“Whisper, look at me,” Callan pleads. Sobs clog my throat right before lips come down on mine. This kiss is soft, gentle even. I blink rapidly trying to stop the tears when I see him. Pulling back, I shove at his chest causing him to stumble back.
“Don’t touch me!” I scream looking around for an exit when the door flies open again. Steele and Knox both step in, closing the door behind them. It’s one of the study rooms. I’ve been here before. There’s only one way out and they’re blocking it. My chest heaves. There isn’t enough oxygen in the room for all of us. My mouth opens and closes but nothing is happening.
“What the hell happened?” Callan asks looking to his brothers.
“A little presentation in English class.” Steele smirks. My mouth is dry. I can’t swallow. I feel like my throat is closing up as I grip the edge of the table behind me.
“She freaked out. What did you do?” Callan asks turning to Steele. The both of them talk but I can’t hear them. What the hell? What’s happening to me?
“Please,” I whisper but it comes out hoarse. They can’t hear me. I can’t hear me. My head swims as memories rush me and then I’m falling.
“Shit!” I hear Knox yell. I hit the floor, my head bouncing off the tiles as the room spins.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know!” Knox roars. Hands touch my face, my chest. Another hand runs through my hair. Everything is cloudy, I can’t see their faces.
“Whisper? What’s happening?” I hear Callan ask. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Am I dying? Is this what dying feels like?
“Whisper? Whisper!”
10
Steele
“Someone has been beating her,” the doctor says eyeing me like I did it. I growl and grind my teeth before Knox steps in front of me.
“We pay you, Doc. Remember that shit the next time you’re about to accuse one of us of something.” The old grey-haired man nods his head and steps back.
“She needs to rest. She had a pretty severe panic attack from what you’re telling me. She will probably sleep it off for quite some time. Give her these when she wakes up to help the headache, I’m sure she will experience,” he says passing Knox a bottle of pills.
“What caused it?” Callan asks, clearly concerned. Over the last month, things have shifted with her. I didn’t want to say much but I can feel it. I don’t want to hurt her, push her anymore. I want her on her back under me. I want to feel her lips on mine. Every time I see her with anyone else, I feel this need to claim her even though I know that’s not what I need to be doing. It doesn’t matter though.
“It’s really hard to say until she’s awake and we can ask her. Maybe she saw something that triggered a memory or smelled something. There are many reasons this could have happened.” I eye Knox as he watches me. This is my fault. Whatever I did in that classroom triggered her but why? What happened to her?
“And the bruises?” Knox asks pulling his eyes from mine.
“They are new. I see some signs of older ones as well but mainly new. It appears that she once had a broken rib at some point in her life.”
“What?” I roar spinning to face him.
“Her injury was either treated poorly or not treated at all. There’s a little unevenness there on the right side.” My throat feels tight as I drag my gaze back to her lying on my bed. I vaguely hear the doctor say something else to Knox before he leaves. That’s when a hand comes down on my shoulder.
“What are you thinking?” Callan asks.
“What the hell are we doing to her?”
“What we were told to do,” Knox replies.
“But why? She clearly has no idea what we want from her or at least she isn’t letting on. Maybe we need a new approach,” I say, stunning myself with the words. I’ve never been one to back down from a fight. I’ve never been one to not finish a job either but something about Whisper doesn’t seem right. It’s off somehow and I don’t like that feeling.
“What do you want to do, Steele?” Knox asks. I sit on the edge of the bed, resting my head in my hands as I think about that.
“We have to stop hurting her. Someone is already doing that,” I say not sure that I even hear myself saying it. I can’t believe those words come out of my mouth.
“Are you kidding me?” I jerk my head up to look at Callan as he stands in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest.
“No. Look at her! What good is she to us if she’s broken?” That’s not what this is about. Forget us. Forget what we were told to do. This is about me not being able to control myself around her. This is about what my head is telling me is wrong and what I feel is right.
“Goddamn it! You’re falling for her,” Knox roars loudly. I don’t acknowledge him. I don’t need to. I’m close to my brothers, closer to them than anyone else in my life and they know me the same way I know them.
“Well that complicates things,” Callan muses.
“No, it doesn’t. Nothing changes. If she was planted, she was stuck here to weasel her way in, we’re going to find out about it. Just not the way we have been.”
“So, what are we going to do? Apologize for being assholes and buy her chocolates?” Callan hisses.
“Not exactly. You’re going to do those things.” His head snaps around to look at me like I’ve gone insane and maybe I have.
“What does that mean?”
“You’re the one that’s been nice to her. You’re the one that she trusts most out of all of us. You have to be the one to get in with her.” He shakes his head, a laugh escaping him.
“Not a chance in hell. Do you even realize the look you get when anyone else is near her? Huh?” He raises his eyebrows as Knox laughs.
“He’s right. No way can you sit back and watch your little brother play house with that girl.” He adds his two cents that no one asked for.
“Then what do we do?” I ask shoving myself off the bed. Resting my hands on my hips, I look between the two of them waiting for an answer when Knox chuckles.
“You keep her for yourself, man. No way are we getting in the middle of that,” he says pointing at her.
“Like you didn’t touch her already,” I challenge him. Both of them.
“That’s different. You didn’t give a damn about her before.”
“And I still don’t.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Callan says. I move toward him quickly, my fist balled at my side. Just as I’m about to swing, Knox steps in between us, shoving me back a step.
“We don’t do this! We don’t fight each other!” His words slam into my chest like a lead weight. He’s right we don’t. My head is a mess as I take a step back and run my hand through my hair.
“You’re right. I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore. How much more shit I can handle from Dad’s crew,” I say honestly. I’ve taken hit after hit from them over the last month and my body and mind are wearing thin.
“We need to watch our backs. We’re getting sloppy with our searches,” Callan states. I nod.