Nik was already tossing my clothes into a carry-on. “What can I do?” he asked from across the bedroom at my closet.
“I have to go to New York.”
“I know. Should I stay here with Mia? Or do you think we should take her?” He looked concerned.
I bit my lip again. I hadn’t spent one night away from my baby girl since we had brought her home from the hospital. “I don’t know.”
Nik stopped what he was doing and came back to me. “Get Jesse, Layla, and yourself on tonight’s flight. If this takes more than a few days, then I will bring Mia and Lucy out. Okay?”
I nodded, tears already spilling from my eyes. Nik kissed me tenderly and pushed my phone into my hands. “It’s going to be okay, baby. Mia will be okay.”
“I know…” Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath. After a moment, I opened my eyes and hit Jesse’s name on my contact list.
It rang and rang and rang. When it went to voice mail, I hung up and dialed it again. “This better be good,” Jesse growled into the receiver several rings later.
“Jesse.”
“Emmie?” He was awake now and I was sorry that I had scared him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “But you need to wake Layla up. Pack her a bag and I’ll pick you both up. Drake…” How did I tell him without him going nuts? How did I keep one of the guys I loved so much from killing another one of the important men in my life?
“What about Drake?” he demanded. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine.” For now, I thought as I pulled on a pair of jeans. “Listen, I will explain on the way to the airport. Just get ready.”
“Okay. Okay.” He sounded stressed. “It isn’t Lana, is it?” His voice cracked and I closed my eyes. Layla and her sisters were his world now. If anything happened to any one of them it would destroy him. Which was why I feared for Drake’s life!
“Lana is fine. She and Drake are having some issues. That’s why I need Layla. Okay? Now hurry, Jesse!” I hung up before he could question me further. “Nik, will you call a taxi?” I asked even as I was surfing my phone for LAX.
It took twenty minutes and paying double what I would normally have agreed to pay, but I got the three of us on a flight for one o’clock out of LAX into JFK. As soon as the taxi pulled up, I hauled ass. I kissed Nik goodbye, fighting tears as I had to leave him and Mia behind even for a day or two. Jesse and Layla were already outside waiting for me. Nik was going to walk over and pick Lucy up.
Layla looked wild as she climbed in the back seat beside me. My best friend hugged me tight. “Is she okay? Really?”
“There are different types of okay, Layla,” I told her. “I’m just not sure which type she falls into.”
Jesse’s eyes darkened. As the taxi driver drove like the hounds of Hell were after him, which was what I was paying him good money to do, I could see the way his eyes changed colors with his emotions.
“What happened?” he demanded, and I knew that he wasn’t going to take my evasion tactics any longer.
So I told them what I knew. They were quiet, their tempers growing as they listened to me, and I was just finishing up by the time the taxi pulled to a stop in front of LAX. We had exactly fifteen minutes to get our tickets, get through security, and board our plane, but I had so much experience with cutting it close like this that it went smoothly.
With just two minutes to spare, we dropped into our seats. Unfortunately, none of us were seated together. I was smashed between two business men while Jesse was in the very back of the plane with three older ladies who were on their way to visit their grandchildren. Layla had it the easiest. She had a window seat with two teenaged girls beside of her that were already asleep by the time the plane took off.
Five and a half hours later, the plane touched down. It was almost seven, and I wasn’t in any mood to be trifled with as I pushed us all into a cab and barked out the address for Drake and Shane’s apartment. I knew that Lana needed us, but Drake had to be taken care of first.
Drake and Gabriella.
If that little slut was still there when I arrived, I was going to do what I should have done the first time she gave me that twisted, bitchy smile. Her classic, Italian beauty wasn’t going to be very pretty when I got done with her!
Drake
Cotton mouth woke me from a dead sleep.
Groaning, I reached for Lana, wanting to kiss her before I got up for a glass of water. When I didn’t feel her, my eyes snapped open and my head felt like it was going to split in two, but that didn’t matter right then. Lana’s side of the bed was rumpled and still felt warm, but she was gone. The sound of the shower calmed my racing heart and the sudden fear that she wasn’t there.
I closed my eyes again, trying to take stock of my aches and pains. I was hung over, that much was obvious to me. Besides a pounding head, cotton mouth, and a queasy stomach, I was okay. I was mad as hell at myself for backtracking and swore that I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
The shower turned off in the bathroom and I sighed, ready to face Lana’s wrath. I deserved for her to be pissed, but I knew that she would forgive me for this slip. Even if she hadn’t said the words Friday, I knew that she loved me…
The bathroom door opened. I jumped out of bed so fast I nearly fell on my face. My head and stomach protested, but I didn’t give a fuck if I threw up or passed out. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Gabriella grimaced at my loud voice. “Dude, down an octave please. Some of us aren’t used to a raging hangover like the pro that you are.” She held her towel around her with one hand and touched her temple with the other.
My mind, still cloudy with the after effects of liquor, was going crazy. The day before flashed through my brain: being upset over not seeing or talking to Lana all day, going to Axton’s to visit with Liam, the party, Gabriella stumbling around, the urge to drink, and the overpowering need to down a bottle!
My fingers started shaking and I ran them through my hair. I hadn’t been able to resist the need and had grabbed the first bottle I saw. Of course it had been Jack Daniels. I had downed the nearly full bottle in a matter of minutes. By the time Axton had come back to find me, I was out of it because it had been so long since my last drink…
From there everything was a solid blank―no fuzzy memories, nothing, just a big black void. That shouldn’t have surprised me. Downing a bottle that fast always made me black out, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t done something stupid.
Like take home the one woman that would get my head knocked off by Emmie.
Oh, fuck that! What was I going to do about Lana?
“Did we..?” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words “have sex.” That would just be the nail in my coffin. That would mean the end of everything I loved and cherished. Oh, GOD! I had fucked up so bad.
“No.” Gabriella shook her dark head. “No sex.”
“Fuck!” I felt the tears sting my sinus cavity. That didn’t mean shit! So what if I hadn’t had sex with her? She had still been in my room and I had been drunk. Something must have happened even if we didn’t have sex. “Get your fucking clothes on and get out!” I bellowed.
“Trust me, Demon. I was doing just that. I’m not exactly proud of myself, you know.” She dropped her towel and pulled on her panties. The sight of her naked body did nothing for me. If anything, I was more disgusted―disgusted with her, but mostly myself.
I put on a pair of boxers and followed her out of my room to make sure that she left. I felt the tension as soon as I left the bedroom, knew that I was about to walk into a war zone the second I opened the door. Clenching my jaw I took a step forward, ready to face this like a man…
Man or not, I wasn’t ready for the punch that Layla aimed at my throat!
She was standing by the couch, blocking Gabriella’s path to the door. She was glaring at Gabriella hard, her body tense, ready to pounce. I was debating on whether to step in or not, leaning more toward not, when
suddenly I couldn’t draw a breath.
A wheeze escaped me and I doubled over, trying to suck in air. The fact that I had nearly swallowed my Adam’s apple wasn’t lost on me as I fought through the pain.
“Do you think I would just let you walk past me without dealing with you?” I heard Layla saying. Her tone was so frosty, goose bumps popped up on my arms. “I don’t let little bitches like you hurt my family.”
Gabriella screamed in pain and I raised my head to find her on the couch where Layla had pushed her over. The little Italian was probably second guessing her choice of keeping her hair long as Layla wrapped it around her fist and shook Gabriella’s head like a rag doll while she screamed in her face.
“I will fucking end you!” Layla spit in her face. “Do you hear me, bitch? End you!”
Jesse pulled his wife off the other woman. “Okay, babe. I think she gets the point.” With his arms wrapped tightly around Layla’s waist, he pulled her back, but she was still kicking and swinging her arms in her determination to do just as she had promised.
Gabriella had a bleeding lip, and I saw a hand full of hair still gripped in Layla’s hand. Tears poured down Gabriella’s face. “I didn’t screw the Demon!” she screamed back at Layla once Jesse had her at a safe distance. “We didn’t even kiss.”
“Yeah, so that explains why you were naked in bed with him.” Emmie’s frosty voice came from across the living room, and I turned my head to see her sitting on the chair as if a cat fight hadn’t just taken place mere feet from her. Fuck, she was pissed. I could see the temper that went with that red hair of hers burning in those wild green eyes.
“I was drunk!” Gabriella excused. “I didn’t think about it when I was trying to get comfortable.”
One brow rose. “Why were you even here in the first place?”
“He could barely stand after the second bottle. Axton was off with his new flavor of the month trying to keep Liam from screwing with her. I felt bad for the drunken slob.” Gabriella wiped her bleeding lip with the hem of her shirt. “So I helped him home. Even as drunk as I was, I still wasn’t nearly as gone as he was.”
Emmie sat there staring at Gabriella for a full minute. Her eyes narrowed at the other woman, as if looking for any signs that she was lying. God, I hoped she wasn’t lying because I didn’t know what I was going to do if something had happened.
“Get out, Gabriella. Don’t look at any of my guys again or you will think that the beating Layla just gave you was a tickle compared to what I will do to you.”
The pain was fading now, so I saw the look cross Gabriella’s face. The bitch really didn’t know when to stop when she was ahead. I grimaced as she opened her smart-ass mouth. “What are you going to do, little miss perfect? Nothing, that’s what, or you would have done it when I told you that BS about your precious Nik…”
She broke off with a scream as Emmie went flying at her, nails pointed right for her pretty face. Gabriella tried to protect her face as Emmie’s fists swung back. The sound of slapping echoed in the room, and I saw another handful of Gabriella’s hair, gripped in Emmie’s hands this time. Emmie’s curses would have had a sailor blushing the way she spat them out.
“Emmie!” Jesse had given her a good two minutes before he tried to step in, but Emmie was too far gone in her rage. “Enough, Em!” He tried to pull her off the other woman but only got a scratch across his cheek to show for his efforts.
I wasn’t about to step in. Gabriella deserved everything she was getting. If she had been smart, she would have kept her mouth shut and left. Instead, she had opened that mouth of hers, and Emmie had been unable to control herself a moment longer. It had been more than two years coming, but the dam was now busted wide open, and Emmie wasn’t going to stop until she had it all out of her system.
It was Layla that put an end to the fighting. Still pissed at the other woman, she was none to gentle as she grabbed Gabriella by the hair and pulled her out from under Emmie. When Emmie went to follow, Layla put herself between the two of them. “She’s had enough, Em.” Layla’s calm voice broke through Emmie’s red haze. “She’s just a little crying ball of fur now.”
Layla pushed Gabriella away from her, and she landed on her ass―hard. Layla pulled Emmie into her arms, rocking her. “It’s okay, Emmie.”
Finally, Gabriella played it smart and left. I didn’t give her a second glance as she brushed passed me. The door slammed shut behind her, but my gaze was on the two women sitting on my couch.
“You really need to cut your nails, Em,” Jesse complained, and I got a good look at the scratch on his right cheek. It was about an inch long and bleeding.
“Fuck!” Emmie was full of remorse. “Oh, Jess, I’m sorry!”
“It’s just a scratch, sweetheart.” His gaze shifted to me. “In light of Gabriella’s confession, I’m glad I don’t have to stomp your fucking ass.”
Chapter 21
Lana
My brain had shut down.
I left the apartment functioning on autopilot. I didn’t remember the ride down in the elevator or Kyle the doorman speaking to me. I had no recollection of hailing the cab that drove me home or walking into my apartment. The faint smell of smoke and booze and sex, that should have told me that at least one of my roommates had returned, was lost on me as I opened the door to my shared room and fell across my bed without bothering to shut the door.
For the longest time, I just lay there on my stomach, not feeling much of anything other than the slight discomfort coming from my back and the PMS cramps that didn’t seem to want to let up. I didn’t think about anything. I couldn’t. My mind was trying to protect my heart and had shut down as a safety mechanism.
The sky slowly lightened outside my window, but still I didn’t notice. Through the open doorway, I heard someone moving around the apartment. From the sound of the heavy footsteps, I could only assume it was Linc. The second pair of heavy footsteps told me he had brought someone home last night.
I blinked, realizing that I had been staring at the same spot for hours. My eyes were dry and hurt. My entire body was one big ache. I sighed and sat up. I think I liked the numbness better.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow in the doorway and turned my head to find Shane standing there. He looked pale, but his eyes were clouded with a mixture of emotions I didn’t want to think about. The man that I had dreamed of being my brother-in-law was giving me a concerned look.
“How are you?” he asked, his voice rough.
I shrugged. “I don’t really know,” I told him honestly. I was waiting for the anger to hit me, the rage and humiliation.
Mostly, I was wondering why I wasn’t crying. The man who was supposed to be my soul-mate, who had whispered that he loved me over and over again as he moved inside of my body, had been in bed with another woman. So why wasn’t I bawling my eyes out?
“Jesse and Layla are over there. They arrived with Emmie about an hour ago.” He took a few steps into my shared room. Big hands thrust into jean pockets, and he let his head fall back on his shoulders as he frowned up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry, sis.”
I flinched. “Please don’t call me that,” I whispered.
“I… Yeah, okay.” We were both quiet for a minute. “Do you want me to go?”
I pushed my tangled hair out of my face before shaking my head. “No, Shane. You can stay.”
He looked relieved and sat down on the bed beside of me. “Want something to eat? Linc is making breakfast.”
“No. I’m not hungry. My stomach is a little upset.” In fact, I was fighting the urge to throw up. Damn shock! I was going to be a mess when it finally faded.
There was a light tapping on the open bedroom door, and I turned to find Harper standing in our shared room. “Hey.” Her voice was gentle, causing my chest to ache just a little more. “How are you?”
I shrugged. “I’m still not sure.”
“Want me to help you with your bandages?” She closed our bedroom door, and
I saw that she had a new tube of A&D ointment in her hand. “You probably want some of this on it.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
Shane stood and Harper took his place, his hand grasping and squeezing hers for a moment before stepping away. I watched as something passed between them, but it was over and gone so quickly I couldn’t say what it had been.
Shane gave me a grim smile. “I think I’m going to go grab a bacon sandwich or something.”
When the door shut behind him, I pulled my shirt over my head and Harper started pulling at the tape that held the gauze over my tattooed back. I waited until the bandages were gone before speaking. “Are you in love with him?”
Harper, in the process of opening the new tube of A&D ointment, stopped what she was doing. Her brow furrowed, as if she was really thinking about the answer to my question. After a moment she sighed. “Maybe.”
I just nodded and turned back around so she could rub the ointment across my ink. I flinched a few times as she touched the sensitive, slightly welted skin. The tattoo took up most of my back. It really should have been done in two sittings, but I had wanted it bad and paid extra to get it done in one. Now…now it was just a reminder of a huge mistake.
“I never should have gotten involved with him again,” I whispered. “I knew that it would only end in heartache, and maybe that was why I was holding off on telling him I love him. He’s a rocker, something I should have always kept reminding myself of.”
“Ah, sweetie. I know you are hurting right now. But maybe…maybe he didn’t do anything. It could just be a misunderstanding.”
“Maybe…” I agreed, but without much enthusiasm. I had little hope for that possibility.
--
I didn’t leave my room for another hour and a half. By then it was nearly lunch time, but I was still feeling sick. The lingering smells of bacon and other breakfast foods turning my stomach, and I was fighting the urge to vomit more and more with each passing minute.
With the skin on my back still sensitive, I decided against a bra and put on a baggy tee shirt that belonged to Linc. His sleepover friend, who I learned Linc had met at the party he and Dallas had ended up at instead of going clubbing the night before, was still lounging on our sofa when I walked into the living room. Shane and Harper were sitting beside him watching television. The three of them, mostly the two guys, took up almost the entire couch, so I flopped down on the floor between Shane and Harper’s legs.