“I’m fine.” I wave him off, not in the mood to talk about it. I washed off the dried blood and what little makeup I had left, but I have a bruised face and cuts on my hands.
“April—”
“Bourbon,” I interrupt him, knowing a Corona isn’t going to cut it tonight.
“I’ll have what she’s having,” Grave speaks, and Derek looks over at him. His dark eyes narrow on him as if he just noticed I’m not alone.
Derek’s eyes run over Grave’s tatted up arm and neck. Then the piercings in his face. He is not impressed. “I thought I knew all of April’s friends.” He arches a dark brow.
“You do,” I announce. My words don’t offend Grave in the least. He leans back in the booth, places his arms out wide on the leather, and grins up at Derek.
“April, this is Grave,” he growls, his eyes growing as he realizes who the guy is next to me. “He owns a quarter of Kingdom—”
“I know,” I snap. Derek opens his mouth, but I speak first. “I came for a drink. Not a lecture.”
He turns without saying another word.
“Ex?” Grave muses.
“Something like that.” I place my elbows on the table and bow my head, trying hard not to think about what happened tonight but failing. Tears of anger threaten my eyes. I sniff.
“Hey.” I feel his hand on my back, and I pull away from him.
“Don’t,” I warn. “Don’t act like you care.”
He sighs. “Of course I do, or I wouldn’t have taken care of it.”
“I didn’t need you to do that,” I snap, looking over at him.
His blue eyes roam my face before landing on mine. I plan on getting fucked up, and I know it won’t take any convincing to get him there. “How were you going to pay them off?”
“I would have thought of something,” I hiss, irritated with him. But not sure why. It’s not his fault. I hate asking for help. And I hate it even more that he’s the one who offered. He knows I can’t afford to turn it down.
He leans forward, placing his forearms on the table, bringing his face in closer to mine. I refrain from pulling away. “What would you have done if they would have demanded payment from you?” He arches a pierced brow.
My stomach knots at his words. “What exactly are you implying?”
He reaches out, taking a few pieces of my purple hair between his fingers. His eyes watch the motion before running up my neck and over my face. “You’re very beautiful, April.” His eyes meet mine, and my breath picks up, remembering the weekend we just spent together and how it feels like it was a lifetime ago. “Men like the Mason brothers take whatever they want. So my question is, what would you have done if they wanted you?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
GRAVE
THE MASON BROTHERS don’t rape women, but that doesn’t mean their thugs wouldn’t. I have no doubt that if one of them wanted her, they would have done it. The only thing that kept her from being sexually assaulted was that they wanted money from her. If they would have forced themselves onto her, they would have killed her afterward. Then the Mason brothers would have killed them.
She looks away from me, dismissing the direction this conversation was going just as the punk returns with our drinks. “Here you go.” He hands her hers and slams mine down on the table. Then he turns and walks back toward the bar.
I pick mine up and joke, trying to lighten the mood. “They don’t keep rat poison in the back, do they?”
She snorts and places hers down and yanks mine from my hands. She tosses it back, hissing in a breath.
_______________
Two hours have gone by and I’m craving a hit. April is drunk. She can barely keep her eyes open. She hasn’t said much. But Derek hasn’t taken his eyes off us from his post behind the bar.
They have a past. I’m just not sure how far back it goes. The guy obviously has a thing for her, and it’s not hard to tell they’ve fucked. He sees me as his competition, but I have news for him, there is nothing he could do to beat me. If I want it, I win.
April gets my attention when she slams her empty glass down on the table. “I’m ready … to go.” She hiccups.
“Okay.” I pull a few hundred dollars from my wallet and throw them in the center of the table. Then I get out of the booth and reach out my hand to her. She’s going to need help walking out of this place.
“April?” The douche comes up to the table. “You need to stay. Have some water …”
“She’ll be fine,” I tell him, pushing him out of the way.
She takes my hand and scoots across the leather. Once she hits her feet, she stumbles into me. I wrap an arm around her small waist and throw hers over my shoulder.
“April.” He steps into me. His chest pressed to mine. I have six inches on him, but I’m also holding a very drunk woman. Both of my hands are full.
“Step back,” I warn.
“Or what?” He smirks. “Going to hit me?”
The fucker knows I can’t hit him. If so, she’ll fall. So I use the other option I have. My leg. I knee the motherfucker in the balls.
He falls to his knees, forcing him to the nasty ass bar floor when he doubles over. I readjust April, and we make our way out to my car.
APRIL
I know getting drunk was irresponsible. I’m drowning my problems for the time being, which I never really do. They’re still going to be here tomorrow, but I’ll deal with them then.
I fall into his passenger seat, and he shuts my door. My face falls into my hands, and I try my best to keep from crying. Yelling. If my brother were here, I’d punch him again just to get my point across.
“Hey.” He rubs my back while we sit in the parking lot. I turn into him, letting him hug me.
“That was all she had.” I sniff, inhaling his cologne as I bury my face into his shirt.
“Look at me.” He places his fingers under my chin and lifts it, so I have to look up at him. “I’m going to take care of it. I promise. It’s just a speed bump.”
“I won’t be able to repay you.” That’s the hardest pill to swallow. Our mother raised us to live within our means, but this is going too far. Maybe I should just sell the building as is and walk away.
“You won’t owe me anything.” He leans forward and kisses my forehead, and I sit back in his passenger seat as he fastens my seat belt, then starts the car before pulling out of the parking lot to take me home.
I lie my forehead against his cool window and my eyelids close on their own.
“April?” I hear his voice.
“Hmm?” I open my heavy eyes.
“We’re here.” He turns his car off.
I open the door and manage to climb out of his passenger seat. He’s there the next moment to help me up the stairs and into the house. “Ethan?” I call out once we enter. “Ethan?” I get no response. “He better be here.” I yawn.
“I’ll check,” he assures me.
He helps me up the stairs and into my room. I don’t even care about showering right now. I grab my shirt and lift it up over my head before tossing it to the floor. Then I kick off my shoes and undo my jeans. I turn to see I’m alone in my room. “Grave?” I shove my jeans down my legs and fall into my bed. My sheets feel nice and cold. I close my heavy eyes but open them a second later.