Page 28 of Last One Standing
He sneered and advanced on me. “You gave him this phone. Tank found it hidden in his backpack. Who hides a phone?”
“How is it being in his backpack hiding it? Sounds like a pretty logical place to have a phone.”
As swift as a breeze he slapped me so hard, I almost spun completely around.
“Don’t be a smartass!”
“You ask for explanations, yet you never accept them. What the fuck do you want from us? We tell you the truth, and you say we lie. If we lie, you’ll tell us we deceived you. What the fuckdo you want from us?” I was shaking, blood dripped from the corner of my mouth, and I felt unhinged.
He pocketed the cell phone and crowded my space. He gripped my chin tightly. “Obedience. I want obedience.”
“And yet when you have it, it’s never enough. You’re setting us up for failure, and you know it.”
With his other hand he gently caressed my cheek. “How can someone be so fucking beautiful on the outside and so rotten on the inside?”
I glared at him. “I would ask the same of you, except you stopped being beautiful on the outside a long time ago.”
I knew that was a mistake the second it left my mouth, but I didn’t care anymore. He was leaving Pika alone and focusing on me, and that was what I wanted.
He growled and threw me onto the bed. “Maybe I show the world how ugly your soul is, huh?” He gripped my hair so tightly, all it would’ve taken was a tug and he’d have a fistful of hair.
“You gonna hit me, Brick? Beat me? The same song and dance?” I was taunting him—he knew it, and anyone with ears could hear that.
He pressed his knee against my stomach and crouched low so his face was an inch from mine. “I think, maybe, I’ll make you wish you were dead.”
And for the next three hours, he did just that.
I couldn’t move. Lips came in every now and then to check on my wounds, keep me hydrated. Even fed me some broth. My eyes were swollen shut, but I could make out his voice when he spoke. I wondered if he or the other guys thought Brick was a monster. Were they afraid of him?
I pushed away his hands while he prodded my ribs. I was sure one was broken. He’d wrapped it already, laid an ice pack on it. I knew I’d poked Brick too much, but he was so angry and I hadn’t wanted Pika to feel that. I’d take it a hundred times so he never had to. He hadn’t made the choice to accept Brick’s help all those years ago; I had.
“He’s safe,” Lips whispered to me.
I turned toward his voice. “Please, Lips.” My voice was scratchy, but I knew he’d heard me.
“Tank has him; he’s keeping Brick away.” He didn’t say more and a beat later, I heard my door shut and the lock click.
I hoped what Lips had said was true. Since Brick had left my room yesterday, I hadn’t been able to move. I couldn’t help Pika even if I wanted to.
I wanted to ask Pika who Trevor was. I’d known he’d gone to Saintly Sweets, and I was sure Trevor wasn’t the person’s real name, and Brick obviously had come to the same conclusion. Pika had to stop. There would come a point when even Tank and Lips wouldn’t be able to hold Brick off if he wanted to hurt my brother.
What had he been thinking, going there? I wished I could speak to him.
Lips had given me some pain pills, and as much as I wanted to stay alert, the pain was too much. There wasn’t an inch of my skin and bones that Brick hadn’t touched with his rage. So, I’d take the pills, I’d heal as much as possible, and then I’d figure a way to get Pika out of here. Maybe if I stayed, he wouldn’t chase after Pika. I could give him all my money…maybe Angel would help Pika get away. Yeah, I was sure of it.
With that thought in mind, I let the medicine numb my body and mind, and I drifted into a fitful sleep.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ANGEL
“Still no answer?”JJ asked as he entered the kitchen with a bag of groceries.
I’d texted Pika a few days ago and he’d sent me a thumbs-up, and that was it. So, my brothers and I, just the five of us, went to Stilettos and Sangria for the next show. The plan was that two of us would go inside, thinking Pika had let them know. The other three would go around back and as soon as the show was over, before Kona could change, we’d get him and his brother and bring them to our house.
The problem was, not only had Pika not put our names on the list, the bouncer actually told me that Anita Pounding’s appearances were canceled this week.
Way too coincidental after meeting with Pika. I’d texted him as anonymously as I could. Just wondered where he was the other night. Nothing. I didn’t want to text-bomb him in case others were reading his phone.
