Page 36 of His Secret Betrayal
I don’t know why he’s helping me, but I like being here in his home with him. Being surrounded by his scent – mahogany and black teakwood – is soothing in a way I wasn’t expecting. Having him cook for me, eating dinner across from him, makes me feel cared for in a way I haven’t felt since I moved out of Jax’s home for college. Only, this feels like it goes a little deeper.
When I came into work this morning, I certainly hadn’t expected to find myself here at the end of the day. I just wanted to make it through my shift without having an emotional breakdown, and I failed spectacularly. While we were still in the closet at work, Alek said it would be a good idea if I came home with him tonight, but I’m assuming that’s a one-night invitation only. He said I needed to put some space between Evelyn and me while the fallout from the chaotic weekend settles down.
And Stoney. He laughed when I explained why I call him Stoney.
But now that I’m here, I have this insane urge to crawl into bed with him, burrow himself into his arms, and never leave.
My secrets are safe with him, and so am I. But what about my heart?
“You ruin everything,” Evelyn hisses through gritted teeth. I jump back, yelping when her blonde strands transform into snakes. The rows of beady-eyed, black, writhing creatures rear their heads back to hiss at me. Their forked tongues flick back and forth, as if tasting the scent of my fear.
“What the fuck?” I whisper, my voice hoarse. I try to turn away, but we’re surrounded byblack. It presses in on us like thick pockets of impenetrable fog, and my brain begins to bleat in panic.
“I’m trying to help you,” I tell her. But my words come too late. She disappears, and Stoney takes her place. His malicious gapped-tooth smile unnerves me, and I find myself backing up a step. He cocks his head to the side, a gleeful smile spreading across his lips as he cracks his knuckles.
“Stay away from me,” I warn him.
“You’re a punk, and you’re going to learn what happens to people who get in my way,” he says, a dark laugh rumbling from his chest. That’s when the glint of light bouncing off steel catches my eyes, and I look down. There’s a set of brass knuckles wrapped around his skinny fingers.
I stumble backwards. “Don’t come any closer!”
The sound of shuffling feet has me jerking around, my shoulders slumping with relief at the sight of Jax. He looks just the way I remember seeing him last: black hair, green eyes, and a fireman’s uniform. He must be coming from one of his volunteer shifts, and although it’s definitely my brother, something isdifferent.He’s frowning at me like he doesn’t even know me, a look of disappointment marring his face.
Even when I had a fit of anger over him sleeping with my ex-girlfriend behind my back and it temporarily broke up their relationship, he didn’t look at me like this. Like I’m nothing more than a bug under his shoe. It makes my skin go clammy, and my fingers shake. Behind me, I can hear the sick amusement in Stoney’s laughter.
“You betrayed me,” Jax murmurs.
I shake my head vigorously. “No, no, I—”
“Didn’t you think I would want a chance to have a relationship with our mother, too?” he asks, shaking his head. “I don’t want to talk to you ever again.”
“Wait! Please, let me explain!” I cry out the words, and they echo back to me as he walks away from me without another glance back.
“What’s the matter, Luke?” Stoney suddenly appears in front of me again, his face close enough that I get a whiff of his putrid breath. “Doesn’t anybody care enough to come save you?” he taunts.
He cocks his fist back, the steel gleaming. Panic infuses my body, and I’m frozen to the spot. I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t—
“Your secrets are safe with me. You are safe with me.”
The words echo in my head so faintly I can barely hear them, but I latch onto them like a lifeline.
“Alek!” I scream his name so loudly my voice cracks. Stoney’s fist is coming at me in slow motion, and I don’t know how to stop it. So, I scream the name of the one person who might help me. Over and over again, I call for him.
“Alek!”
And then, just as Stoney’s fist is about to make contact with my jaw, Alek’s answering call punctures the air.
“Luke! It’s a dream. Wake up for me,please.”
Alek’s voice, infused with concern, yanks me from my nightmare and deposits me back into the land of wakefulness in one jarring movement. I gasp like a fish out of water as my eyes spring open, peering down to find his arms wrapped around me in a vise-like grip from behind. My own fingers dig into his hands hard enough that I know I’m probably leaving marks. But in the darkness of his guest bedroom, I can’t see much.
My heartbeat is rapid, the back of my neck slick with sweat as my chest heaves. Despite the shame and embarrassment mixing with myresiding panic, I don’t want to let go of Alek. His tight grip feelssafe. And I haven’t felt that way in a long time, have I? Not in that apartment I share with the woman who birthed and abandoned me. Not when she’s constantly screaming and belittling me, and certainly not when she has people like Stoney in and out all the time.
He shouldn’t have to see me like this. Why is he even still here, still offering me support even though I’ve continuously shown him how pathetic I am?
“This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here,” I manage to croak out, albeit weakly. I have to get out of here. I lurch forward, attempting to throw my leg over the side of the bed.
Alek, however, is quicker. He makes an alarmed sort of grunt before tightening his grip on me and throwing his leg over mine. It doesn’t feel like he’s trying to trap me, especially not when he begins rocking and murmuring in my ear. It’s like he’s determined to protect me, even from myself, if need be.
