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Chapter 22
JADE
I met Liam down by the football field just like he said, choosing to wait by his convertible in the parking lot in case any of the cheerleaders or lacrosse guys felt the need to let Sebastian know they saw me walking off with him. The last thing I need is for Bass to head back from wherever it is he’s going to stop me. I lean back against the car watching as Liam appears out of the guys locker room, freshly showered and looking so damn good. His hair is wet and tousled in perfect golden blond waves, biceps nearly ripping through the dark blue T-shirt, and his dark jeans snugly fitted around his massive thighs. Is it just me or is it suddenly hot out here?
“Hey there gorgeous,” he says as he reaches me, throwing his bag into the trunk that suddenly pops open. I don’t answer him, my eyes slowly following his every movement.
After closing the trunk he moves to the driver side not bothering to open the door for me, which I kind of expected. “Are you ready to go?” he asks, “Or are you just going to stand there and stare.”
A genuine, playful smile comes out of me at his refreshing attitude, “Well I mean look at you Walker, walking out of the locker room looking like that and smelling like a fucking rainy day, it’s hard not to become enamored.”
“Nah Wolfe, we both know you like them broody, moody, and smelling like death,” he jokes, taking a less than subtle dig at Bass.
The drive out to Roman’s apartment doesn’t take long though my anxiety is through the roof. To be honest I think at one point I might have dazed off, envisioning how the conversation with Roman would play out. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. I know my brother's been practically begging me to give him a chance to explain himself to me, but that’s not what I’m going to him for. I need answers, and if he’s willing to share those, then I’ve decided everything else is water under the bridge.
Liam pulls into an empty parking space right next to a car I recognize. Looks like Drake’s also here again. I overheard Stella saying the guys were looking for a place to move into once school was done and over with, so I’m imagining Drake mentioned his little bachelor pad.
Liam follows closely behind me as we walk up the stairs and head toward Roman’s door.
I lift my hand to knock but freeze before my knuckles touch the wood. Liam’s hand comes to rest above mine as he steps forward.
“I’m here Jade, we can turn away and leave if it’s what you want or we can do this together either way, I’m here for you.”
Just as I’m about to knock, the door is swung open and Roman appears on the other side. His eyes remain expressionless but his posture stiffens as he stares at me tentatively, blinking a few times to ensure it’s really me.
“Jade,” he mutters under his breath, the shock evident in the way his voice fades out. I don’t react, don’t say anything that gives him any idea as to why I’m here or in what kind of mood I’m in.
Suddenly, his eyes leave mine and travel behind me to where Liam stands, his eyebrows creasing as a scowl forms across his lips. I swear I hear him growl, reminding me of the possessiveness I’m all too familiar with. That’s the last thing I need.
“Wow, my baby sister has admirers, glad to see you at least got rid of Silver,” That Son of a fucking bitch.
“Fuck you Roman,” I shout, slapping him as I turn and stalk away. My palm stings, pulsating from the force of the blow.
“Wait Jade,” Roman calls out, making me halt in my tracks and turn to face him. “I’m sorry okay, I don’t know how I’m supposed to go about all of this,” he adds, rubbing his cheek where my palm made his skin red. Liam watches between the two of us, but I can’t make out what he’s thinking. Probably just taking in our appearance and wondering how the hell we can be related.
Liam doesn’t know this side of me. He sees a pretty girl, who is parentless sure, but still looks as shiny and new as the chicks he’s used to. I can transform into that when it matters, but Roman looks like the hell he’s been through. Tattoos covering his body, scars on every inch of skin that’s left unmarked by ink. My brother still remains as beautiful as he’s always been, another family curse I’m afraid, but you can see the life he’s lived in the depths of his bottomless green eyes. That’s where we are the same, in the hurt that lies in the windows to our souls, that’s what Liam has yet to see in me, and I’m afraid he’s in for quite a surprise.
“You think I know Roman. You think after all these years, after everything you’ve done, I’m standing before you knowing what will come next. I have no fucking clue, but I’m also not the weak-willed little girl you left to fend for herself, I’m not a pushover who’s going to forgive everything because you all of a sudden want to be back in my life, and for all the wrong reasons I’m sure.”
“I told you I want to explain everything to you Jade, to come clean, I just need you to give me a chance.”
“Well I’m here Roman, but not without conditions. You want me to listen to your sob story about how you fell in with the two most dangerous of devils, well you have to answer my questions too, starting with who are Kane Dalton and The Order?”
He shakes his head, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips, “Straight and to the point, I taught you well little sis.” He motions for me to step inside, “You should come inside, what I’m going to tell you isn’t something that should be said with an audience, and this isn’t the kind of place we’re used to living in. The neighbors here don’t like shouting out in the hallways at all hours of the day.”
I push past him heading inside his apartment with Liam following behind me. “You can wait out here pretty boy,” Roman says, his hand coming to lay on Liam’s chest. They’re about the same height, but where my brother is thin and muscular from obvious daily visits to some kind of weight training establishment, Liam is broad shouldered and athletic, you’re typical football player build. Yet I have no doubt the quarterback would come out of this brawl unscathed.
“He goes wherever I go, he’s my friend, I'm not hiding shit from him.”
“You sure about that sis, I know Silver wouldn’t mind the kind of shit you’re involved in seeing as he is at the helm of it all, but this one, you sure you want to tip the pedestal he holds you on.” Roman quirks a brow at me in question, but I’m too stubborn to heed his warning.
“I have nothing to hide Roman, besides I’m sure Liam knows that his home isn’t as shiny and flawless as they all make it seem.
“Well then by all meansmi casa es su casa,” Roman sneers sarcastically.
The inside of Roman’s apartment gives a better insight as to what my dear brother has been up to. Unlike the pristinely clean and overlynormalexterior, the inside of the small living space is wrecked. Empty beer cans everywhere you look, half empty bottles of liquor on every surface, the smell of weed and tobacco floating like a cancerous cloud around the room. The two suede couches are in much better condition than the ones we had back home but still look like there are at least a few cockroaches living in between the cushions. The hardwood floors are a light oak wood and contrast nicely with the dark blue walls, but other than that the place doesn’t look lived in. Sparse furniture sits in odd corners, no photographs or decor anywhere to be seen, just a lonesome television mounted upon the wall beside the floor length window covered in blackout curtains.
“How long have you lived here?” I ask, stepping in further and reaching down to pick up a magazine, Playboy of course, from the coffee table addressed to Roman Wolfe. I can’t believe he’s been living right under my nose these last few months, not even hiding who he is or using an alias of sorts.
