Consume (Civil Corruption Book 3)

by Jessica Prince

“Shit like what?” Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees and focused on him. “Mace, talk to me. Tell me what’s goin’ on with you.”

  Grabbing the pack of smokes off the coffee table, he lit one up and slowly blew out a long stream of smoke. “I loved her,” he answered on a barely there whisper. “Still do.”

  That certainly hadn’t been what I’d expected to hear. “Love who? Who are you talking about??”

  He shot me a look. “Lyla.”

  Fuck me.

  “Since we were kids, man. First she was too young. But even after that, she was Will’s little sister. Will. I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t do that to him. He never would’ve approved.”

  “Christ.” I dragged my hands through my hair with a grunt. “Did you ever tell him?”

  “You lost your mind? Of course I fuckin’ didn’t! It was Will. He was more than just a friend, you know that. He was family. That wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.”

  “So you chose him over her,” I stated, finally understanding what had been eating at Mace all these years.

  “Wasn’t much of a choice,” he grunted, taking another drag from the cigarette. “Now he’s gone. I chose him, and he’s fuckin’ gone. And she never forgave me. I made the only choice I could think to keep them in my life in one capacity or another, and I lost them both.” He let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. “How’s that for karmic retribution, huh?”

  “Shit, Mace. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Nothin’ to say.” He stubbed out the smoke and stood, moving to the ice bucket on the bar and popping open a beer. “I betrayed my best friend by fallin’ for his sister. Now he’s gone, and he’ll never know how shitty of a friend I really was.” I opened my mouth to object but he waved me off. “Look, the party’s over. I’m not gonna start it up again, so you can go. Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Arguing was pointless. He’d already turned and headed into one of the bedrooms, shutting and locking the door behind him.

  Gina

  I Googled all the best sites to see in Hong Kong, as well as all the other cities on the tour. I had planned on getting up early that morning while the guys did their sound check to see everything I put on my list, but my phone rang before I’d been able to walk out the hotel room door.

  Looking at the screen, I answered, “Hey, Lu. How’s it going?”

  “Gina, sweetie….”

  My blood ran cold, freezing me from the inside out. Fear clutched at my throat, making it nearly impossible to speak past its vise grip. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? Is my mom okay?”

  “She’s okay. I’m sorry I scared you. She just took a little tumble earlier this morning and bumped her head. We would have called when it happened, but that would have been the middle of the night for you, and we didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily. She was checked out at the hospital simply as a precaution. Just a few bumps and bruises, but nothing else, no concussion or bleeding. We gave her a little something for the pain, and she’s sleeping peacefully now.”

  “Do you know what caused the fall?”

  “No, I’m sorry, darling. She was in her room by herself when it happened. We heard it and got to her right away, but no one witnessed the fall.”

  Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose and concentrated on steadying my racing heart. “But she’s okay?”

  “She’s fine, sweetie. I promise you.”

  Once I ended the call, I wasn’t in the mood to sightsee anymore, but who knew if I’d ever get another chance like this, and the mom I remembered and missed with all my heart would’ve been severely disappointed in me for not taking the opportunity to see as much of the world as I possibly could when it was offered to me.

  It was for that reason, and that reason only, that I forced myself to get dressed and leave my room when all I wanted to do was stay inside and wallow. I’d just stepped off the elevator into the lobby when the guys, followed closely by Ian and two other security guys, came through the front doors. Mace looked pretty wrecked, especially surrounded by the likes of Declan, Garrett, and Killian, but he was still better looking than three quarters of the male population. However, there was no hiding the fact that he looked rode hard and put up wet.

  Killian spotted me and slowed as the rest of them kept walking. “Hey,” he started before I could pass him by.

  I hesitantly came to a stop. “Hey. How was the sound check?”

  “It was good.” He squinted, examining me in a way that felt eerily like he was seeing straight into my mind. “You okay?” It was uncanny how in tune he was with me. Lying would have been absolutely pointless.

  “My mother had an accident yesterday… or today… I don’t know.” I gave my head a shake. “This whole time difference is throwing me off.”

  He came closer and rested a comforting hand on my arm. “Is everything okay? Do you want me to get the jet to take you home?”

  My mouth fell open in surprise, and it took a while for me to find my words. “You… you’d do that?”

  His fingers clenched. “Are you kidding? It’s your mom. If she needs you, fuck everything else.”

  “I…” was flabbergasted. “Wow. That’s… thank you. I appreciate that.” Just when I started to think Killian was irredeemable, he did something to throw me completely off-balance. “It means a lot that you’d say that, but she’s okay. Apparently she took a fall, but the home she’s in had her checked out at the hospital and it’s all good.”

  “You sure?”

  I found myself smiling genuinely. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “So….” A switch between us flipped and things suddenly grew uncomfortable. “You goin’ to see the sights?”

  So we’re making small talk now? “Yep.” I smiled fondly as I continued, “I mean, I wasn’t really in the mood for it, but if she knew I was here and didn’t take advantage, she’d be pissed. Or, well, she would’ve been—”

  “I know what you mean,” he cut in, not giving me enough time to grow melancholy. “And I’m with her 100 percent. You can’t come to Hong Kong and not take it in.”

  “You’ve been here before?” I asked, then rolled my eyes when I remembered who I was talking to. “Why’d I even ask that? Of course you’ve been here. You’ve probably been everywhere.”

  A sly grin stretched across his sexy, scruffy face. “Just means I’ll be the perfect tour guide. I’ll show you the most amazing parts of the cities they don’t tell you about in travel brochures.”

  “You don’t have to,” I tried, unable to come up with a reasonable excuse to turn him down. Being so close to him for an extended period of time was just asking for trouble, and I really wasn’t capable of handling it right then. “I know you’re probably busy.”

  But my polite objection fell on deaf ears. “Not busy at all.” And before I could argue further, he hooked his arm around my shoulders and began leading me out of the hotel.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gina

  I gave the snow globe a little shake, smiling at the glitter raining down on the Big Buddha. It was the perfect addition to Mom’s collection, and I’d have passed right by it if Killian hadn’t stopped to point it out. At some point during the day, I’d told him about by mom’s love of snow globes and how I wanted to bring her back one from every stop in the tour, and he’d grabbed my hand, pulling me back the instant he spotted the perfect one. That had melted the ice I’d tried to build around my heart even more.

  A knock pulled me from my daze. I tucked my new trinket safely away in my suitcase and went to answer the door.

  “Hey, bomboncita,” Marco greeted, looking classically sexy and ruggedly dangerous in his suit. He scanned me up and down, taking in my strapless robin’s egg blue dress A-line dress and nude pumps. “Wow, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how you take my breath away.”

  I giggled, leaning into him to smooth down the lapel of his jacket. “And I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how well
you wear a suit.”

  God, he was so handsome. And sweet. And freaking perfect. And there I was, thinking about the time I’d spent with Kill hours earlier. There was something seriously wrong with me that I could be torn between two men who were polar opposites in every way.

  He pulled my hand from his chest and interlaced his fingers with mine. “You ready to go, sweetheart?”

  “Yep. Just let me grab my stuff.”

  Marco let my hand go long enough for me to grab the little purse off the TV console and slide my key inside. He kept his hand on the small of my back the whole walk down the hall, only moving to slide it around my waist and pull me against him as we rode the elevator down to the lobby.

  “You have a good day?” he asked. His tone was conversational, but guilt began gnawing at my stomach like a German shepherd with a steak.

  “It was good,” I answered, trying to keep my voice light. “Just walked around the city, nothing special.”

  He looked down at me as the doors slid open and we stepped out. “Alone? I could’ve taken you. It’s not safe for a woman to walk around a city by herself, darlin’.”

  “Oh, well….” I chewed on my bottom lip anxiously. I didn’t want to lie, but I dreaded telling him the truth. “I wasn’t alone. Killian actually went with me.” I felt his entire body lock tight and quickly added, “He spotted me leaving this morning and invited himself along.”

  “I bet he did,” Marco growled in a tone I’d never heard from him before. “Fuckin’ Everett.”

  “Marco.” I put a soothing hand on his arm, stopping at the doors to turn in his direction. “It wasn’t a big deal, I swear. It just happened.”

  His chest rose on a deep inhale, and I could see the struggle to control himself written all over his face. “I know you think that, bomboncita, but I’m tellin’ you now, he doesn’t see it the same way.”

  I thought back to Killian’s drunken ramblings in Tokyo, but decided the best bet was to keep my mouth shut. “There’s nothing between us,” I insisted.

  “Not from lack of wanting on his part.” He blew out a deep breath and loosened the muscles that had tensed the second I brought up Kill’s name. “Look, I get it. We’re still really new. We’ve only been on one date, and being thrust together constantly on this tour isn’t exactly a normal situation. I’ve got no problem with competition, and I’m a pretty confident guy, but I have to know… what am I walking into here?”

  “Nothing,” I demanded, moving closer. “I’m not gonna lie to you. You deserve better than that. I have… feelings….” I closed my eyes and gave my head a shake in frustration. “God, I’m not saying this right.”

  “Take your time, sweetheart.”

  “We had a night… but that was it. It was just one night, and yes, I’m drawn to him, but it’s never going to happen,” I stressed. “I’ve gotten tied up with men like Killian before, and I know how it ends. I won’t go there again. He’s bad for me, so no matter how things might seem, I refuse to go down that road again. If you’ll just bear with me….” I was the worst kind of person for saying that. I had no right asking Marco to wait while I tried to get my shit together.

  “Hey,” he whispered, cupping my cheek and tracing my jaw with his thumb. “It’s okay. I’m not goin’ anywhere, bomboncita.”

  “It’s not fair for me to ask that of you.”

  He smiled down at me, those hazel eyes shimmering. “Something you should know about me, never do anything I don’t wanna do.”

  That should’ve done wonders to lessen the burden of my guilt, but it didn’t. I was doing exactly what I’d accused Killian of doing, screwing with someone else’s head because my own was a mess.

  “Let’s get going,” Marco said, taking my hand and tugging me out of the hotel to the waiting SUV. “We don’t want to be late.”

  Killian

  Earlier before the show, Gina had been flitting around backstage like crazy, getting Declan a new bag of the cough drops he sucked on before a show, hunting down Garrett’s lucky drumsticks, and trying to keep Mace from finding the nearest bottle. I’d been hoping to get a moment of my own with her, but she was too busy taking care of everyone and everything to get a second to herself.

  To make matters worse, she was going out of her way to avoid eye contact with me, like we hadn’t just had a great day together. Marco, on the other hand, spent the whole time staring me down like I’d pissed in his Cheerios. I knew exactly what those looks meant—Gina told him about our little tour around the city, and I couldn’t keep the knowing smirk off my face every time the prick looked my way.

  The show had gone off without a hitch, of course. The crowd had been fucking wild, and I fed off the adrenaline like a junkie. I was still riding the high of an epic performance by the time we hit the club for the after party. And I was determined to get to Gina before the night was through.

  I turned from where I’d been watching her several feet away, laughing and talking with Corrine and Tate, and shot Garrett a look. “For Christ’s sake, man. It’s a party. Will you lighten the hell up?” He’d been pouting since Gwen left to go back to Seattle after the last show in Japan. Traveling from place to place while pregnant was exhausting, and she had to get back to their little girl, Liddy. “It’s not like she’s gone forever. She’ll meet up with us in London before we fly back to the States.”

  “That’s a fuckin’ month and a half away,” he grunted, taking a pull of his beer. “If you’d quit bangin’ every chick who crossed your path, maybe you’d have the time to find a woman you care about enough to fuckin’ hate it when you aren’t with them.”

  My gut roiled and twisted up like overcooked spaghetti. What he didn’t know, what I couldn’t tell him, was that I was pretty sure I’d already found that woman. Like I’d told her, I wouldn’t have hesitated to get her on that plane back to Seattle so she could see her mom with her own two eyes, but until she turned the offer down, I’d silently dreaded the thought of not seeing her every goddamn day.

  She plagued my every thought, awake and asleep. She was under my skin whether I wanted her there or not, and the fight to keep her at a distance was slowly slipping through my fingers, because being with her felt so fucking right.

  I clapped him on the back. “That’s what FaceTime and phone sex are for, brother.” When I looked back to Gina, I saw she’d turned and was heading in the direction of the restrooms. “Gotta go.” I stood without a second thought to my friend’s misery and started after her.

  My jaw locked tight when I caught Marco give her a wink when she passed, reaching down to brush her fingers with his. I hated that he had the right to touch her like that and I didn’t. Hell, I pretty much hated everything about the two of them together, and when she glanced up at him with those gorgeous eyes and smiled, I wanted to take the asshole’s head off.

  When she kept moving toward the hall, I took the opportunity and went after her. I made it halfway there, only to be stopped when the big bastard stepped into my path.

  “Thinkin’ you and I need to have some words, Everett.”

  “Thinkin’ you need to move out of my goddamn way, Castillo,” I growled, getting in his face.

  He stepped back, his top lip curling as he snarled, “Jesus Christ, are you really so fuckin’ selfish that you don’t see what you’re doin’ to her?”

  That knot in my stomach got even tighter as my skin started to prickle. “The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You aren’t good for her, man. You’re screwin’ with her head. You don’t deserve her. Maybe if you weren’t such an egotistical prick who only thought of himself you’d actually have a shot with her. But you’re you. I’ve been around you for years. I’ve seen how you treat women. Leave Gina alone, give her a chance with someone who can make her happy.”

  “You don’t know anything about me.” I gnashed my teeth, rage coating my vision in red while my chest squeezed painfully at the thought that he might be right. “And you don’t know shit about what
she needs.”

  “Really?” He laughed sarcastically. “Want to know the difference between me and you? The difference is she knows I won’t hurt her, that I’d rather hurt myself than ever do anything to cause her pain. Can you say the same?” When I didn’t answer, he continued smugly. “Didn’t think so. See, something you might not have experience with is when someone trusts you like that, they confide in you. They tell you things they wouldn’t tell anyone else, like how they might feel an attraction to another person, but they know that feeling is unhealthy and doomed to fail, so they want no part of it.”

  Hearing him say that caused an ache in my chest I’d never felt in all my life, not when my mom walked out, not when I found Cara with another man inside her. The only thing that came close to the gut-wrenching agony I was experiencing just then was when I lost Will.

  I had no response to that other than to repeat, “You don’t know shit.”

  “Keep telling yourself that,” he sneered. “But I promise you this—you break her, I’ll be right fuckin’ there to pick her up and put her together again. And you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”

  After issuing that killing blow, he turned and sauntered off while I stayed frozen to the floor.

  “Omigod!” a girl not much older than eighteen squealed, rushing up to me. “You’re Killian Everett! I’m such a huge fan!”

  I knew what was coming next, but I had zero interest. Not only because the chick was barely out of jailbait range, but because she wasn’t who I wanted. And I was done fucking worthless pussy to try and get her out of my system.

  “Nope, you got the wrong guy. Sorry, darlin’.”

  I watched as she walked away with a disappointed frown, and then I bolted for that hallway, reaching the bathroom door just as Gina came waltzing out.

  “Kill.” She stutter-stepped in surprise. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  Ignoring her question, I advanced until she had no choice but to back up against a wall. “I’m not giving up,” I declared fiercely.