Page 68 of Suspicious

“Oh, geez,” I mumble under my breath as Loki tenses, preparing to face Theo head-on.

“Theo, you’re like my own brother, man—” But before Loki can say any more, Theo raises his fist, slamming it straight into Loki’s face.

My hand slaps against my mouth in shock. “Theo, stop!” I scream. Loki slumps back onto his desk, his wireless keyboard falling to the floor beneath him, and Theo continues to pummel into him.

Tears stream down my face as I rush up behind Theo, jumping on his back to try to get him off Loki. But in his rage, my brother swings back, shoving me. I fly backward, my body hitting the wall, the sheetrock instantly denting with the hit, my body scraping along the broken wall as I fall to the floor with the pieces of debris falling on top of me.

“Bea!” Loki calls out, finally deciding to fight back. His fist lands hard on Theo’s face, blood splashes across the wall as his body spins, and he drops to a knee, trying to catch his breath.

Tears pool at my chin as Loki rushes to my side, blood smearing his face as he kneels next to me. “Are you okay?” he asks, my hand sliding to cup his bloodied cheek.

“I’m fine. Are you?”

He chuckles. “This… this is nothing.” He moves to help me up, but suddenly, Theo grabs Loki by the back of his club cut and throws him across the room. Loki slams into his monitors—it’s like watching a whirlwind of chaos—his arms flailing up and knocking the picture of Jason at Halloween off the wall while the computer screens smash on the floor.

My heart leaps into my throat as the framed picture falls onto the desk, the glass shattering on impact as Loki drops to the floor with Theo about to lay into him again.

“Enough!”I scream at the top of my lungs, panting for breath as I stand and hobble over to Theo.

He towers over Loki but turns to me, his eyes glassy as he takes in the destruction he has caused.

Angry, I stare into my older brother’s eyes and meet him—chest to chest. “Alex is yourbestfriend, Theo. Us being together doesn’t change that. Butyouputting a block on us being together has put ahugestrain on our relationship for ourentirelives. We were apart for thirteen years, both of us fucking miserable without each other because of the strain life put on us. The pressureyouput on us. But by some miracle, we’ve found our way back to each other. Pleasedon’t be the roadblock for us again. Just let us be happy. We deserve it, Theo. Wereallyfucking deserve this.” Tears stream down my face as he forces the knot down his throat and takes a giant step back from Loki.

Theo scrunches up his face, looking at me like he’s having a hard time believing me. “Youreallylove him? He didn’t take advantage of you?”

Snorting out a laugh, I lean past him and bend down to help Loki from the floor. Sliding my arm around him, he clings to me for support. “If anything, Theo, I took advantage of him. I’m the one who didn’t realize what I had when I left for San Jose. We should have told you about us when we were younger. Maybe things would have turned out differently forallof us.”

“Like what? You think you two would be living in the suburbs, white picket fence, married with two-point-five under your beltifyou had told me?” Theo mocks.

I glance at Loki, and he looks back at me.

We both nod. “Absolutely,” we reply in unison.

Theo’s eyes widen in shock as if it’s only just sinking in how genuine this truly is. He takes a step back from us, stumbling a little. “Oh shit! You guysreallyare in love.”

Loki steps forward, placing out his hand for Theo to shake.“I’m sorry, man.”

Theo grimaces as he rubs at his bloodied chin. “Oh, fuck! I’m a shitty brother, aren’t I? I… I honestly had no idea you two…” He pauses. “If I did, I would never have said… I’msofucking sorry you guys felt like you couldn’t come to me with this.”

Loki snorts, pointing to his bloodied face, and raises his brow. “You made it clear that this would be the result if we did.”

Theo spins and begins pacing. “Fuck! I’m a fucking asshole. Let me get you a drink. Let me get you both a drink. I need a fucking drink. Let’s go get a drink,” he spits out in quick succession.

Giggling, I step up to my brother and pull him to me for an embrace. He’s tense, but then he softens into the hug. “I love you, big brother. No matter what.”

“Love you too, sis,” he replies.

Then Loki steps up to us, wrapping his arms around us both. Theo and I chuckle as we stand in the mess of Loki’s den, embracing. “I’m going to fix Jason’s photo, too, bro. I’m sorry about that,” Theo states while we’re still in a three-way embrace.

“Appreciate it,” Loki replies.

Theo inhales deeply, going to pull back, but then furrows his brows, looking at me strangely. “Why do you smell like Loki’s den? That jerk-off smell?” he asks, then glances down at the wet spot on the desk, his eyes widening in disgust.

Loki and I both burst out laughing and turn, walking for the exit. “Let’s get you that drink, brother,” Loki states as Theo groans, curling his mouth like he wants to puke.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Gross. Now I need disinfectant and something for my sudden nausea,” he teases, making gagging noises as we walk out into the clubhouse. Everyone turns to look at the three of us, all covered in blood.

Alpha raises his brow in concern, but Loki gives him a head nod as we make our way for the bar. I need to fill him in onwhat I heard at the prison. But for now, I need to drink with my family.

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