Page 32 of Tell Me Lies

Rage I’d never felt aimed at him rose for the first time. I gripped Maddie tight, covering her body with my own. “Now’s not the time,” I growled over my shoulder at my twin.

I had only the slightest idea what happened between them, and from the way she stared at him where I shielded her, she was as much at a loss as me. I heard part of their conversation that night, saw what he did after she ran away as my rage brewed.

She would have been better suited to me from the start.

“I didn’t know you were going around with my slops, brother.” Lennox stared at me haughtily. His chin tipped up, his eyes fixed on her, not me. “Mind, I could go a round or two if you want to tag team.”

I clenched my teeth. “She’s mine.”

“What?” Maddie struggled in my arms but I couldn’t make myself release her. “You share?” Her voice rose, but I pinned her back to the wall, my forearm across her shoulders.

We could deal with that little faux pas on my part later. Right now I had to deal with a fight I sensed was long in the brewing.

“Stay there,” I hissed over my shoulder, letting venom release into my voice. Maddie ignored me and struggled. Naturally. I could barely keep the smile off my face. “And you,” I turned back to my brother. “You had your turn.”

“I thought we took turn about. And she’s so much fun when she’s angry,” Lennox taunted.

“I hate you both.” Her soft whisper was barely a breath but her words floated in the air between us, both a promise and a threat.

A threat to everything I earned with her. The thought of her not being in my arms again broke me. “Give me a minute,” I murmured, but my eyes were locked on my brother.

As were his as he focused on the girl struggling against my hold. My rules.

“The hell are you doing?” I growled, unable to hold her.

Maddie slipped under my arm and dashed for the trees, crashing through bushes with her skirts hauled into her hands. I had to give her credit for her speed on those damn heels. A curve of luscious butt cheek flashed pale in the dark night as she tore away from us.

Headed for the parking lot on the other side and the drunken frat boys playing hero in cars they could afford to break too many times. But they couldn’t afford my fee if they broke her.

“Isn’t that better?” Lennox put a brotherly hand on my shoulder.

“Maddie,” I shouted, tracking forward.

Lennox grabbed my arm. “Forget her.”

“Huh?” I turned my head, still propelling myself forward. “Maddie!”

“Let her go. She’s not worth it.”

“Not to you, maybe.” I shoved him back. “You shouldn’t have had her in the first place.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Lennox’s eyes glittered in the darkness.

My heart clenched hard. “Is that what this is about, with her? Huh? You got bored because for two fucking years you got to claim first rights?” I glared at him. “Is that it?”

The smile that curved his cold lips didn’t reach his eyes, or his soul. “You always had the first things. Toys, as kids. Their love, and now they’re gone. Then other toys, later. Remember Chrissy?”

I stared at him, my breath stalling in my lungs as I sought out the name and struggled to recall a face. Then she clunked into place.

“The girl from the strip club?” I asked incredulously.

The girl he doted on for most of a week when we turned eighteen and our uncle slipped us into one of his seedier clubs. Lennox fell for a hooker, like a million other men before him, a girl who had no heart left to return his homage. We played tag team that week, too.

“The homeless girl who relied on me. You fucked her, gave her a few grand as guilt money, and she disappeared in a night.” Lennox folded his arms over his chest.

“Then she wasn’t ever going to be your girl,” I murmured. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

“She OD’d. I found her at the back of the club a week later. Bought dirty blow. I could have provided better, if that’s what she needed. But she got high, got greedy, and…” His eyes flashed. “So I took a girl from you, too.”

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