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“Well, I can’t get used to it. If you’re done, get the fuck out.”
I zip up, go to the sink, and wash my hands. Then I leave. We’re on the sixth floor, so it’s not like my brother can escape out a window or anything.
Five minutes later he emerges from the bathroom.
“We’re having a talk,” I say.
“Right here? Right now?”
“You know of a better place?”
“How about tonight at Mom and Dad’s? Or your place?”
“I haven’t been home. I’ve been staying here with Ray.”
“You staying tonight?”
“I don’t know. Probably.”
“She’s doing fine, Fal.”
“I missed years of her life. I’m not missing any more. If this is near the end, I’m not missing any of it.”
“You heard the docs as well as I did. She’s got a good shot, thanks to you.”
“I know, but I can’t be too careful. For now, though…” I grab his arm.
He yanks it free. “Stop that.”
“Fine.” I gesture to the end of the hallway. “Then come with me.”
He walks beside me, huffing with exasperation the whole way, down the hallway toward the small waiting area near the elevators. Good. It’s vacant.
“Sit,” I say.
“Shut the fuck up.” But he sits.
I take a seat next to him. “Spill it.”
“Spill what?”
“You know what. I didn’t spend nearly a third of my life behind bars so you can get into more trouble. What the hell is going on, E?”
“Nothing bad.”
“Are you kidding me? I know how close you are to Raven. Nothing would keep you from getting here…unless your life depended on it.”
He sighs. “It’s not like that.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Spill it. You owe me, Eagle.”
My brother scowls. “You promised never to shove that in my face.”
“Am I shoving? I’m stating fact. When I went down all those years ago, you and Hawk made me a promise. To stay clean. Out of trouble. To keep our secrets.”
“I’ve never said a damned word.”
“Did I say you did? I’m just saying I know you. I know you as well as you know yourself.”
“With all due respect, Falcon, you don’t. You were gone. I’m not the same man I was.”
“You were no man when I left, E. You were seventeen.”
“Fine. I’m not the kid I was. I’m a man now, and—”
“Enough is fucking enough,” I say through clenched teeth. “Raven was your favorite sibling when I left, and I have no reason to believe she’s still not, which means something kept you from getting here. Now what was it?”
Silence.
“I’ll fucking punch it out of you if I have to.”
Eagle stands then, clenches his fists. “I grew a lot bigger while you were away, if you haven’t noticed. I’m taller than you now, so I’d like to see you try.”
I stay seated, but my body tenses. “Those are fighting words, Eagle. And it’s a fight you’ll lose. Trust me on that one. I took down bigger men than you on the inside, and they were a hell of a lot meaner too.”
“It was just a little deal,” Eagle says. “I didn’t think it would harm anything.”
“What kind of deal? And if you say drugs I’m going to mess up that pretty face of yours.”
“No, no. Of course not. I lent some money to a guy in Seven Oaks.”
“Who?”
“A friend.” He draws in a breath. “Well, a friend of a friend.”
“Exactly who, Eagle?”
“I don’t know his name. He called himself Jones.”
“Great.” I roll my eyes.
“Scarlett Ramsey knows him. Or knew him. Hell, I don’t know. Anyway, Scarlett said someone needed my help, and—”
“And you were a little pussy-whipped so you said okay.”
Eagle’s talk of Scarlett reminds me of Leif Ramsey.
Damn.
Leif, my best friend in the world since we were in diapers, until…
Yeah, until.
“What can I say? She’s hot.”
“You’re not eighteen anymore. When has Scarlett Ramsey given you the time of day? She’s four years older than you are.”
“So? She’s still hot.”
“Hot isn’t everything.”
The elevator door dings and it opens in front of us.
To reveal…
Damn.
Savannah Gallo.
In a denim mini skirt that clings to her round ass and that V-neck that shows rosy cleavage.
And here I am lecturing my little brother on being pussy-whipped.
23
SAVANNAH
Right there, as if I’d ordered him up on a platter, is Falcon Bellamy, standing with another man who’s nearly as hot as Falcon himself. He’s got to be one of the Bellamy brothers.
My cheeks are already scorching just from Falcon’s presence. He seems to be engaged in a serious conversation with the other guy, but then his gaze lands on me.
Right on me.
And I feel it everywhere…especially between my legs.
“Go back and see Raven,” Falcon says to the other one. “We’re done for now.”
“Thank God,” the other murmurs, and he heads down the hallway toward the room where Falcon’s sister is hospitalized.
Falcon walks into the elevator with me. “Vannah,” he says.
“Hi,” I say, my voice shaking a bit.
“You came.”
“To see Ashley.”
“She’s one floor up.”
