Taro.
Never really took in his name before.
And I don’t need to now either.
“I’ll go if you want to.”
“I’ll see,” she said softly.
“No problem.” Mimi went back to staring down at her legs, lost in thought again. “Hey, how about we head to that huge-arse theatre room and watch some movies?”
A small smile touched her lips. “That sounds good, actually.”
“Cool.” We moved off the bed and headed for the door. I wasn’t sure if I was offering a day of movies for a distraction just for Mimi though. I reckoned I needed it also.
Because of him.
Which was damn weird.
Chapter Six
Ruin
“Giving you a good morning kiss.”
Opening my eyes, I cursed repeatedly and even hit the bed with my fists a couple of times. Those damn words had been waking me up since Wolf had said them over a week ago. It pissed me off. I didn’t get why my mind was stuck on those words, since it was obvious Wolf had been, like he said, messing with me at the time.
However, he’d stopped his teasing after that incident.
Of course, I was glad he had, but in doing so, he’d become more aloof with me. If we were in the same room together, he’d nod in greeting but wouldn’t talk to me. While I didn’t understand the cold change, it was for the best.
It was.
Yawning, I pressed a hand over my mouth and… morning breath. A thump against the wall that connected to Wolf’s room had me sitting up. I was ready to see if there was anything wrong, but nothing else happened after the first noise.
I could easily go back to sleep since I didn’t get much the night before. I’d been in Mimi’s room comforting her since, once again, she’d been distraught over her father and his shit words when she’d tried to reason with him.
The guy needed to die already. It was cold, but damn true. The longer the mean bastard lingered, the more hurt it brought Mimi, his words festering in her mind.
It fucking gutted me to see her in a state where she couldn’t stop crying and found it hard to breathe. Eventually, last night, her mum had come to take care of her and had asked me to leave. I didn’t until Mimi gave me the go-ahead.
Christ, I knew there were people out there with shit parents and families. My real father had been one. He was a long-gone memory, though, as Nary and I had Stoke in our lives. He’d shown us how important we were to him by taking us on. Not only that, but by looking after and loving our mum. When they’d had a kid together, a sister for us who was now nine, I thought things would change and Stoke would be different to us since we weren’t his biological kids. Especially since Nary and I were older. But they hadn’t.
We were just as important to him as Rayne was.
I was damn lucky to have my family. Mum had never been as happy as she was with Stoke. Nary had her own happily ever after with Vicious, after her nightmare situation, and Vicious had stepped up to claim his woman after they’d been dancing around each other for years.
It was my turn to find mine. It wouldn’t be anytime soon, though, since I didn’t have that connection Mum had with Stoke or Nary had with Vicious.
I hoped Mimi could find her someone as well. Hell, she deserved it. Shit, everyone did, but some more than others.
A knock sounded on my door. I pulled back the blankets, got out of bed wearing only black boxers, and opened the heavy door.
“Mimi, you okay?” I asked, opening the door further to let her in. She entered and started pacing.
“I want to go home, back to Ballarat.”
My brows dipped. “You sure?” I’d thought she’d stay until her dad passed away.
“There’s no point in being here. He doesn’t want me here.”
“I do” came from the doorway. Wolf stood in it, already dressed for the day.
“Taro,” Mimi uttered, stalling her feet. Her head dropped, gaze to the floor. “I need to go.”
Wolf, ignoring me, moved into the room and got close to his sister. “We’ve always known he’s a vile piece of shit, but Mother loves him still.”
Mimi nodded. “I know.”
“Wouldn’t you want to be here for her?”
Her bottom lip trembled. “I do. It just… it hurts, Taro.”
Wolf tugged her into his arms. “I know, sweetheart. I hate how he has treated you. Hate it with every bone in my body.”
Mimi sucked in a shuddering breath and looked up at Wolf. “For Mother, I’ll stay, as long as Ruin can stay with me.”
Fuck. I had hoped to go, but Mimi knew I’d stay and help her through this. She needed to know someone had her back from home, someone who also wasn’t her brother.
“You’ve got me, honey,” I told her.
She smiled sadly over at me and then wiped at her eyes. “I’ll go and see if Mother needs anything.”
“All right,” Taro said, and we watched her walk from the room, but not before she reached out for my hand as she passed. I took it and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She breezed out the door with her head held high, but I knew it was an act.
I glanced back to Wolf and caught him quickly averting his gaze away from me. He nodded once and moved off towards the door.
“You sleep in your suits?” I blurted, and I didn’t know why.
He paused. “I sleep naked, but that’s not something you need to know, right?”
I swallowed. I didn’t. Why did he have to fucking say it though?
“Right,” I answered. He took a couple of steps. “Why’re you ignorin’ me?” Shut the fuck up, man. I didn’t care that I was no longer on his radar. It was better that way.
Then why did it burn my chest every time he kept quiet?
Christ, I should have kept my mouth shut.
Wolf turned slowly and cocked his head as he studied me. I ground my teeth together when my gut tightened.
Was the tightness for disgust about the way he looked at me with heat in his eyes?
Or did my gut act up for another reason?
Nope, fuck no, it was disgust.
There was no interest there. That was fucking laughable to even allow that random thought to brush through my mind. Especially since no other guy had caught my attention in that way.
Then why did I keep talking to keep him here?
Why did I feel like a shithead for snapping at him that morning in the kitchen?
Maybe it was because I didn’t want Wolf to think I hated gay people. I didn’t. I had many in my life and loved them all like family.
Wolf just got under my skin in a way I didn’t understand.
“You told me to fuck off, Ruin. I’ve fucked off.”
Lifting a hand, I ran it over my hair. “Look, I’m not homophobic or anything. I have gay people in my life back home. You scared the hell outta me that morning by sneaking up.”
He dragged his top teeth over his bottom lip, and I knew it was because he was trying to hide his smirk, but he failed. He took a step back my way. My heart skipped a fucking beat, and I suddenly felt like prey. It wasn’t good.
“Are you saying if I warn you beforehand, I can greet you as such again?”
“What? No.” I forced a laugh. Jesus, where did he get that idea from?