“I’m not his possession,” I answered.
“I agree. And I don’t think he believes you are for one second. His actions were completely motivated by hurt. I saw his face. He looked entirely destroyed before he got pissed off.”
My heart squeezed. “Any disappointment he experienced was unintentional. I’d never do it deliberately.”
“I know that. Once Seth has a chance to reason it out, he’ll know that, too. Sinclair men tend to react before they think sometimes. And then they’re so repentant that it’s almost annoying.” She paused before she added, “Don’t worry about Seth right now. Let’s take care of you.”
“I’m okay,” I grumbled. “I’m only doing this for you and Penny.”
“I’ll take that if it gets you to the hospital,” Penny chirped from the back seat.
“Me too,” Skye agreed with a smile as she pulled up to the emergency room.
I smiled weakly at both of them.
They had no idea how good it felt to have real friends.
CHAPTER 17
SETH
What in the fuck is she thinking! She can’t go back to that asshole!
I was thoroughly exhausted, but not enough to curb my anger and frustration.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
I’d been out for a very long run, and I was currently in my home gym beating the hell out of a punching bag that was mounted from the ceiling.
Maybe I was wiped out physically, but the rest of me was still so furious that I couldn’t seem to get enough activity to keep the image of Riley willingly kissing Easton out of my head.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
“Son of a bitch!” I cursed, slamming my hand into the bag one more time before I bent over to catch my breath.
I shucked off my gloves and straightened, trying to decide on what kind of torture I could put myself through next.
I eyed my Peloton bike and decided that would be next on my list. I could work up a hell of a sweat once I got going.
Right now, I’d go through every piece of equipment in my gym if it meant I’d be so exhausted and sore that it would take my mind off Riley.
No doubt, I’d never scrub the visions of Easton devouring the woman I wanted from my brain, but I sure as hell wished I could make it hurt . . . less.
I’d seen it.
The memory was fresh in my head.
Riley had been fully cooperating in that embrace.
If she hadn’t, I would have killed the bastard.
Truth was, I cared too damn much about her not to want her to have whatever made her happy.
He’ll make her fucking miserable.
That was the part that killed me.
Maybe she’d never stop seeking her mother’s approval.
Maybe she couldn’t.
Shit! I knew damn well I’d find myself at her doorstep eventually, trying to convince her that she didn’t want to be with a piece of slime to feel like she belonged.
Truth was, she belonged with me.
Riley had been mine from the first moment I’d seen her. Maybe I hadn’t realized that back then, but I knew it now. No doubt in my mind.
I could make her happy. She’d been smiling, laughing, lighthearted at the barbecue until that cockroach had crawled out of the wall.
Had she invited him?
There was no other rational explanation as to why Easton was even there.
“What in the fuck are you doing here?” my brother Noah’s voice asked from behind me.
I swung around. “I fucking live here,” I shot back, not in the mood for any of Noah’s patriarchal advice. I already knew I shouldn’t be thinking of talking to Riley after she’d been kissing another guy. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
He held up a full key chain. “You gave me a key. And you didn’t answer the door. Your Range Rover was in the garage, so I figured you were here somewhere.”
“I’m working out. I don’t have time to talk at the moment,” I grumbled.
He gazed my way, apparently assessing me. “Looks to me like you’ve already done your workout. Your entire body is dripping sweat.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I rasped. “It makes me feel better.”
Noah ignored me and went to the small refrigerator in the corner. He pulled out some bottled water, opened it, and handed it to me. “Drink or you’ll be dehydrated.”
I swiped it from his hand. I hadn’t slowed down long enough to realize that I really was dying for some water.
I sucked down the whole container, crunched it, and tossed it into the garbage. “You obviously want something, Noah. You’ve never exactly just dropped in for a brotherly chat.”
We generally had to seek him out.
“I’ll ask you again . . . why are you here?” he repeated.
“And I told you that I live here.”
He shot me an irritated glare. “You should be at the hospital.”
My head shot up, my attention shifting in an instant. If somebody in our family was hurt or sick, of course I wanted to be there. “What happened? Is it Aiden?”
Noah shook his head. “As much as you seem to care about Riley, I had assumed you’d want to be with her while she was being treated.”
Riley?
What the fuck?
“Are you trying to tell me she’s in the hospital?”
He simply nodded.
“Isn’t Easton with her?” I asked drily.
Noah frowned. “Why in the hell would he be there? After what happened, I doubt he’ll ever be within swinging distance of her again.”
“They were locking lips well enough at the barbecue,” I informed him huskily. “They were damn friendly.”
Noah looked disappointed. “You know, for a guy smart enough to build up a commercial-property business as fast as you have, you have your moments when you can be completely brainless. Like right now. She wasn’t willingly kissing the asshole.”
My heart sped up. “Looked like she was.”
“You missed the part where Easton slammed her head against the wall. For God’s sake, Seth, the woman was pretty much unconscious when he was kissing her. Okay, maybe she had her hands on him, but only because he’d scrambled her brains. You also missed the part where she kicked his ass after she’d gotten away from him. She was protecting Penny for some reason, but I’m sure she didn’t mind putting her knee in his groin a couple of times, hard enough to make sure he sings soprano for the rest of his life. Personally, I was impressed. She fights dirty. I like her.”
My mind flashed back to the scene that had only lasted a couple of seconds before I couldn’t take watching it anymore.
Her hands were on his shoulders.
Easton had been all over her.
But . . . her back had been against a brick wall.
And . . . she hadn’t been fighting him, but she hadn’t really been participating enthusiastically, either.
I shook myself to get rid of the scene in my head. Jesus! What if Noah was right?
I gave him a suspicious glance. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. Aiden and I saw the last bit when she kicked his ass. She walloped him hard enough to snap his neck nearly off his shoulders, and then she put his balls in his throat. She was a crazy woman, and she would have kept going if Aiden hadn’t stepped in. I’m not exactly sure what happened between them, but she apparently has a lot of suppressed anger regarding him. Aiden said she has a right to hate him, because he’s heard some gossip that he cheated on her, and I believe him. But I’m not sure there isn’t even more to that story, since she was protecting Penny.”