Page 86 of Broken

Bryce turns on his heel, his lips visibly quivering as he fights to maintain his composure.

Elijah bares his teeth like a rabid animal. “I suggest you get the hell away from her, and me, before I give you the ass-kicking you deserve.”

My brother doesn’t hang around to argue. Knowing he doesn’t stand a chance in hell of even landing a blow, he darts past Elijah and runs for the stairwell. Coward.

Elijah scowls at my brother’s retreating back, then returns his attention to me. “You okay, Melanie?”

Nodding, I absent-mindedly rub my cheek. “Yeah. Thanks to you.”

He stoops and places the spilled groceries back into the paper bag before handing it to me. I thank him again, and he stands infront of me, rubbing his knuckles. “Should have beat the shit out of him,” he grumbles.

I don’t argue, although I’m grateful he didn’t. It would have resulted in yet another family drama I’d find myself in the middle of. “Why are you— What are you doing here?”

“I was going to leave this in your mailbox.” He removes an envelope from inside his suit jacket. “But then I saw Bryce coming in here, and I…” He licks his bottom lip. “Well, I guess I was right to check on you.”

I blink at his outstretched hand, and my heart sinks. Surely that’s not… “What is it?”

“It was delivered to the penthouse. Nathan said you might need it.”

I take it from him and glance at the postmark, sighing with relief when I see it’s from Harvard. Probably Ashley’s college tuition invoice. “You could have mailed it to me.”

“Yeah, I could have.” Elijah stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Maybe I also wanted to look you in the eye and ask if you knew what was going to happen in Chicago.”

Guilt balls in my throat and tears burn my retinas. “I swear I didn’t. And the fact that Nathan was hurt because of me will haunt me every day for the rest of my life. I’ll never forgive myself for what that woman did to him.”

His Adam’s apple bobs. “She didn’t do anything to him.”

I blink at him, hoping I didn’t mishear what he said. “She didn’t?”

“Well other than drug him, which is still pretty fucked up. But that was it. She didn’t assault him.”

I suck in a breath as relief floods my body. While nobody has ever said the word rape aloud, that’s exactly what it would have been, and knowing Nathan wasn’t a victim of that makes me feel like a crushing weight has been lifted from my chest. “You’re sure?”

Elijah nods. “Nathan spoke with her, and with Bryce, and he’s one hundred percent sure.”

“Oh, thank god. I appreciate you telling me that. Thank you, Elijah.”

His dark eyes narrow with curiosity, his expression otherwise unreadable. After a few moments of silence, he tips his chin. “You should put something on that eye.” Then he turns and walks away, leaving me standing alone outside Tyler’s apartment.

Chapter

Forty-Seven

NATHAN

Istare up at my older brother, barely able to comprehend what he just said. “You went to see her?”

“I delivered her the letter like you asked.”

“I thought you were going to fucking mail it, Elijah. What the fuck?”

He sighs, running a hand over his thick beard and taking a seat opposite me. “I’m sorry if I overstepped, but I had to look her in the eye. After what she did…” He blows out a breath. “She hurt all of us, you know. I trusted her too. I thought she was…” He stops talking, and I’m grateful for no further reminders of what she was to me—to all of us.

But my heart constricts in my chest at the thought of him seeing her when I can’t.Or won’t,says a voice in my head, but I ignore it. “How was she?”

He avoids my gaze, the way he does when I’m not going to like what he has to say.

“How was she, Elijah?”

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