It was bullshit.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
But Richard didn’t need to know that.
What he needed was to keep his fucking mouth shut.
He scrubbed a frustrated palm over his face, backing away and shaking his head. “Just, don’t touch my sister, man, and we’re cool.”
He didn’t need to worry about that.
I wasn’t going to touch her again.
But not because I was doing him any favors.
This? I was doing it for her.
Because she was quickly becoming the only thing that mattered.SixteenEmily“Can we talk?”
My brother’s voice hit me from behind, and I flinched where I stood at the edge of the pond outside the hotel, arms crossed over my chest, hugging myself beneath the sun that shone from above.
I was wearing the warmth like a blanket of security.
Warily, I turned to look at Richard, who was under a shade tree about thirty feet away, hands stuffed in the pockets of his holey jeans. Dark blond hair flapped in the wind and those green eyes watched me with worry, as if he wasn’t sure the two of us understood each other anymore.
Close yet detached.
Loyal forever but the connections that had bound us slippin’ away.
My heart ached at the thought.
“Of course,” I gently called, though I really wasn’t sure it was such a good time, considering I was fighting tears.
Not even sure where they were coming from anymore.
Tears of horror at the thought of having to see Cory Douglas again all mixed up with this confidence building in me, making me ready to fight. Because I wasn’t gonna allow that vile man to hold me back from what I’d dedicated my entire life to.
I’d come to acceptance.
It was okay to feel fear, but it wasn’t okay to let it dictate my life.
Or they could have been tears of gratitude. Gratitude for being invited to play at the awards show that’d felt like nothing but a pipe dream.
The reality of it was overwhelming.
The pride and the joy and the hope for the future.
Most worrisome of all, I was pretty sure these tears had everything to do with Royce.
Maybe I was wrong to push him away.
Derail us before we had the chance to get started.
But I couldn’t put him in that position. It was gonna be a firestorm when I made the accusation against Cory. Carolina George up against A Riot of Roses, Mylton Records smack dab in the middle.
I couldn’t ask Royce to get mixed up in it any more than he already was.
We really were a conflict of interest.
Richard took an apprehensive step my direction. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” I returned, softer, hating that he was watching me like I was gonna break. Considering that was precisely what I’d done back in the hotel room, I couldn’t blame him.
He took a few more steps. “You okay?”
My teeth clamped down on the inside of my cheek, and I warred with what to tell him. “Yeah,” I whispered.
“That’s what you keep saying, Em. Again and again. I can’t keep accepting that every time you freak out. This is serious. Guts are all twisted up, worryin’ about you.”
My ribs clamped down on my heart. Squeezing so hard. Affection and grief. “I’m tryin’ to get better.”
“When did you get sick? What did I miss? I keep thinking this is about Nile, but there’s this spot inside of me that’s insisting that it’s bigger.”
I could feel my expression pinching up. “And what about you, Rich? You think I’m not scared for you? You think I don’t know something’s going on? That you’re into somethin’ you shouldn’t be?”
Agitated, he drove a hand through his hair, tone deflecting. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And this isn’t about me, Em.”
“Isn’t it? We’re all tied, Rich. All of us. And if one of us is hurting? In trouble? That means the rest of us are, too.”
Alarm shook his head, and he put his hands out in front of him. “No, Em. This is something you cannot get involved in. Can’t. You need to stay out of this.”
I stepped toward him, a plea in my voice. “What if I’m already in it?”
Fear streaked through his features, and he shook his head harder. “Not possible.”
“Secrets don’t stay secrets forever, Rich. They don’t. People find out about them, and they come back to haunt us.”
“Shit,” he wheezed, looking off into the distance. Panic rolled through his body. A second later, he jerked his attention back to me. “Whatever you think you know isn’t the truth, Em. I don’t know what the hell you think you saw or what someone told you, but I promise you that I’m fine.”
“And what if I saw it for myself? What if I’m tryin’ to protect you, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep on doing it?”
Richard erased the last bit of space between us, jolting forward and grabbing me by the shoulders. “I would never ask you to do that, Emily. Never. Stay out of it . . . it’s dangerous.”