Page 13 of Corrupted Memories
“Just telling me that I’m going to be his again. And now that he’s found me, I’ll never leave him again. All the usual alpha male bullshit.”
“Did he give any indication of how long he’s been watching you?”
I shake my head. “Only long enough to know Jeremy is my boyfriend.”
A muscle feathers in my brother’s jaw. His eye twitches in frustration. “He touch you?”
“Just a kiss,” I lie, not needing him to realize how far I fell after only minutes in Sebastian’s hands. “Then I tried to knee him and he let go.”
This time Matt smiles a bit before it falters. “What about your taser? Your bracelet, Gianna? Everything we prepared for this moment.” He leaves off expressing his disappointment, but I can feel it. The worst part is I’m lying to him. My brother would befurious if he found out exactly what Sebastian did in the bathroom. What I enjoyed letting him do to me.
I push back the tears that threaten to come out and admit a small truth. “I froze. I’m sorry.”
Matt tsks, a fake smile pasted back on his face. “Don’t apologize, G. Even the best men I’ve trained have done it.”
“I still feel like I failed.” Failed not tocomeat the hand of my ex-boyfriend. I stifle my grimace.
My brother leans forward. “You got away, that’s not a failure.”
I nod, not agreeing entirely. Something about the encounter makes me feel like he wanted me to get away. My stomach churns and my eyebrows furrow. Was it a test? No, that couldn’t be. My lips part to speak my concern to him when the suspicious expression on his face has me pulling into myself.
“That it? You’re not holding anything back?” Matt asks, watching me as if he already knows the answer. But it’s impossible, I doubt a hotel of that caliber would have cameras in the bathroom.
Shaking my head, I lower my gaze to the floor. “That’s it. Honestly, I probably overreacted by running, but I was… I didn’t expect to see him.”
“You did good, G. Stop overthinking it.” He stands, holding out his hand topull me off the couch. “Come on. Let’s get you showered and ready for bed. Tomorrow will be a new day and we can focus on what we’re doing going forward. Luckily, Gwen freshened up your room the other day.”
Gwen is a godsend that my brother doesn’t deserve. The house manager runs this place like a tight ship and keeps everything in place for him.
I stretch as I climb out of bed, feeling the burn in my legs from my run last night. It makes me realize how out of shape I’ve become, and I make a mental note to start going to the gym again. I’d stopped when my brother found a tracker in my gym bag and I’d been scared to continue. We never could figure out how it got there since my bag had been shoved inside a locker the whole time. But a few days later, he assured me it hadn’t been from Sebastian. Something about the purchaser being local.
Pulling an old pair of leggings and hoodie from the drawers, I shower and get dressed, determined to start the day with no worries. What happened, happened, and there’s no point in dwelling on it. I have to accept the momentary weakness I had for the first love of my life.
My brother isn’t in the kitchen as I make my coffee, and I’m thankful for some more time alonewhile I consider how to move forward. I’m not sure if he plugged my phone in for the night, but I want to call and apologize to Jeremy. He’ll understand, but it doesn’t ease the remorse about what happened between Sebastian and me in the bathroom. I’m still torn on telling him about it, and I can feel the dirty grime of being a cheater lingering on my skin.
I’m still considering what I should say when my brother walks in, light brown hair ruffled and only wearing sweatpants. He doesn’t say a word as he grabs my cup from me and takes a deep gulp.
“Hey!”
“Sibling tax,” he grunts out, moving to the fridge as I glare before making myself a new cup.
I sit on the stool as he grabs some eggs and bacon to make us food. It reminds me of when I was younger and he made me breakfast before school after our parents passed.
“You sleep okay?” he asks after a few moments.
“As well as I could,” I say, my eyes lingering on the dark circles under his eyes when he glances at me. “You?”
Matt shakes his head. “I didn’t get much. Lots of strategizing with my team, and trying to figure out howwe missed him.”
I bite my tongue, not wanting to lead into that conversation. If I felt like a failure last night, my brother would feel twice that. I’m sure he’ll obsess over it until he finds his answer. It’s how he’s always been since we were little.
Matt sighs. He rubs a hand along his jaw and grimaces before facing me. “I have something to propose, but it’s up to you. I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
Sipping my coffee for a moment, I can’t dismiss the forlorn feeling gathering inside me. When I don’t answer, Matt comes to sit on the stool next to me, grabbing my hand to squeeze it.
“Just listen before deciding, okay?”
I squeeze my eyes shut briefly. “Just tell me, Matt.”
