Page 39 of Ticket to the Stars: Part Two

Best just get on with it. No use in beating around the bush.

“Your brother found me while I was walking back to the Redborne.” It was like my wrist could still feel his large, solid hand curled around it, and I fought against the shiver that made its way up my spine thanks to that ghostly memory.

He clearly wasn’t expecting that, because his eyes widened and he repeated, “My brother found you? What—what do you mean he found you?”

“I mean he must’ve been waiting for me or something, because it was like he appeared out of nowhere. He told me he wanted to talk to me. He didn’t really give me a choice.” The more I talked, the more pissed off Deacon grew, until he was seething in his chair next to me.

“He’s not supposed to talk to you,” Deacon muttered with a frown.

“I know, but he did. And, um, this isn’t the first time I saw him, either. The last time I got my hair touched up, he was outside the salon, on the other side of the street. He was watching me then, too.”

Deacon acted like he didn’t hear that part, too focused on what I’d said before. “What did he say to you?”

We were alone in this part of the lobby, with no one around. Granted, the lobby was quiet, but its overly-tall ceilings meant there was a lot of space for sound to get lost.

I shrugged. “Oh, you know. Just that I took his place and stole all his hard work and that I’m leading you on.” Under my breath, I said, “Still sounds like he cares about you, but I think this was mostly about him thinking I’m out to replace him.”

Deacon let out a groan and rubbed his hands down his face. “Goddamn it. I warned him to stay away from you—”

“Wait. What?”

“I saw him not that long ago. He messaged me and wanted to meet. I… I didn’t want to tell you or the others because I knew what everyone would say.” When I only stared at him, he added, “You would’ve told me not to go see him.”

Hmm. He was probably right about that.

Once I got over the new information, I asked, “What did he say to you when you met up with him?” From the expression Deacon wore, I could assume none of it had been good. Pope had tried to go to his brother first, and then when he wouldn’t budge, he tried to come after me.

But why wait so long?

“Probably the same shit,” Deacon huffed as he shook his head. “He was worried you were playing me, using all of us to make it big. I tried to tell him you weren’t like that, but it was like his mind was already made up. Maybe he’s been hearing about B.S. trending and is jealous or something. I don’t know.”

“But why come to you? Why come to me?”

“Maybe to get inside our heads?” Deacon offered. “Maybe he views us as the weak links or something, I don’t know. I just can’t believe he had the balls to talk to you.”

“More than that. He basically dragged me to a cafe so we could sit down and talk. He didn’t really give me any choice in coming with him, and once the talk was done, he…” I bit the inside of my cheek. “He said the next time I have a stalker, he might not be so nice.”

Deacon sucked in a hard breath. “He pretty much said the same thing to me.”

“You don’t think he’d do anything, do you? You don’t think he’d try anything with me, would he? He’s yourbrother. I never met him before today, so I don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“No, he wouldn’t—” Deacon suddenly stopped, and his hesitancy did not make me feel better. A moment later, he said, “I don’t think he would. Then again, I thought he’d leave you alone. I didn’t think he’d actually find you and force you to go with him somewhere to talk.”

Yeah, it made me wonder what else he’d do, if he’d resort to other means in the future when he kept seeing and hearing about Black Sacrament and me.

“Do you think we should tell Ramona?” I asked.

“No. Not yet. If he tries something again, then we’ll go to her. For now, let’s just… let’s pretend none of this happened.”

“You don’t want to tell the guys about it?” For some reason, I thought that telling Deacon would meanhe’dbe the one to tell the others, so I wouldn’t have to. Keeping this a secret from Priest and Bishop didn’t feel right. Like we were lying to them.

And they were the last people I wanted to lie to.

Deacon shook his head once. “No. Let’s just keep it between us. If things escalate, then we’ll reevaluate. I’m sure everything will be fine. We’re probably just overthinking this. He’s my brother. He’d never do anything to jeopardize the future of B.S., even if he’s not in it anymore.” He spoke with such conviction, like he genuinely believed it—or maybe he was trying to convince himself of it.

Either way, as we got up and headed to the elevator together, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we hadn’t seen the last of Pope.

Chapter Sixteen – Deacon

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