, and then walk back out and over to the bed.
“Here you go.” He throws me the washcloth.
“Will you get her a glass of water?” I ask, and he nods his head as he heads out of the bedroom.
“Skye?” I say softly. She just lies there, her head to the side, and her eyes closed. I go to touch her but pull my hands back. This feels wrong. I shouldn’t be touching her let alone changing her. She’s passed out.
I look over her white dress, and it’s ridden up again, showcasing her panties, and it helps me make a decision. I reach down to the hem of it and gently wiggle it from side to side as I raise it up her stomach, ribs, and then her chest. “What are you doing?” Jet demands as he enters.
Obsession (Seven Deadly Sins Book 2) Page 17
