Page 24 of Tore Up

“Are you done in there?” Bane called out. “I’d like to get this shit to your room so I can get on with my day.”

Than winced. “I’m sorry about him,” he said quietly. “He’s never nice, but since Crosby’s …” He paused. “Well, since … he’s been on edge. Worse than usual.”

He’d been on edge since his brother had been killed and he hated me for it. Than would, too, once he knew it was all my fault Crosby had been killed. I was going to have to get prepared for all of his friends and family to hate me.

“I’d better go,” I said as I stepped past him and into the other room.

Bane was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows. He turned to me, and his gaze dropped to the cloth still clutched in my hands. “I’ll show you the laundry room on our way up.”

Then, he headed back toward the bags of my clothing andgrabbed them.

I didn’t look back at Than as I hurried to keep up.

Eleven

Bane

Than was sitting on the sectional with his elbows resting on his thighs and his head hanging forward when I walked back into the great room. He looked up at me the moment he heard my boot hit the hardwood. I’d not wanted to tell him about her with her present. I had known the moment he heard her name, it would click. He was the one who had heard Crosby’s last word. It had been bothering him. He’d said it looked like Crosby was begging him to understand just before he took his last breath.

“It all makes sense now,” he said. “That last month before, he was so different. At times, he would look so fucking happy, and then there were times when he looked agitated, like he couldn’t get away fast enough. It was her. He tried to tell me.”

“He loved Saylor,” I said, stalking past him.

“Did he though?”

Than’s words made me stop.

“Yeah, he did.” My words sounded more like a snarl.

“Sure, I mean, he loved her. The way we all love her. She’s our friend. Our family. But, Bane”—he turned around and looked up at me—“I don’t think he was in love with her. He was dying and didn’t even look her way. He didn’t say her name. It’s something I didn’t think about at the time, but I have since. He knew Halo was pregnant, didn’t he?”

I nodded. We hadn’t talked about all the details of his last few moments. Until now, I hadn’t wanted to hear it. Fuck, I still didn’t want to think about it. The fresh wave of grief it caused was the reason why I’d not asked.

“I walked in on him talking on the phone to a realtor the day before the shooting. I asked him if he was moving out of the compound. He shrugged and told me it was nothing, not to worry about it. I wondered if Saylor was pressuring him to get a place and get engaged. But … but he never talked about marriage to her anymore.”

“Then, he was a fool because that lying slut is the reason he got killed. Her fucking brother fired that shot because he’d found out she was pregnant.”

He paled. “What?”

“You heard me. I lost my brother, and that bitch is gonna lose hers,” I said through clenched teeth.

Than stood up. “I agree he needs to die, and I want to be there when it happens. But it isn’t her fault.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he fucking serious? “Yeah, it is.”

He shook his head. “I am almost one hundred percent sure that Crosby loved her.”

“Well, it fucking got him killed,” I bit out.

I was done with this conversation. My dad would be calling soon. I had him and my mom to deal with, and then there would be Saylor. None of them were going to want me to keep Halo here. I didn’t give a fuck what they wanted, but it was still dramaI had to face.

“He wouldn’t have wanted you to blame her, and you know it,” he called out behind me.

I said nothing. There were only so many things I was willing to do when it came to her. Forgiving her was not one of them.

Twelve

Halo

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