“You probably should have told him that he won’t have anywhere to sleep.” Liam blinked in surprise. “He really has the money?”
“He said he does!” I looked around the room. “We need to change the sheets—this whole room smells like sex.”
“No.” Liam put his hand on mine. “We’re not hiding this from your brother. He’s just going have to accept it. You’re not some dirty secret that we’re ashamed of—I’m not at least.”
“You’re right.” I nodded slowly. “There’s no reason for us to hide this. Billy is just going to have to come to terms with the fact that I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Just so you know—I may still punch him in the face when he walks through the door,” Liam growled under his breath.
“Not if I punch him first.” I laughed and leaned back into Liam’s arms.
Gerard returned a few minutes after I got the call from Billy, and we filled him in on my brother’s return. He had the same reaction as Liam initially—he wanted to erase all evidence that we had been together. That was what pulled us apart the last time though—and I wasn’t willing to risk that again. Once he calmed down, he agreed that we were just going to have to face the problem together. He didn’t look happy though—he looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. I got the feeling that he was worried about something else a lot more than he was concerned about Billy finding out we were together.
I didn’t have much time to press him for details though, so we waited in the living room for Billy to arrive. He knew I was living with Liam and Gerard—he also knew why. That was just one of many angry messages my brother received before he finally called me back. The whole ordeal was about to be over—and that was enough to make me force a smile—to make me want to forgive. He was still my brother, even if he was an asshole.
One hour later
“Rachel, I’d like you to meet my wife. This is Sugar.” Billy introduced me to his wife, a tall blonde woman who was very pretty—and apparently, her name was Sugar.
“Welcome to the family.” I smiled and leaned in for a hug, which was returned.
“Thank you so much.” She quickly grabbed Billy’s hand. “I’m so happy to meet you finally!”
Well, customarily you meet the sister of the groom before you have a ring on your finger—but my brother is far from customary.
“Okay, you have the money?” Gerard skipped right over the pleasantries, and I heard him growl under his breath as he spoke to Billy.
“Yes.” Billy reached into his back pocket and pulled out a thick white envelope. “I’ve got everything I owe Robert Townsend. I’m going to go see him right now.”
“What about the rent money?” Liam narrowed his eyes. “Do you have that too?”
“I don’t…” Billy winced. “I’m really sorry guys, I know I shouldn’t have done that, but I needed a little money—I didn’t even have enough to gamble with.”
“So you won the money gambling?” I tilted my head to the side.
“I did.” Billy smiled, obviously pleased with himself, but I didn’t give him one in return.
“Which means you could have just had easily lost the money—and then where would we be?” I was feeling anger starting to rise, anger that I had suppressed because I was just happy to see my brother was okay.
“But I didn’t.” Billy’s face clearly reflected confusion—as if the alternative was impossible. “I’m back, and the problem is going to be fixed.”
“And it was okay in your mind to just put us all in danger while you went to try and win the money you needed to pay back your debt.” Liam’s jaw tightened.
“It’s all fixed now. Come on, guys. We’ve been friends forever. I was always going to come back and handle this myself.” Billy looked around with the confused stare still etched on his face.
“Well, you could have said something, asshole.” Gerard grabbed the envelope out of his hand. “You sit your ass down right here and don’t fucking go anywhere. Let me see if I can undo all the damage you’ve done while you were—handling things.”
“Wait, you went to see Robert Townsend?” Billy turned his attention to Gerard, and I saw Sugar dig her nails into Billy’s arm.
“Yeah.” Gerard nodded and started walking towards the door. “And I have a feeling that you’re the last person that should walk through the door of his club right now.”
Gerard stormed off with the money, and Billy sat down with his new wife at his side. I tried to make small talk with Sugar, but she wasn’t exactly one for conversation. She kept exchanging worried glances with Billy, and Billy started biting his fingernails, something he only did when he was really freaking out. I was concerned, but I didn’t know what to say—or even what questions to ask. Somewhere in the midst of the silence and worry, Billy picked up on the fact that something was a little more than friendly between Liam and me. I thought he would lose his mind when I told him that we were involved, but he just shrugged—he fucking shrugged. Is that how he would have reacted if Gerard told him we were together all those years ago? So much for him being protective of me—he seemed more concerned about his own skin than anything else. I wondered if he would be as relaxed when he found out I was involved with Gerard as well.
“I don’t get it, Billy.” I looked over at him. “Why would you borrow money from someone like that? What did you do with the money, to begin with?”
“Borrow money?” He blinked in surprise. “I would never borrow twenty-five thousand dollars from someone like Robert Townsend. The most I’ve ever borrowed from his guys is a few hundred when I’m short, and I don’t want to ask Dad for money—I mostly just borrow money from them because they know where the best poker games are.”
“Hold on.” Liam leaned forward. “You didn’t borrow money? How the fuck did you end up owing him twenty-five large?”