Dino
Iwatch the psycho, Dante, leave the diner. As he passes the car, he smirks at me, making my fucking blood boil. I glance back checking Viola is still inside and she’s okay. A breath releases from my tight chest when I see she’s fine. She’s sipping her hot drink, head inclined, deep in thought. All of a sudden, she turns and smiles as though she feels my gaze on her. It warms my fucking heart to see that smile.
I’m such a fucking dickhead sometimes.
I called her dead inside, like a fucking robot.
I shake my head at my own stupidity as my phone rings. I glance at the screen, my brow furrowing when I see it’s my fucking brother.
“You bastard, stay away from my friends,” I say as I pick up.
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” he says smoothly.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Razor doesn’t do shit without your permission.”
“You got me. I’m just looking out for you little brother,” he says and I imagine him grinning down the phone. “Your so-called friends are letting you go down for something you didn’t even do.”
“So you stole Razor’s car?” Words can’t express how fucking angry I am right now.
“My guy borrowed it because I persuaded him it was the right thing to do. Tyler may never recover.”
“The Dukes had nothing to do with this,” I hiss at him.
“The Dukes have everything to do with this,” he says, scoffing like the righteous bastard I’ve always known him to be.
I’m seething as I speak next. “Lay a hand on them again and you’re fucking dead. I don’t care if you’re my brother.”
“Lorcan Duke doesn’t own you, little brother. Remember that.”
“Fuck you,” I say. I hang up, tossing my phone on the seat with exasperation.
It knew it was Kristian. I knew it! When I called him from police custody and he said he’d fix it, this was what he fucking meant. He’s never liked the Dukes.
When Viola leaves the cafe, even though I gave her enough painkillers to knock her out for a few hours, I can tell her ankle is bothering her. She stumbles out. Without thinking, I’m out of the car, and gathering her up in my arms.
“Put me down,” she glowers, although she looks ready to pass out more than anything.
“Just shut up for once, Viola, please,” I say, carrying her to the passenger side door.
“What did you do to me?” she slurs.
Guilt sweeps through me, squeezing my chest hard. Fuck, maybe I shouldn’t have given her so many.
I’m not expecting her to ask if there’s a lead on who was driving Razor’s car, but she does. “Did you speak to your brother?” she mumbles.
I should tell Viola it was my brother who tried to kill Lor, but I can’t. This is something I need to deal with myself. Hiding behind Viola, letting her solve my fucking problems, is not what I need to do right now. Fuck, this is all so screwed.
Instead, I wait until she drifts off. I drive home with the sense of fucking up following me all the way there, then I carry her inside.
Let her sleep it off. She needs to rest.
When she wakes up, several hours later, I can tell something is bothering her. She’s fucking terrible at hiding how she truly feels. I can read her like a book.
“Just say it,” I say.
“You drugged me,” she says in that nonchalant way of hers as she leans against the doorway. She still looks bloody knackered but I can’t send her back to bed. She might kill me.
“You needed the rest,” I simply say.