She doesn’t even flinch at the mention of him, even though I’m aware how it turned her on to watch him get his cock sucked last night. She glances up at me after she moves her wrap to a plate. “My stepbrother has a whole slew of issues of his own. Some have to do with me. Others, not so much. I’m seeing that now.” She shrugs, opening a bag of potato chips and puts some on her plate before closing the bag with a clip.
I silently watch as she moves around the kitchen, putting away everything she’d been using to assemble her lunch. Then she picks up the plate and a napkin from the counter, tucks her bottle of water at her elbow, and walks away.
Well, fuck. I find her intriguing, too. And she can study me all she wants but there’s no figuring out what’s in my head.
A moment later, Duke’s voice carries to me. “Did you need something?”
Lennon clears her throat. “Yes, I wanted to ask—”
But before Lennon can finish, Duke laughs. “Wait, wait, wait. What’s that on your neck, Stella? Hickeys? When didthathappen?”
My brow darts up.Shit.In a few quick strides, I join Bear and Duke at the table, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Fortunately, the rest of the brotherhood must already be out of the house. Bear catches my eye and tilts his head to the side. He thinks I should say something. I give a slight jerk of my head, narrowing my eyes. I want to see what she does. Calmly, I cross my arms. I don’t have a fucking clue how this will play out, but there you have it.
Lennon draws in a breath, reaching up to touch the marks I’d left on her skin—not the ones in charcoal, but the ones I’d inflicted in a furious fit of rage with the pressure of my fingers alone. Her gaze slides to mine, ever so briefly.
“It’s nothing. I wanted to as—”
“Not so fast.” Duke’s eyes glint as they focus hard on her. “You see, I asked you a question. And we ask very little of grunts—or stepsisters we’re forced to babysit. Obedience, loyalty, and keeping your mouth shut. That’s it. Now, did you misunderstand the third demand? Because it definitely doesn’t mean keep your mouth shut when you’ve been told to give an answer.” He lets out a beleaguered breath when she chooses to stand stiffly, staring off somewhere over his head. “Lennon, tell me who put these marks on you.”
She draws in a breath but presses her lips together. Ah, hell. She’s going to refuse to say a fucking word, which is only going to piss him off even worse. My brows knit together. Interesting that she’d do that.
Duke jumps out of his seat across the table from us. His chair skids backward, teeters, and falls over with a crash. “Come here.” He points to the space on the floor directly in front of him.
My jaw twitches. She’ll say something. I know she will. Surely, she will.
Bear shoots me a wary glance, then grips the back of his neck with both hands. “Lennon. Just tell him.”
She walks around the table, coming to a stop in front of Duke. “No.” He’s formidable—lean, but muscular in all the right places, even years after he quit playing football following Juliette’s suicide. He could have just let himself get soft, but he definitely hasn’t.
Duke steps closer to her, but surprisingly, Lennon doesn’t flinch, even when the way he’s crowding her body has her arching her back just to be able to look him in the eye. He tilts his head to the side, like a snake ready to strike. “I’m sorry, what?”
She shrugs. “Go ahead. Do whatever it is you think you need to do, Duke. I don’t care.”
He grasps the braid at the back of her neck, using it to elongate her neck for a better look. Getting close, he studies the delicate skin, marred by scattered bruises. Definitely not hickeys. Why won’t she just say so? Why doesn’t she lay the blame at my feet? It’s what I’m expecting. It’s probably what I deserve.
My eyes crash shut. I don’t open them when I confess, “I did it.” A heavy breath gusts from between my lips, but for a moment no one moves a single millimeter. The tension among the four of us is palpable.
“What happened, Mason?” Duke hasn’t taken his eyes from her neck, but I know damn well he’s waiting for an answer. I can see from here—and I’m positive he sees it, too—the marks don’t look like any simple hickeys.
My jaw works itself to the side and several breaths wrench themselves painfully from my chest before I can even think about spitting it out. “Yesterday morning. Early. I wasn’t—” The words stick in my throat. “I wasn’t in my right mind.” Shame fills me, making my face hot. Now that the lighting is right, I see it. I’ve left marks all over her. And she wasn’t going to say a fucking word, even when questioned about it.
Duke turns toward me. “Is that right?”
I stare stonily ahead of me, and the silence is so fucking awkward, Bear finally steps in with a sigh. Like he always does. “It’s the truth. I told you he attacked her. This is what I was talking about.” He stands up. “You should let go of her. This isn’t her fault. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Period.” He pauses, and when there’s no action taken from any party in the room, he grunts out,“Duke.Let her go.”
I see it the moment Bear gets through to him. His hand loosens, and he takes a step back, his jaw tight.
But Lennon… she looks almost angry.At me? At Duke? At the world?Who the fuck knows with her. My eyes flick to hers, and she stares boldly at me. I dampen my lips before murmuring,“Spit it out, baby sis.”
“I. Don’t. Understand.” Her jaw clenches hard as her eyes scan over each of us in turn. “I’m missing a set of rules or something because I’ve never been so fucking confused in my entire life. One minute you attack me, the next you taunt me, and then you defend me.” She clenches and flexes her swollen hand involuntarily. “You already think the worst of me. But you don’t fuckingknowme at all.” Her brow pinches. “How am I supposed to deal with any of you? I just—” Her voice catches, then exasperation spills from her. “Fuck off. I don’t need this. All I wanted was something to eat and to know what the hell I’m supposed to do to get ready for the first day of classes tomorrow. Everything else you’ve subjected me to, the way you treat me, the false accusations, the snide assumptions, the sly teasing—it’s all bullshit. But I won’t let it faze me. Do your worst, boys.” She snatches her plate of food off the table and darts away, and not one of us tries to stop her.
I wait, making sure she’s far enough from the dining room that she won’t overhear me. I jab my finger on the table, emphasizing my words. “I didn’t want her in that room, and you both know it. You saw the look on my face when you told her where she’d be staying. You fuckin’ know why it’s no good. Day one with her, I can’t tell if I’m awake or dreaming or in the middle of a goddamn nightmare—and I see her out there. And bam. Fuckin’ bam, I let loose. I lose myself.” Agitated, I scrub my hands through my hair, then tug at the strands as my chest heaves. “Not my fuckin’ fault. It’s not.” I grit my teeth and hiss, “But it is.” Pain slashes at my heavy, wounded heart. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
Bear bristles, shuffling on his feet. “Look, I’ve gotta get ready for tonight, but here are the straight facts. You didn’t mean to do it, but you did physically harm her, and it could have been a shit ton worse. The entire thing was fuckin’ traumatic, and I only saw the tail end of it. She’s been really fucking cool about it, if you ask me. She could have told everyone and their mother that you fucking freaked out and tried to choke her to death. Can you imagine what would happen if that got out?”
Duke shakes his head. “It’d be a shit show, that’s for sure.”
Yeah. What it would be is an open invitation for my asshole older brother to show up and remind me of all the ways I’m damaged.
