Page 75 of Dirty As Puck
He won’t tell me what’s going on. I’ve asked, pushed gently, pushed harder.
Every time he puts up the same walls, the same evasions. Protecting me, he calls it, though he never says the words outright.
But the love I know isn’t locking someone out. It isn’t handing them pieces of yourself and expecting them to guess the rest.
I flip open my laptop and stare at the folder I’ve built over weeks. Screenshots, bank records, pieces of information tied to Derek Delaunay’s name.
Evidence strong enough to burn him, maybe even scare him into crawling back under the rock he came from.
Kai doesn’t need to carry this. He doesn’t need to know his own brother is the one dragging him through hell. I can take the weight instead. I’ll make Derek back off, whatever it takes.
My hand hovers over my phone. My pulse is erratic, a drumbeat of nerves, but resolve pushes me forward. I scroll through my messages until I find the number I swore I’d only use if things got bad enough.
Derek’s contact, buried under fake initials. I send him a text immediately.
It’s about time we talk. Somewhere public, tomorrow at noon.
I hit send before I can second-guess myself. The whoosh of the message leaving feels like stepping off a cliff.
The reply comes fast, too fast, like he’s been waiting for me.
Finally, Name the place.
My throat goes dry. I type out the café two blocks from the public library, the one always packed at lunch with students and professionals, a place buzzing with enough bodies to keep things from getting too dangerous. At least, that’s what I tell myself.
When Derek confirms the meetup, satisfaction seeps through his words even in text.
I close my laptop and set my phone face down. My heart won’t stop beating too fast, and a shiver runs through me that has nothing to do with the cool air from the A.C
This is reckless and dangerous. I know it, but love wouldn’t let me sit by while Kai gets destroyed. If he won’t fight for himself, I’ll fight for him.
The smell of burnt espresso clings to the air, bitter enough to match the knot in my stomach.
I sit across from Derek in the very bright coffee shop, my hands trembling under the table even though my voice sounds steady when I slide the folder across to him.
“That’s everything I have on you. Gambling debts. Creditors breathing down your neck. Half the city knows you’re drowning financially.”
Derek leans back, the cheap wooden chair creaking under his weight. His lips curl into something between a smirk and a laugh.
He doesn’t even glance at the papers I’ve spent nights digging up.
“You really think this is going to scare me, sweetheart?” he drawls, voice carrying loud enough that the couple at the next table looks up. “Cute. This is really cute.”
Anger surges through me, but I bite down on it. “It’s over, Derek. I know how you’ve been circling Kai. I know what you’re after and I’m not letting you drag him down with you.”
For a beat, he just stares at me, his eyes flat, and seeming unbothered. Then he chuckles. It’s a low, amused sound that makes my skin crawl. He pushes the folder back toward me with one lazy finger.
“You think you’re protecting him? God, that’s adorable.” He leans forward now, his grin sharp as glass. “Kai’s already been paying me.”
The words punch the air out of my chest as I replay it in my head. “You’re lying.”
“Oh, am I?” He slips a sleek black envelope from his jacket pocket and spreads the contents across the table. Photos, grainy but undeniable. I see images of Kai meeting him in a parking lot. Bank transfer screenshots. Derek’s voice drops, smug and intimate. “Your golden boy has been keeping me afloat while you’ve been playing detective. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?”
The blood drains from my face. Each photo is like a blade. I want to argue, deny the claim and tear them in half, but my fingers stay frozen against the cool tabletop.
“You’ve been so busy trying to corner me,” Derek continues, savoring every word, “that you didn’t realize I’ve been running circles around both of you. Kai’s desperate to keep his little secrets safe, and you? You’re just collateral.”
I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek, refusing to let him see how much it shakes me. But the ground under me is gone. If what he’s saying is true then it means Kai has been lying to me, hiding things, maybe even playing me.
