Page 29 of Waggs

Waggs struck him, knocking the chair backwards as rage threatened to make him let go of his control. “Mind your fucking manners when you talk about her.”

The man spat blood onto the floor and looked up at him with a sneer. “You think you can stop him, but you have no idea what you’re getting involved with. This is bigger than Edwards. It goes all the way to the top.”

“What does that mean?”

Waggs hauled the chair straight and felt the door open behind him and glanced to see a smiling Liam behind him.

“You started the fun without me!”

Waggs sneered at the dangerous, bloodthirsty look on his friend’s face. “Sorry, catch up. I can wait.” Waggs stepped back and saw fear cross Costasis’ face.

“No, wait, I’ll talk.” He didn’t try and get a deal, obviously knowing walking away with his life would be the best he could expect in this situation. “Ralph has connections in the military. Someone high up is helping him move the product around.”

“By product, do you mean women?” Waggs couldn’t keep the disgust out of his voice.

“Yes, it’s easy for women to disappear in a war zone. Your brother found out. It’s why they killed him.”

Waggs vision went red, and before he could consciously understand what he was doing, he was beating Costasis. His fist hitting him over and over as his brain tried to understand the words.

Liam grabbed him and dragged him off the man with Jack, who’d entered the room at some point, helping him. Waggs was breathing hard, his emotions out of control as he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“I suggest you start giving us names and explain what the fuck else you know before I let him finish what he started.”

Waggs staggered from the room, leaving Jack and Liam to handle the next part as he tried to wrestle for control. He pushed the exterior door open and felt fresh air filling his lungs as the smothering grief tried to eclipse him.

He sucked in blessed oxygen as he held his hand against the wall so his legs wouldn’t cave. He heard the door open but didn’t look up, not having the energy to do so.

“You okay?”

“No.” Waggs answered Deck’s question honestly for probably the first time ever. Waggs sunk to his ass on the ground and cursed the sun that was at odds with his mood. “I’m in love with my twin brother’s fiancée, and I have no clue if she feels the same. I let her almost get killed. I miss Aaron like an ache in my chest that won’t go away, and now I find out that the reason he died is because of a secret he was keeping from me. He never mentioned his suspicions, not once, and what does that say about us? I thought we were as close as two brothers could be, and we had no secrets.”

Decker sat next to him on the concrete in his designer suit and rested his elbows on his bent knees. “First, you didn’t let her almost get killed. She’s fine and so is the kid. Second, any idiot can see she is head over heels for you, except perhaps you. Missing Aaron is inevitable. You came into the world together, spent every day together. A bond like that won’t be broken by death. When you love someone like that, and they die, it leaves a gaping hole in your life that can’t be filled. Sometimes the pain is the only way to know you’re still alive. You lock everything away, so it won’t hurt, numbing yourself but the pain still gets through.”

“You sound like you know something about that.” Waggs was sure this was the most Deck had ever revealed.

“I do, more than I ever wanted to and one day I’ll tell you my story but not today. Today you have to reconcile yourself with the grief and guilt you feel over loving Willow. It’s all woven into the loss you feel. You say you never kept secrets, but you did. Why did you never tell Aaron how you felt about Willow?”

Waggs drew back, his eyes widening. “Are you serious right now?”

“Humour me.”

“Because it would have hurt him, devastated him, and ruined what we had between the three of us.”

“Why do you think he kept his suspicions about Ralph from you?”

Waggs understood what his friend was saying. “To protect me. He was only a few minutes older, but he was always trying to protect me.”

“My point is we all have secrets, even from those we love, and if I had to make a bet, I’d say he knew how you felt about Willow.”

Waggs felt sick at the thought. “I hope not.”

“Either way, you need to find a way to make it right in your head or you and Willow might as well call it quits now.”

“I can’t do that.”

Decker stood and brushed down his trousers to get the dust off. “Then find a way.”

“Why do you always wear a suit?”