Page 45 of Forever Relentless

“You don’t get to speak,” Briar snapped at me.

“Why am I getting all of your aggression?” I demanded.

“Because it’s all your fault!”

“Pretty sure Mason is the reason we’re all standing here,” I snapped back.

She gaped at me. “How . . . Why would you say that?” She was on her feet. “If anyone’s to blame here, and there is so much to blame here, it’s not my brother, and if you think—”

“Can we start again?” Dante interrupted smoothly. He looked between us. “There’s, um . . . tension here. I don’t think we need the extra strain in an already strained conversation.”

Briar and I held the glare between us for a few more moments, anger dancing in her eyes, before she dropped onto the couch beside Diana again and refused to look our way. The smart move would’ve been to let it go. Instead, my attention kept drifting back to Briar, like my brain hadn’t gotten the memo that she was off limits.

“Mason really didn’t do anything,” Diana said in the silence that followed. “What happened to Tiffany . . .” she cleared her throat. “Tiffany never accused anyone because she didn’t know who it was.” Her voice was firm and calm. “We asked her — we all asked her — the police asked her, and there was no one she could name. They took samples from her and went to where she said it happened, but found nothing. At all. No footage, no movements on the cameras outside, nothing. All there was to see was Tiff going into the building, clearly very drunk, and there was no one else before, after, or during.”

I watched Briar, who refused to look at any of us. “So—”

“So how did they know something happened?” Diana asked drily. “Because Tiffany was a lot of things, not all of them good, but she wouldn’t lie about this. And even those of us who may have doubted her, well . . .” She looked away, her gaze on the window instead. “They were silenced when she ended her pain.”

Tiffany took her own life? I hadn’t even considered the possibility.

The room tilted half an inch. Not enough for anyone to see, but enough for the old memory to wake up. Vegas. A garage. Blood on split knuckles. I pushed down the memory before it could show.

The silence was heavy; the only sound in the room was our breathing and the slight rustling of Briar’s hand moving from the side of the couch to hold Diana’s hand.

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Dante said softly. “Can I ask questions?” Diana gave a slight nod. “She took her own life?”

Diana nodded.

“I’m sorry.” He took a deep inhale. “She didn’t know who it was, but she was sure it involved someone on the team?”

Diana nodded. “It was in the athletic department where it happened. In the locker room.”

My eyes widened as I shared a look with Dante. “There are no cameras in the locker room—”

“You think we don’t know that?” Briar was glaring at me again.

“Okay, I know this is really shitty for you.” I was done with the glaring. “But why is all of your aggression aimed at me? I haven’t done anything to you.”

“You forced your way into this!”

“Hey, we didn’t even know this was a thing, okay? Some stupid senior asshole started on Dante for no reason, and Dante, I don’t know if you know of him, but he doesn’t quit when something’s bugging him. The more we looked into it, the more we uncovered. Do you think we want to know this? Do you think we aren’t standing here wishing we didn’t know any of this absolute shitshow that’s happening here?”

“So you don’t care?” Briar asked flatly with a gleam of triumph in her eyes.

“Of course we fucking care!” I snarled at her. “But caring and wanting to know are two very different things!”

“Oh. My—”

“Do not do that.” My voice was flat. “You’re acting like a child. This is your brother and your . . .” I glanced at Diana “. . . whatever you two are. This is serious. We are trying to help you.”

“So now I’m not taking it seriously?”

“I’m not here to fight you,” I said. “But if you keep swinging at me, I’m going to fight back.”

“Is that your thing, big guy?” She leaned forward, anger riding her hard. “Swinging back? Telling people to sit and stay?”

I licked my top teeth before I lost my fucking temper, because she was pushing and she knew it, and I would not lose my temper. Not here. Not with her.