Page 39 of Brazen Obsession

For a moment, he’s the brother whose attention I always craved. Not the one who left me to the wolves.

The light fades in his eyes as he realizes I no longer hero-worship him the way I did. He used to protect me. He used to care. Then he was the wedge between me and his friends. But he still cared.

I can’t make his actions line up with the brother I thought he was. Maybe he believed he had me covered. Maybe he was protecting that child the way I always hoped he would protect me. Maybe he realized I wasn’t a child anymore.

“Sara.” Tom says my name with half hope and half fear.

Good. What he did was still shitty. I focus on what I came in here for.

“When I was using your office, I found this.” I approach and hold out the Post-it. “It was under your desk. I thought it might be a clue. Finn said it was probably your password to something.”

Tom’s cheeks flush red as he takes the Post-it. “Honestly, we change passwords so frequently I can’t always remember them. You always loved to find clues, but this one is just what it looks like. Sorry, Sara.”

I release my breath. “I found your napkin.”

He scrunches his forehead like he’s trying to figure out what I mean.

“The one from the stripper who was bad at math. It was our first clue.” I straighten because I’m proud of finding that. I’m not proud for bursting in on a meeting to tell the guys. Or for Dante chastising me. But Tom doesn’t get to know that part. “Kayla and I went to the strip club to investigate.”

“You did what?” Tom stands and puts his hands in his hair. “Mom’s going to kill me.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, it’s not like I saw anything I don’t have myself.” I roll my eyes at his overreaction. “Besides Wyatt, Finn, and Dante had the same idea so I didn’t get to enjoy it on my own. And then, of course, Drew was there and invited us to his office.”

I stop and smile, but then I remember the feeling of walking down the hall. Not knowing it was Drew behind that door.

I narrow my eyes on Tom. “It could have been a trap and we wouldn’t have known. Because you left us fucking blind.”

“I’ve got her. Thanks, Natasha.”

I turn at Finn’s voice. He leans in the doorway. Natasha stands behind him, wringing her hands.

“Come on, flower. No yelling at your brother during company hours.” He holds out his hand to me. “You can beat him up at home. I’ll hold him down for you.”

“I didn’t know, Sara.” Tom sinks into his chair. “I thought you’d do what I asked and go stay with the guys.”

“It wouldn’t have done any good.” I shake my head. “Even if I’d gone right away, Peter was always watching. Always waiting. Do you know how many black cars sit and idle on that street at night? There was a time Dante stopped me from walking out in front of one.”

I drag in a breath. “It still would have happened. I would have gone out by myself earlier because I didn’t know what kind of danger I was in.”

“Flower.” Finn touches my waist to draw me back into him, but I step away.

I don’t want his comfort right now. No, I want my brother to understand what he did to me. How fucking selfish he is.

“If it had happened sooner, we would have had no idea about any of this. The guys would have lost me and had no way to find you because we didn’t have all the pieces. No way to fucking contact you, because you ignored all of us.”

Tears well in my eyes. “You abandoned me.”

“This is all my fault,” Natasha says. She sits on the couch and tears run down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Sara.”

“No, Natasha.” I soften my tone for her. She’s pregnant and emotional. “You might have had more knowledge, but Tom wasn’t blind. He knew what he was getting into. He knew what he was leaving behind or he never would have texted me that and left the guys that note.”

My eyes find him again. He’s pale. Honestly part of me wants to go hug him to make it better, while the other part wants to slap him again for all the shitty things that happened to me because of him.

“You and I will be okay someday.” I put my hand over my stomach as it roils. “But honestly, I can’t wait until this is figured out and the internship is done so I don’t have to see you every day, because I’m not even close to over it.”

Finn draws me against him. This time I sink into him, needing his comfort and strength.

“I am sorry, Sara,” Tom says, but I don’t acknowledge it.