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“He knows.” The flat answer almost made me smile. It didn’t lack passion or intonation, yet it was also matter-of-fact. Surprise jerked through Ezra; if I hadn’t been facing his direction, I might have missed it.
Rather than respond, though, Ezra turned back to the bar like he planned to pour himself another drink.
“That’s fantastic. Care to illuminate it for the rest of us?” Adam wasn’t looking at Milo though, his attention was on me. I glanced at my water bottle because, honestly, no, I didn’t want to tell him. I’d rather assume he already knew. However, his eyes narrowed as he looked from me to Milo to Ezra and then back, suggested perhaps he didn’t.
“Not particularly,” Milo said, adopting an almost too reasonable tone. “I think it’s time Graham figured out he doesn’t get to make all the decisions or do all the harm.”
Ezra pivoted at the last. “I’m the one who sent her a bodyguard. I’m not doing any harm.”
“Depends on your point of view,” Milo countered as he moved toward them. “Cruelty comes in all forms—particularly when you abuse the goodwill and caring she has for you.”
“When have I ever abused you?” Ezra demanded, shooting me a look. “When?” He took one stride toward me, but Milo cut him off.
“Let’s start with your island,” Milo said and, honestly, if I didn’t know how angry he was, I don’t know that I would have heard it in his voice. “Then head to her apartment a few days ago.”
Shock stamped across Ezra’s face as he frowned first at me then at Milo. What was he surprised by? That I’d told Milo? Or that he might have done something wrong? He wasn’t so drunk he was lashing out at the moment. If anything, a genuine concern seemed reflected in his eyes.
“What did you do to Lainey?” Adam’s voice sliced through the room with icy intensity and Ezra jerked his gaze from us to Adam. “You may not want to answer them. But you will answer me.”
“I don’t owe you shit,” Ezra said abruptly. “Answers or otherwise. You want to act like you’re in charge, except you actually need to be around tobein charge.” Belligerence filled his expression. “You took off. It was onmeto protect her, and I’ve damn well done it. Here. There. Even when she hooked up with him, I had her back.”
“Thenwhyare they saying you hurt her?” The temperature in the room dipped further, and Adam took a step forward.
“He is saying I hurt her.” Ezra looked at me. “Lainey isn’t saying anything.”
“Don’t do this,” I told him. The gleam in his eye was pure trouble. Ezra lived to play with fire. Maybe he wasn’t drunk right now, nevertheless he was angry.
“Don’t do, what? Drag us all into a private room to discuss who is warming your bed and who wants to be?” The last he threw at Adam. “Maybe not all of us are as reticent about pursuing who and what we want. Maybe you should have gotten off your ass a long time ago—and then he wouldn’t be here. But no—no, you had to do ityour way. Well, we’re done with your way. Your way is why we’re all in this goddamn mess and why we have to live with Hardigan warming her bed.”
“You really don’t know how to quit when you’re ahead,” Milo said. “Lainey isn’t a possession to be bartered and traded.”
“No,” Ezra said, glaring at Milo. “She’s also not your personal whore to claim for a street gang. She’s a fucking lady and should be treated as such.”
“I’m not the one who left her in tears or told her it was a mistake after getting what I wanted—”
My stomach bottomed out as Adam went deathly still and his expression erased. Even his eyes went blank. Ezra took a step toward Milo but Adam slammed a hand against his chest, stepping in between them.
“Did you touch her?” Four words, every single one shivering with the ice coating them.
Ezra lifted his chin and, for a moment, I thought he’d deny it. However the guilt on his face vanished beneath the fury. There was a wildness in his eyes that made me desperately hope none of them had actual weapons on them. Their fists were bad enough.
The silence stretched to the breaking point when a single clearing of the throat shattered it. I jerked around, heart hammering as a familiar masked figure stepped out from behind a set of shelves. “Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn’t quite hear his answer and I’m dying to know.”
He looked from me to Milo then to Ezra and Adam.
“Did you touch her, Graham?” Bodhi asked. “And more importantly, Lainey B, did you let him? Or do I need to make him bleed?”
ChapterTwenty-Five
BODHI
The arrival of the drama train had been moderately entertaining, until Lainey B’s name came up more than once. Her voice had been a welcome distraction from my own thoughts. Then, I tracked what the four were discussing.
Or more clearly,whotwo of them were discussing while she stood right there. Violence scented the air. Violence and blood. Graham had a blood stain on the corner of his mouth and the sign of a bruise. Gloves on everyone present made it hard to determine who’d delivered the beatdown.
If I had to guess though, it was PPG’s brother. Hardigan stared at Graham like he was ready to gut him and he wouldn’t break a sweat doing it. A vein throbbed in Reed’s forehead. It was the only sign of life in his frozen mask. Devastation took many different forms. He’d kept a close grip on Lainey B’s leash, always stepping into the breach to keep others away.
It would seem she’d slipped free when he hadn’t been paying attention. Good for her. Still—I focused on Lainey B even as I kept Graham in my line of sight. Color flushed her cheeks and her eyes gleamed but lacked the uncomfortable shimmer of tears. Their absence gave me time to determine what was going on. If they brought her to tears, I would deal out the same.
