Page 100 of Fighting for His Life

I really hope he just reminds her of that bastard. Because what are the odds it’s the same guy.

These are all just assumptions. Until Zoey tells me, I can’t know for sure, and I know she won’t tell me if Aaron Alden is the cause of the problem. But the longer she goes without saying a word, the more my gut churns because that’s more telling than anything she could ever say.

The longer she goes without saying a word – hiding the truth – the more I know. I can’t do a fucking thing until she tells me. But she’ll never say a goddamned thing because she’s too worried about mine and Zane’s career.

Like that was more important than her.

“Fuck, Zee,” I groan. “You really have no idea.”

“Tori’s not saying anything either,” he says like I’m supposed to know he talks with her regularly. I mean I guessed, but I didn’t know for sure until now. It makes me feel a little guilty, but the truth is I don’t have time for that shit right now.

“What do you mean ‘she’s not saying anything’?” I demand because Tori knowing anything never crossed my mind.

“We were talking a lot. I planned on bringing her here this week, and then going to see her once the season was finished. She keeps finding reasons not to,” he says with a hint of embarrassment.

My first thought is that she’s evading, but I don’t say that. “Maybe she just decided she wants more, brother.”

He sits up from the bench and shakes his head. “Nah. She could just tell me that. She is actively avoiding me. When we do talk now, and Zoey comes up, she’s quick to end the call. She’s just – off.”

So, Tori knows something. It pisses me off that Zoey went to her and not me. Anger that has been building grows.

I decide to pay Tori a visit. I wait a couple of days to give my anger a chance to calm down. Shouldn’t have done that because when I walked in on Zoey curled into a ball on the shower floor crying, the rage intensifies ten fold.

So much so, I left there like the asshole I know I can be. Didn’t say a word to her or Zane. I called Rory to get him to have his plane ready for me, then grab my keys and leave.

The plane is ready when I get there. I sit and buckle up, telling the attendant I’m ready as soon as they are. Ten minutes later, we’re in the air. And Rory is coming out of the cockpit.

“What are you doing here?” I grumble.

He looks at me like I’m an idiot. “My little brother wants to use my plane for a last minute flight to New York without his girlfriend? Something’s up. Spill.”

I throw my head back, but I don’t argue. It’s always been a little crazy how well he knows me. He tried to spend a lot of time with me when I was a kid. He watched out for the three of us. But there wasn’t as much time spent with him as there was Zoey and Zane. Once in a while, though, I swear he knows me better than they do.

So, I spill everything. The party. Zoey’s regression. The conversation with Zane. Even my own theories. He listens without interruption, taking in everything I say.

When I finish, he sits there saying nothing. It almost seems like he has nothing to say, but I know my brother as well as he knows me. He’s thinking. That deviant mind of his is turning with ideas and theories of his own, but I know better than to ask. He won’t share until he’s ready. Until he has formulated his own theories, checked into them, and figured out what he can do about it.

The rest of the flight is quiet. When we touch down, I don’t waste anytime getting to Stuck on You. Rory and I walk straight into the shop looking for Tori. When Dane spot’s me with Rory, his eyes widen. “Come from some more ink?” he ask eyeing us warily.

Rory makes a sound in the back of his throat. “Not hardly,” he grunts straightening the collar of his suit. “Only one person inks me, and he ain’t here.”

I give him a sidelong glare. Dane tilts his chin up slightly and straightens his stance. “Then why are you here?”

Rory moves to step into Dane’s space. He’s not used to people not showing some sort of fear in his presence, and it is obviously pissing him off. I place my arm against his chest, shaking my head. “We’re here for Tori,” I say. “I need to talk to her about something.”

“Were you already in town?” Dane asks suspiciously.

“No,” I answer, not giving more explanation.

“So, you come all this way to talk to Tori,” he lets out a low whistle. “Must be important to catch a last minute flight here.”

“Private plane,” Rory elaborates because God forbid anyone think Rory McCabe would fly commercial. Not that I think Dane realizes who he is.

Dane nods. “She made a store run, but she should be back in just a minute.”

I ask him if we can use his private room. He agrees then I give him my thanks.

“You let these guys ink you?” Rory asks before Dane is even out of the room.

---