“Is that the date Marco set you up on?”
I jerked my head in a nod, and he was silent for a long while.
“Alec,” he sniffled. “You’re not going to let those fucking monsters ruin you.”
“They’ve already ruined me,” I choked. “I’m not ... I’m not me anymore.”
“You’re a better you because you’re stronger than your hurt,” Damien replied. “Look at me.”
I did.
“You’re still my brother, and the fucking nicest dude I know. That has not changed and will never change.”
I didn’t understand how he could think that, but I saw in his eyes that he believed it, and that made me break down completely.
“You can’t tell the others,” I pleaded, ignoring the pain in my throat. “Ryder will blame himself, and Dominic and Kane will want revenge, and they could get hurt. We can’t let that happen.”
I could see Damien was torn about what to do.
“Damien, please. I ... I don’t want them to know.”
It took a few minutes, but he eventually nodded, and my body practically deflated with relief.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, looking at my neck.
I nodded. “I’ll see the doctor tomorrow.”
“The others will see your neck and know something happened, and your voice ... it’s not the same, man.”
“We’ll pretend I have the flu or something. I can stay in bed for a week with that, and I’ll just cover up my neck until everything is healed.”
Damien helped me to my feet, then helped me into my bed. I didn’t bother removing my clothing. I just sat and watched Damien discard the rope I used to try to take my life. I couldn’t wrap my head around what just happened. Deciding to take my life was a split-second decision. I never thought someone could decide on something so devastating so quickly, but I was wrong. I was surprised when Damien crawled into my bed next to me.
“You ... you’re going to stay with me?”
“Yeah, bro,” Damien answered. “I love you. I’m not letting you go through this on your own.”
I cried again, and I worried I would never stop. I felt broken, no longer like myself, and I knew Damien could sense it.
“I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” I asked as I lay down and closed my eyes.
“For everything,” Damien answered as I slowly fell into darkness. “I’m sorry that you and the others are hurting because of me ... It’s all because of me.”
“It’s because of Marco,” I replied. “None of this is your fault.”
Marco ... he was responsible for everything. Had I successfully taken my own life tonight, it would have been because of what he gave others permission to do to me. Everything, in one way or the other, came down to it being his fault. I hated him. I hated him with every ounce of energy I had, and it still didn’t feel like enough. He turned me into a toy for people to play with, a toy that sick bastards used and abused all because he wanted their money.
I was hurting, and I thought that I would always hurt in some shape or form because of what had happened to me, but I’d be damned if I’d let Marco take my mind and heart from me when he already had control of my life. I didn’t care what he threw my way. I’d take it on the chin and keep moving forward. I reminded myself that working for him wouldn’t last forever, and I swore that when that time was up, I’d get my revenge on him. When I had the chance ... I’d kill the bastard.
CHAPTER FOUR
Twenty-eight years old ...
“I feel lower than low,” I said to Kane as I stared down at Branna’s friend sitting on the kerb of the parking lot and groaning as she held her face. “She was jumped because of me.”
Inside the Playhouse nightclub celebrating Bronagh’s twenty-first birthday, we had been having a decent night ... apart from Bronagh accidentally getting involved in a cage fight, of course. That aside, things were moving along just fine ... until a woman I’d previously hooked up got mad it wasn’t going to be repeated, and she took it out on Aideen, who just happened to be the woman sat next to me.
Kane rolled his eyes. “You can control what other people choose to do now, huh?”
“Don’t be a smartass,” I scowled. “You know what I mean; that chick jumped her because of me.”
“She’s fine,” Kane said, glancing down at Aideen. “Her friend will be here soon, and she’ll be home and tucked in bed before she knows it.”
I sighed. “This Keela chick sounds pissed. She damn near shouted my ear off when I called her.”
I had been amused with her attitude when I was on the phone with her, but the longer I thought about it, the more I wondered if she would follow through with her threat to kick my ass when she got here.
“I wanna go home.” I sighed. “I don’t even wanna hook up tonight. I just wanna sleep.”
“Looks like we’ll be able to leave sooner than you think.”
I looked at my brother. “What do you mean?”
“Here comes her friend.”
“How do you—”
“Aideen!”
I turned my attention to the heart-stopping siren that ran towards us at full speed. I raise my brows as my eyes scanned over her banging body. Her hair was the colour of a sunset, her skin as fair as snow, and her legs ... Christ above, they were long and looked soft to the touch. My cock hardened with one glance of her, and instantly, I changed my mind about wanting to go home to sleep. I still wanted to go home, but I wanted this woman to come with me, and sleep would be the last thing on my mind. She had the tiniest dress on that I had ever seen. The material looked threadbare, and I itched to rip off her.
Once she was close enough to do so, she dropped down to her knees and pulled Aideen into a fierce hug. I winced on her behalf when I noticed the redness of her bare knees as they pressed against the cold, concrete ground. She either didn’t seem to notice or she ignored the pain I was sure she had to be feeling.
“Are ye’ okay?” she asked Aideen, pulling back from their hug so she could examine her. “What happened?”
When she pushed Aideen’s hair from her face, Keela gasped. I cringed, knowing what she saw. Aideen had a small cut over her eyebrow, and the right side of her jaw was swollen.
“Some bitch jumped me.”
“Who?” Keela snapped. “I’ll fuckin’ deck ‘er!”
That drew a smile from me. She was an itty-bitty thing, and I couldn’t imagine her hurting anyone in a fight, but she sounded confident in herself. Or maybe that was just her anger on her friend’s behalf shining through.
Aideen pulled Keela in for another hug. “I know ye’ would, but I just wanna go home now. Can I stay with ye’ tonight?”
“Of course, ye’ bloody eejit.”
Kane and I chuckled, and this seemed to draw Keela’s attention. She looked up at us, as if just remembering we were there. Her eyes flicked between us, and then widened to saucers. My lips twitched. I knew what we looked like, and I had no doubt this women felt intimidated ... until she glared at us.
Keela helped a slightly tipsy Aideen to her feet and hooked her arm around her friend’s waist, steadying her just in case she fell.
“This is Alec,” Aideen said, but I was too busy roaming my eyes over Keela’s body, “and Kane.”
I flicked my eyes up to her face and watched Keela swallow as her eyes landed on Kane. She stared at him, really stared at him, and I watched as her hold on Aideen tightened. I understood that reaction, and I was sure that my brother did too. All of his scars made eye contact difficult, and it was easy to be afraid of him based on his looks alone.
“Hi,” she managed to say.
Kane didn’t respond.
“Kane came to me rescue when Alec’s girlfriend hit me,” Aideen purred at Kane, who smiled right back at her.