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“Yes, but—”
“Butnothing,” Alicia interrupted, shaking her head. “It didn’t appear that she was physically hurt at all – just upset. And I’m sure that if he’d touched her… she would tell us that. I don’t think she would have left it at,everybody leave me alone.Not after everything. So… we have a decision ahead of us. We can go smack this dude around, which is – honestly – my preferred approach.Or… we can do what she asked – whatyouorIwould want, if it was either of us. We can leave it alone, and let her handle it how she sees fit. We can just go grab her favorite snacks and whatever else she might want, go back to her place, watch shitty movies and pretend thisTylerdoesn’t even exist. And then ifshewants us to go kick his ass…”
“I’m getting first lick.”
“Of course you would,” Alicia agreed, pulling into the parking lot of Tyler’s building. “So… what’s it gonna be?”
Damn.
Ononehand… I was more than willing to be out for blood, determined to get it from the man who’d hurt my Penelope, who I saw as a little sister. On the other hand though… she was right. For all my bluster about wanting space to handle my own life without having a protective detail up my ass, when it was somebodyIcared about in question, I was ready to take Tyler’s ass to a black site and pull his teeth out.
So… maybe now I understood a little more where Alicia was coming from.
“Okay,okay,” I conceded – annoyed about it, but still. “We… should probably wait until Pen wants to talk about it, so we don’t step on her toes. I don’t want her feeling like we just steamroll her life, instead of listening to her.”
Alicia’s top lip curled. “Eh. I still say let’s bust his kneecaps now, ask questions later, but… I’m willing to defer to you. Glad you can practice what you preach, little sister.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. Barely.”
“Let’s get out of here,” she said, reaching for the gear shift just as my phone chimed with a text.
“Hold on,” I told her, tapping into the message to see that it was from Tyler.
“How is Pen? I’m leaving my place right now to come check on her, if that’s okay?” – Pen’s boo Tyler.”
Sure enough, just a few seconds after I finished reading that, the building's front door opened, and he came jogging out.
We didn’t even have to think about it.
Alicia and I both hopped out, catching up to Tyler before he could make it to his own vehicle.
“What do you mean,how is Pen?” I asked, walking right into his face as he tried to back away from me, until he was pinned against his car. “You tellme, how she is. You were supposed to be with her, bringing her to the party, but she’s at her place crying her eyes out. What did you do?”
A few feet away, Alicia stood smirking—probably over the fact that we’d completely abandoned our plan tonotdo this.
“I didn’t do anything!” Tyler insisted—believably. “We were just… we were upstairs, and we were…” his light brown skin flushed a bit redder with youthful shame that contradicted his stature and strong, defined facial features. “She… had these scars, that I could feel. So I just asked her, if she’d been in an accident or something. I thought it was a simple question, but she freaked out on me, and ran out. Then she freaked outmorewhen I caught her, so… I let her leave. Maybe I shouldn’t have. Because now she’s not answering the phone, and y’all are here looking like some kinda assassins or something, but I swear—I did nothing to hurt her. Not intentionally.”
Oh.
Oh.
Shit.
The scars in question were the result of a sadistic client, from Pen’s time as a Rose. The very scars she’d come to me about a few weeks ago, wanting to get my input about using tattoos to have them covered.
It was sensitive to her, and with good reason—for reasonsexactlylike this. It was much easier to explain a tattoo than to make up a story for the scars—the easier option over telling the truth. Part of getting the ink was so she could reclaim the acts of intimacy that the wounds made awkward. I knew she liked this guy a lot though, so… maybe she’d thought it would be fine.
Thatshe’dbe fine.
And maybe shehadbeen fine.
Until she wasn’t.
“She’s upset,” I told Tyler, backing up to give him some space—and ease his fear that I might put a blade in his gut. “It’s not my place to talk about her business, but I can say… it’s a tough topic for her. So you may have to give her a little time. Are you willing to do that?”
“Whatever she needs,” Tyler assured, immediately. “I like Pen, alot. I didn’t mean to upset her. I was just curious. I don’t have to ask about them, and she doesn’t have to tell me anything she doesn’t want me to know.”
I nodded. “Okay. So… I don’t think you should go to her place. Unless she tells you she wants that. I will tell her you wanted to though, and that you’re sorry she’s upset.”
