“Like what?”
“Do you know who I am, Steele? Like who I really am?” There it is. The question that I knew would come at some point.
“You don’t understand what’s happening here, Whisper.” She steps into my space, grabbing me around the neck and pulling my lips to hers. I let her kiss me. I let her take whatever kind of aggression she has in her out on me because after this, I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“I want you, Steele,” she whispers against my lips. I lift her easily, she wraps her legs around my waist. Carrying her into the back where the showers are, I let her fall to her feet. She watches me while she pulls her jeans off and kicks her shoes to the side. I wriggle out of my game pants and pull my boxers down before moving toward her. She doesn’t say a word as I lift her effortlessly and slide into her. She gasps, clinging to me like her life depends on it. Holding her hips in my hands, I pump into her. Whisper pants as I fuck her against the shower wall. Neither of us say a word and that’s probably for the best. Each thrust feels like it’s the last. Something is morphing between us, pulling us apart and I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with that.
Her nails dig into my shoulders as I feel her pussy clench around me.
“Steele,” she moans as I come apart inside of her. She clenches again and I feel her walls constrict around me as she gasps for air. Her whimpers will forever be burned into my memory.
“I know who you are,” I whisper in her ear before biting her earlobe. Once again, she clamps down around me and moans.
“Who am I?” she asks breathlessly.
“Whisper Macron.” Her body tenses as I slowly pull out of her and let her feet fall to the floor.
“How did you find out?” she asks, looking up at me as I grab my boxers and head toward my locker to grab my clothes. She follows behind me, her clothes in her hand.
“I’m not some stupid jock, Whisper.”
“I know that,” she snaps as she pulls her jeans and shoes back on. “So what are you going to do about it?” I look over at her as I pull my clothes on before sitting on the bench to put my shoes on.
“That’s the thing, I don’t know. If my dad finds out, he will order us to kill you.”
“He has to know,” she adds.
“No, that was our job. We were supposed to find out. How long have you known?” I’m curious now. Not that it makes a difference to me, I don’t plan on letting her walk away as easily as she thinks she can.
“Not long.”
“What are your plans now that you know?” I ask grabbing my bag and throwing it over my shoulder. I motion for her to follow me when all I really want to do is snap her goddamn neck for avoiding me and fucking with my head. Either way, she follows me out to the SUV and climbs in the passenger seat. Once I toss my bag in the back and settle in, I glance over at her.
“What am I supposed to do? No one wants me. It’s pretty clear that my family shit on me when I was born and threw me away. They never wanted me.” There’s a hint of sadness in her tone that bothers me. Whisper has nothing to be sad about. She just learned who she truly is. That in itself should have her smiling and jumping with joy.
“You couldn’t be here,” I finally admit. While she’s been searching, so have I. I didn’t want to tell her the truth until I had every piece of this fucked up puzzle in my hands, but I can’t keep this from her either.
“What do you mean?” Now I have her attention.
“You weren’t just a Macron, Whisper.”
“I know, I’m a McLean too.” I chuckle at how she says it. Like it means nothing.
“You don’t get it do you? The power of both of those families could tear this town apart, Whisper.”
“Except for the small fact that they didn’t want me!”
“The affair was fucked up. In this world, affairs happen but bringing a child is never accepted. They had to get rid of you or they would have all lost their places.” Not that it makes it any better but that’s the truth.
“This is all stupid. It’s all bullshit,” she says, sounding completely over all of it already and it hasn’t even begun. I slip my hand across the seat and grab hers in mine before taking a deep breath and blowing it out.
“Shit’s going to get a little more complicated,” I warn her.
“Why? What more could there possibly be?” Her eyes meet mine and a slow dark smile pulls across my face.
“My dad.”
19
Whisper
My knee bounces as I sit in the seat next to Callan and Knox. I don’t know what’s happening here. I don’t know why I am supposed to be here, but in the middle of the room is an octagon ring that looks like something out of the MMA. My stomach churns and rumbles as I wait.
“Why am I here?” I ask looking up at Knox.
“You’ll see.” His jaw tics and I know that’s a sign that something is wrong. No one will inform me of what that is though.
“This is bullshit. I’m leaving,” I snap, shoving out of my seat. Knox grabs my wrist and jerks me back down roughly, digging his fingers into my flesh.
“You aren’t going anywhere. This is all on you, Whisper.” The growl that leaves his throat scares the shit out of me. I’ve never heard him like this. I swallow hard as groups of men shuffle into the room, taking up the seats that were left vacant minutes ago. I watch the way they all move, filing in like they are in for a big show.
“Is Steele fighting?” Knox looks away but when I turn to Callan, he nods.
“It isn’t what you think.”
“Is there anything you three can’t do?” I ask teasingly but the tone in the room is dark. Something’s not right. “What the hell is going on, Callan?”
“He lied, Whisper. We all fucking lied to our dad and Steele is taking the punishment for it. He made his decision,” Callan says looking straight ahead. There’s no emotion in his eyes which startles me. Callan has always been the nicer of the three, always smiling and playing but not now. He’s hard as stone and his face a mask I can’t read.
“What do you mean?” I ask, not sure if I really want the answer to that.
“You’ll see,” Knox says grinding his teeth. I watch and wait, hoping like hell that nothing bad is about to happen but I can feel it in the air. It’s almost a slap in the face when I see a group of men walk out with shorts on and their hands taped. Is there more than one fight? Where is Steele? I glance around when I see him, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck from side to side. My insides tremble when I see him stand on one side but no one else moves in that direction.
“Oh, my God,” I gasp when it hits me. Knox grabs the back of my neck, dragging my face to his. He leans in closely so that no one else can listen to what he’s about to say to me.
“You can’t react. Not a fucking tear, not a sob. Do you understand me?”
“He can’t fight them all, Knox. He’ll be killed.”
“He made his choice.”
“Why was this his choice? What the hell could he be gaining from this?” I nearly squeal when he pulls me closer. His eyes stay locked with mine and his silent answer is all I needed. My insides drop, bile rising in my throat as he stares at me.