Page 23 of More Than I Can Bear

“Not near your fucking brother—” Jack snapped.

“I have no intention of letting Adam anywhere near Freya.”

I didn’t mean to growl that, but the bear was close, so fucking close. He hated this big, open area, because it was difficult to control. He needed our mate in a place that was smaller, more contained. He would smash through any and all of the media that would no doubt come after her, and for a second I felt that impulse beat so hard in my chest, it took my breath away.

“Well, good… Frey, Kaine is a good guy. He’s Adam’s brother, but you can trust him. We’ve worked together to sort out some of Adam’s issues before and we’ll have to do so again before I quit this damn job for good. Let him get you out of here before the media put two and two together.”

And work out where she was. They’d want a statement, some sort of reply, hopefully to fan the flames higher of whatever the fuck this was. But they’d do so over my dead body.

“Are you cool to go with him now?” Jack asked her.

When Freya looked up, I felt like I was sinking into those hazel depths. Not one colour but three, maybe four. There was green in there and little flecks of blue, brown and a light amber colour. But as I gazed into them, she stared back for what felt like an aeon, before she nodded sharply. I had the door open and was ushering her inside, putting on her seatbelt, then closing the door before she could change her mind.

“I’m going home,” Freya told me and Jack, and my hands tightened around the steering wheel.

“No, don’t do that. People are gonna get weird,” Jack said. “They will want to know all about the girl that brought Adam Farrelly to his knees and they will go to great lengths to find out. They’re not going to respect your boundaries, Frey…” She swallowed hard. “I thought he was cool. I thought he could be trusted not to make a big fuss. If I knew that he would pull this shit—”

“No.” Freya blinked, seeming to break whatever spell she was under with conscious effort. “No, don’t take that on for me.” She stared down at the screen with a slight frown. “You know how to get out of this kind of thing. What do I do, Jack?”

“Can I make a suggestion?” I was trying so fucking hard to keep my voice calm and even, to suggest rather than demand. We wanted to whisk her away from everything, keep her locked away from the world, but the knowledge that an approach like that would just hurt her further stopped that idea cold. But both women looked at me then, allowing me to make a contribution. “I’ve got a place—”

“Not the one you share with Adam,” Jack said, her brows jerking down.

“No. It’s a place I use when I’m held up at meetings in the city. It’s in one of the high rises on North Terrace. Great security, quiet. No one knows where it is, not even my brother.” I swallowed hard. “I bought it as an investment.” No, that wasn’t right. “Well, actually, I bought it for me.”

“Right.” I could see the cogs whirring in Jack’s mind as she stared into the camera. “You reckon you could keep Freya safe in there for a bit, just until things calm down? Someone else will do something stupid soon enough to draw the heat away. Maybe I can talk to Nathan Lyons’ people and see if they have anything…” She shook her head. “Frey, I’ll go to your place and grab some clothes and your drawing stuff and then organise to drop it off in the foyer. You can have a little art holiday, make lots of amazing pieces to sell at the markets when this is over. You never know, this could be a great boost to your artist profile…”

But Freya didn’t seem to hear much of what was said, instead staring at me.

“Can you get me out of here? Please.” Her plea broke my fucking heart and I hid that with a nod. I turned the car engine over and then pulled out of the car park, making for the city.

This was supposed to have been my night with her. I was supposed to be taking my mate out on a date for the first time. I was going to ease her into things, feel her out, see if she might be open to… I sighed. Nothing ever worked out to plan, but as I took a sidelong look at her, I couldn’t seem to regret this change of circumstances.

Chapter13

Freya

This was not real. That was my overwhelming feeling. Sometimes, when things got too intense and events seemed to pile on top of each other, rather than shout or scream I just went quiet, really, really quiet. Because then I could replay everything that had happened, over and over in my head.

“I hurt you,”Adam declared, looking straight at the camera, the sun turning his hair to gold.“I hurt you and I’m sorry.”

My fingers found the bite mark on my neck. It was a bit more than a hickey and kinda a weird thing to do, but it didn’t hurt. Instead I felt a heavy pulse between my legs each time I touched it, which this time me snatching my fingers away. Because I was sitting in his brother’s car.

Was this what it was like for other women? Did they have a crazy night with one brother, only for the other one to turn up and ask them out? Admittedly I hadn’t known about the relationship between the two men at the time, but now I felt a little dirty for saying yes to Kaine. I didn’t owe Adam… well, anything, but I was willing to bet that was not how it would seem when the knowledge came out. And that had me sinking down into my seat.

“You OK?”

That was why I’d said yes to Kaine both times. There was a confidence about him, a surety that right now I clung to even though I hated how it might make me look weak. But when I dared to look sideways at him, I didn’t see condemnation or judgement there, just concern and… something else I couldn’t describe. The name for it was right at the tip of my tongue, but elusive. I swallowed hard and then forced myself to smile.

“I…”Starting strong, Freya, I thought.Great job. “This is all a bit of a shock. Umm, I didn’t know that Adam was your brother.”

“Not something I advertise,” he replied with a slight smile before focussing back on the road. “The kid gets enough attention without me adding to it. So what did he do this time?”

“This time?” My voice was little more than a squeak. “Um… nothing. We were… together.”

“Yeah?” I met his gaze, expecting condemnation or revulsion, but instead there was a deep, warm patience there. “And he did something he shouldn’t have, obviously. If he hurt you, Freya…”

There was that growl again. Guys pretended to do it on social media videos, but I’d never heard someone seriously growl before.

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