Anguished (Crimson Elite 2)

“They said you weren’t here today, but then someone saw you. So… here I am.”

“Here you are?” I say walking around him and sitting in my seat.

He sits, his body slumping in the chair.

“You’re too good for him, you know that, right?” I’m unsure of what to say to those words. “Just like she was, or so I thought she was.” His head shakes. They look so much alike, except Mike appears more stressed, older almost, more lines in his face. Where Echo’s more carefree. Even in the way they hold themselves is completely different.

“Why are you here, Mike? Sorry to be rude. But we don’t know each other.”

He nods his head. “He’s been ignoring me, not answering my calls. I need to...” he pulls at his hair, “… I need to talk to him. You are my best bet for that to happen.”

“I don’t know how I am.” He pins me with his eyes, where his are blue like Echo’s they aren’t as sky blue in color as his.

“Because I saw the way he looked at you, he never looked at Selena like that.”

I sit back confused by his words. “What do you want me to do exactly?”

His teeth grind as he looks around then back to me. “Call him, please.” I nod my head. Even if I don’t want to talk to Echo, his brother is clearly hurting and wants something. Reaching for my cell, I pull up his number despite myself having memorized it.

“You aren’t going to hurt him, are you?” I ask just to be safe.

He shakes his head. “If anyone were going to get hurt, it would be me. So don’t even worry about him.” He waves me off. My heart starts beating hard again when the cell rings, I can hear it thump loudly as it echoes through my chest.

“Red…”

I shake my head. “Storm,” I correct him.

He’s silent. “Storm,” he says.

Looking up Mike’s watching me, waiting. “I need you to meet me somewhere. Can you do that?”

“I can come now.”

I name the coffee house across the street from my work.

“Thanks for calling, Storm.”

I end the call and don’t say a word. The cell is in my hand as I wait for the beating of my heart to finally slow.

“You’ll have to come. Please?”

“I’ll wait until he arrives, then I’m going.” He stands walking to the door, holding it open for me. When I pass him, I don’t feel the same way as I do when I pass Echo. No heart palpitations or feeling dizzy.

“Thank you for this.” I nod my head as we continue, it doesn’t take long until we reach the coffee house. I don’t bother ordering anything because I plan to leave as soon as Echo arrives.

“I have to ask…” Mike’s already watching me. “Why do you hate him so much?” He laughs, but it’s dry and hollow.

“I don’t hate him, I envy him.” My eyes go wide in disbelief. He looks around before he continues again, “He had it all… great friends, the girl, the business, the dream.”

“You have a career, the girl.”

He scoffs. “The girl who loved him first.”

“Why her, though? You could have fallen in love with anyone. Why her?”

He starts playing with the sugar dispenser in front of him, pouring it on the table then drawing in it. “I didn’t plan on loving her. She was there, all the time. Then she kissed me. I’d been so busy with work, trying to earn partnership in the firm that I forgot to have a life outside of it. So, when she kissed me, she made me realize that fact. Made me see her.”

“Seems like she played you both.”

He nods. “I love her, though.”

“Your brother does, too,” I say more to myself.

“He used to, but that love outgrew him ages ago. That’s one of the reasons she started coming to me. She thought that since we don’t talk I’d know him best. We are twins after all. But the thing is, I don’t know anything about him. Echo’s his own demon, and only a few can crack him. Those boys and now you.”

“What about your parents? Why are they so mean to him?” He looks around, and I almost forgot for a second that we’re waiting on Echo. Thankfully he hasn’t arrived yet.

“I can’t explain that, other than he just doesn’t do what they want of him. I did. So, I stayed in their good graces. Echo did his own thing at every turn which pissed them off more and more.” His cell starts ringing loudly, we both look to it and her face comes up on the screen. He turns it over and silences it.

“How are you… two?”

“If you’re wondering if I’ve forgiven her, the answer is no. I don’t know what to do. That’s why I want to hear what Echo has to say, but he’s making it fucking hard to see him.”