AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Miri
Ihardlysleptawink in my old bed at Mum’s house. In the morning, I found Reece in his pajamas at the breakfast bar. The bruises on his face had faded a little, but my sensible, straitlaced brother still looked like a human punching bag. Guilt prickled the back of my neck.
My fault.
“How are you feeling?”
He cricked his neck. “I’m on the mend.”
I poured myself a coffee, searching for the right words. “Look, Reece. I don’t even know where to start. I’m so sorry that this happened—”
“Frankie told me what you were doing last night.”
Boiling coffee sloshed on the counter as I missed the cup. I’d asked her to keep it to herself. I should have known better. Frankie and Reece had always been tight.
“What do you think you’re doing, Miri?” he said softly.
A barb speared my chest. This was typical Reece. He’d been beaten up because of me, but he could still look at me with empathy as if I deserved it. I didn’t.
A pulse thudded at my temple. “I have to get the money.”
“Not like that.”
“Then how?”
His eyes dropped to the chipped mug in his hands.
“I have to make this right. I’m so sorry that Deano came for you. If I’d known …”
He watched me in his quiet, thoughtful way before he slipped off his glasses and cleaned them with his little cloth.
“The club is perfectly nice. Everyone is friendly. The women there are trying to make extra cash … students … single mums. It was fine. I did one private dance and some time on the pole.”
“It’s degrading. Taking your clothes off for men to leer at? You’re objectifying yourself for men’s pleasure. It’s not feminist. We need to find another way to get the money.”
I took a sip of too-hot coffee and cringed. “Thank you for mansplaining feminism to me. A woman making her own choices is feminist. I’m choosing to do this.”
“No you’re not,” he muttered uneasily. “You’re doing it because we’re in trouble. You’re not choosing it. I don’t like the thought of you in that environment. There will be drugs and booze. Men in these situations can be violent. I’m worried for your safety.”
The irony was I’d felt safer in that club with Gabe Rivers than I had walking around in the area that surrounded it. He’d been so … nice. So different from when we’d met the first time.
I swallowed hard, trying to manage a feeble answer. “I’mchoosingto do this to solve the mess I made. Frankie’s outside in the car if I need her.”
“What use is she outside?”
The scent of bacon fat in the kitchen overwhelmed me, and nausea gripped my stomach. A thin chill hung on the edge of my words. “Are you this judgmental with your therapy patients or just your family?”
“I have no issue with what goes on between consenting adults behind closed doors, but this isn’t true consent. You’re doing this for us, and I won’t have it. We’ll find a way to make this money.”
I drew a calming breath. I had to be nice to my brother. He’d been beaten up because of me. Still, his unflappably calm manner never failed to wind me up. He was always so serene it was like arguing with Buddha. “It won’t take me long in this club. I made a grand last night.”
“A grand?” He rubbed the bridge of his nose and his eyes slipped away. “It’s just dancing, isn’t it, Miri? You’re not …”
“No … it’s not …that.They aren’t allowed to touch me.”
I took a deep breath and tried to relax my shoulders. I’d known this wouldn’t be palatable, but I’d hoped Reece might be more open-minded. My stomach clenched with irritation. “I’ll take my clothes off every night of the week if it means you don’t get the shit kicked out of you again. This is my mess. I’m going to sort it.”
A loud knock sounded on the front door. Reece blew out an audible breath and lowered his fork to his plate with a gentle click. A prickle lifted the hair on the back of my neck. He turned to me with a taut, serious expression and pushed me toward the back door. “Get out of the house. Go next door.”
