Page 37 of Deceit
He grabbed Miles by the collar of his shirt, whirling him around and shovinghis back against the door. “What the fuck did you do to my sister?”he hissed, his voice low.“She wasin no state to consent, you fucker. You raped her!”
Before I could leap to Miles’ defence, because I wasabsolutelycertainMiles hadn’t raped me—evenif I couldn’t explain the blood—he shoved Rafe back before powering his fist into the side of my brother’s face, the thump reverberating around the room.
Rafe fell back, landing on his ass with a thud and rubbing his jaw.
“Rafe!”Snapping out of the daze I’d been stuck in since discovering theblood on my thigh, I rushed to my brother’s side, crouching down beside him.“Are you okay?”
Miles towered over the two of us, and we both tilted our heads back tolook at him. Fear crawled through my veins at the way his features were twisted in vicious fury.
“Don’t you ever,ever,accuse me of being a rapist. I didn’t fucking touchher.”His eyes darted to mine, and my breath hitched at the hurricane brewing in his dark orbs.
“Explain the blood, then,” Rafe barked, rubbing his jaw.
Miles’ eyes narrowed on Rafe, and for a second, I didn’t think he was goingto answer, but when he held his hand up, my mouth fell open at seeing the cut across his palm.
“Thank your sister for letting slipthatyour old man was going to hurt youunless she seduced me.”
Rafe’s head whipped to me, his brows sky-high, but all I could do was stareup at Miles. He’d purposely cut himself and made it look like he’d taken my virginity,justto stop anything happening to Rafe.
I didn’t know what to make ofthat. Why would he dothat? He hated me,and I was pretty certain he wasn’t fond of Rafe, yet he’d gone to those measures to stop either one of us getting hurt.
Slowly, I got to my feet.“You…you didthatto stop Papa hurting Rafe?”
“I did it for a fucking quiet life. Now, if you’re both done accusing me ofbeing a rapist, can you please get yourself dressed so we can get the hell out of this place? I’ve had enough of you Bianchis to last me a lifetime.”
“I didn’t accuse you,”I said defensively.
“You didn’t need to. Your face said it all,”Miles retorted, betrayal clear inhis voice.
I dropped my gaze as shame flowed through me. He was right. Initially,Ihad thought he’d taken advantage of me in my unconscious state.
Next to me, Rafe stood, his hand rubbing the back ofhis neck.“Miles, I’m…I’m sorry, man. I shouldn’t have accused you.”
Miles pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes briefly shutting.“I don’t wantyour apology. Ijustwant to get the fuck out of here, isthattoo much to ask?”
“Yeah, course. I’ll…um…I’ll leave you to get ready,”Rafe repliedsheepishly, apparently as remorseful as I was. He turned to me, stroking a hand down my arm.“I’ll come to see you before you go.”
I nodded, giving him an appreciative smile. When he closed the door behindhim, I returned my gaze to Miles, who was still glaring at me, his fury showing no sign of relenting.
“Miles, I-”I started after several strained seconds passed between us.
“Get. Dressed.”
A flash of anger rolled through me. He’d ordered me around last night, andhe was doing it again. I was used to Papa telling me what to do, but I’d be damned if Miles was going to start. Besides, I wanted answers.
I folded my arms across my chest, holding his furious stare.“No. Notuntil you tell me why you didthat.”
“I told you. I want a quiet life, something I don’t think I’ll be getting withyou around.”
He ripped his gaze away and crossed to the other side of my room to put hisholster on. I remained on the spot, refusing to move until he answered my question properly.“I want to know why.”
“Yeah, well, it’s about time you learnedthatyou don’t always get what youwant.”
I rolled my eyes. It pissed me offthatfrom the minute Miles and I werereacquainted, he’d had this beliefthatI was spoiled and got whatever I wanted, whenthatcouldn’t have been further from the truth. If he bothered to take some time to get to know me, he would have discoveredthat.
But, hey. If he thought I was a spoiled brat, who was I to disappoint?
I followed in his wake to where he was shoving his guns in the holster.“Fine. Answer me this. Are you going to dothatevery time Papa demands to know how ourunionis going?”
