Page 60 of Vicious Sentiments

His head slowly comes up and cocks to the side. “My brother?”

I suck in my lips and nod.

Something in his eyes shifts. “What did he do to you?” he growls.

“Nothing! He didn’t do anything!” I pull my hands away, reaching for the gauze littering the floor.

“I swear to God, Hailey, I will fucking kill him. If you think I’d choose him over you then you are mistaken. Tell me what happened.”

“Nothing,” I say again, floundering with the gauze and nervously trying to get it back around my hands. His tone is making me jumpy and I picture the names under his section of the FBI folder.

“Give me that.” Julian rips it out of my hands and tosses it aside. “Tell me. Now.” He turns me towards him. “I want to make sure when I rip my brother’s fucking throat out that the crime fits the punishment, or if I need to get more creative.”

Oh, my god. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that he would, notwith the way he’s talking or looking at me.

“He didn’t do anything,” I plead. “He was helping me.”

Julian’s eyebrows raise in question.

“He was teaching me how to punch,” I explain, a little embarrassed.

Julian shakes his head. “My brother?”

I nod.

“This is the story you’re sticking with?”

“It’s not a story.”

“Did he get drunk and you had to fight him off?”

“What?! No! He was teaching me how to fight and I got carried away and I kept punching and then I hyperventilated and he took care of me.” I say in a quick breath, embarrassed but desperate for him to believe me.

He searches my eyes, looking for the lie, but after a moment I can see his muscles uncoil. He glances at my knuckles and then takes both of my hands in his.

“But what were you practicing on? A tree? A brick wall? It doesn’t make sense.”

I look away. “Therewerepunching pads…”

“Were?”

“But then I got carried away…”

“Uh huh. On what?”

I try to pull away, but he holds me in place, so I give in. “On Cape.”

The silence is so defeating that after a second I look up from underneath my hair and find Julian smirking. “You busted your knuckles on my brother?”

I give a tiny shrug and Julian starts laughing, bellowing over. The sound is so wonderful and it releases all the tension in my body.

After Julian re-wraps my hands he kisses me on the cheek and brushes my hair behind my ear. The gesture is so sweet and welcome that I snag his hand ashe gets up to leave.

“Wait. Don’t go,” I say.

He makes a pained face and shoves a free hand in his pocket. “It’s probably better if I do.”

“For who?” I’m genuinely curious.

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