Page 44 of Knocked Up by my Best Friend's Brothers

I find her standing by the window, the city’s nightscape unraveling beyond with its twinkling lights against a black sky while Cassius sits on the edge of her desk, looking glum and quiet. River paces the room, his gaze darting from Cassius to Christa. The air is so thick with tension, I could slice it with a knife.

“It’s hard to explain,” she says and sighs deeply, sounding downright defeated.

My guess is she’s already gotten an earful from my brothers. I’m angry and confused as hell, but I don’t want to pile my anger on top of theirs, so I take a deep breath and calibrate my responses as I would in any crisis.

“She was running her Wiper program when I came in,” Cassius says.

“Why?” I ask her.

“Because I need to leave, and I can’t have anyone picking up my trail from here,” she replies. “I can’t tell you much, and I am deeply sorry for all this, but it’s safer for everyone if I just disappear.”

River scoffs and shakes his head. “Bullshit.”

“No bullshit, I swear,” she insists. “You don’t know everything about my past, okay?”

“So then tell us so we can help you,” I urge.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles and lowers her gaze.

Cassius clears his throat, arms crossed over his chest. “Yeah, sorry isn’t going to cut it this time, I’m afraid. This is a serious breach of trust, not to mention company protocols and regulations. We need an explanation.”

“I can’t give you one.”

My blood boils. She is making it really hard to remain civil under these circumstances. Nevertheless, I promised myself I would be the kind of man Christa needs and deserves, fully aware she is still carrying shadows from her past, which could reach into the future, too, if we’re not careful.

This is what our VA therapist would call a relationship milestone.

“Christa, whatever happened in the past, whatever you did, we can talk about it,” I say. “You know damn well we’re the last to judge.”

“You say that, but it’s not that simple. My mistakes cost me; they cost innocent lives.” She chokes up and swallows tears as she shakes her head at me. “Please. It’s not safe.”

“We killed people,” I reply, “in action. I think I have the highest body count among the three of us. It was my duty. What you say you did… was it worse than that?”

She shakes her head again, slowly, her gaze stuck on mine. “It was bad.”

“Talk to us,” River says.

“I need to leave. That’s all you need to know. It’s all I can tell you. I was running Wiper to disappear, to make sure no one from the outside could ever link me back to you,” Christa says. “To keep you safe.”

“Who are you running away from?” Cassius asks.

“They’re bad people, Cass. Horrible people. Powerful, rich people.”

“Perry-Sage?” he replies.

“All the execs from Perry-Sage are in prison or dead,” I mutter. “No, it’s someone worse.”

She nods. “I swear on my life the only reason I’m keeping quiet is to protect you and not because I don’t think you can’t protect yourselves. Lord knows I’ve never felt safer anywhere than when I’m with you three, but these people will stop at nothing to destroy me and everyone I ever cared about. They will do the same to you, if you get in their way. It’s safer if I leave. Please, let me leave.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Cassius decrees.

He reaches her before she can move away from the window, and I feel the tension shifting in the room. The anger dissolves into a most furious wanting. The confusion lingers, but it’s quickly overwhelmed by insatiable lust. My feelings for this woman intensify.

Cassius and River are responding the same way. The idea of Christa disappearing from our lives is untenable.

“What are you doing?” she whispers, wide-eyed, as she looks up at him.

“I said, you’re not going anywhere,” he replies, pinning her against the window. “You’re mine, Christa. Ours. Whatever you’re dealing with, we’ll face it together.”

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